Kingfisher Sport 31'

This is a boat with pedigree as the Kingfisher Boat Company have gained a huge reputation building commercial boats and moulds since 1984. You'll see Kingfisher work boats in ports scattered all over the UK, which is indicative of a high degree of craftsmanship, build strength, versatility and reliability. If you've got boats working all over the country, then it has to be word of mouth advertising, and it doesn't get better than that.

Kingfisher are based in Falmouth, Cornwall and owned by Ron Coote who set up the company after a long career with a major UK boat builder. Kingfisher were one of the first boat builders to be quality approved to ISO 9002-LRQ standard. In our language LRQ stands for Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance in relation to GRP marine craft and associated mouldings. Ron maintains a hands on approach to his business and oversees each build project from start to finish.

THE KINGFISHER SPORT 31'
I felt a touch of deja vu with this hull as it is a creation of the highly acclaimed Power Boat designer John Moxham who also designed the Redfinn 6000. The hull is a deep "V" planing hull with a special unique dynamic lift area to the stern. This gives a faster response time to reach planing speed, increases load carrying capacity, and gives a greater degree of fuel economy at cruising speed.

The hull also incorporates a unique long keel. The keel has square holes in it set at an angle. As the boat comes up on the plane these holes are level with the water and allow water to pass through them. This gives greater stability at speed and more predictable steerage when manoeuvring in tight spaces at low revs.

Another feature is a futuristic rudder design. This is pretty much the shape of an aeroplane wing, but positioned vertically with the fat edge forward facing and the back edge tapered down. This improves steerage, handling and stability over traditional rudder designs.

The vessel I tested was fitted with a single Cummins 6CTA 430hp engine and weighs 5.3 tonnes unloaded. She's 31 feet long, has a beam of 12 foot, and a draught including the keel of 3 feet 1 inch.

ALL ABOARD
Looking at the boat from the pontoon the stern carries a dive platform ideal for getting access to big fish like tope or conger. Access to the deck is through a wide mid transom swing door. The deck area is flat with a sealed engine hatch bolted down, but this easily removable in 10 minutes for major repairs and lifting the engine out.

Looking at the deck, the average eight man charter boat crew would have heaps of room, though the deck area could house up to ten anglers fishing. There are four large scuppers to take water off the deck.

The gunnels come up to mid thigh height, but have additional stainless steel rails which are at the ideal height to allow comfy fishing without the rod needing to be held always high above the safety rails making pirking or feathering difficult and uncomfortable. The stern quarters are served by top quality Sampson posts for mooring, each with metal plates to spread the load when under stress.

Looking forward access to the bow is via built in steps between the gunnel and the cabins outside bulkhead. There is a massive amount of room allowing a big guy to walk alongside the cabin on the footway without needing to do the sideways crab shuffle as on many other boats. The bow rail is a full length type running continuously from just rearward of the cabin, fully round the bow and back past the cabin giving a huge degree of security when you're up for'ard.

Back on deck there is a ladder on the cabin bulkhead giving access to a fly bridge. There's room for four people on the fly bridge, with single seats moulded in to the corners of the console. Currently the helmsman stands up, but Ron tells me that he will be fitting a bench seat here for four people. The fly bridge occupants are fully protected by a stainless safety rail. The only thing missing here was the addition of grabs rails on the steering console for passengers to hang on to. We mentioned this and Ron acknowledged that it was a good idea and will be something he'll be adding.

The stainless steel aerial support gantry is positioned at the rear of the fly bridge and obviously carries the GPS and radar units etc.

The cabin is spacious, to say the least. Access through the door is wide with the four-man table on the starboard side and the helmsman's seat in front. On the port side is a huge galley area with a stainless steel two-ring Techimpex cooker, grill and oven, plus a built in ENGEL fridge. This unit also incorporates four large deep cupboards for kitchen accessories and has a large white work surface for food preparation.

The helmsman sits high up on an upholstered bench seat. Maybe some anglers and skippers might prefer a sprung seat, but the bench seat was comfy enough with your feet on footrest at the base of the console. The helm position has excellent vision through three large split screens, all carrying wipers. The console has the instruments on the left, throttles on the right and gives immediate access and vision to instruments and controls. Above the console is a flat area ideal for housing smaller sounders and compass, though the main electronics fitted were placed above head height above the forward facing window and gave easy reading.

Moving forward in to the bunk area via steps you have the toilet and a single bunk on the port side, and two single bunks, one above the other and the starboard side, plus a wardrobe. The whole bunk area and cabin is beautifully fitted out in mint green upholstery, teak wood and a white headlining.

In the mid cabin floor is an access hatch to the engine well. This is in two parts. You have a wide square area directly underneath the cabin floor, with access to the actual engine bank through an open hatch in the lower bulkhead. There is plenty of room for everyday maintenance chores down below.

One other thing to mention was that all the fittings; hinges, handles etc were top quality. This is something I always look for and which many vessels lack, an attention to detail. The overall finish is to a very high standard.

SEA PEFORMANCE
Ron nudged her out from the Marina and we headed out in to a very windswept Carrick Roads with an early morning pale watery sun just starting to crack through the clouds. The wind was still force 6 and gusting more. We headed in to deep swells and it was quite a short sea at times too. We were up on the fly bridge and Ron started to put her through her paces.

Underway the boat is very dry on deck with only minimal spray water coming inside the deck area as you punch in to waves. The ride on deck is stable and tackling up, even in the bad conditions would have been no problem.

I took the helm and eased the throttles forward slowly to get the feel of her. You are instantly aware that the response to minimal increases in power is instant and you feel the hull lift under your feet. There is no long build up to reach planing speed. This boat loves power!

I increased the revs to 2200 and the boat leapt forward. The waves were big in front of us, but the ride was easy and very smooth. There is no slamming and crashing in to oncoming waves. The hull meets the wave and parts it to each side smoothly and cleanly. This is one of the smoothest sea rides in heavy weather I've come across.

The big test is always turning a boat while between deep short swells. I picked my time and when the right trough came we turned in to it. The boat leant over only slightly but stayed stable and predictable, headed down the oncoming wave, nosed through the trough, cut the facing wave in half and resumed her straight course.

I eased back the throttle and let the big swells push on the stern. In a big following sea this boat required only minimal steerage correction and she pretty much stays on course all by herself. The boat was designed for force 8 winds and there is no doubt that she would bring you home in far worse than that if the Gods deserted you and the right man was at the wheel.

I was due to transfer over to a small Pilot boat to get some outside photos, and while we were on the drift and at the mercy of the wind and waves waiting to switch the boat remained very stable, and there is no doubt she would be a very comfortable fishing platform both at drift and at anchor. The long keel certainly helps balance out windage on the cabin when drifting.

Manoeuvring her back in to a tight marina berth proved easy too, the keel helping to maintain steerage even at low revs.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Weighing up which boat suits your style of fishing best is always difficult and a compromise. There are faster boats about than the Kingfisher in this size range, but this single screw version tested is still pretty damn quick at her 20-knots cruising speed, but her big advantage is that she retains real sea keeping qualities at high average speeds giving a smoother ride and predictable handling making less work for the helmsman. Faster boats may need to reduce speed well below that achieved by the Kingfisher in the type of seas we tested her in.

My finances mean a boat like this is way out of my reach, but I felt this is a real sea boat that thrives in bad weather, but if you're in the market for a top class 30ft plus boat, then you definitely need to get a sea trial in the very impressive Kingfisher 31.

FACTS & FIGURES
Her ideal cruising speed is 2300 revs giving around 19 knots with a fuel consumption of about 14.5 gallons an hour with the big Cummins in. She has a top speed of 26-knots at 2600rpm. The fuel tank capacity is 200 gallons.

There are other engine/drive options available including twin engines with "P" brackets, Single or Twin leg drives and Twin jet drives.

The price of the boat tested is around £150,000, but Kingfisher will build boats to the buyer's own requirements.

INFORMATION
Kingfisher Boats Bickland Industrial Park, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 4TA. Tel: 01326 377200 Fax: 01326 374422.