Other versions of Camano 31?

Soundings magazine just did their monthly centerfold feature on the Camano 31. It says that Bob Warman sold 125 of these. But then "in the late 1990s, the tooling passed through several owners. About 270 models were built before" Helmsman bought the molds. This is very interesting. What company or companies made those 270 boats?

I've wondered about the Campion 300(?) that was built in BC in the early 1980s. I've never looked closely at either boat, but they look a lot alike on the water.

Camano Yachts built most in Delta BC under two different owners. Then the recession hit.
Bracewell in Richmond, BC had a go at one or two. Then the molds went to Anacortes which built some (the colored hulls), then a few years of non production, then Helmsman bought them and (I assume) are now built in China.

Jeff F said:

I've wondered about the Campion 300(?) that was built in BC in the early 1980s. I've never looked closely at either boat, but they look a lot alike on the water.

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Nope. When you see them together, not even close.

Thanks!
When those other companies were building them, were they still called Camanos?

maineman said:

Thanks!
When those other companies were building them, were they still called Camanos?

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I don't recall Bracewell using the Camano or Troll name. They built a stretched version (called a Bracewell 41), but now I'm not really sure if they ended up building any 31s. I'd have to go through the old Pacific Yachting mags...

Thanks Northern Spy. I have always greatly admired the Camanos. I'll check out the Bracewell. Helmsman makes a nice boat but I much prefer the galley being down below like in the originals.

Northern Spy said:

Nope. When you see them together, not even close.

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Heh. Thanks.

The Campion 30 or 300 was a copy of the Atlantic 29/30 or the Prairie 29/30.

Before we bought our now current boat in'85 we looked at the Campion 30.

We also looked at the Camanos which were then known as the Camano 28.


We were also intrigued with the Camano 36 , aluminum, designed and built for ocean going such as Hawaii. Only a very few of those were built and the last one I saw was not in great exterior appearance. The 36 was way out of our price range so the interest was lost other than very general interest.

C lectric said:

The Campion 30 or 300 was a copy of the Atlantic 29/30 or the Prairie 29/30.

Before we bought our now current boat in'85 we looked at the Campion 30.

We also looked at the Camanos which were then known as the Camano 28.


We were also intrigued with the Camano 36 , aluminum, designed and built for ocean going such as Hawaii. Only a very few of those were built and the last one I saw was not in great exterior appearance. The 36 was way out of our price range so the interest was lost other than very general interest.

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my dock neighbor just sold his aluminum camano trawler. i think it was longer than 36, but don't know exactly how long it was. aft house, very stout looking vessel. was just a bit too small for his(their) needs.
i had no idea those even existed till i saw one in person.

Northern Spy said:

Nope. When you see them together, not even close.

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Ain't that the truth. The Campion 30 was only in production for one or two years and was a disaster off the trailer. They were like a baloon on the water and a lot of them had concrete added for balast.
https://thunderbirdmarine.com/yacht-sales/jim-trawler/

Around here at that time, there were a ton of 26/28 production boats, the next size was 40/42. So an attemp was made to bridge that gap and gain a bunch of interior. Tolly tried a 30 also; a better boat but still a bitch in a follwing sea.

maineman said:

Thanks!
When those other companies were building them, were they still called Camanos?

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Yes. And nothing changed except toward the end, there were engine options.

BTW: A very few 41' Camanos were built. Same lines, just bigger and longer. Somewhere between four and six were made.

Bmarler said:

my dock neighbor just sold his aluminum camano trawler. i think it was longer than 36, but don't know exactly how long it was. aft house, very stout looking vessel. was just a bit too small for his(their) needs.
i had no idea those even existed till i saw one in person.

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That would not be the same manufacturer.

rwidman said:

That would not be the same manufacturer.

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Looks like it was when they were built in Delta. 1986.

https://seattle.boatshed.com/camano_marine_36_camano_trawler-boat-271576.html

https://waterlineboats.com/a-boat-owners-insights-camano-marine-36/

The larger 36' Camano was designed by and built under Bob Warman, the designer of the Camano 28s.

I know because we, wife and I, talked to Mr. Warman about it, the 36. Of course as said we realized the 36 was way out of our $ range.

However the actual aluminum boat may not have been built in Mr. Warman's shop. I don't know but that does not mean Mr Warman was not the overseer which means he was also the builder in the same way he designed the FRP 28 but did not actually do the FRP work.

Aluminum is a whole different skill set but even then there were darned good aluminum boat builders, just not as many as there are now.


But we never got that far in the discussion.

Here's a look at the Camano 41:

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2006-camano-41-8661625/

Benthic2 said:

Here's a look at the Camano 41:

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2006-camano-41-8661625/

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Hardly ever see that boat, I started to post it under interesting boats. I'm not ever sure if they made more than one of these? I thought I had read that but memory is not what it was lol!

I believe there were six original Camano 41's built. Dave Formo, who sold Camano's in Seattle, still had one new one left several years later. Brad Miller, who owned Camano at that time, sent out a questionnaire to Camano Troll owners asking what they would like in a larger boat. Unfortunately the majority of replies wanted a single stateroom boat and that was what he built. It didn't go over well. Bracewell bought the molds and made them into a two stateroom boat. I'm not sure how many were made.

Camano 31 and 41

We had Camano 31 hull #52 (Kittiwake) and Camano 41 hull#1 (Dame Fortune). We had both at the same time for a while so I guess we had the largest fleet of Camanos. Both of our boats were built in the Delta, BC factory.

Both sizes are fabulous boats, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend either one of them. Camano only made 7 of the 41’ size, before selling the molds to Bracewell, who in turn changed the layout and then built very few (~3) of them in China.

The 41’ is a much bigger boat, despite being only 1/3 longer it is 3 times heavier, 3 times as much space, 3 times the horsepower…

Bob Warman OffShore 42

I recently Purchsed an Offshore 42 Designed by Bob Warman and built in Campbell River. To My Knowledge, Only 2 of these were built. This one in fibreglass in 1991 and one in Aluminum. Previous owner cruised up to Haida Gwai and the west coast of Vancouver Island.