28 vs 31

OK, so I went for a ride yesterday on a 28R (Thanks to Craig sailing Cliff's boat... great ride, great guys). It was SWEET.
Part of the reason for my interest in a tri is that my wife wants a more "family friendly" boat. We would be doing probably 50/50 cruising/racing.. sometimes on lake michigan and sometimes in the Panhandle of Fl. My question is whether there is a significant difference in the interior of the 31 vs the 28. I have seen the interior of the 28 obviously and I think it would work for 2 adults and 2 small children given that most of the time you spend in the ****/on deck, etc. Anyone think the difference in the 31 is worth the extra cost?

If interior space and cruisability is the issue, then the 31 CC or aft Cabin is the way to go.

The 28 is a nice boat but small by comparison.

The performance difference is staggering.

Resale on F/C 31 CC's is quite good also, so they hold their value over time, I hope!!!

I say it's worth the $

Racing them kinda sucks because they are handicapped by weight and other features.

Tom, thanks for the reply. You said the diff in performance is staggering- in which direction? In favor of the 31?

Absolutely in favor of the 31.

There is also a huge difference in the feel of the boats. The 31 feels quit a bit more substantial under your feet.

The trade off you make is that the 31 takes a little more set up time, because every thing is a bit bigger.

I can be from the trailer to the water in just about an hour, a little less if I have help from some one who has some experience.

Don't forget that there is also a center **** version of the 28. This boat has much better living space than the standard 28. At one point I think they called this the Ultimate Cruiser, now there is the 28CC Ecomony and 28CC Luxury.

There is not much market for the 28CC boat. I have been sailing Corsairs in the NorthEast for 8 years, and have only seen 1 28CC. There are not many 28R racing either as far as I know, mostly cruising. The 28R is a good cruiser for 2 people, add kids and it will be cramped. I know of one that has sailed the Marblehead to Halifax race a couple times.

There is a huge difference between the 28R and thd 31R, and even between the 31R and the 31R-1D now. We had an F27 before the F31R,and my wife hated the interior space and insisted we move up to the 31R with Aft cabin. Carefull when looking at them as there are several different designs, some with larger main cabin (which reduce in my view makes it harder to get to the tramps from the ****, 2' vs 4' clearance. And then there are the aft-**** boats which require going around the mainsheet/traveler for each tack (not an issue on the Aft cabin boats). There are a lot of 31's on the market at the moment, and generally around $85-120K. So look carefully, look at the sails, insist on a test sail! I have sailed some that have terrible helm (doublehanding the tiller is not good, it should be very light and generally controlled by fingertips). The older 31's have the rudder under the boat, while the newer ones have transom mounted rudders. The 1D's have high-aspect rudders and daggerboards that are very nice and better for upwind, but not much different downwind (mast head spin, larger main, larger jib, more sails=more $). Some with have Carbon Masts, and other have aluminum. I haven't seen a lot of difference between the two, the aluminum mast is still very fast and very forgiving, albeit a bit heavier but not much.

Any other questions feel free to ask.

I have experienced some significant weather helm on a 28r which was in the process of being tuned. Outside of tuning, was there a design flaw that led to some of the 31s having more weather helm? I imagine the version with the rudder under the boat had more (?) weather helm.
I need to get on a 31AC and a 31CC to see the difference, but it seems like one of those will be our choice. I want to race it some (maybe 70 cruise/30 race, if even that much), but doubt I will look for an 31 R/D. I know the OD 31 is the AC.. correct? At least on the corsairmarine website. I guess I could get the larger sails and carbon mast etc on the CC, but then it still wouldn't be a OD 31 (and would weigh more and be at a disadvantage to the lighter AC version.
Thanks for the info, keep it coming! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

p.s. Is the 31R with the bigger cabin referred to as the "long cabin?" I figure so, but thought I would ask

I have the aft cabin, aluminum mast (carbon one is in the works)short cabin and I think it's ideal. I also stripped the interior, and replaced the counters with carbon counters, and faired the interior. It's pretty nice and easy to clean out now. There is not a great deal of differenc in the weight of my aft Cabin, vs the aft ****, maybe 100 lbs, but that is comparing a boat with a carbon mast and carpet to an aluminum mast and no carpet.

I was on a F28CC at one of the boat shows - was impressed with the improvement in space over a standard 28. The raised deck, aft cabin, and enclosed head made a nice difference if cruising is your thing. If one felt constrained by the cost of a new 31cc the 28 is not a bad alternative (31 is still better on space for sure), although I'm sure it's not cheap either.

For cruising I like the F-27 layout for the interior over the standard 28, but neither will win awards for huge space. With the aft cabin there's a place to stash the kids, and I like that the head is forward away from the main cabin.

On the Chesapeake there seems to be a bunch of F boats around, but there's no one design action. They do show up for CBYRA PHRF distance races, and we're trying to get them join in on our "Maxi Cat" designation for CRAC events.