Cape 31 is the super boat (9 m) that flies without foil TEST

Our “author’s” test, by “sailing philosopher” Marco Cohen*, of Mark Mills’ ultra-fast 9 m monotype Cape 31 finally arrived in Italy which has been a huge success abroad. Photos are by Mauro Melandri.

Qhis trial, or rather this story, begins with the encounter of Lord Irvine Laidlaw, a famous South African sailor, with a very special Doctor: The Cape Doctor, without whom the Cape 31 would never have existed.

Cape 31, how it was born

The Doctor, a name given gratefully by the residents of the bay for its gifts as a cleaner of the air from all kinds of pollution, is in fact the strong southeast wind that in the manner of a meltemi or mistral beats Cape Town Bay in the summertime. In short, stuff for real mariners, not pussy vermentino sailors like me.

When the South African lord asked Mark Mills. to design it as a one-design class intended initially for bay sailors, completely free of any kind of rating restrictions, only two conditions were set: the ability to surf and survive, since it is always the ocean, even strong doctor winds that can reach 30 to 40 knots, and the ability to be disassembled and shipped inside a standard 40-foot shipping container.

Cape 31, a timeless classic of 9 m

Out of this lucky and unplanned encounter came what I think is the most beautiful production boat put on the market in the last 20 years. A timeless classic, lines with a very pronounced edge but with such a low, streamlined freeboard give her an elegance and harmony that is hard to find in a boat of this size. A kind of Alfa Spider Duetto, which when you look at it when stationary or in motion always makes your head spin. Of course with wind and high speeds all this pomp and splendor you gain by taking a lot of sea, but on the other hand if you wanted to stay dry and slow, you might as well have stayed home.

First impressions

So when, after four years of watching it only on Youtube, I got a call from the Giornale della Vela asking if I had time to try out the first example to arrive in Italy at the Savona Shipyard, I dropped everything and showed up at the port gates on Monday morning to board it.

And here, forget the voyeristic surfing–as the class website states “easy exceeding 20/25 knots of speed” and imagine my beloved champagne conditions from the Gulf of Tigullio, even though we were between Savona and Varazze: between 2 and 9 knots at best, sunshine, a few clouds framing the day innocently.

I leave in the car the oilskin and spraytop I had brought in hopes of wet, high glides speed, I put on my swimsuit and t-shirt and after the obligatory focaccia, I show up at the pier for my appointment with Giorgio Tortarolo, the importer Italian, owner of Savona Shipyard and a yachtsman with a resume as impeccable and immaculate as my wine cellar, and it’s instant love at first sight. Obviously not for Tortarolo, but for her. In person and even standing still, it is beautiful.

With Baloo’s grace I jump aboard, and despite my discomfort and 97 kg before breakfast, the first surprise: the boat does not shake as much, it is very stable and rigid on the water. She looks larger and not as light as her 1,800 kg, most of which is in the keel, would suggest.

The cockpit is huge and clean, reminiscent of that of the new TP52s, very minimalist and full of fine adjustments. But nothing intimidating or precariously delicate-looking.

Cape 31 – The Test

We go out, propelled by a 15-horsepower Yanmar inboard that performs admirably, making it clear that this boat although designed only for inshore and not offshore is designed to sail and bring home post-race sailors in real seas, from the Atlantic Ocean in the South Africa area, to England, where moreover the most dynamic and numerous class is thriving.

Then finally came the long-awaited moment. Although the situation is of complete cippa (dead calm), we see a spot of darker sea…or rather Giorgio Tortarolo who has racing tactics in his DNA sees it. I was distracted trying to figure out where it was possible to fit a glacette in the cockpit dreaming myself, for a moment, owner of this wonderful boat.

We turn off the engine, hoist mainsail (a state of the art square-top with attached non-structural flywheels, which are used as an upwind throttle instead of a carriage, to control the power and shape of the mainsail) and finally the jib.

With three to four knots of wind, I put myself into a sort of wide windward wind to gain confidence, and the boat magically begins to move almost heedless of the “Gulf of Nesci” weather and comes to life. They wave to me that I can squeeze a little tighter, and the boat begins to glide on the water almost at wind speed.

We approach the darkest area, a mini-raffle comes in, the boat immediately accelerates and starts leaning on its edge (Mills always says the inclinometer is the most important instrument to check) and goes off as if on an imaginary track.

Paradoxically, this boat designed to glide in the South Seas upwind in light winds goes like a bomb. I just miss a glass of chilled local vermentino in my hand, but you can’t have everything in life. I smile and leave the helm to try to figure out what’s underneath. In the sense that I try to go below deck and although as an ad for a sport boat said a few years ago “with so much fun out who needs to go below” … indeed the space is very restrained, suitable for those with a control of their physique and spirit somewhere between a Trappist monk and a Jedi master.

Up the Gennaker!

Here comes the second long-awaited moment–up the gennaker. Just enough time to realize that the gennaker retriever that had gotten stuck below deck is not a Labrador variant but the selvedge that allows, with an internal circuit, the huge asymmetrical to be lowered quickly (also in full TP52 style)…and we fly at 7 knots in truly surreal conditions. In fact, we realize, when we haul it down, that in reality that cool, pandering breeze feeling is only given by the apparent wind that the boat always manages to build up and that in reality around us it is almost complete cippa and swine heat.

Price and considerations

In this almost total poetry and ecstasy comes a hard blow that shatters my dreams and I imagine that of other readers of the Sailing Newspaper who are not heiresses, footballers, drug dealers, speculators and other activities or family statuses that would allow them to absorb the blow of the figure I am about to tell you: between boat, vat, transport, rigging and instruments with sails (with a bolide like that you cannot “barbon” on details and equipment), it easily comes to around 280,000 euros. On the other hand, I saw a used but top-class English Cape 31 at 320,000 on the market.

Perhaps the only solution to helming/sailing with this Beauty (capital B is a must) is to get together in rope style with multiple friends or convince the wonderful owners I see in Palma or Saint Tropez on the ClubSwan 50 or in the various Maxi, Mini Maxi and similar circuits to secure 20+ knot sprints in full stability and serenity by ordering now and lining up for the fastest growing one-design boat in recent years.

Or as a last resort–find me a sponsor. Even a brand of liquor that sponsors my crew is fine: even aboard a Cape 31 they would rally to the cry, “On the aperitif (and only on that) we rock!” after all, the retriever is not essential to navigation, and a mini-fridge for vermentino or Campari, on the left side instead of its loop, would fit nicely.

Pros and cons

I conclude with a kind of final summary tabulation, as serious journalists do when they rehearse. Who am I not to do that?

Plus:

• Monotype design and beautiful, timeless boat. It will become a classic.
• Stability and quality in construction and design. It’s not a toy and it’s true that it’s expensive, but in the end it walks like a 40/45-foot pull-up.
• Shipping and disassembly system (even the shaft disassembles in two pieces)–genius.
• Edge that gives course stability and allows the boat to raise the bow in glides: it can fly without the foils!
• Mark Mills’ hand can also be seen in his excellent recent performance with the IRC rating system

Minus:

• High price

Technical Specs

Length. f.t: 9.55 m
Length. hull: 8.75 m
Max Beam: 3.05 m
Fishing: 2.45 m
Displacement. : 1,800 kg
Sail Sup.: 64 sqm
Gennaker: 116 sqm
Price: about 280,000 euros
www.cape31italia.it

*Who is Marco Cohen

Marco Cohen, film producer and sailor and owner of Mat 10.10 Dajenu, describes himself this way, “I re-embraced sailing at age 37 after yet another soccer injury, when I realized that it is the only sport you can do sitting down and with a glass in your hand.”