Yamaha 30 / Scampi 30

[IORHalfTunner]

Hello Cousins.

I'm looking for some historical background on the Yamaha 30.

I'm a very happy owner of a Scampi 30-4. "Apparently" this boat is related to the Yamaha 30. I've seen comments stating that Peter Norlin was commisioned to draw the lines for the Y30. I've also seen claims that the Yamaha 30 is a Yamaha version of the Scampi 30. It's the latter which I completely disagree with! Based not only on the numerous on-line photos of both boats as well as their published scantlings, it's clear to me that although there are some similarities, the two boats are quite distinct from each other. Nevertheless, the rumour persists.

A couple of things:

• Can anybody comment on the history of the Yamaha 30? Particularly about the differences between the MkI and MkII.
• Prior to the Yamaha 30, did Yamaha actually produce the Scampi 30 under license? I see this as being more plausible than the current Wikipedia claim that the Scampi 30 "...was built by several companies including the Yamaha Corporation in Japan as the Yamaha 30"
• This listing suggests the licencee angle.

 

[IORHalfTunner]

As I've not received a respose to my query, perhaps the link to a photo of the "original" Y30 will chum the waters. As can be seen in the image, the boat is clearly a copy of the Scampi 30-3.

The photos which I've seen of the Y30-1 (apparently first produced in 1978) indicate that this model is quite similar to the Y30-2 but, quite different than the Scampi. Were there actually 3 versions of the Yamaha 30?

 

[Hollyberry]

Sailboat Data does give credit to Norlin and contains comments regarding the Y 30 being 'based' on the Scampi... but the Y 30 is a much higher volume boat . The forward engine in the early days was odd, but they changed that during the run.
I think a more direct 'descendant' of the Scampi would be the Evetts 31, a short production run built in Vancouver BC.

 

[IORHalfTunner]

Sailboatdata also writes "The third version of the SCAMPI was built by a number of firms around the world. (In Japan as the YAMAHA-30)."

I agree that the "new" Yamaha 30 is obviously not the same boat as the Scampi 30 as Sailboatdata claims. However, as both the image of the Yamaha 30 manual (shown above) and the photos in the linked article show, one version of the Y30 was clearly a twin to the Scampi 30-3! Which one? My primary question is still: Were there actually three versions of the Yamaha 30 produced?

 

[Alan Gomes]

Sailboat Data does give credit to Norlin and contains comments regarding the Y 30 being 'based' on the Scampi... but the Y 30 is a much higher volume boat . The forward engine in the early days was odd, but they changed that during the run.
I think a more direct 'descendant' of the Scampi would be the Evetts 31, a short production run built in Vancouver BC.
View attachment 212356

That's a cool looking boat! First time I've heard of it.

 

[IORHalfTunner]

That's a cool looking boat! First time I've heard of it.

Indeed, Alan. But not only is the Scampi 30 "cool looking" it's also "hot sailing" .

 

[IORHalfTunner]

The previous reply shows a Scampi 30-4. For comparision, below are 2 photos of the what the blog's author refers to both as a Scampi and as a Yamaha 30. We can see that this is not at all what the current Y30 looks like!

 

[Alan Gomes]

Indeed, Alan. But not only is the Scampi 30 "cool looking" it's also "hot sailing" .

View attachment 212357

Actually, my comment was specifically about the picture of the Evetts. But that’s not a bad looking boat, either, which I guess is not too surprising given the lineage.

 

[gouldx]

Can anybody comment on the history of the Yamaha 30? Particularly about the differences between the MkI and MkII.

If I'm not mistaken, the main differences between mk i and mk ii are the position of the engine and some modifications to the cabin (moving cubbies and berths around, etc). From what I've seen, the Y30-1 and -2 designations were for the standard and tall rig, respectively.

 

[IORHalfTunner]

If I'm not mistaken, the main differences between mk i and mk ii are the position of the engine and some modifications to the cabin

Looking closely at the red Y30 manual in the earlier post within this thread, it's obvious that the boat depicted on the cover is quite distinct from either of the younger Y30 versions which many people are familar with.
Based on gouldx's implied comment that there hadn't been any major structural changes between Mk I and MkII, it now seems clear that there were actually three versions of the Yamaha 30. The original Y30 was indeed a Scampi 30-3 (or possibly a Scampi 30-2) built under license by Yamaha in the early to mid-70s. It's not far fetched to assume that Yamaha were so pleased with the original that they subsequently engaged Peter Norlin to draw the lines for "their own" Y30 later that decade.

 

[gouldx]

Interesting! I didn't realize there was another Y30, but your manual certainly suggests otherwise. A quick search shows a couple 1979 "Yamaha Scampi" examples for sale in Japan, but without any visible branding in the photos. I wonder if it was exclusive to the Japanese domestic market.

 

[IORHalfTunner]

Ever since I started to research the Scampi 30 (one of which I now very proudly own), I knew of the Y30. But, something wasn't right with the claim by Sailboatdata that what is now widely known as the Y30 is Yamaha's version of the Scampi 30. To me it was obvious that the boats were completely different from each other. It's only when I dug even deeper and found a couple of Japanese blogs describing the Scampi-looking boats in the posts as Yamaha 30s that I knew that there was something more to this story. As soon as I came across the photo of the manual, all became very clear to me.

I doubt that the Japanese Scampis (the original Y30s) were allowed to be exported from Japan. Different licencees took care of the other international markets. These included Nautic Saintonge in France and Solna Corp in the US. Perhaps Yamaha decided to have a pure-Yamaha Y30 designed so that they wouldn't be faced by the same export restrictions.

It would be nice if someone can fill-in the details of this fascinating history.

 

[Blue Horizon]

I do appreciate the heritage of these two designs. They are beautiful looking boats. I don't know the Scampi first hand but my Yamaha 30 is very well built - over built really - with Yamaha doing a clever and modern cabin layout for it's time.

One interesting difference I'm seeing in the images especially on "IOR Half-Tunner"s image is what looks to be a hard chine on the midship beam. Do I see that correctly? I know the old plywood Thunderbird 26's had a hard chine due to edging sheets of plywood - and that apparrently created a faster boat once sailed than many expected. The Scampi rudder looks similar to the one on the Yamaha 33.

My Y30 is an '81 with a v-berth engine. I also sailed the next version (an 83?) with all of the updated changes. Engine moved under cockpit was the big change and a smoother running Yanmar 2 cyl engine rather than the 'ol reliable one cylinder thumper YSM12. The very nice change to the interior was the companion way ladder (which admittedly was slightly safer) removed in favour of steps mounted into the cabinetry. This displaced the port stern wet locker to give more counter space and a step, and narrowed slightly the opening in port stern berth. However, this configuration opened the galley up very nicely and intelligently giving more counter space and flow. A real bonus. You see this in more modern boats. They also did away with the earlier more traditional floor to ceiling pole hand-holds set side by side at the galley and nav station. Instead they created more modern and well crafted waist height hand-holds in the same location and this really opened up the experience the cabin. There were minor changes in the cockpit for placement of the engine instrumentation. But otherwise as I experienced them, they were very similar. I believe some Y30's had a slightly higher cabin height running forward. But I'm 6'1" and have full height forward right to the interior mast support. Lovely boats.

 

[IORHalfTunner]

Indeed, the Scampi 30 as well as the first generation Yamaha 30 (since it's clear now that the latter was merely a re-badged Scampi 30!) has a hard midships chine. It's the most distinguishing feature of this boat.

Something else rather unique was Peter Norlin's decision to locate the engine ahead of the mast. It was another one of those infamous "cheats" to take eck out every possible advantage from the IOR rule. This one shortened the waterline when not moving.