Instant Classic - 31 Mainship Pilot

Meet the new Mainship 31 Pilot, a family-friendly hardtop that sleeps four and promises years of carefree cruising.

(Article from Motor Boating magazine August 2008)
By Peter A. Janssen, Photography by Forest Johnson

Every so often, a boat comes along that hits a nerve — the right boat at the right time. Sometimes, because of its lines, lasting appeal and singular characteristics, it becomes the right boat for a long time. That was certainly the case when the Mainship 30 Pilot was introduced about a decade ago. Indeed, the boat quickly became a classic in its genre. But even a classic needs updating. Everything, in time, can be improved. So Mainship now has launched the 31 Pilot, an update of the 30 in one sense, a totally new boat in another. And it too seems destined for great popularity and a long run, because of its looks, economy of upkeep, performance and the many new family-friendly features that make it stand out from the crowd.

THE CRUISING LIFE. The 31 Pilot at anchor above Beaufort, North Carolina (left), and a view of the protected helm deck (right).

When I stepped on the 31 Pilot at the Morehead Beaufort Yacht Club — a few miles up the Intracoastal Waterway from the delightful old cruising town of Beaufort, North Carolina, (founded in 1709) — I was immediately impressed by two things that make it special. First is the large, semi-enclosed helm deck with standard hardtop and extra-large windows on both sides (with isinglass that drops down in back if the weather is really bad). The galley is up here, as are lots of seats, so the entire area is very much like a large all-weather combination helm station/country kitchen and sun porch. Then, below, an innovative interior features a queen-size island berth forward and a convertible sofa on the port side that, with a few easy tugs, becomes two full-size upper and lower berths. Presto chango, you have a 31-foot cruising boat that comfortably sleeps a family.

"The 30 was a couple's boat," said Jim Krueger, Mainship's director of sales and marketing, who met me on the boat. "Lots of people liked the look and the power but it could only comfortably sleep two. We surveyed more than 500 people; we talked with our owners, our dealers. People said they wanted a boat that sleeps four that they could spend time on with their family. This is it."

But the 31 Pilot is also a good-looking hardtop cruiser with classic Downeast lines and a semi-displacement hull. It gives you a flat-out top speed of 22 knots or a cruise-all-day speed of 9 knots when the single Yanmar 315 diesel sips only three gallons an hour. "For the price of a glass or two of good wine, you can take your family cruising for an hour," says Krueger. "That's a pretty attractive tradeoff."

CREATIVE SPACE. The queen berth in the bow (left) with storage under-neath (right); the convertible sofa is on the left with an extra seat on the right.

With the 31 Pilot, Mainship also has tapped into a growing demographic and an expanding lifestyle. It's not only a boat for families, but, with more than a nod to the aging baby boomer generation, it's also a vehicle for grandparents to connect with their grandchildren. And the single-diesel efficiency and economy is particularly attractive in a time of increasing fuel and maintenance costs. The result is a boat that's attractive for people moving up from pocket cruisers who want a good-looking and nicely performing entry into the trawler cruising lifestyle, and also for more experienced owners who might be moving down in size but who still want the amenities of a larger boat. The original 30 Pilot, Krueger says, sold more than 800 models during its nine-year run. The new 31, it seems to me, offers that same type of market dominance and product longevity.

The 31 Pilot is also fun to drive, as we soon found out. In the Low-country waters around Beaufort, you need to keep an eye on your charts, and it helps to have local knowledge. Over the years, I've stopped in Beaufort several times for overnights while bringing boats up from Florida or from Charleston, South Carolina, to our home base in Connecticut. And, heeding the warnings from the cruising guides and looking out at the obvious shoaling on either side of the channel, I've tread cautiously. But now we were exploring outside the channel, trying to get a feel for boating in that part of the world. We enlisted the help of John Warrington of Beaufort Yacht Sales, who's been boating here for more than 20 years. As he introduced himself on the boat, Warrington said he's "Beaufort's oldest yacht broker, and Mainship's newest." Indeed, he had signed up with Mainship only a month or so before, and the 31 Pilot was his first boat. A very good sport, he also brought along friends with their boats for even more local knowledge who guided us to gorgeous out-of-the-way passages where I could have sworn there wasn't enough water to float a canoe. Fortunately, draft on the 31 Pilot is only 2 feet 6 inches, and the prop is protected, a point Krueger said is very important to Mainship owners.

In the main channel, mindful of the changing markers as the Waterway met the local Beaufort channel, I put the boat through her paces and found she handles easily. I think you could settle into the comfortable helm seat and dial into a 15-knot cruising speed and just enjoy life all day long. The big stainless-steel wheel is five turns from side to side, so steering and docking is under control. I turned the wheel sharply for some high-speed turns, and the hull just carved through the water. The original 30 had a large keel. The new 31 has a prop tunnel. I saw the 31 out of the water a week later at the Silverton factory in Millville, New Jersey, where half a dozen 31 Pilots are under construction. (Both Silverton and Mainship are part of the Luhrs Corp.) "The boat with the keel leaned a bit in the turns," Krueger said. "This one performs better." I didn't notice any lean at all. Backing down, the boat, with a right-handed prop, turns to port a bit, but the standard Side-Power bow thruster corrects that. A stern thruster is an option, which Krueger says is popular. He also said that, increasingly, women are driving boats themselves. "At our rendezvous, maybe 30 or 40 percent of the wives are the captains, while their husbands handle the lines," he said. "It's great to see." With bow and stern thrusters, you can walk the boat sideways, making docking simple. "It's all about making it easy and fun," Krueger says. "You need to get rid of the problem people have with docking. If they're afraid of docking, they'll leave boating." As we headed back toward the dock ourselves, a few dolphins started playing off the bow; then, as we got into the harbor, a big ray floated eerily behind the boat.

A GOOD ATTITUDE. With its 315 hp Yanmar diesel, the Mainship 31 Pilot cruises all day at a steady 15 knots; Janssen gets comfortable at the helm (right).

After we tied up, I had a chance to go through the boat and I was impressed. Most important to me is the fact that it does indeed make boating easy. There are handholds everywhere they should be (which is to say, everywhere you need them); the decks are covered with nonskid. The side decks are large enough to move forward comfortably and safely, even for a tall person like myself. On the 30, the side decks were only 4.5 inches wide. On the new 31, they're 9 inches wide. "And that's an important improvement for our owners," Krueger said. The stainless rails going forward are sturdy and high enough. You can board the boat from either side, or from the swim platform; a transom door leads into the cockpit, so you simply walk on board.

Engine access is exceptional, with a large hatch on the centerline and a smaller one forward for fast daily checks (the 30 had only one hatch). There's plenty of room all around the Yanmar, even on the outboard sides, and the Racor and sea strainers are easy to reach aft of the engine itself. "Our owners like to do a lot of the work themselves," Krueger said. It should be easy with this straightforward installation. The entire deck of the 31 has been raised a few inches from that on the 30. This adds to the engine access and also gives better visibility both for the driver and from the matching passenger seat on the port side and from the large L-shaped lounge behind the passenger seat. A nice table on a pedestal is in front of the lounge, positioned across from the galley on the starboard side behind the helm seat. The galley has all the necessities — an electric grill and a sink under Corian counters, a microwave and a fridge with an ice cube freezer tucked under the helm seat. Sliding windows on both sides (next to the driver and the passenger) provide extra ventilation under the hardtop.

Below, everything is straightforward, with the highlight being the sleeping arrangements afforded by the queen bed forward and the sofa that converts to the upper and lower bunk beds, with ample room separating them. There's a nice seat on the starboard side, a neat place to relax and read a book, or simply a place to change your clothes. The head is generous (larger than the one on the 30) with a telephone shower. All in all, in the 31 Pilot, Mainship has produced a boat with wide appeal. With any luck at all, it should have as long a life as its predecessor.

MAINSHIP 31

Specifications
LOA: 35'5"
Beam: 10'2"
Draft: 2'6"
Disp.: 11,750 lbs.
Fuel: 180 gals.
Water: 40 gals.
Contact: Mainship Trawlers, mainship.com
Base Price (with test power): $186,500

Performance
TEST POWER: (1) 315 hp Yanmar 6LPA diesel. Speeds measured by GPS in the ICW north of Beaufort, North Carolina, in calm conditions with four people on board, 7/8 fuel and 1/2 water. Sound levels provided by the company.

PROS:
- Unique sleeping arrangement for a family of four.
- Economical cruising costs.
- Enclosed helm deck translates into a longer boating season, or simply greater comfort on board.

CONS:
- For a family boat, it definitely needs more drink holders.
- Could use more food storage space in the galley area.
- Living space below is limited; the tradeoff is that there's lots of sleeping space.

INSIDE:
- The side decks are wide and protected by high rails.
- The convertible sofa separates into two bunk beds so that, with the queen forward, the boat sleeps four comfortably.
- The standard hardtop and large side windows create a spacious, enclosed, all-weather platform, whether underway or at the dock.