We’re happy to announce that we have received enough orders for the SCAMP sailboat that we have been able to start development of our fiberglass version!

The crew at Gig harbor Boat Works wants to thank those who have already placed their orders for their confidence in us, and their patience as we undertake the substantial project of converting John Welsfords’ soon to be classic design into fiberglass. John intended Scamp to be primarily built from ‘one off’ plywood construction which is not directly applicable to fiberglass production. For example, the dramatic tumblehome top sheer plank is attractive and furnishes tremendous flotation, but simultaneously means a fiberglass Scamp hull would be impossible to pull from a standard fiberglass mold. It has taken a lot of head scratchin’ and table napkin doodlin’ to figure out how to build a practical, efficient mold that ensures identical hull form… but stay tuned next few months to see it develop. This will be FUN!

In mid-June we started building the Scamp hull plug from specially ordered CNC cut parts by Turn Point Design in Port Townsend, Washington. This is the same company that makes the plywood Scamp kit so they were very knowledgeable and helpful making a few initial changes. One of the first changes (you’d never know this is we didn’t tell you) is that the upper two planks will be slightly thicker than plywood boats. Why? Well, if you are building a plywood kit 3/8 inch plywood is the thickest you can bend to Scamps contour without breaking the plank… but in fiberglass, we need nice soft transitions between planks. The transition between 3/8” planks would be so sharp there would be a good chance bubbles would develop during lamination. In fiberglass, planking thickness of ½” or better yet 5/8” will have a nice smooth transition yet leave a nice shadow line for appearance. But remember plywood that thick wont bend, right? So we will double – plank the upper two strakes by laying one layer of ¼” over a base plank of 3/8.

These pictures represent about 3 days work by Falk, our #1 woodwork specialist and also shop manager. Things take shape rapidly at this stage so its’ inspiring to watch it develop. Later stages where there are many days of sanding and fairing aren’t as much fun to watch….

The final product is still quite a ways off, but let us know if you are interested in getting on the list for one of these for yourself!