Southern Cross 31?

[db27513]

Im in the market for a 30 something, blue waterish boat and recently become enamored with the Southern Cross 31. I have been searching the net (and SailNet) consistently with not very much information found, even on the owners site

Its numbers make it off shore worthy, but the sail area - displacement ratio of 12.55 makes me thinks its REALLY pokey, much like Westsail..

Thoughts?

Is there a fin keel/skeg rudder boat that has better performance numbers but a capsize ratio well under 2? (Souther Cross is 1.55) or are the numbers diametrically opposed?

We have considered a Bristol 29.9, and Bayfield 29

thanks in advance

Dave in NC

[JohnRPollard]

Dave,

I'm surprised that the SA/D ratio is so low on the Southern Cross 31. That doesn't sound right to me, but I have no first hand knowledge. Might be worth a double check. Is this not the Gillmer 31, built by Ryder? If so, there should be some discussion in Ferenc Mate's "Best Boats to Build or Buy".

You asked: <>

I will shamelessly put in a plug for our boat model, the Pacific Seacraft Crealock 31 (not to be confused with the PSC Mariah 31). It has the attributes you describe, in the size range you are looking at.

[windrose2]

Dave;
We have a gentleman in our club marketing a well equipped Southern Cross 35 for about 78k if you are interested l can get more info,
Dave

[GBurton]

I'm also looking at a SC 31. The biggest concern for me is the cored airex hull.

It is a Gilmer designed hull - same as roughwater 33

[db27513]

Windrose2 - $78k is out of my range Dave, but thanks.

JohnR - got the figures from the Carls SailCalc.. in pics is sure does look like the main is small, but maybe they are not counting the headsail?? dontknow

Gburton - I too heard of the cored hull.. but dont really know what to make of it. Anything designed with a 13000+ of displacement in 30 ft of boat has got to be solid, no? Is your concern about water penetration or strength if struck by something?

Im not concerned about the ruggedness, but more about light air and pointing ability.. the figures I reference are really low..

The only owners site that Im aware of is www dot southerncross-boats dot org/
and it doesnt have specs

[Gary M]

With a sail area to displ of 12.5 I would think a Westsail would sail circles around them

Have you looked at a Niagara 35 ? They have a long fin keel and a skeg rudder and were designed for blue water. There are a lot of them on the Great Lakes in really nice shape.

I would be concerned about the wooden bow sprint on the Bayfiled as this is were the forestay attaches. Even though they have a traditional look and are good boats I am not so sure they were ever intended for off shore work.

Good Luck
Gary

[JohnRPollard]

Dave in NC,

Carl's sail calculator is a neat tool, but I have seen errors there. Not output errors, but input errors. My understanding is that anyone can load up the specs to a boat model and run the numbers through the calculator. Sometimes the numbers come from dubious sources (like the specs listed in Yachtworld) and to the best of my knowledge there is no process in place to verify.

Then again, maybe those numbers for the SC 31 are spot on. If you're truly interested in this model, it would be worth doing some homework to verify the specs.

[sailingdog]

The Southern Cross 31 is a pretty solid boat, with circumnavigations to its credit. While it has a cored hull, the hull is very solid, provided it hasn't had any water penetrate the core.

BTW, from my calculations, the SA/D should be more like 13.25 or so, rather than the 12.55. I am basing this on the following specifications:

LOA 31', LWL 25', Beam 9.5', Displacement 13600, SA (Main + 100% Jib) 472 sq. ft. The main and 100% Jib areas were calculated based on the I, J, P, and E measurements of the boat, which are 36.5, 15.5, 31, and 12.2 respectively. Mainsail area is approximately (P*E)/2 or (31*12.2)/2 or 189.1 sq. ft. 100% Jib are is approximately (I * J)/2 or (36.5 * 15.5)/2 or 282.9 sq. ft.

These numbers are probably a bit conservative, since they assume a mainsail with no roach area whatsoever, which is somewhat unusual today. BTW, the numbers for the SC31 are from the sail specifications section of the MauriProSailing website. The displacement, LOA, LWL and Beam are from several different sites, which all had them listed the same.

[kwaltersmi]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't many of the Southern Cross 31's owner-finished? That would be my biggest concern if I were looking at them as a bluewater yacht. Aesthetically and on paper, I really like the SC31.

If I were shopping an SC31, I'd also consider some of the following vessels:

Westsail 32, PSC 31, IP 31, Baba 30, Valiant 32, Willard 8 Ton

[sailingdog]

Yes, many of the Southern Crosses were owner finished, being sold as bare hulls IIRC. Some of the ones I've seen were quite well done—better than the factory finished ones in some cases—others were miserable.