Center Harbor 31: Grace

Grace tells a powerful Spirit of Tradition narrative, but she does so delicately. Joel White’s original 1996 Center Harbor 31 designs were done in throwback paper and pencil. (Full disclosure: These drawings were done mostly with Bob Stephens own hands.) White was careful to pull Grace’s sheer and layout from the mid-coast Maine daysailer narrative, found in boats like L. Francis Herreshoff’s Quiet Tune. But the keel and rudder designs feature a contemporary bulb and foils. Both sloop and ketch rigs were available. And the semi-custom construction allowed the design to iterate slowly over the years. Deeper keels were mixed in, as were extended bows and sterns. There are many Graces gracing this earth. But no matter the version, the Center Harbor 31 was an important step in the “pure daysailer” story. Many boats re-tell this tale, if you listen close enough.