The Cape 31 is a one-design yacht originally created for racing in South Africa, which has rapidly expanded with fleets around the world. Andy Rice reportsThirty-foot keelboats come and go all the time. Most arrive with a short-lived fanfare, only to fade gradually out of sight and memory. Not so the Cape 31, which looks set to be the \u2018must sail\u2019 boat for the foreseeable future. With 25 boats sold into England and Ireland in little more than a year, this Mark Mills one-design seems to have hit the sweet spot.
\nDave Swete is part of the small team promoting the Cape 31 out of a small office in Port Hamble in the UK. Swete is a Volvo Ocean Race veteran and the sole professional sailor on Sunrise, Tom Kneen\u2019s Fastnet-winning JPK 11.80. Asked why the sailing world needed another 30-something keelboat, Swete replies: \u201cI think it\u2019s because it just ticks a lot of boxes. We believe that it\u2019s the only class boat that\u2019s winning on IRC and other rating systems at the moment.
\n\u201cYou can get this boat straight out of the box and go and win races. The Cape 31 won overall in Les Voiles de St Tropez last year, as well as a whole host of local events in the Solent.\u201d
\nWhereas some 30ft keelboats might like to describe themselves as a \u2018big dinghy\u2019, Swete insists the Cape 31 is \u201ca small keelboat\u201d. He explains: \u201cWe can take this boat out in 25 knots wind against tide in the Solent and have a really nice day, then come back in and the boat\u2019s in one piece, it\u2019s not full of water. We haven\u2019t been broaching out and nosediving all day, we\u2019ve just been bow-up, doing 20 knots downwind and 7.5 knots upwind. It\u2019s fair to say it\u2019s a proper yacht.\u201d
\nWorking with his R&D partners KND\/Sailing Performance, Mark Mills produced a hull with low freeboard and aggressive chines designed to maximise form stability in a breeze while maintaining a low wetted surface area when upright in the lighter stuff. The chine running forward to the bow helps produce the Cape 31\u2019s distinctive bow-up attitude at speed downwind.
\nBow-up, crew weight aft and the potential for 20+ knot downwind speeds. Photo: Rick Tomlinson\/Cape 31 Class
\nFor some, the Cape 31\u2019s upwind speed \u2013 even more than its electric downwind pace \u2013 is the most impressive statistic.
\n\u201cThe real head-turner is that this is a 30ft boat that goes upwind at a similar speed to a Performance 40. Then you turn it downwind and really put the hammer down,\u201d says Swete.
\nHaving previously owned a Corby-designed cruiser\/racer, Lance Adams was looking for something sportier when he got into the Cape 31 class. He\u2019d considered the J\/70 but didn\u2019t gel with it; and had watched the Fast 40s battling around the Solent but didn\u2019t fancy getting into what looked like an arms race. After a conversation with Swete, Adams bought a Cape 31 without ever having sailed one. \u201cIt sounded like the boat that the Solent has been needing for a while,\u201d says Adams.
\nHis Katabatic was the second boat into the country and Adams raced it regularly throughout 2021. One of the big attractions for Adams was the strict one-design rule. He was looking for close competition and hasn\u2019t been disappointed. \u201cAt Cowes Week last year I think we had five different race winners after five days. It\u2019s sensational racing.\u201d
\nTokoloshe III was the first Cape 31 in the UK and immediately racked up winning race results under IRC. Photo: Rick Tomlinson\/Cape 31 Class
\nHe also likes the fact that the boat goes, in his words, \u2018hell for leather\u2019 downwind. \u201cWe peaked at 21 knots last season but 2021 was quite a light year for wind. I think the boat has the potential to go quite a bit faster.\u201d
\nCreated for the Cape
\nThe origins of the Cape 31 stem from Cape Town, a sailing venue where prolific Maxi yacht owner Sir Irvine Laidlaw likes to spend time. Laidlaw wanted a new design that could be sailed in the famous \u2018Cape doctor\u2019 winds and swell off Cape Town. \u201cHis concept was for a \u2018no holds barred\u2019 30-footer for delivering maximum fun,\u201d explains Swete. \u201cIt certainly wasn\u2019t designed to be an IRC weapon. It was designed simply to be the best boat it could be in Cape Town, which actually transferred nicely over to the Solent with the wind against tide and the rough conditions we can get here.\u201d
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The Cape 31 is primarily aimed at round the cans racing, or the occasional long distance day race, such as the Round the Island Race. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a 90-mile Cannonball Run planned from Antigua to St Maarten,\u201d Swete adds.
\nMark Mills was commissioned to design the boat back in 2017, and although initially successful in South Africa, it took a couple of years for it to gain a wider reputation. \u201cSome international teams had been invited down to Cape Town to race the boat which had gone fairly well,\u201d recalls Swete. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until we brought the boat over [to the UK] and started winning races on IRC that it got noticed properly, and that\u2019s when things really kicked off.\u201d
\nThe Cape 31s have a crew weight limit of 595kg, which usually translates to seven on board, with an owner-driver rule and no more than three professionals. Photo: Rick Tomlinson\/Cape 31 Class
\nThe centre of gravity of the Cape 31 class has now shifted firmly to the UK, although its handicap performance has given other owners the courage to order boats in different parts of the world.
\n\u201cThe class is very much established in the Solent now, to the point where we\u2019re attracting international teams over here. We\u2019ve got an American team flying in for our local regattas, and a Dutch team too. But we\u2019ll start travelling as a class soon. Next year we\u2019ll travel to the Caribbean, and we\u2019re looking to get some racing going in the Bay of Palma. There\u2019s a fleet starting up in Australia, and the beauty of these boats is they go in a container.\u201d
\nThe aggressively-chined hull shape maximises form stability in a breeze. Photo: Rick Tomlinson\/Cape 31 Class
\nCape 31 \u2013 owner-friendly
\nAside from the high-performance and handicap appeal of the boat, Swete and his partner, Dave Bartholomew, have pushed hard to establish a strong class ethos that focuses on having fun first and foremost. It\u2019s an owner-driver class with a maximum of three pro sailors permitted on the crew, although Swete encourages teams to sail with fewer.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re all about matching the fun on the water with fun off the water, and we\u2019ve taken it back to the yacht clubs.\u201d
\nThe clean ramp deck offers ease of movement of sails and sailors. Photo: Tor Tomlinson\/Cape 31
\nKeeping it fun includes avoiding an arms race where teams might be tempted to tweak their boats up to \u2013 or beyond \u2013 the limits of the class rule. Swete says there is a strong policy in place to keep that in check, and he\u2019s not afraid of chasing the wrong sort of owner out of the fleet if it threatens the overall ecosystem of good, clean Corinthian fun and sportsmanship.
\n\u201cWe are investing in keeping people in line. We have a rules guy, Mike Richards, who\u2019s an IRC measurer. He\u2019s been involved in everything from Swan 45s to Fast 40s, Farr 40s and Mumm 30s. We got him involved very early on, because it can sneak in, where people want to take advantage of a new class and loopholes.\u201d
\nA 15hp Yanmar diesel engine confirms the Cape 31\u2019s \u2018yacht\u2019 (not a dayboat or dinghy) credentials. Photo: Tor Tomlinson\/Cape 31
\nSwete acknowledges that launching a new class is in some ways the easy part. The greater challenge could come in maintaining longevity well beyond the honeymoon period that the Cape 31 is currently enjoying. \u201cIt\u2019s about looking after the bottom third of the fleet and keeping them happy. We don\u2019t really want teams to all sail with three pros. When you see team coach boats out on the water, I think that\u2019s a very bad sign. It\u2019s not something we\u2019ve banned, but it\u2019s highly discouraged.\u201d
\nCape 31 specifications
\nLOA: 9.56m \/ 31ft 3in
\nBeam: 3.10m \/ 10ft 2in
\nDraught: 2.45m \/ 8ft 0in
\nDisplacement: 1,770kg \/ 3,902lb
\nSail Area Mainsail: 39m\u00b2 \/ 420ft\u00b2
\nHeadsail: 25m\u00b2 \/ 269ft\u00b2
\nGennaker: 116m\u00b2 \/ 1,248ft\u00b2
\nIRC Rating: 1.15<\/p>\n
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The Cape 31 is a one-design yacht originally created for racing in South Africa, which has rapidly expanded with fleets around the world. Andy Rice reportsThirty-foot keelboats come and go all the time. Most arrive with a short-lived fanfare, only … <\/p>\n