SCAMP, the class name of this little pram, stands for Small Craft Advisor Magazine Project. It was developed by New Zealand designer John Welsford for the Port Townsend-based magazine Small Craft Advisor. Designer/Builder Kees Prins helped to further develop the design. smallcraftadvisor.com/
The boat is 11 feet 11 inches long overall, has a beam of 5 feet 4 inches, and a draft of 7 inches with its offset centerboard up. It is ballasted with 173 pounds of water that is drained when the boat is hauled up the launching ramp, and consequently is easily towed behind any small vehicle such as a Subaru Outback. smallcraftadvisor.com/scamppagemenu
It is considered a "micro-cruiser", and can sleep one person on a 8 foot 3 inch berth or two people on a 6 foot 6 inch berth. It accomplishes this massive amount of room in such a short length both because it is pram-bowed, meaning the vee-bow ends just above the water and flares into a flat transom, which significantly enhances available space, and because the centerboard is offset to one side (and is, in fact, nestled into the right-hand seat). As a result, four average-sized adults can easily fit into the cockpit with room to spare.
The boat can be built from plans or from a kit, both available from Small Craft Advisor. It has proven to be a very popular design, with dozens and dozens built to date all over the world.
Small Craft Advisor maintains a very active online discussion board for the boat, here: smallcraftadvisor.com/message-board2/viewforum.php?f=3
You will find designer John Welsford here: www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/index.html
John Welsford’s design page, which showcases the range of his boats and has lot of great interaction, is on Facebook, here: www.facebook.com/groups/440526479459574/
Building and sailing classes are offered by The Pocket Yacht. You can find out more, here: www.thepocketyacht.com/ .
For a continuing discussion of SCAMPs, check out the WoodenBoat forum thread "SCAMP Envy and Lust", here: forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?139540-SCAMP-envy-lust
And for even more pictures of SCAMPs, check here: www.flickr.com/groups/2722238@N23/
