German test reveals Elan 310 IRC rating...

From the looks of it (and my somewhat poor german) the german Yacht testing of the Elan 310 versus the Archambault 31 revealed an (early) identical IRC rating of 0.987. Now, I have no doubt about the A31's performance in light winds (probably far superior to the 310, due to the extreme difference in transom width), but this does indicate that the 310 will be a fun, sporty boat!

Elan 310 comparisons

I was wondering which boats the Elan 310 is strategically positioning itself against, and from different press releases it seems that the competitors are:

• First 31,7 (probably being replaced soon with a scaled-down version of the new First 35)
• Archambault 31
• Jeanneau Sun Fast 3200
• J/95
• J/97

These are formidable opponents, and especially the First 31,7 has a large following, so it will be very interesting to see the real production performance of the boat.

Since the Elan 310 targets a different group than the J/95 (high performance daysailers) lets look more at the numbers of the remaining four competitors to compare for fun.

Elan 310 versus First 31,7 (numbers from yard)

• LWL 8,71/8,80 (31,7 is 9cm longer)
• Beam 3,22/3,23 (almost identical)
• Sail area upwind 53,6 (107%)/62,5(140%) (advantage 31,7 - though with a Genoa 1)
• Sail area downwind 105,2/94 (advantage Elan 310)
• Deplacement 3750/3750 (identical)
• Ballast percentage 30/27 (the 310 is likely a bit stiffer)

Elan 310 versus Archambault 31 (numbers from yard)

• LWL 8,71/? (I have found no LWL measurements for A31....can anyone help?)
• Beam 3,22/3,23 (identical)
• Sail area upwind 53,6/50 (slight edge to Elan 310)
• Sail area downwind 105,2/102 (slight edge to Elan 310)
• Deplacement 3750/3050 (A31 is much lighter)
• Ballast percentage 30/43 (A31 is a lot stiffer)

Elan 310 versus Jeanneau Sun Fast 3200 (numbers from yard)

• LWL 8,71/8,55 (slight edge to Elan 310)
• Beam 3,22/3,48 (slight edge to Sun Fast 3200)
• Sail area upwind 53,6/66 (edge to Sun Fast 3200)
• Sail area downwind 105,2/120 (edge to Sun Fast 3200)
• Deplacement 3750/3500 (slight edge to Sun Fast)
• Ballast percentage 30/37 (Sun Fast is stiffer - it needs this with the larger sail plan)

Elan 310 versus J/97 (numbers from yard)

• LWL 8,71/8,11 (Elan 310 is quite a bit longer)
• Beam 3,22/3,35 (slight edge to J - a bit more hull stable)
• Sail area upwind 53,6/46,3 (edge to Elan 310)
• Sail area downwind 105,2/ ? (SPI is about 80m2, but haven't found mainsail area for J/97...anyone?)
• Deplacement 3750/3920 (slight edge to Elan 310)
• Ballast percentage 30/33 (J is slightly stiffer)