The Samphire
23 was introduced by North Sea Craft with the exhibition of
a hull/deck moulding at the Southampton Boat Show of 1977.
Although showing a family likeness to the Samphire 26 it
was in fact a completely new design (unlike the Samphire 29),
though sharing some minor parts such as the main hatch. The
most obvious difference from the Samphire 26, apart from size, is the Samphire 23's two windows per side, rather than the three of its larger sister.
Though
receiving high praise in reviews, particularly for her solid and
reassuring feel (she was twice the weight of some other 23 footers),
her price was high, and only around 12 or 13 of these boats were ever
built. The last few boats were built by other yards, including
Famouth Boats, after North Sea Craft had ceased production and sold on
the moulds.
LOA
22' 9"
(6.89m) LWL
17' 9" Beam 7' 9" Draft 2' 11" Working sail area 236 sq.ft. Displacement 2.4 tons
Most
Samphire 23s have a large vee berth forward, settee berth to
port, galley to starboard, and a removable table in the saloon.
Some have a quarter berth to starboard aft of the galley (with
the heads under the vee berth), while others have an enclosed
heads compartment in this position (with a large storage area behind,
under the starboard cockpit seat). One early boat had an
enclosed heads compartment forward with a single berth either side,
while some late boats completed by other yards had an enclosed heads
compartment aft to port.
There is a large covered anchor
locker on the foredeck, with a hawsepipe leading down to the chain
locker below. The masthead rig is supported by a forestay, split
backstay, cap shrouds and single lowers. The mainsheet is usually
taken to a track across the rear of the cockpit. High
coamings surround the deep cockpit, which has a voluminous
cockpit locker to port, with an overboard-draining gas locker to
the rear of it. The tiller is usually brought in under the mainsheet track and through a cut-out in the rear cockpit coamings. (With
home completion and the passage of time, some boats vary slightly from
these arrangements.) The large rudder is mounted on the transom
and back of the keel, and both the keel and the rudder have a
cut-out for the propellor. Originally
offered by North Sea Craft with either a Petter Mini-6 diesel or Vire
7hp petrol engine, at least one early boat had a Volvo diesel, and a
wide variety of engines were installed in home completed boats.
Many have since been re-engined.
In 1978 a North Sea
Craft completed Samphire 23 cost around £9,000, and a bare
hull/deck moulding around £2,000. As was common at the time
(there were tax advantages) many were home completed, with consequent
wide variations in standard of finish. In recent times
second-hand Samphire 23s have been advertised for around £6,500 to
£8,500, and probably changing hands for a little less than this.
The
Samphire 23 is a very reassuring boat: dry and with a kindly motion in
a sea. Suitably equipped she is well capable of long
trips and handling rough seas. The shoal draft allows her to
explore shallow waters and a wide choice of anchorages. On a soft
bottom she will dry out comfortably on her side lying at an angle
of about 25 degrees. Her interior is practical (avoiding the
common fault of trying to squeeze in too many berths), and has about 5'
6" headroom in the saloon. She has what could well be the largest
double berth and deepest cockpit found on a production 23 foot boat.
The decks are easy to move around, with spacious side and
foredecks, inboard shrouds, and high bulwarks aound the outside.
Though not best suited to racing round the cans, she can make
good speed and passage times, and tacks steadily. Some find her
surprisingly tender for her weight (though her designer thinks that
this is because she feels like a much bigger boat than she is), and she
will sail fastest and most comfortably if reefed in good time.
Like most heavy, long keeled boats she can be challenging to
manoeuvre in close quarters, particularly in astern, but the pay-off
for this comes at sea, where she comes into her own and tracks
well and with a comfortable motion.
As with the
whole Samphire range, 23s were strongly built and appear to have
generally lasted well, though some will need (or have received)
updating or refurbishment by now. A particular potential problem
to look out for is ingress of water to the balsa core of the
deck. The balsa core makes for a strong, stiff deck, but demands
that both the original and any subsequent fittings fixed through the
deck or starboard cockpit seat must be carefully done and maintained to
avoid the ingress of water. Such ingress can lead to rotting
of the balsa core and potentially difficult and expensive repairs to
make good. The proprietary 'She-dek' imitation teak
decking provides a remarkably good non-slip surface, and when new or in
good condition looks great. Unfortunately it has not stood the
test of time and many are now looking very patchy. This is,
however, not a major problem, and some have now been either
painted over, or ground down and replaced with Treadmaster or similar.
Samphire 26
The Samphire 26 was the original, and most popular, of the range. LOA
25' 10"
(7.87m) LWL
20' 10"
(6.35m) Beam
8' 7"
(2.62m) Draft
3' 6"
(1.07m) Working sail area 270sq.ft. Displacement 3.4 tons (3,445kg)[6.9 tons Thames Measurement]
Samphire 29
The
Samphire 29 was a stretched version of the Samphire 26, available
as either an aft cabin and centre cockpit or aft cockpit
version.
LOA
29' 2"
LWL
22' 2"
Beam
8' 7"
Draft
3' 11"
Working sail area 290sq.ft. Displacement 3.8 tons This
website is under construction, and has been produced by a small
group of Samphire owners to share knowledge and promote interest in
these craft. We hope to formally set up a Samphire Owners'
Association shortly, and would be pleased to hear from other Samphire
owners, or anyone else who has knowledge of or interest in these
boats.
Samphire Owners' Association
