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Grampian 30

• By Bryan Allen
• Updated: August 26, 2009

Grampian 30 368

Jim Bisiker founded Grampian Marine Ltd. in the early 1960s in Ontario, Canada. At one point, the company operated a second plant in North Carolina. After building boats to the plans of several designers, Grampian took on Alex McGruer to design the Grampian line in-house. Before closing in the late 1970s, it built about 400 Grampian 30s, 50 of them cutters.

From its reverse stern to its spoon bow, the Grampian 30 has a springy sheer and sweet lines. The cabin trunk is clearly of 1970s vintage, but considering that the boat is a shade under 30 feet and has 6 feet 4 inches of headroom, McGruer did well to keep it from looking overly chunky.

For a boat its size, the Grampian 30 has ample accommodations. Its conventional layout contains a large, long quarter berth to port, which is a great sea berth. To starboard is an L-shaped galley. Some owners have upgraded from the two-burner alcohol stove to one with a full oven. Others have added refrigeration to the icebox, which is accessible from both the galley and the cockpit.

On the port side of the saloon, the dining table drops down to convert the U-shaped settee into a double berth. The table contains stowage for charts and doubles as the chart table. The settee to starboard is the only berth with which someone taller than 6 feet might struggle. Large portlights keep the area light and airy.

Forward of the saloon, a small head is on the port side; opposite it, there’s a hanging locker with a shelf above. The forward cabin has a V-berth that’s long and wide; bins, drawers, and shelves are available for stowage.

The cockpit is large enough for a tall person to stretch out easily and, with the tiller hinged up out of the way, will seat several people comfortably. (A few boats have been converted to wheel steering.) The two 1-inch-diameter cockpit drains are adequate for rain but a little slow for a boarding wave. Some owners have enlarged them or added new ones. Overall, owners seem pleased with the sailing performance of the Grampian 30. It’s stiff and dry, even the centerboard version, but given its high ballast ratio (.45), it’s not hard to see why. It won’t outpace or outpoint more modern designs, but it balances well and, on a close reach in moderate conditions, will track for hours with no one at the helm.

A few items on the G30s might require some attention. The original aluminum stemhead fitting should be replaced with stainless steel. The bedding around the portlights may need renewing. Water can leak around the chainplate from the port-side cap shroud and soften the main bulkhead to which it’s bolted. This area is hidden beneath the fiberglass tabbing between the bulkhead and the hull. All the other chainplates attach to built-up fiberglass tabs integral to the hull and are strong, though many owners have added backing plates.

Access to the forward half of the engine is good, but the transmission and the stuffing box are both difficult to reach, prompting some owners to cut a watertight hatch in the cockpit sole.

Despite the strong build of the Grampian 30-materials were inexpensive in the 1970s-it falls into the coastal-cruiser category. That said, several have made long bluewater passages.

Much of the Grampian 30’s original appeal was that it was a lot of boat for the money. At current prices of between $12,000 and $15,000 (with a few outstanding examples above $20,000), it still is, and many have been improved or repowered. Grampian owners support a very helpful website ( www.grampianowners.com ).

Bryan Allen is a photographer. When he’s home, he and his wife sail their Grampian 30, Avocet, along the South Shore of New York’s Long Island. \

LOA 29′ 9″ (9.07 m.) LWL 25′ 6″ (7.77 m.) Beam 9′ 6″ (2.90 m.) Draft 4′ 8″ (1.42 m.) Sail Area (100%) 390 sq. ft. (36.2 sq. m.) Ballast 3,870 lb. (1,755 kg.) Displacement 8,600 lb. (3,900 kg.) Ballast/D .45 D/L 232 SA/D 14.9 Water 20 gal. (75.7 l.) Fuel 18 gal. (68.1 l.) Engine Various Designer Alex McGruer

• More: 21 - 30 ft , before 2000 , Coastal Cruising , keelboat , monohull , Sailboat Reviews , Sailboats , sailboats classic plastic
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CLASSIC 37 (GRAMPIAN)

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Grampian 30 a good boat?

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Grampian 30 a good boat? I am set up to look at a Grampian 30 but know little about the company or quality or the boat itself. I am looking for a sturdier boat to replace my macgregor 25 so i can feel comfortable along the Florida coast with regular trips to the bahamas. I the boat has no outboard but I would put in a siolid honda 4cyl to power me when I need to. I am guesssing the boat has a well but I am not sure. Any on who knows anything about what to watch for or has owned on please reply amd fill me in so I know what to look for. I don''t even know the keel configuration and hope it lifts as I sail shallow waters. Any info or experience with a 1979 or similar Grampian 30 would be much appreciated. the Boat comes with extra sails and heavy rigging. Anyone.........PLEAASE help me understand the quality of the boat i am looking at and does it compare to say a a Hunter? Fill me in Thanks Troy  

Grampian 30 a good boat? Grampian was a very early fiberglass boat builder. I actually owned one of their boats from the mid 1960''s. In the mid 1960''s they were considered to be a reasonably high quality company. In the late 1960''s Grampian retooled its line coming out with boats that were highly budget oriented and not very well built. Compared to their earlier boats this new line had little to recommend it except inexpensive pricing and a lot of room for a 30 footer. The Grampian 30 that I knew best was really pretty shodily constructed and was a mediocre sailor at best. Grampian was one of the last companies to use extensively plastic laminate (formica) over plywood. While plastic laminate is easy to wipe down it allows the substrate to rot out undetected. Comparing the build quality of the Grampian 30 to the Hunter 30 of that era, the Hunter was much better constructed and finished and was a faster and more easily handled boat. The real issue with the poorer constucted boats of that day is how well they were treated over the 25 years of their existance. Did the owner replace the problem systems and upgrade hardware? Have rotted bulkheads and lightweight chainplates been replaced? have modern electronics been installed? Have they purchased new sails and replaced rigging? And so on. These boats originally had an Atomic 4 inboard. I don''t think that there was an outboard option. I cannot imagine installing an outboard on a Grampian 30. It would be a very big job to do correctly. So while the Grampain 30 would be a big jump up in quality from your Magregor 25 these are still not very high quality boats and given the age of the boat, I would be very careful about buying one. Even if you bought one as a fixer upper, these boats have such low resale values even in pristine shape that unlike a higher quality boat that was down on its luck, these would be a hard boat to recover a reasonable portion of your investment at resale, especially if equipped with an outboard. One last minor point. I believe that the Grampian 30 went out of production before 1979 but I could be wrong on that. Respectfully, Jeff  

My G-30 is built like a tank and has no formica in it.  

Hunters do not come anywhere near the quality of Grampian.  

I never sailed a Grampian 30, but I looked at a few with the serious intention of buying one. My initial impression was that it was quite large down below, lots of standing room, but when I sat in the salon of the last one I looked at, I couldn't lean back to 90 deg. The back of my head was hitting the corner where the cabin steps down to the deck. I would have had to sit hunched over any time I was below decks. I'm 5' 6" tall ( There's an oxymoron!). I'm not used to bumping my head and I figure I'm too old to get used to it now. So when you look at that boat, take a seat down below. All in all, I liked the lines and the layout of the 28 better. Just my personal opinion. Some reference material here: http://sailquest.com/market/models/models3.htm  

Grampian closed in July 1977. It is possible that some of their unfinished inventory would have been sold to individuals who finished the boats and registered them afterwards as a 79 model. The last four digits of the hull identification number (on the transom) will give the month and year of build so you can check if 1979 is right or not. There are some resources where you can learn more about the G30: Grampian website: http://www.grampianowners.com/ Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Grampiansailboats/ You need to sign up to become a member to access the contents. Previous discussion of the G28: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33342 As for suitability for Bahamas trips, here's a quote from a message on the Yahoo mailing list: Re: Mounting an outboard motor on a G30? I called the previous owner and he said the out board motor for this boat is a Johnson 25 HP. As an aside, when he bought the boat, he found the original owner's log on board. The boat made 4 trips across the pond and back! ​ If it surveys well, I personally wouldn't have any concern coastal cruising in a G30. Good luck, Tim  

I hate to break it to you guys, but the original poster has been MIA since '03. Probably bought the boat not listening to Jeff's opinion and sunk on his way to the islands.  

LOL... dead thread revival...  

Sorry to bump this old thread! I found this thread while googling for some information and would like to see if anyone else can give me their informed opinion. I'm hopefully going to become a first time sailboat owner within the next few months, and I have been looking around for something suitable. I have found a 1974 grampian 30 and the asking price is $11,500. I intend to offer about $7k and might pay a bit more. Can anyone give me their opinion of these boats? Is it possible to live aboard? (1 person) Are they fast, strong, or not worth the money? Is there another boat in the same price range you would recommend instead? Thanks for any information Any information would be appreciated.  

Alright, sorry: The boat will be kept in eastern NC, and sailed in the mid atlantic. I'm definitely not going any further than the bahamas with it. I live about 30 minutes from the coast and have several options of places to store it. Got a recommendation of better value for the money? I'd love to hear it. I intend to get something better in the future, but I'm new to sailing things this large and I'm on a budget.  

southernsmoke said: Alright, sorry: The boat will be kept in eastern NC, and sailed in the mid atlantic. I'm definitely not going any further than the bahamas with it. I live about 30 minutes from the coast and have several options of places to store it. Got a recommendation of better value for the money? I'd love to hear it. I intend to get something better in the future, but I'm new to sailing things this large and I'm on a budget. Click to expand...

You could look at this search on Boats.com . There are quite a few good candidates there. The Pearson Triton, while only 28' is an excellent boat. There are also several Ericsons, larger Pearsons, Catalina 30s, etc. Most of these boats are basically coastal cruisers, and as such would require some care in planning if you plan to hop along the Caribbean to the Bahamas. There is a Westerly Longbow 31' sailboat listed , which, if in good condition, might be a good choice. The Westerly brand of boats are generally well regarded and fairly seaworthy.  

Thanks for the responses, here is the actual link : EDIT: damn. it wont let me post the link until i have 10 posts. The actual boat is listed on the boats.com website, the listing id is 1710261  

My first boat was a grampian 26, 1969. I got it for 1300 buck in November of 2003. I gave it away to our local youth sailing association in March of 2004 because that was faster than cutting it up and hauling it away and I wanted the slip for my Hunter. They sold it for 500 bucks a year later and now it's sitting in dry storage at the local marina where it was claimed for overdue fees. When I got it the survey had been done by a pretty reputable company basically it passed with minor issues, but then I've never seen a survey that said 'why this boat is afloat is a wish and a guess'. I think that's a pretty clear assessment of it's quality.  

Some of the Grampians i believe were designed by Peter Van Dine of the Tancook Whaler fame. I always thought his designs were quite good (sail well) - but cant speak to the build quality of the manuf.  

Just since this thread pops up whenever someone searches for a Grampian 30 online, I figure it is worth keeping it updated. I sail an old G30 out of Annapolis, and have come to love it. As for my comparison with others I have known, I can say this: 1. It is a great boat for people who plan on spending a lot of time belowdecks, it has a lot of room and feels like a larger boat, and a lot of headroom as often noted. I use it often as a "get-away" cabin of sorts on the Bay, and for the size and cost, I have not found better. If you want a small, semi-live-aboard, it is a good choice. 2. It is solid as hell, build sturdy and simple. The simplicity makes for a good custom boat for many DIYers who want to update above and below decks as they best see fit. 3. As for sailing: It is a fair handler, I think many have said that it is a great big wind boat, but in light winds it is a bit of a pig. I wouldn't disagree. After a few years, I have managed to understand most of it's unique sailing characteristics, and it does me very well.  

Also... Cruising world has recently published a short review.  

'72 G 30' am looking at a '72 G 30 as we speak... taken over by the marina due to failure to pay slip rental, so they dont have much in it...... needs new rigging, on a 30' probably 500-750?. atomic needs work or replaced. turns over, but gas is stale, and carbs probably need a kit. needs upgrade to electric panel. etc etc... sails need reconditioned.... h20 tank in question... lol. head works. glass looks good. not leaky in the slightest even with a bum hatch closure. did notice one soft spot where they life line stay meets starboard side, not too bad. no stove, yet oddly fixed with A/C they are asking 5, i thought i'd bid 'em 3 as a fixer upper, or pay the ask if they will put it on the hard and do a bottom job. any thoughts? looks like it just needs some tlc, but already has a good feel.  

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Grampian 22

The grampian 22 is a 22.33ft fractional sloop designed by george cuthbertson and built in fiberglass by grampian marine between 1969 and 1971..

The Grampian 22 is a light sailboat which is a very high performer. It is very stable / stiff and has a low righting capability if capsized. It is best suited as a racing boat.

Grampian 22 for sale elsewhere on the web:

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