Above the water, the boat has traditional lines and a hollow bow more pronounced than the Freedom 40’s. Below, she was conceived as a modern performance cruiser, with an underbody as fast as a quarter tonner.
Design and Construction
The H-31 was built in two distinct forms. Almost half of the boats were cold-molded from mahogany plies and fitted with wooden spars. The rest had fiberglass hulls cored with Airex; on some of those boats, the house and deck used Klegecell coring to resist heat deformation. Nearly all the fiberglass boats carried fiberglass/carbon-fiber spars.
According to the designer, the wooden boats were lighter but less resistant to abrasion and impact. The fiberglass-Airex hulls were somewhat stronger, though also a little heavier. Their fiberglass layup used graduated thicknesses, thinning from the bottom upward, with a thin layer of mat between the roving and cloth.
The deck and hull are both cored to the edge. They’re chemically bonded, then glassed inside and out at the corner. No surveyed owner reported leaks or crazing at this joint, and none reported hull blisters. The bulkheads are foam-fiberglass composites, veneered in the living areas.
Rig, Reefing, and Handling
The boat’s defining feature is its cat-ketch rig with free-standing spars and a split sail plan meant to reduce sail loads. Most boats used the standard double wishbone boom, although Herreshoff preferred the half-bone shape for its simplicity and appearance.
The masts are designed to flex and shed excess wind load. Running rigging is simple: each loose-footed sail has an outhaul, halyard, downhaul, and sheets. The booms are high and to starboard. There are no sheet winches, and none are required.
The rig is designed for quick reefing and can be reduced to 30% of its full area. In heavy air, the progression is mizzen alone, then main and mizzen, then mizzen doused, and finally a double-reefed main. The center of effort changes very little through that sequence.
Working sail area increased from the original 403 square feet to 466 square feet on later boats, while displacement fell from 8,640 pounds to 7,560 pounds. That raised the SA/D from 15.5 to 19.
With a 28-foot waterline and a rudder extending nearly a foot aft of the transom, the H-31 may take about a boat length to gain steerage in moderate air. Once moving, she runs very cleanly, accelerates surprisingly quickly, and has a powerful motion in waves.
Accommodations
The standard layout emphasizes open volume. The head and galley are aft, with the saloon and forecabin extending forward. There’s no forward bulkhead separating the main and forward cabins. An alternative arrangement places the head between the forecabin and saloon and is better suited to two-couple cruising.
Maximum headroom is 6 feet 2 inches. Stowage includes two large hanging lockers, plenty of drawers, and additional drawers beneath every berth. Eight opening ports provide ventilation.
The starboard galley includes a two-burner stove, though the companionway ladder makes the space cramped. The head is opposite, to port. One owner said the supplied bulkhead table was suitable only in a calm anchorage: it was lightly built, unstable, and lacked fiddles. The chart table is creaky but adequate.
Machinery and Deck Details
Many earlier boats have Nanni diesels. Their performance and dependability were reported as satisfactory, but parts can be difficult to source. Later boats could be fitted with Yanmar diesels.
Teak steps on the outboard rudder double as a boarding ladder. The free-standing spars and straightforward running rig mean sail-handling refits involve materials more than mechanical systems, although boats with wooden spars require continued attention to their glue joints.
Known Issues
In Practical Sailor’s survey, surveyor Alan Vaitses declined to recommend any of the cold-molded boats. The reason given was that the fiberglass covering, which extended to just above the waterline, wasn’t mechanically fastened to the wood. Owners of wooden boats have also reported having to reglue spars after the original wood glue failed at around 13 years.
On several fiberglass boats, owners reported that Airex foam had been left in place where through-hulls passed through the hull rather than being replaced with solid laminate. The designer said this shouldn’t have happened.
One owner found the skeg-to-hull bolts in poor condition. The designer, however, described the rudder assembly itself as overly strong, with a stout rudderstock, two hefty gudgeons, and an attachment to the bottom skeg.
A Florida owner reported severe pitting in the aluminum strips atop the keel floors where the stainless-steel keel bolts passed through them. The stanchions have no backing plates.
Verdict
The Herreshoff 31 is a thoughtfully unconventional cruiser. She combines a cat-ketch rig that one person can handle without winches with genuine speed, an open interior, and a distinctive profile.
Her split construction history matters. Buyers must choose between lighter cold-molded wooden hulls with durability concerns and somewhat heavier Airex-cored fiberglass boats with specific through-hull details to inspect. For an informed owner, the rewards are simple sail handling and lively performance.
Pros
- Quick, winch-free reefing to 30% sail area, with little change in the center of effort
- Open, roomy layout with 6 feet 2 inches of headroom and ample stowage
- Clean, fast underbody, powerful motion, and a short distance required to gain steerage
Cons
- Fiberglass on the cold-molded hulls isn’t mechanically fastened to the wood
- Airex core wasn’t always replaced with solid laminate around through-hulls
- Nanni diesel parts can be hard to obtain
- Stanchions lack backing plates
