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Samphire 26
‘Limbo’
Details of sale.
Current location: Ponsharden boatyard, Penryn, Cornwall.
Builder: North Sea Craft, 1977
Make: Samphire 26 Designer: David Cannell (co-author of ‘Modern Development in Yacht Design, also designer of the Tamarisk range and Northsea 127 – see MC Marine)
LOA: on deck 7.87m (25’10”); 8.3m (27’3″) approx including rudder.
LWL: 6.35m (20’10”)
Beam: 2.62m (8’7″)
Draft: 1.07m (3’6″)
Displacement: 3,400kg (7495 Ib)
Ballast: 1,500kg (3307 Ib)
Fuel: 40L approx
Water: 100L approx (including extra flexible tank)
Engine: Volvo MD2020B, 18 hp shaft drive (1996)
Limbo is a good-looking, rugged offshore cruiser of real character.
“The Samphire 26 is an exceedingly robust little vessel with the pretensions of a yacht much larger. A genuine ‘proper little ship’
(Yachting Monthly, November 1994)
“Samphires looked and were powerful seaboats, and proved capable of long passages”
(Yachting Monthly A-Z of secondhand boats.)
Solid, seaworthy, and classic in design and appearance, Limbo feels much larger than her compact size suggests. Her long keel gives a draft of only 3’6″, making her a very flexible boat for coastal exploration. Heading offshore, she inspires confidence – so much so that her previous owners happily sailed her two-handed from the UK to the Caribbean. (www.sailinginlimbo.blogspot.com.)
These were expensive boats when new (in 1979, the cost was 213,340 when a Sadler 25 cost £7,684!) which is perhaps why she is quite a rare boat with only 30 or so built.
She’s particularly easy to handle single-handed, with good directional stability and the sheet
winches and mainsheet easily reachable from the tiller.
She’s also a safe family boat, with the mainsheet clear of the deep, well-protected cockpit.
We generally passage plan on 4 – 4.5 knots (we averaged 125 miles a day across the Atlantic – 5.2 knots) but off the wind in a breeze she will do 6.5. She has a comfortable, reassuring motion at sea and stays dry in nearly all conditions.
Her 18 hp engine is more than adequate in size to power her, even in a chop.
Her accommodation is unusually bright and spacious for a 26 footer with over 6′ headroom in the aft part of the saloon. The fit-out is all-timber with no GRP modules.
Stowage space throughout is excellent. The cockpit is much more spacious than that of many similar-style boats.
ACCOMODATION:
Limbo’s saloon is bright and very spacious for a boat of this size.
A particularly good feature is full standing headroom (around 6′ 2″) to the aft half of the saloon.
4 berths plus separate heads in forepeak. Infills between the stbd and port berths create a double bed!
Chart table to port (currently removed for use of quarter berth).
Galley to starboard. Gas oven with 2 hobs. 2 gas bottles stored in a locker in the cockpit.
Very practical heads/storage/utility area forward (as Vancouver 27/28 standard layout) with
excellent ventilation from forehatch and plenty of room for boathooks, boarding ladders, spare parts, etc. The saloon is larger than in the ‘standard’ Samphire layout without forepeak heads.
In more detail:
Jabsco marine toilet (new pump 2012) in separate compartment in forepeak
Wooden door separates heads from saloon.
Manually pumped fresh water from under-floor tank (filler in cockpit floor) and additional flexible tank in quarter berth (with separate filler via Y-valve – simply removed if you wish to use quarter berth – currently removed).
Galley foot pump with in-line filter under sink.
Spinflo Neptune 2-burner gas cooker (2013), gimballed, with oven and separate grill
Removable chart table over quarterberth.
(Hint: if you would like a fridge, a 12V Waco cool freeze CDF 18 – not included – will sit snugly in the locker under the chart table!)
Port and starboard saloon seating/berths in high density foam and hardwearing fabric (Microcare eco) covers in red (new 2013).
Lee cloths.
Additional in-fill to convert starboard berth to double, and further infill to create double bed.
Folding and removable saloon table (not shown in photos)
Teak bookcase on port side of forward bulkhead. Currently removed.
Excellent handholds from wooden post by galley and mast support, together with separate grab handles by companionway and forepeak door.
HULL AND DECK
Yellow painted GRP hull (epoxy coated in 2001) with teak capping rails.
Long keel with encapsulated ballast
Transom/keel-hung rudder
White GRP coachroof with aluminium-framed windows.
Non-slip decks in cream Kiwigrip.
DECK FITTINGS (bow to stern)
Anchor roller
Stainless steel stanchions and guard wires
Very substantial centre bow cleat with fairleads and additional mooring cleats port and starboard
Draining anchor locker (new hinges 2015) with chain pipe leading into forepeak
Gebo forehatch (2013) with locking ventilation setting
“Air Only’ low profile vent on forward coachroof (2013)
New Plastimo dorado vents (×2) on rear coachroof (2013)
Midship cleats and fairleads
Adjustable genoa tracks
Flexible solar panel mounted on hatch garage
Teak grab rails (replaced and securely through-bolted, replacing original screws, in 2013)
Aft mooring cleats on cockpit coming, aft fairleads.
Self-steering bracket for mounting a Windpilot self steering system. (Not included).
This bracket gives good protection for the rudder when mooring, but could easily be removed.
COCKPIT
Deep, secure but spacious self-draining cockpit.
Mainsail track is out of the way on a track at the aft end – not across the companionway!
The genoa sheets and mainsheet are easily reachable from the tiller, which can be removed to create more space in port.
Teak cockpit floor grating
Teak decking style cockpit seats.
Substantial cockpit locker to starboard (contains greaser for stern tube);
Gas bottle locker (2x bottles) to starboard;
Engine control lever (replaced 2016) and bilge pump to port
Lewmar 8 stainless winches (2013)
7 cuddies built into sides and rear of cockpit (indispensable for water bottles/sun lotion etc!)
2 x ‘Blue Performance’ cockpit bags for storage at forward end of each seat.
Winch handle holder at forward end of cockpit
Engine control panel on bridge deck.
RIG
Masthead rig with Kemp spars. Deck-stepped mast, extra support from stainless post in cabin.
Standing rigging (New 2020).
2014; Removable inner forestay with highfield lever (the Rolls Royce of inner forestay systems!) (2009 approx) As well as use for storm sails, this allows a second, handed on, downwind sail to be set for longer passages.
2x mast-mounted halyard/reefing winches
Furlex 100s roller furling for genoa (2014)
Running rigging all replaced 2013
Spinnaker pole (2005, new end fittings 2015).
SAILS
Mainsail by Crusader (2012) – top of the range “long distance cruising” spec with 3 slab reefs, good condition. Professionally valeted 2018.
Genoa by Crusader (2022) – Has foam infill on luff to provide better shape when feefed / furled.
Hank on lightweight ‘drifter’ genoa (old but usable)
Cruising chute (hardly used, original but good condition)
Hank on No.2 genoa (old but fine)
Hank on storm jib (old but fine)
‘REMOVABLE’ DECK EQUIPMENT
Lewmar Delta 17kg anchor (very reliable, far superior to the CQR it replaced)
30m chain and 20m warp
Spare CQR anchor
Blue dodgers with boat name (New 2022)
Tailor-made spray hood (2017) with zip-on rear side & central panels to enclose area at forward end of cockpit and protect companionway
Mainsail cover in blue
Boarding ladder (hooks over gunwale)
2 x large fenders, 3 x small fenders
spare tiller
various mooring warps
2 x winch handles
SAFETY EQUIPMENT
Webbing jackstays leading from cockpit to bow
Extra harness attachment points fitted in cockpit
2x bilge pumps: 1 in cockpit (new parts 2012), 1 in cabin in entrance to quarter berth (new 2012)
Yellow lifebuoy
Fire extinguisher in forepeak
Fire blanket (old) in galley
Mast-mounted Firdell blipper radar reflector
RFD Seasava 4-main liferaft in Valise – old but top quality (serviced 2021).
ELECTRICAL
Electrics redone (2005) with custom switch panel
2x batteries with dual switchover (engine and domestic), batteries both new 2017/2018
Rutland regulator with inputs for solar and wind
flexible solar panel on main hatch housing
external socket in cockpit for separate solar/wind source to Rutland regulator
AIl-LED internal lighting
LED masthead tricolour (2013)
Forward bicolour nav light, steaming light and stern light (not LED but power consumption not an issue as the LED tricolour is used when engine is off)
Deck lights
NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT
ICOM DSC VHF radio
Standard Horizon CP180 Chart plotter – still mounted but no longer works.(2013),
Raymarine speed log /depth bidata display,
cockpit mounted steering compass
Electrical socket for tiller pilot
clock and barometer in cabin.
ENGINE:
Volvo MD2020B 18hp (1996). Charging via alternator. Properly sound insulated.
This is a largish engine for this size of boat, with enough power to keep the boat moving well in choppy conditions.
Serviced annually.
Shaft drive to 3-blade propellor with stuffing box (greaser in cockpit locker).
Single lever engine controls in cockpit (replaced 2016). Control/ignition panel forward end of cockpit.
Plastic fuel tank at forward end of cockpit locker with deck filler.
Engine in good condition, starts first time and has proved to be extremely reliable, with ample horsepower for a boat of this size.
Engine access is exceptionally good. For quick oil checks and opening the seacocks, the top step alone can be removed. The entire engine box comes off easily for more detailed
checks/work giving excellent space all round. Side and rear of engine can be accessed via the quarter berth.
Current Price: £7000.00
This Samphire 26 Yacht – ‘limbo’ may be available on ebay