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Sunseeker Portofino 31

Name: Sunseeker Portofino 31
Brand: Sunseeker

In production 1985–present Designed by Don Shead

The Portofino 31 was a 9.8 m GRP sports cruiser from Sunseeker (Poole, UK), launched in 1985 with a Don Shead-designed deep-vee hull. It was one of the yard's earliest volume successes, credited with opening new export markets for the brand.

The Portofino 31 carried a Don Shead-designed deep-vee hull, styled with a steeply raked windscreen, a forward-facing radar arch and the yard's distinctive "bullet-hole" air vents on the topsides — recognisable early Sunseeker styling cues from the mid-1980s.

Launched in 1985, the Portofino 31 is described by Motor Boat & Yachting as the model that "put Sunseeker on the world map", selling more than 250 units in five years and opening the brand's export markets, particularly in the Mediterranean. It gave its name to the long-running Portofino range that Sunseeker continued to use for smaller cruisers for the following two decades.

Used listings for the model show twin Volvo Penta petrol/diesel sterndrive installations of around 200 hp each, but no yard spec sheet for the 31 could be located, so engine, accommodation and weight figures are omitted here rather than guessed from brokerage descriptions of individual boats.