UFO 31
COLVIC · Holman & Pye · 1986
Updated
The UFO 31 is a 9.40 m heavy displacement racing yacht designed by Holman & Pye and built by COLVIC, first launched in 1986. It races in Class C.
Length
9.40 m
30′ 10″
Beam
3.06 m
Draft
1.69 m
Displacement
3.6 t
Sail area
49 m²
On the podium
Where a UFO 31 finishes when she goes racing.
0
Wins
0
Seconds
0
Thirds
1
Starts
Not enough races yet for a percentage — these are the counts so far. We keep collecting results, so this will fill in.
Read from 1 start by 1 boat between 2024, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a UFO 31 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Regata Brindisi-Corfù2024
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
—
Not enough data yet: no races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
—
Not enough data yet: 1 race over 10 NM carry a published distance.
Who she races against
The designs a UFO 31 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Met too few times for a figure:
Grand Soleil 40 (Polli) (1 meeting), Elan S5 (1 meeting), Farr 40 (1 meeting), Solaris 44 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 341 (1 meeting), First 36.7 (1 meeting), Mumm 36 (1 meeting), Farr 39 (1 meeting), Bonin 358 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 40 (Paperini) (1 meeting), Sun Odyssey 49 (1 meeting), First 40.7 (2 meetings), Figaro 2 (1 meeting), Bavaria Match 35 (1 meeting), Bavaria Cruiser 39 (1 meeting), X-119 (1 meeting), Sun Odyssey 440 (1 meeting), Bavaria Match 42 (1 meeting), Sun Odyssey 42 (Lombard) (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 46 (Jézéquel) (1 meeting), Bavaria C45 (1 meeting), Feeling 39 (1 meeting), Bavaria Cruiser 37 (1 meeting), Oceanis 393 (1 meeting), Sun Odyssey 52.2 (1 meeting), Sun Odyssey 410 (1 meeting), Solaris 36 (1 meeting), X-412 (1 meeting)
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
4.42
39°
Beam reach
6.95
90°
Broad reach
7.66
135°
Downwind VMG
6.86
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
Soft conditions suit it. Early-season racing and morning breezes play to its strengths; once it pipes up the fleet comes back to it.
Where it gains
Its best ground is cracked off in the light stuff, where it outruns what it looks like on paper. It holds that advantage on the beat as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short off the wind when it blows, giving away time it never gets back. That is weight that has to be driven rather than released.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 0.4 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the upwind.
How fast is a UFO 31
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.02 | 4.04 | 4.38 | 4.42 |
| 52° | 4.58 | 5.80 | 6.14 | 6.23 |
| 60° | 4.80 | 5.95 | 6.29 | 6.41 |
| 75° | 4.93 | 6.08 | 6.46 | 6.71 |
| 90° | 4.84 | 6.18 | 6.54 | 6.95 |
| 110° | 4.95 | 6.31 | 6.86 | 7.35 |
| 120° | 4.79 | 6.26 | 6.88 | 7.63 |
| 135° | 4.38 | 6.02 | 6.74 | 7.66 |
| 150° | 3.78 | 5.54 | 6.45 | 7.32 |
| Run VMG | 3.27 | 4.83 | 5.94 | 6.86 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Nearly all carry a folding propeller. Crew weight is declared around 440 kg.
Rigging
UFO 31 rig and sail dimensions
A UFO 31 carries 10.66 m of mainsail hoist on a 3.18 m boom, a forestay 12.03 m above the deck. Typical figures across the 2 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails