Family cruiserr

For some of us the pursuit of happiness involves reducing life to the minimal elements. Of course we are, at the core, sailors, so we need our boats. (And I think "need" is the correct word.) But being truly self-sufficient on your boat can make you happy. Now we could argue about what "self-sufficient" means, but indulge me here and imagine it means snug on the hook, the dog walked, dinner on the two-burner, a glass of Dalwhinnie and the comforting sound of a Schubert piano sonata coming from your Sony water-resistant portable stereo. You could even remove the scotch and the stereo and replace them with a good book-about Schubert. Small boats can make you happy.

The Hanse 311 seems to have everything you would need. The design is by Judel-Vrolijk, and the hull is contemporary but conservative. The beamy hull has short ends, a broad stern, large rudder and a bulb-type fin. Designed to be a family cruising boat or what we would call in the old days a "cruiser-racer," this boat reminds me of countless Ericsons, Rangers, Islanders and Pearsons. It's just a good, all round design. The D/L is 204.

The layout has a double quarter berth that has a door on the compartment. (I hesitate to call it a "stateroom.") The head is fine with access to the port lazarette adjacent to the cockpit where the drawings show a pipe berth. Access to this pipe berth is tight. I'm not as flexible as I once was, and I was never very flexible, so this does not look like a place I would want to sleep. A "charter" layout is also available and comes with two mirror-image double quarter berths. The main cabin has opposing settee berths that extend into the forward chainplate bulkhead. I have never been too keen on these "foot pockets." The forward V-berth looks short, but fine for children. Hey! It's a 31-foot boat. You can't expect everything. Galley and nav table look functional. Headroom is 6 feet, 1 inch.

Fractional rigs dominate modern designs. Why? I'll tell you why I think this is. It's better to have the bigger sail on the boom where it is easier to handle. Big, overlapping genoas are hard to handle and of dubious value. You could extend this argument with rating rule benefits, but that doesn't really fit our discussion. Putting the mast farther forward also probably results in a more manageable helm and better feel to the boat. Plus, with the main moved forward you can sail more effectively under main alone, although I'm not sure why you would do this. The spreaders are swept and the mainsail roach clears the backstay. I don't have I, J, E and P so I can't tell you the exact SA/D. My guess is that it's around 19.

Built by Germany's second largest sailboat builder, Yachtzentrum Greifswald, the Hanse is made with a balsa-core hull and deck and all iso resins. The keel design was awarded second place at the the 2001 Bricola de Oro Design competition. Hanse North America, Brewer Wickford Cove Marina, 65 Reynolds Street, North Kingston, RI 02852, (401) 423-9192, www.hanseyachts.com.