The Grampian 23 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat that was designed by Alex McGruer as a

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

and first built in 1971.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 231.

International Marine S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...

/ McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Production

The design was built by

Grampian Marine Grampian Marine Limited was a Canadian boat builder based in Oakville, Ontario. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. The company was founded by Jim Bisiker in 1962 and operated until 1977. History ...

in Canada between 1971 and 1976 with 450 boats completed, but it is now out of production.

Design

The Grampian 23 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fibreglass, with wood trim. It has a masthead sloop rig, a spooned raked stem, an angled

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a stub keel with a

swing keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

, or optional fixed fin keel. It displaces and carries of lead ballast. The boat has a draft of with the swing keel extended and with it retracted, allowing operation in shallow water or ground transportation on a trailer. The boat is normally fitted with a small outboard motor for docking and manoeuvring. The design has sleeping accommodation for five people, with a double

"V"-berth A berth is a bed or sleeping accommodation on vehicles. Space accommodations have contributed to certain common design elements of berths. Beds in boats or ships While beds on large ships are little different from those on shore, the lack ...

in the bow cabin, a dinette table in the main cabin that converts to a double berth and an aft berth on the port side, under the cockpit. The

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

is located on the port side amidships. The galley is equipped with a two-burner stove and a sink. The

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

is located just aft of the bow cabin on the starboard side. Cabin headroom is . For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with a symmetrical

spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually n ...

. The design has a PHRF racing average handicap of 270 and a hull speed of .

Operational history

In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "the emphasis on this design appears to be to provide basic sailboat transportation at a low price. Beauty is not a selling point; her appearance is too slab-sided and top-heavy to qualify her as pretty. Best features: The raised poptop can be fitted with snap-on weather curtains and vinyl windows to make a serviceable convertible doghouse underway. Between the poptop hatch and a good-sized ventilation hatch forward, there should be plenty of air below. Worst features: The Grampian 23 is the slowest of her comp

titor John Titor and (TimeTravel_0) are pseudonyms used on the Time Travel Institute and Art Bell's Post-to-Post forums during 2000 and 2001 by a poster claiming to be an American military time traveler from 2036. Titor made numerous vague and specif ...

(despite her relatively long waterline), with a significantly higher PHRF rating. Construction is not nearly as high in quality as either of her comps. Her cockpit is small and squeezed toward the stern, which tends to force the stern down and the bow up when the cockpit is loaded. One owner says that the cockpit is 'about two feet short of perfect.' Presumably, the original plan was to allot more space to accommodations, but the idea somehow didn't work, as seen by comparing the Grampian 23 to the O'Day 23 Mk I ... The O'Day's layout nearly duplicates the Grampian’s, but somehow ends up with a 6 1/2-foot cockpit compared to the Grampian's 5 1/2-foot arrangement." In a review, Michael McGoldrick wrote that the design is, "a spacious 23 footer with enough room for a private head. The large interior comes at the expense of the cockpit, which is a little small in comparison to other boats in this size range."

References

External links

Photo of a Grampian 23
{{Trailer sailers and Trailer yachts worldwide Keelboats 1970s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Trailer sailers Sailboat type designs by Alex McGruer Sailboat types built by Grampian Marine

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References

External links