to clean up aſter a day of sailing. I sail regularly with a Montgomery


15, a couple of Neptune 16s (one was my old boat), a Pelican 12, and a Bolger 14 Bobcat (lengthened from 12' by the builder). Tese are just some of my ob- servations about how they compare. Te Bolger walks away in light to medium air with its big cat-rig sail. It does not point as well or tack as fast. Te Pelican, at only 380 lbs, is the second fastest in light air. Having sailed the Pelican, it feels the most like a SCAMP but almost refuses to heel. Te Pelican points better with its jib down, but still not as well as the SCAMP. The Montgomery and the SCAMP are about equally matched in most conditions. Oddly, in light air the Montgomery is slightly faster on a port tack, and the SCAMP is faster on the starboard tack. The Montgomery, Neptune, and SCAMP all point about the same, but the SCAMP seems to point higher in heavy air with chop. Te SCAMP tacks in the smallest circle, but it takes the most attention at the tiller and does not self-sail as well as the others (the punishment for a responsive helm). The Neptune and the SCAMP are,


to me, the most comfortable to handle in heavy air and chop. The Neptune is slightly better, and faster, with its wineglass hull and 200 lbs. of lead in the three-foot-deep keel. When sailing in rough conditions, the Neptune feels like a much bigger boat, where you know you’re sailing a smaller boat in the SCAMP. Out of the group, the Neptune and SCAMP are the last to reef when the wind picks up. Frisky likes the first reef in winds of 10 to 13 knots (12 to 15 mph). Te second reef at about 19 knots (22 mph). It will let you know when it’s time to reef as you can easily feel it starting to be driven too hard but it does so with no ill manners or surprises. Once reefed, she settles down and takes less attention to sail. The SCAMP design uses lessons


learned from modern designs, and I find mine more seaworthy than other small boats I have had. With watertight storage, if it dumps over, it rights easily, accumulating only 3 to 4 inches of water that self-drain. I remember adding foam flotation to my old Neptune and Potter 15 in case I got knocked down or pooped with the companionway open. Frisky is very forgiving when jibed, as long as you keep the yard in at an angle


SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR


of less than 90 degrees off the centerline of the boat—75-80 degrees is best. Ten it is almost a non-event. Te only time it caused me any concern was when I was in a heavy following sea that were causing the boat to roll a lot. I had to time the jibe with the rolling of the boat so it didn’t ex- aggerate the rolling motion. Te SCAMP is very hard to knock down for a 12-foot boat, and does not do so suddenly. Frisky sails fastest into the wind up to


45 degrees. It will easily let you pinch to about 30 degrees but slows when doing so. It sails closer to the wind on the port tack with the yard and boom pushed against the mast. On the starboard tack the boom and yard are pushed out away from the mast and this changes the sail shape, reducing pointing ability. To correct for this the Goat Island Skiff racers have methods for tying the halyard around the mast to the tip of the yard, and the boom to the mast. (I’ve tried this and it definitely improved pointing on my


starboard tack.) Frisky averages 3.1 knots on longer day


sails, with light winds of 3.9 knots to 5.2 knots. With 8.7-knot winds she will hold 5.2 knots with bursts up to 6 knots. She will hold speed even up to burying the rail in the water. She is tender to about 10 to 15 degrees, then she stiffens up quickly. I also find Frisky does not slow down with extra weight, like adding a passenger or two. It won’t accelerate as fast, but it reaches the same top speed. She motors at about 3.7 knots at ¾-throttle and burns about 0.6 litres/hour, or 0.164 gallons/ hour. The SCAMP is dry-sailing with the


higher sides and hard veranda that does an excellent job of keeping the spray off the occupants in heavy chop when on a beam reach. Build quality is very good. Aſter five


years I have had no issues with the boat. No broken parts, no warranty issues, no cracked gelcoat.•SCA•


17


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