The Herreshoff 31, also called the Cat Ketch 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

Halsey Chase Herreshoff Halsey Chase Herreshoff (born 1933) is a naval architect of production and custom yachts, sailor and former president of Herreshoff Marine Museum. At the museum he and Edward duMoulin founded the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1992. Halsey is son o ...

as a cruiser and first built in 1979.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 234-235. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

Production

The design was built by Cat Ketch Corp. in the United States from 1979 to 1986, with 100 examples completed, but it is now out of production.

Design

The Herreshoff 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 ...

and

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) refers to a class of polymers composed of organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane is produced from ...

over wood, with wood trim. It has an unstayed

catboat A catboat (alternate spelling: cat boat) is a sailboat with a single sail on a single mast set well forward in the bow of a very beamy and (usually) shallow draft hull. Typically they are gaff rigged, though Bermuda rig is also used. Most are fi ...

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

rig, which can also be supplemented with a staysail on the aft mast, with an area of . the design has a spooned

plumb 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 t ...

, a near-vertical transom, a transom-hung

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 ...

on 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 ...

controlled by a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. ...

and a 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 lead ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel fitted. The boat is fitted with an Italian Nanni Industries or Japanese

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...

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 ...

for docking and maneuvering. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The space below decks is large, and lacks a forward bulkhead between the main cabin and the forward cabin. The galley is located to starboard and includes a two-burner stove. The head is to port at the foot of the companionway stairs, opposite the galley. Sleeping accommodation consists of a forward "V"-berth in the bow and two double bunks in the main cabin, with a stowable table in-between them. The berths all have drawer stowage underneath them. The unstayed rigging features a simple layout, with only an

outhaul An outhaul is a control line found on a sailboat. It is an element of the running rigging, used to attach the mainsail clew to the boom and tensions the foot of the sail. It commonly uses a block at the boom end and a cleat on the boom, closer ...

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 ...

downhaul The downhaul is a line which is part of the rigging on a sailboat; it applies downward force on a spar or sail. The most common downhaul on a modern sailboat is attached to the spinnaker pole, though this may be referred to as the foreguy in some r ...

and sheets for each loose-footed sail. The booms are high and on the starboard side of each sail. The boat can be sailed on one sail or both and with either reefed. The staysail can be raised on the aft mast in lighter air. The masts are designed to flex to shed excess wind loads. There are no winches for the sheets and none are required.

Operational history

In a review of the Herreshoff 31, Richard Sherwood noted, "the popularity of cat-ketches is due to the ease with which they can be sailed. Masts are usually unstayed and running rigging is simple. Tacking does not have to involve sail handling. Many of these boats have a fairly high ballast/displacement ratio, are good (though not excellent) sailers on all points, and have a lot of room below."

References

{{Reflist Keelboats 1970s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by Halsey Herreshoff Sailboat types built by Cat Ketch Corp.

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References