Pierce Arrow 31 Buyer's Guide
Shopping for a used Pierce Arrow 31 on the brokerage market means chasing one of the rarer 31-foot cruiser-racers afloat. Designed by Mark Leonard and built by Freedom Yachts Ltd. in the mid-1980s, with perhaps only seven examples completed, she is the sort of boat you stumble onto rather than track down through a fleet. What she lacks in numbers she makes up for in a lively masthead-sloop rig and a 5-foot draft that any marina will accommodate.
Layouts on the Used Market
Every Arrow 31 shares the same essential footprint: 31 feet overall, a 25.5-foot waterline, and a 10-foot beam, with a fin keel and spade rudder beneath solid fiberglass hull and deck. The short production run and possible custom work in places like Rockford, Illinois mean each boat is the original Mark Leonard cruiser-racer interior with reasonable accommodations for coastal use. Expect a boat pitched at the sailor who wants to both race locally and weekend cruise, not a dedicated bluewater layout.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Given the sparse production, most boats carry a period-correct sail inventory rather than modern factory options. The rig itself supports a working jib near 220 square feet, a 150-percent genoa around 341 square feet, and offwind sails including an asymmetrical near 562 square feet and a spinnaker about 695 square feet — so a buyer should confirm which of those sails are present, as a missing spinnaker or asymmetrical is a meaningful reoutfit cost. Beyond sails, useful buyer-relevant upgrades to look for cluster around sail-handling and self-sufficiency: a roller-furling genoa system, a modest solar or shore-power setup for the house bank, and a GPS or chartplotter added to the original compass-and-speed baseline. Comfort items such as a cockpit dodger or interior refreshes matter less than whether the rig and energy systems are complete.
What to Inspect
A practical survey should focus on the realities of a low-volume 1980s fiberglass boat: the solid fiberglass construction should be checked for osmotic blistering and previous repairs, and the spade rudder and fin keel attachment points deserve close attention for impact or water intrusion. Because only about seven were built total, a launch-year confirmation (hull #007 appeared in 1989) and any documented osmosis repair on a specific boat should weigh heavily in your decision.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The Arrow 31 turns up only occasionally and almost never in quantity, so a serious buyer should widen the search and move quickly when one lists. She suits a sailor who values a quick, rare club racer over resale liquidity.
- Confirm the sail inventory (main, jib, genoa, asymmetrical/spinnaker)
- Survey hull, deck, keel bond, and spade rudder for repair history
- Verify hull number and launch year against the sparse production run
- Budget for custom or owner-fabricated parts given no class support