Shearwater III

Shearwater III

Development
Designer	Francis & Roland Prout
Location	Canvey Island, Essex, UK
Year	1956
No. built	2000+[1]
Builder(s)	Prout & Sons, Fairey Marine
Name	Shearwater III
Boat
Crew	2
Displacement	120 kg (260 lb)
Draft	0.91 m (3.0 ft)  min 0.18 m (0.59 ft)  max
Trapeze	Twin allowed
Hull
General	2
Type	Catamaran Twin Centreboard
Construction	Wood / Fibreglass / Composite / Carbon Fibre[2]
LOH	5.03 m (16.5 ft)
LWL	4.82 m (15.8 ft)
Beam	2.29 m (7.5 ft)
Hull appendages
Keel/board type	Twin pivoting centreboards
Rudder(s)	Twin drop rudders
Rig
General	Fractional Sloop (Rotating Spar)
Sails
Sailplan	Bermudian Sloop
Other sails	Spinnaker introduced 1972
Upwind sail area	14.86 m^2 (160.0 sq ft)

The Shearwater III is a type of two crew racing catamaran, produced originally by G. Prout & Sons of Canvey Island, Essex, and was first sold in kit form. It is a "restricted development class".^[3] According to the UK's National Maritime Museum, The Shearwater III was the world’s first production catamaran.^[1]

Brothers Francis and Roland Prout were canoeists who took part in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. They worked in the family firm G. Prout & Sons Ltd, with their father, making folding canoes and dinghies. They developed their first catamaran, the Shearwater I in the early 1950s. Initially, they experimentally lashed together two K1 kayaks and added a bamboo platform and a mast and sail, and after the success of this went on to build the Shearwater I, in which they participated in local regattas. They then developed the Shearwater III.^[4][5]

Shearwaters regularly field at least 15 entries at National Championships since 1998.^[2]

External links

• Shearwater Catamaran - The home of the First Racing Catamaran Class Shearwater Class Association
• Moorwood, John (ed.). "The A.Y.R.S. and Multihulled Craft" (PDF). Catamarans. 1958 (22). A.Y.R.S Publications: 8 et seq.

References

1. Loveland, Graham (June 2016). "Shearwater catamaran "Yellow Bird" – BC16". National Maritime Museum. National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
2. "Shearwater". Yachts and Yachting. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
3. "SHEARWATER III". SailboatData.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
4. "Prout Catamarans - a History". Katamarans. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
5. McCave, Fred. "The Prout Story". CanveyIsland.org. Retrieved 28 July 2020.