Golden Hind 31 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction Lineage

The original design was commissioned in 1965 by a British coffin manufacturer, Hartwell’s, which built 120 Golden Hinds in plywood over six years before yard manager Terry Erskine took over in 1971 and began building the boat with a fiberglass hull and a wood deck and cabinhouse. Erskine closed up shop in the early 1980s; production resumed in 1995 under Golden Hind Marine, which built only a few fancier, more modern “Mark II” versions before selling out to Newson Boatbuilders in 2006. Most surviving examples were built by Erskine. The fiberglass boats are strong and quite durable, with a double-chined solid-laminate hull, solid mahogany cabinhouse sides, and deck and coachroof beams of hardwood covered with marine plywood sheathed in 6-ounce cloth and epoxy resin anchor. Cast-iron ballast is fully encapsulated within the center full keel, while the heavy steel bilge plates are through-bolted into a heavy steel support frame inside the hull that lets them carry the boat’s weight aground without unduly stressing the shell.

Keel, Underbody, and Handling

With both a long full keel and two small bilge plates in the water, the Golden Hind’s underbody presents a lot of lateral surface area in three different planes. The boat tracks extremely well as a result and does not like to change direction, which makes her very easy to sail singlehanded even without self-steering gear, and she points to windward better than one might expect. The bilge plates help dampen motion in a seaway, though they increase wetted surface area that hurts light-air performance most particularly on shorter-rig boats. One owner who removed the plates before a transatlantic passage reported his boat rolled much more and was more tender; the plates can be removed, but the trade-off is real. Yachting Monthly notes her triple-keel underwater profile restricts sailing speed, yet she keeps going in strong-wind conditions and is tough, sea kindly, and ideal as a sturdy offshore cruiser anchor.

Rig and Performance Under Sail

Most Golden Hinds were built with the “standard” sloop rig, which is very short at just 32 feet from deck to masthead; these tend to be slow under sail and rarely reach potential hull speed except when conditions are boisterous. The more modern Mark II boats have much taller cutter rigs over 39 feet from deck to masthead and routinely sail much closer to their potential, though their increased weight lowers that potential speed. A few older boats have been converted to taller rigs. The Mark II also carries a redesigned rudder with more surface area forward of the pivot in an oversized prop aperture, which helps relieve the boat’s sometimes heavy weather helm.

Accommodations

For a small traditional boat with a narrow beam, the Golden Hind has a remarkably roomy interior, with over 6 feet of standing headroom throughout the main cabin. The traditional layout has a full-size settee berth to starboard and a love-seat to port convertible to a full-length berth via a small hatch in the forward bulkhead; the forward V-berth serves as two singles or a roomy double with the midsection filled, and an optional dinette layout creates a saloon double. A dedicated nav station and a proper wet locker by the companionway are standard, and Yachting Monthly describes good chart tables. The galley, as a rule, is a bit undersized with inadequate counter space and can be difficult to use while underway.

Known Issues and Structural Care

Many of the original all-plywood Golden Hinds have deteriorated over time, but the fiberglass boats avoid that fate. Structural maintenance revolves mostly around keeping moisture out of the wooden parts, since any leaks lead to water wicking quickly along the plywood’s horizontal sections. The wood deck and house structure is not complex and all deck sections are easily accessed from inside; cutting out and replacing saturated areas is relatively easy. The later Mark II boats are built to a finer standard with a more modern hull-laminate schedule and superior interior joinery.

The Verdict

The Golden Hind 31 is a thoroughly traditional shoal-draft cruiser whose triple-keel underbody and removable bilge plates make her a forgiving, track-straight offshore companion that dries upright on a sandbank and has the bluewater record to back the reputation. She is no light-air rocket, particularly under the short standard sloop rig, but she is durable, roomy for her beam, and singularly easy to short-hand. The wooden deck demands disciplined leak prevention, yet repairs are accessible.

Pros