Bolger Camp Cruiser
Description
The Bolger Camp Cruiser refers to a family of compact, plywood "camp-cruiser" sailboats designed by the innovative American naval architect Phil Bolger (1927–2009), emphasizing affordable, home-built vessels for short coastal or inland adventures—think beaching for picnics, overnight "camping" aboard, and easy trailering. The most prominent in this category is the Chebacco, a 20-foot cat-yawl introduced in 1989, but the lineage includes similar designs like the 16-foot Birdwatcher (1977) and 18-foot Shrike (1970s). These boats prioritize simplicity, shallow draft, and stability over speed, using Bolger's signature stitch-and-glue plywood construction for quick builds (200–500 hours). Ideal for solo or couple's gunkholing in bays, rivers, or lakes, they're forgiving in light winds and stable when heeled, with cozy cabins for sleeping under the stars. Over 200 examples have been built worldwide, often customized for regions like the Chesapeake Bay or British canals.
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | - |
| e | - |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Blueprints
Sails
| Sail Type | GAFF MAIN |
|---|---|
| Luff | 9 ft - (2743 mm) |
| Foot | 13.5 ft - (4115 mm) |
| Leech | 20.083 ft - (6121 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 84.57 ° |
| Diag (clew/throat) | 15.5 ft - (4724 mm) |
| Head | 12.5 ft - (3810 mm) |
| Area | * 157.34 ft² |
| Sail Type | LEG-O-MUTTON |
|---|---|
| Luff | 11.5 ft - (3505 mm) |
| Foot | 6 ft - (1829 mm) |
| Leech | 12.23 ft - (3728 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 82.43 ° |
| Diag (clew/head) | 12.25 ft - (3734 mm) |
| Head (Inches) | 2 |
| Area | * 35.21 ft² |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.