For the record, the original post asked for any information about Almand 31''s and I gave my opinion and in an email exchange with the original poster my basis for that opinion. My goal was to be informative not to make a judgement whether the fact that the boats are slow (and we all seem to agree that they are slow boats) should discourage you from buying one. We sail for a variety of reasons and ideally take from the sport what appeals to us.
While reasonable levels of performance is a part of what interests me because it means more sailing and less motoring (and I really hate motoring) and I see performance as a safety issue as well, there is plenty of room out there for all of us, fast or slow, out there to enjoy the water.
It is not about trying to beat other boats, I do that out on the race course but in the area that I sail, the winds tend to be light occationally puctuated by heavy air. Most of us prefer to sail a specific number of hours on a given day. That time underway will vary with conditions and the individual, but for every 5 miles that you can comfortably sail in a day on the Chesapeake Bay, there are probably 20 to 30 additional anchorages that you can choose from. The difference in miles comfortably sailed in a day between my previous boat with a rating of 174 and my current boat with a rating of 129 amounts to 5 to 10 miles extra in a day and as result means a much wider selection of places that I can go in a weekend and wildly more choices when I go out for a week or more.
The other part of this is that I genuinely enjoy voyaging under sail. I have been known to cruise for over a week without starting the engine. During that week I sailed on and off the anchor and in and out of slips. There is an aesthetic that I enjoy. Do I judge you if that is not important to you..No. But if you ask my opinion of the Allmands I will tell you that from my perspective, watching them under way and looking at their ratings and talking to owners who have talked honestly about their boats, these are not great sailing boats. They do offer a lot of room for their length, something that has never mattered to me, but which is obviously of importance to the people who buy them.
In any event, I have owned fast and slow boats (if you think an Allmand is slow I had a 1939 Stadel Cutter that rated near 300), I just happen to prefer faster boats these days. Just because I happen to prefer to go fast, I really don''t judge you for prefering to go slow or being comfortable motoring more than I prefer to. In any event, good luck to all in the New Year ahead.
Jeff