Her defining combination is a comparatively heavy-displacement hull and a notably high ballast fraction. Together, those characteristics shape how she carries sail and crew.
Design and Construction
Both the hull and deck are solid fiberglass. The Scampi 30 Mk III was built with different keel alternatives, using an iron keel.
At 7,275 pounds displacement, she has a displacement-length ratio of 272. That places her among the “heavy cruisers” in her size range; only 42% of similar designs are heavier. Her 47% ballast ratio is higher than that of 85% of comparable sailboats.
The boat carries a beam of 9 feet 10 inches and has a length-to-beam ratio of 3.02, making her more spacious than 58% of similar designs. Wetted surface is about 25 square metres.
The Scampi 30 Mk III was also sold to be home-completed. As a result, build quality may vary considerably from one boat to another, a point that bears directly on any survey or purchase decision.
Rig and Handling
The Scampi 30 Mk III was offered with more than one rig: fractional and masthead sloop configurations. The masthead sloop carries 374 square feet of sail.
On the masthead rig, the mainsail, jib/genoa, and spinnaker use 25.6-metre halyards of 10 mm diameter. The jib and genoa sheets are 9.1 metres long, while the mainsheet is 22.7 metres; all are 12 mm in diameter.
The fractional rig uses 9.1-metre, 12 mm sheets for the jib and genoa, along with a 22.7-metre mainsheet of the same diameter. Its spinnaker sheet is 20 metres long.
The boat’s capsize screening value is 2.01, which would bar her from ocean races under the standard test. Her Motion Comfort Ratio falls between 21.2 and 21.9, making her more comfortable than 42% of similar designs.
Performance
The Scampi 30 Mk III has a theoretical maximum hull speed of 6.4 knots. A Yanmar-equipped example with saildrive is calculated to reach about 4.5 knots maximum under power.
Under sail, her Relative Speed Performance of 58 indicates that she is faster than 58% of similar sailboats. With a 22-foot-11-inch waterline, she presents a practical cruising envelope rather than a racing one.
Her immersion rate is about 140 kg per centimetre, or 787 pounds per inch—a useful figure when planning loads.
Verdict
The Scampi 30 Mk III is a Norlin-designed, Swedish-built fiberglass cruiser with a genuinely heavy-displacement hull and an unusually high ballast fraction for her length. She is a moderately comfortable, moderately quick coastal cruiser. Her capsize screening value would exclude her from offshore racing fleets, but her build and proportions suit settled-water cruising.
Because some boats were sold for home completion, condition and build quality are specific to each example.
Pros
- High 47% ballast ratio, exceeding that of 85% of similar designs
- More spacious than 58% of comparable boats by length-to-beam ratio
- Solid fiberglass hull and deck, with iron keel alternatives
- Faster under sail than 58% of similar designs by the relative speed measure
Cons
- Capsize screening value of 2.01 excludes ocean-race acceptance
- Home-completed boats introduce variable quality between examples
- Comfort ratio exceeds that of only 42% of similar designs
