Huntsman 31

The Huntsman 31 was Alan Burnard's brainchild as Faireys had found the hull of the 28 to be rather bluff in heavy weather and therefore tended to be very wet in moderate seas. The primary reason for this new hull was comfort at sea and racing (and staying dry!).

As the Huntsman 28 was still selling well at the time, Fairey's directors declined to fund a completely new boat at that time. Alan drew the hull lines in 1966/1967 roughly seven years after the advent of the 28.

Two versions of the 31 were to be offered by Faireys, one with an aft cabin and one with an open cockpit referred to as the Huntsman 31 Sport

There were two primary variants of Huntsman 31: The Mk1 (1967~1969) is identified by the Shell style air-scoops and originally fitted with Perkins T6.354 engines of 145HP. The Mk 2 introduced ~1970 had the larger air-boxes more akin to the Swordsman and had more powerful engines; typically Ford based and between 180 and 225HP.

The later hulls (the so called "Racing Hulls") had a heavier layup with two extra veneers and the engine bearers extended right forward. In the earlier hulls, the engine stringers stop in the Heads/Galley area. Some hulls have been subsequently reinforced to cope with larger engine powers and might have a heavier front ring frame in the forward cabin and may have had heavier spray-rails fitted to stiffen the hull.

Vital Statistics:

LOA:                31' 3"        (9.55m)

LWL:                25' 8"        (7.85m)

Beam:                9' 8"        (2.95m)

Draught:            2' 10"      (0.87m)

Displacement:    4.5 tons (4580kg)

The Huntsman 31 brochure may be found at the bottom of the page.

* = Aft Cockpit boat, or Sport Version

% = converted from aft cabin to aft cockpit 'Sport' configuration

! = Racing hull with extra veneers & long engine stringers