The Marlow-Hunter 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

Glenn Henderson Glenn may refer to: Name or surname * Glenn (name) * John Glenn, U.S. astronaut Cultivars * Glenn (mango) * a 6-row barley variety Places In the United States: * Glenn, California * Glenn County, California * Glenn, Georgia, a settlement ...

as a cruiser and first built in 2015. The design is sometimes confused with the 1983 Hunter 31 and the 2006 Hunter 31-2, which was also marketed as the Hunter 31.

Production

The design was built by Hunter Marine in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, starting in 2015 and remained in production through 2019.

Design

The Marlow-Hunter 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 ...

. The hull and deck and made from a

vinyl ester resin Vinyl ester resin, or often just vinyl ester, is a resin produced by the esterification of an epoxy resin with acrylic or methacrylic acids. The "vinyl" groups refer to these ester substituents, which are prone to polymerize and thus an inhibitor is ...

with continuous reinforcement fibers, reinforced with Nida honeycomb cores and

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

in the forward hull for collision protection. It has a fractional sloop

B&R rig The B&R rig is a variant of the Bermuda sailboat rig, designed and patented by Swedish aeronautical engineers Lars Bergström and Sven Ridder. It employs swept spreaders that are usually angled aft, together with "stays" running diagonally dow ...

, a

mainsheet traveler A traveller is a part of the rigging of a boat or ship that provides a moving attachment point for a rope, sail or yard to a fixed part of the vessel. It may take the form of anything from a simple ring on a metal bar or a spar to, especially in a ...

mounted on a stainless steel arch, a nearly

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

reverse transom A transom is the vertical reinforcement which strengthens the stern of a boat. This flat termination of the stern is typically above the waterline. The term was used as far back as Middle English in the 1300s, having come from Latin ''transvers ...

with a fold-down swimming platform and folding ladder, an internally mounted spade-type

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 laterally-tilting wheel 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 ...

or shoal draft keel. With standard fin keel it displaces and carries of ballast, while the shoal draft model displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel and with the optional shoal draft keel. The steering wheel can be set in port, center or starboard positions by use of a foot locking lever, as desired by the helmsman. This provides the advantages of a dual-wheel configuration, but occupies less cockpit space. The wheel also folds when not in use. The boat is fitted with a

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 ...

3YM20

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 , with a engine optional. A sail drive is also optional. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The holding tank has a capacity of . Factory standard equipment includes a

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

interior,

Corian Corian is a brand of solid surface material created by DuPont. Its primary use is as a countertop and benchtop surface, though it has many other applications. It is composed of acrylic polymer and alumina trihydrate (ATH), a material derived ...

countertops,

microwave oven A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce ...

, refrigerator, freezer, two-burner propane stove and oven, fully enclosed head with separate shower, LED lighting,

knotmeter Pitometer logs (also known as pit logs) are devices used to measure a ship's speed relative to the water. They are used on both surface ships and submarines. Data from the pitometer log is usually fed directly into the ship's navigation system. H ...

depth sounder Echo sounding or depth sounding is the use of sonar for ranging, normally to determine the depth of water (bathymetry). It involves transmitting acoustic waves into water and recording the time interval between emission and return of a pulse; ...

. Headroom below decks is . A

roller furling Roller furling is a method of furling (i.e. reefing) a yacht's staysail by rolling the sail around a stay. Roller furling is typically used for foresails such as jibs or genoas. A mainsail may also be furled by a similar system, whereby the ...

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsail ...

and mast-furling

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 ...

are optional.

Operational history

Writing for ''Sailing'' magazine in March 2015, famed yacht designer Robert Perry, was not impressed with the styling, describing this genre of boat "as looking like 'the box the boat came in.'" He describes the compromises, "It's not a bad trend if interior volume is what you are after. The new Marlow-Hunter 31 has an interior that would have been impressive even on a 40-footer 30 years ago. For a lot of buyers, interior comfort trumps performance. But in the hands of a skilled designer, performance can still be attained. Maybe not race boat performance, but respectable cruising boat performance is possible." He concluded with faint praise for the design, "I think this would be a great boat to introduce a young family to the joys of sailing and cruising." Sven Donaldson, writing in ''Pacific Yacht Magazine'' in May 2015, concluded, "For a sailboat that fits in a 32-foot slip, it’s hard to envision a more spacious, liveable package than the new MH-31. It’s not for everyone, of course. There will be some who prefer a stronger bias toward the sailing side of the equation. On the other hand, it’s certainly no slouch under sail." ''Great Lakes Boating'' magazine published a review in the summer of 2015, saying, "The Marlow-Hunter 31 uses a well-proven hull design to rival most 34-foot models. The 30-foot foot waterline outclasses most boats, and when combined with her Henderson/Marlow chined hull, it offers off-shore stability and performance that few can match. At low angles of heel and as the wind freshens, the Marlow/Henderson hull provides superior stability and performance." In a review in '' Canadian Yachting'' in May 2016, Simon Hill, praised the interior accommodations. Of the sailing qualities, he wrote, "When some breeze appeared it was easy to deploy the furling sails, and we were quickly able to get the boat moving at nearly three knots in wind that was topping out at about four knots, tacking upwind without difficulty despite the light conditions. The true test of a slippery hull form is how well it accelerates, and the MH 31 proved quick to build speed in even the slightest pull, and equally quick to respond to the helm."

References

External links

* {{Hunter Marine Keelboats 2010s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by Glenn Henderson Sailboat types built by Hunter Marine

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References

External links