The Hunter Channel 31 was designed by David Thomas, with interior design by Ken Freivokh, and introduced in early 2000. David Thomas has been quoted as saying the design was ".... straight down the middle between a club racer/one design and a cruiser that will look after the crew and take you anywhere".

Construction is entirely conventional, with the hull being a solid GRP laminate, laid up by hand and stiffened by foam filled frames and stringers. The bulkheads are laminated in place. The deck is GRP laminate with coremat and reinforced deck beams. The plywood furniture bases are laminated to the hull to further stiffen the structure. The heads unit, engine tray and Galley are built on one internal moulding glassed to the hull giving easily cleaned areas. She has a bulbed iron fin keel or twin fins and a semi-balanced spade rudder. As you would expect from a David Thomas design the twin keels are fairly deep and efficient. The engine has shaft drive. This yacht was sold new in 2002 as a kit boat, which like all Hunter kits had all the structural work done at the factory. It was launched in 2004.

David Thomas's many designs range from the long-keeled Elizabethans of the 1960s through the Sonata and Impala one-designs and various Sigmas cruisers and racers of the 1970s and 80s. He also designed most of the British Hunter range of yachts.

The Hunter Channel 31 is significantly heavier than most comparable production cruiser/racers such as the Jeanneau Sun Fast 32, yet with a big rig is more or less comparable in speed. She also has almost 50% more ballast than the Jeanneau, and is RCD Cat A. Twenty years earlier Westerly's Fulmar 32 aimed for a similar fast cruiser/club racer design: however the one snag for many people these days with the Fulmar being that it does not have a separate aft cabin. By comparison the Channel 31 has a double berth forecabin, saloon with 6 ft headroom, an L-shaped galley with icebox and two burner cooker with oven and grill, a chart table with seat, separate heads, and a proper aft cabin with a double berth measuring 6' 6" x 6' 4". Despite the much better accommodation the Channel 31 is also similar in performance to the slightly larger Fulmar.

Owners comments about this yacht:

"Keristal" has been lightly used and is as dry as a bone inside. I have added a fully battened mainsail and the furling code zero. That combination has now meant that with almost any wind you can be averaging 5 knots. She stands up well in a blow and tops seven knots fairly routinely. With the twin keels you can get into any creek, which is a safety feature for me, because it widens the number of plan B boltholes you have available, if the weather turns. And in no wind she can manage 5 knots under power (the Yanmar has been excellent, as you would expect).

To maintain boat speed you do need to keep the hull clean, but with the twin keels you can dry out to give her a scrub. I run her with the powerbank for the fridge/freezer and a second powerbank for my computer. That allows you to go three days fully operational away from any marina, with fresh food and a cool pinot grigio in the evening. The house batteries manage everything else with ease. I have added a shower in the cockpit, to keep the crew fresh and clean too.

I am selling her because I have not been on her enough over the past 12 months. But, as I write this, I'm not sure why! I normally sail her any month of the year. With the Ebersbacher heating and hot water calorifier, it can be lovely to be out in the winter when the weather is fine. You then always get the anchorage to yourself and the Spade anchor has been outstanding. She has an unusual Takacat dinghy and a Remigo electric outboard available separately to the yacht. If you are interested in them, I can describe in detail why that combo is a bit more expensive, but so much better than the standard options.

Above: the self-tacking jib runs to the track on the foredeck

Photographs

July 2024

The Channel 31 has a single-spreader mast with a fully-battened mainsail, and a self-tacking jib on a furler. This yacht also has a furling Code Zero downwind sail. The standing rigging was replaced in 2015.

The Channel 31 is, like many smaller Hunter designs, fractional rigged, with a relatively large mainsail. This gives sail area for light winds performance, a small headsail with consequent lower sheet loads, and easy and efficient reefing from the cockpit. 'Practical Boat Owner' tested the yacht on her introduction and wrote: "..... She's incredibly obedient and will still run rings round most cruising boats of similar size even under reduced canvas" and ".... she should appeal to those who might otherwise be torn between something light, fast and French and one of the stodgier alternatives"

The Channel 31 offers a solid and surprisingly fast small cruiser, with very easy handling and good accommodation including a very large aft cabin double berth. 'Yachting Monthly' reviewed the design and said ".... It's easy to see why the Hunter Channel 31 hits the spot for many cruising sailors who enjoy sailing a boat that looks after them and really does sail. She combines performance and robustness with a much more stylish arrangement below decks than found on earlier Hunters".


Full 'Yachting Monthly' review - click here

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