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Beneteau 31.7 Sailing News
Chris Johnston's Prospect crew are the winners of the 31.7 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire
Chris Johnston's Prospect from the host club was the overall winner of the Beneteau 31.7 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club on Saturday. After a full series of six races on Dublin Bay, Johnston held on to an overnight three-point lead…
Chris Johnston's Prospect crew are leading the 31.7 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire
Chris Johnston's Prospect from the host Club leads the Beneteau 31.7 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. After two light air races on Dublin Bay, Johnston has a three-point lead over Extreme Reality on 6 points. Michael Blaney's After…
Chris Johnston's Prospect was the winner of the Beneteau 31.7 Thursday night DBSC race on Dublin Bay
Chris Johnston's Prospect was the winner of Thursday night's nine-boat Beneteau 31.7 Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) AIB sponsored Summer series race on Dublin Bay. Winds were northwesterly and up to 15 knots on the Bay. The National Yacht Club skipper…
John Minnis (right) and Jeff Flannigan at the Clyde Cruising Club prizegiving
The North Rotunda in Glasgow was the swanky venue for the Clyde Cruising Club’s Annual Prizegiving last weekend and there to pick up his prizes won at the Scottish Series way back at the end of May was Royal Ulster’s…
Royal Ulster's 'man on a mission' John Minnis lived up to his pre-championship word and delivered a perfect scoreline to win the Beneteau 31.7 Irish National Championships 2021 at the National Yacht Club this afternoon with five straight wins.  The Gareth…
John Minnis's 'Final Call' has taken three wins
John Minnis's Royal Ulster Yacht Club entry 'Final Call' has taken three wins from three races so far at the 2021 Beneteau 31.7 Irish National Championships.  The sole Northern Ireland entry in the ten boat fleet is being chased by Chris…
John Minnis's Beneteau 31.7, Final Call from Royal Ulster Yacht Club
The only competitor in the nine-strong fleet from the Northern waters and the only Beneteau 31.7 from outside Dun Laoghaire, John Minnis's Final Call, has made the long haul south for the National Championships at the National Yacht Club this weekend.…
Levante was the DBSC 31.7 DBSC winner
Michael Leahy and John Power's Levante from the National Yacht Club was the winner of Saturday's DBSC Beneteau 31.7 One Design race on Dublin Bay. Second were NYC clubmates Bluefin Two (Michael & Bernie Bryson) while third place went to…
31.7 National Champion - Crazy Horse
Frank Heath's 'Crazy Horse' crew were the winners of the Beneteau 31.7 National Championships 2019 at the Royal Irish Yacht Club yesterday. Heath, of the host club, emerged three points clear in the nine boat fleet after six races sailed…
John Minnis's Royal Ulster Yacht Club entry, Final Call leads the Beneteau 31.7 scratch fleet at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
Frank Heath's local entry Crazy Horse of the Royal Irish YC and Royal St George YC leads the Dublin Bay challenge to overcome the leading visitors in the Beneteau 31.7 scratch fleet at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. Heath is only two points off…
Peter Beamish's Camira, of the Royal Irish Yacht Club, won three of six races to win the Irish title
Peter Beamish and his crew on Camira have beaten defending champion Jean Mitton's Levana to win the 2018 Beneteau 31.7 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Beamish, of the host club, won three of four races on Saturday to…
Peter Beamish's Camira has a six-point overnight lead at the Beneteau 31.7 National Championships
With three wins from four races, Peter Beamish's Camira from the host club has established a six-point overnight lead at the Beneteau 31.7 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club on Dublin Bay. Racing initially this morning in gusty north-westerly…
An expected 13-boat Beneteau 31.7 fleet will race a six race series from the RIYC this weekend for national championship honours
Jean Mitton's Levana of the Royal St. George Yacht Club will defend her Beneteau 31.7 National Championship title at the Royal Irish Yacht Club this weekend on Dublin Bay. An expected 13-boat fleet will race a six race series. Four on Saturday…
Peter Beamish (right) with the Camira crew at Dun Laoghaire Marina all set for a 3di Sail Trial on Dublin Bay
North Sails Ireland's Maurice "Prof" O'Connell had a chilly evening's test sail on Friday April 13th, unlucky 13th for Prof, as he had no foul weather gear! The occasion was the unveiling of new sails on the Beneteau First 31.7…
Jean Mitton's Levana of the Royal St. George Yacht Club leads Chris Johnston's National Yacht Club entry Prospect in the Beneteau 31.7 Championships on Dublin Bay
Jean Mitton's Levana of the Royal St. George Yacht Club has won the cut-short Beneteau 31.7 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. See full results below. Mitton held the overnight lead after four races in the 13–boat fleet…
The First 310’s slightly hollowed waterlines forward hint at the performance potential of a boat which is the hull sister of the Figaro Solo OD
At first glance, the First 310 makes you restless. You sense there’s more to this than meets the eye writes W M Nixon. And you’d be right. The First 310 and her cousins are something else too, as they’re actually…

Beneteau 31.7 sailing in Ireland

In Ireland, the Beneteau First 31.7 Ireland One Design Class Association encourages and develop the use of the Beneteau First 31.7 yacht as a one-design keelboat, mainly for racing. 

Each year the association stages national championships with boats coming from different sailing across Ireland. The main centre is Dun Laoghaire Harbour where the bulk of the fleet (15 boats) are based at the National Yacht club but are moored at Dun Laoghaire Marina.

The Beneteau 31.7 boat is not new to Dublin Bay, as boats of this size and type have competed in DBSC in the Cruiser 2 class for some years.

However during the 2006 season, due to their increased numbers, DBSC granted the class its own racing start, thereby facilitating one-design racing for this cruiser/racer. 

Since then it has become one of the biggest one-design keelboat classes on the Bay.

One-design rules were drawn up to discourage modifications, maintain a level playing field and set a generally ‘Corinthian’ ethos.

To preserve the cruising dimension, the boat races with cushions aboard.

Numbers entered in DBSC have settled down to approx 15-18 boats, and regular Thursday and Saturday attendances over the season are usually of the order of 14 to 16 boats, reflecting good participation by members. Racing is close and competitive. 

In addition to scratch results, ECHO results are also posted. This combines the best of both worlds, providing one-design racing which the members like, while also providing an incentive and interest in turning out for those boats who may not always approach podium position on scratch.

At A Glance – Beneteau First 31.7 Specifications

L.O.A 9.61 m
Hull length 9.50 m
L.W.L. 8.80 m
Beam 3.23 m
Draught min (Deep draught keel) Cast iron 1.90 m
Ballast weight (Deep draught keel) 1 025 kg
Air draught (max) 13.90 m
Light displacement (EC) 3 750 kg
Fuel capacity 30 l
Freshwater capacity 160 l
Engine power 21 HP

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