Overview
The Nicholson 31 is a Raymond Wall design built by the venerable British yard Camper & Nicholsons from 1976 to 1980, 119 hulls in total. It was drawn as a direct successor to the Nicholson 32, keeping that boat’s folkboat-inspired, go-anywhere character in a slightly smaller, more manageable package as the 32 neared the end of its commercial life.
History
Camper & Nicholsons, a yard with roots going back to 1782, gave Raymond Wall a specific brief in 1975: a small cruising yacht capable of passagemaking in any conditions its crew could handle, covering both coastal and deep-water work. Wall had trained under Robert Clark and later worked alongside Colin Mudie before joining Camper & Nicholsons as chief sail designer, and the 31 reflects that pedigree, a stout, seaworthy, long-keel cruiser scaled for short-handed or solo offshore use as much as for a full crew. Baldwin’s list notes the boat as an updated version of the Nicholson 32, which he says would also qualify for his bluewater list except for its deeper 5’6“ draft, a boat Nicholson essentially refined into something with similar sea-going credentials on a touch less draft.
Construction
The hull is solid GRP fiberglass laid up to a standard well above average for production boats of the era, which is the main reason the 31 has a reputation as an exceptionally well-built go-anywhere design. The long keel carries roughly 4,800 lb of ballast on a 13,005 lb displacement, a 37 percent ratio, with the rudder hung directly off the keel’s trailing edge on a transom-hung arrangement rather than a separate skeg, a detail Baldwin calls out specifically as a plus. Original auxiliary power was a 12-hp Yanmar diesel, modest by modern standards but adequate for a boat meant to sail rather than motor its way across oceans.
Under Sail
At 13,005 lb on a 24’2“ waterline, the Nicholson 31 is a heavy boat for its length, which shows up as a steady, seakindly motion offshore rather than outright speed. The long keel and transom-hung rudder combination that Baldwin praises for solidity also means the boat tracks well and holds a course without constant attention, the usual tradeoff for a full-keel design of this displacement. Sources describing the boat consistently emphasize its bluewater credentials over racing performance: this is a boat built to get a small crew across an ocean safely and repeatably, not to win club races on the way.
Buyers Notes
Baldwin’s assessment lists no minuses at all, an unusual clean bill among the boats on his list, and his one specific plus, the transom-hung rudder and “overall solid good quality,” matches what independent sources say about the build. Given the boat’s age, and that some hulls carry more than four decades of use, a survey should still cover the usual items on any 1970s British GRP cruiser: keel bolts, rudder fittings, and deck coring condition, even though the design’s reputation suggests fewer chronic problems than many contemporaries. An active Nicholson 31 owners’ association maintains detailed design and history documentation, a useful resource for anyone researching a specific hull’s mark or production date within the short five-year run.
