Welcome to 

Campion Sail and Design

These are simply a few pages about some of the small craft - dayboats, racing or sailing dinghies, beach cruisers and canoe yawls, whether balanced lug, gaff or bermudian rigged - that I build - or have built - or have designed - or that are some combination of the three. Based on these are a number of boat and sailing dinghy plans for the home builder to build, from small day-sailers to 'raid' style sail and oar craft suitable for dinghy cruising and a water or sand-ballasted lugger or half-decked gaff cutter. All the sailing dinghies or day sailers are very able performers, and several of the designs - including some of the balanced lug ones - have been club raced successfully over many years against conventional class dinghies - and that is without the help of a favourable handicap or yardstick rating. Although the boats are very diverse, they share one element in common: they are, I believe, among the very best of their type, as I trust the photos below and on the following pages will help make clear. Construction covers glued clinker both with and without ribs, single, double chine and multi-chine stitch and glue, conventional ply construction, and tortured ply, with rigs from fully battened bermudian sails to balanced lugs, hulls from snub-ended praams to double-ended yawls, from development class dinghies to simple traditional style dayboats. There is also a short section on George Holmes and his small 'Ethel' canoe yawls from the late nineteenth century. If you are interested in plans for a particular type of craft that is similar to the ones featured on these pages, either for home boatbuilding or to have built, please use the contact details below or on the final page. If you do not see what you are looking for, please ask.

For further information about the plans for the Apple 16 dayboat or cutter and its variations, the Pearl 16 gaff cutter, as well as some of the other designs such as the multi chine Iceni 12 and 14 stitch-and-tape sailing dinghy designs, the glued lapstrake lugsail dinghy IO 11-12, the stitch and glue conically developed canoe yawl Imp, the glued clinker canoe yawl Electra, the four plank stitched seam double ender Campion yawl dayboat, the Apple 13 multi-chine daysailer and the glued clinker or multi-chine rowing praams, together with photos or details and plan prices, follow the relevant links in the table below.

All plans are sent by first class post to addresses in the UK or by airmail world-wide.

Oh, and as for the name of the site, a question that sometimes is asked, it's named after sea campion, a white flower of the foreshore, shingle and sea cliff that flowers in this country throughout the sailing season: not delicate, overly retiring nor particularly pretty, but distinctive, indomitable and appealing in a salt-water environment - a bit like my boats, I hope.

'Resurrection' - all eleven feet of her - really stepping out and showing what a scow can do. The above photo courtesy of Robin Stubbs.

 A four plank aside half-decked Apple, gaff cutter rigged with tumblehome transom, sailing in the Alps - photos courtesy of E. Reinhard.

Peter Lord's 'Vips' - a five plank aside Swedish Apple for sail and oar raids, again with tumblehome transom, here sailing under main alone. See Raid Finland photos 2007, 2008, 2009.

Photo courtesy of Ville Lindfors.

Imp Canoe Yawl: a conically-developed plywood day sailing double-ender.

Campion - a heavy displacement, ballasted, double-ended dayboat rigged as a yawl with gunter or standing-lug main, lug mizzen and foresail; a four-plank aside beamy, burdensome and stable stitch and tape canoe yawl design.

Apple 13 sailing dinghy with built-in buoyancy and rigged with a single lugsail - latest one completed in Czechoslovakia. A four plank stitch and tape design. Photo courtesy of Martin Chlad.

Iceni 12, a fast, well balanced, highly manouvrable stitched seam - or stitched bottom panels with glued clinker sides - single balanced lug dinghy with dagger board, car-toppable. Offsets for conventional construction.

Iceni 14 - a roomy, stable sailing dinghy for pottering, beach or dinghy cruising. Detailed plans for stitch-and-glue construction with a choice of rigs including standing-lug yawl with jib and sprit mizzen.

Nutmeg 11 - an eleven foot glued clinker or multi-chine stitch and tape rowing praam or tender.

New

Iceni 16 stitch and glue family daysailer - lug rigged yawl or simple balanced lug main - stable, capacious and light.

Pearl: a beamy sixteen foot glued clinker or stitch and glue day sailer with lug or gunter yawl rig or with high-peaked gaff main, foresail and jib, half-decked with various cockpit options, with either centre board or dagger board.

'Electra' - a slim, easily driven 16ft double-ended canoe yawl for stitch and tape or glued clinker construction, with yawl or single balanced lug rig.

Below the IO 11-12, a light seven plank aside multi-chine stitch and glue or glued clinker high-peaked balanced lug sailing dinghy, with centre board, along traditional lines.

Plans include full scale frame patterns, accurate lining off details for clinker planking, and full measurements for the stitch and glue plank patterns.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Marshall.

Nutmeg praam dinghy

Scow Moth - a conventionally framed, ply over stringers, double-chine tunnel hull scow with self-draining cockpit.

Back from the dead indeed - Resurrection scow beginning to show its paces - Moth scow sailing at its best

The above 3 photos courtesy of  Robin Stubbs

Iota