Cape 31, Mills’ superfast monotype (9m) arrives in Italy

A monotype that is enjoying great success abroad, especially in England, lands in Italy. We are talking about Cape 31 (9.55 x 3.05 m), designed by Mark Mills. A fast, fun, marine, land-transportable hull that is easy to handle: both for one-design racing and IRC trials. The Italian dealer will be Savona Shipyard.

Cape 31, the Scottish lord’s dream

The Irish designer wizard of IRC and superfast Maxis (his latest creation is FlyingNikka) has turned into reality a boat concept thought up by Lord Irvine Laidlaw, a Scottish tycoon famous on international race courses for his boats bearing the name Highland Fling.

According to Laidlaw, the Cape 31 was supposed to be a clean and simple One Design with high performance and no strings attached. Designed to be used primarily in Cape Town (where Laidlaw resides), one of sailing’s havens, Mills optimized the Cape 31 to achieve a combination of both upwind and downwind performance in taut conditions, while maintaining performance in lighter airs.

Cape 31, the fast boat born in the wild

Thus Mills: “Freed from the commercial pressures that usually require a project of this nature to be widely publicized and often compromised before the first boat is ready to launch, we were able to focus on the brief and deliver a modern, fast speedster.”

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The designer continues, “Based on our experience in developing light and fast hulls, with the assistance of our research and development partners KND/Sailing Performance, we have produced a hull shape with low freeboard and aggressive edge that maximizes shape stability in tense winds, yet enjoys a low wetted surface in the upright position.

The edge running forward toward the bow helps produce a moment of bow rise at speed in waves. The challenge of this hull for an all-around design is to balance the beam, the fullness of the bow, and the height of the aft edge to produce the most powerful design possible at the leads, without eliminating its upwind capabilities.” The numbers speak for themselves: 7.5 knots upwind, over 20 at the leads.

A deep fin keel, an extra-long bowsprit and a powerful sail plan complete the boat, which features an open cockpit and “as flush as possible” deck plan derived directly from Mills’ expertise in the Maxi 72 world.

The Cape 31, in fact, proved to be an immediate success (it is a 2017 project) with over 50 boats sold worldwide. The largest fleet is on the south coast of the United Kingdom, with new fleets growing in the United States, Europe, Australia, and Hong Kong.

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In Italy

As anticipated, now the Cape 31 has an official dealer in Italy: exclusively distributing it will be the Savona Shipyard of Giorgio and Martino Tortarolo (great sailors, father and son), who will work jointly with 31 North Yachting, the Cape 31’s official agent. The Savona shipyard will be the operational and logistical headquarters for the new Class, which is already particularly successful in England and the U.S., where numbers are sailing well into double digits.

For information and test requests: ca****@************rd.com

Technical specs

Length ft 9.55 m
Length at waterline 8.75 m
Maximum beam 3.05 m
Displacement 1,800 kg
Draft 2.45 m