The Allmand 31 is an American

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminolo ...

that was designed by

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

as a cruiser and first built in 1978.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 376-377. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. The Allmand 31 design was originally marketed as the Sail 31 and was later sold as the Allmand 312, with the same deck and hull, but a different interior layout.

Production

The design was built by Allmand Boats in

Hialeah, Florida Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, Hialeah is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in the Miami metropolitan area ...

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from 1978 to 1985, but it is now out of production.

Design

The Allmand 31 is a recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

, with wood trim. The deck has an end-grain

balsa ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' being ...

core. It has a

masthead sloop A masthead rig on a sailing vessel consists of a forestay and backstay both attached at the top of the mast. The Bermuda rig can be split into two groups: the masthead rig and the fractional rig. The masthead rig has larger and more headsails, ...

rig with

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

spars, a

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a near-vertical transom, a

skeg A skeg (or skegg or skag) is a sternward extension of the keel of boats and ships which have a rudder mounted on the centre line. The term also applies to the lowest point on an outboard motor or the outdrive of an inboard/outboard."A small fin f ...

-mounted

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

controlled by a wheel and a short fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

. It displaces and carries of iron ballast with the standard rig or lead with the tall rig. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel fitted. A tall rig was optional, with a mast about higher than standard for use in locations with light winds. The boat is fitted with a Universal M16 or M35

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

of . Some sources state the standard engine was a Universal M-20 diesel, with a Universal M-25 optional. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The design has a galley on the starboard side, including an 8

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and pressure water. The head is located forward on the port side, just aft of the bow "V"-berth. Additional sleeping accommodation includes an aft cabin under the cockpit, a port side main cabin settee that converts to a double and a starboard side settee/berth for total sleeping space for seven people. The dinette also seats seven people. Ventilation is provided by hatches over the aft cabin, main cabin and bow cabin, plus seven opening ports. Two winches are provided in the cockpit for the

genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

sheets and a winch on the mast for the

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot i ...

halyard In sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist a ladder, sail, flag or yard. The term ''halyard'' comes from the phrase "to haul yards". Halyards, like most other parts of the running rigging, were classically made of ...

, plus another winch for the genoa halyard. The design has a

Portsmouth Yardstick The Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a term used for a number of related systems of empirical handicapping used primarily in small sailboat racing. The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the han ...

racing average handicap of 85.5.

Operational history

In a review Richard Sherwood wrote, "the Allmand is claimed to have a tacking angle of 84 degrees. Because beam on deck is 11 feet 4 inches and 8 feet 6 inches at the water, after initially heeling she picks up a large amount of buoyancy and is stiff. The long water line allows for additional internal volume." Gregg Nestor wrote a review of the design in ''Cruising World'' in 2013, noting its sailing qualities, "under sail, the boat accelerates quickly, but windward performance is hampered by its wide beam and shoal draft. Although the 31 will tack through about 90 degrees and is extraordinarily stiff and sails almost level, it makes noticeable leeway. Its best points of sail are off the wind." He concluded, "the strongest features of the Allmand 31 are its generous interior and its spacious cockpit. Its moderate rig is easily managed, but the shoal draft and the smallish sail area make the Allmand 31 a better candidate for coastal cruising than bluewater sailing. The boat is solidly constructed and doesn’t look that dated, but the builder wasn’t known for sailboats, and this probably accounts for the 31’s current depressed price" A review in ''Practical Sailor'', stated, "this 1970's era cruiser is beloved for its roomy, tri-cabin interior, but it does not sail close to the wind and the shoal keel makes excessive leeway.".

Variants

;Allmand 31 :Base model ;Allmand 312 :Model with same deck and hull, but an alternate interior design.

References

{{Reflist Keelboats 1970s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by Walter Scott Sailboat types built by Allmand Boats

Production

Design

Operational history

Variants

See also

References