G'day seabreezers
I was hopeing somebody could maybe point me in the direction of or provide me with some information about the (Australian)North Shore 31.
Looking at them I love the simplicity of the setup and the beauty of the wooden construction on some but I wonder if anyone has used them for cruising? I realise most of them are setup for racing so have minimal water and fuel storage.
It also looks like fractional rig with swept back spreaders so I assume no running back stays?
Anyway any info is appreciated as all I can find is from sales blurbs.
Surprisingly the NS31 is not listed on sailboatdata.
This 1988 one here was the hull plug for the grp ones to follow - assume you are talking about it in the text "beauty of the wooden construction on some". I assume it would be the only one built with a strip plank cedar (and glass each side) timber hull - it has the grp deck and cabin.
yachthub.com/list/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/northshore-31/250938
This 2009 one is all grp and around $40k more...........not sure why you would call it an NS310 and not stick with the NS31 - but it was probably a marketing issue thought to be a good idea at the time...........
www.boatsonline.com.au/boats-for-sale/used/sailing-boats/northshore-310/251194
Correct - no running backstays.
They are a very honest boat and versatile - club racing, weekender, cruiser..........obviously not speed competitive with more racer/cruiser designs of the time or later. Very well built. Wouldn't be a big deal to increase fuel and water tank volumes?
Good general NS yachts video here
Thanks for the vid r13, yes the first one is the one I saw. To my eye the inside looks beautyfull. It makes sense that it would have been the plug for the rest aswell.
Ive seen a couple for sale and the prices vary between 40-99k with the build year (and in this case maybe construction/keel material?)seeming to make the biggest difference.
I like the way you said that it does look like a "very honest boat".
I have never heard of the Northshore 31 before. Hellishly good internal volume for a 31 foot performance yacht and the vid shows the performance.
Any idea who the designer is?
The one in the vid looks to have a transom hung rudder. Is that the case?
Yes I had a good look it certainly does. I guess that might be a conversion as the only ones I've seen for sale (three of them) have all had open sterns with I'm guessing the same rudder attached to a mini skeg underneath.
I've always loved the stern shapes of eastcoast 31/defiance/cole nantuckets but the space in the rear of this yacht (for a 30fter) has me rethinking that.
Edit: I just saw a NS33 on the northshore website with a flat stern and stern mounted rudder- maybe that one ,towards the end, is a 33?
Not sure how many were built - would guess at around 30-40? Hank Kaufman the designer.
In the vid NS33s (transom humg rudder, companionway offset to stbd) feature from 1:19 to 3:19 (sail 4521), 3:20 to 4:05 (sail M95) then the 31 from 4:06 to the end. Am pretty sure that all 31/310s had rudder hung off rudder post underneath the stern, probably with small skeg also. Believe all 31/310 keels were cast iron - would assume the bulbs were CI also not lead but not 100% sure.
Yes excellent stern space due to the beam - for cockpit and double berth under, also very easy to get on board through the transom.
Couple more good vids you have probably seen.
Awesome feedback and videos. As far as I'm concerned Kaufman is one of the greats. Thank you.
They certainly look bigger and better than what one would expect of a 31 footer.
If you can score one in good nick for $35k or less I think you would be doing well.
They have done something diabolical to sailboatdata.com which I am not fussed on.
They only list the Northshore 27 and 38 to him. I am sure he drew more than they.
sailboatdata.com/designer/kaufman-hank
Whoops sorry Cisco I got my Kaufmans mixed up- Michael Kaufman is the designer of boats like the Kaufman 47. 
sailboatdata.com/index.php/sailboat/kaufman-47
And I would highly recommend to anyone (good for lockdown) to have a listen to John Kertchmer's audio book "Sailing a serious ocean" which is mostly based on his time sailing that boat, suffice to say the guy is a very serious sailor and has nothing but praise for the boat.
