Here is Joe DeFranco’s beautiful 1967 31’ Commander Express Flybridge, and we appreciate his willingness to share the images here on the forum to help document this rare model !
My parents have a 31’ Sedan. They love the enclosed cabin, but I’m an Express guy, because I like the additional room and I don’t like having to negotiate a door to get where I’m going, between the helm and the aft deck. This is an Express with a rare flybridge, and it has all of the features my 38 Express (with flybridge) has, but in a smaller package.
Sometimes bigger isn’t better, depending on the type of boating you want to do, and where you do your running. When I sold my wood 1968 35’ Sea Skiff and got a two year older fiberglass Commander 3-feet longer, I couldn’t believe how heavy the Commander felt by comparison. The smaller the boat, the lighter the boat and the lighter the feel. By comparison, driving my dad’s 31, really gives a sensation of a lighter boat. These 31s are a lot of boat and a lot of fun.
The one thing I really like about the Express model, is the fact that the aft deck has a feel of so much more room, than on a sedan. Yes, the sedan has the same room, and it’s transferred to the interior, and you have a door to contend with. Both are great boats, but this one being the Express, if more along the line of what I’ve owned in the past. It’s essentially the same as my 38 Commander in general layout, and also identical to my 35’ Sea Skiff (see wood boat section of the Master Index if you want to see the article on that boat, as published in Classic Boating).
Here’s the other end of that deck, at the open helm station. Steering on the Port side, just like my 38. NICE !
Here’s the view from the top, a great place to see and be seen!
More images in the next thread.................