Shrimp (dinghy)

Shrimp

Development
Designer	Hubert Vandestadt and Fraser McGruer
Location	Canada
Year	1972
No. built	340
Builder(s)	Vandestadt and McGruer Limited
Role	Sailing dinghy
Name	Shrimp
Boat
Crew	two for racing
Displacement	120 lb (54 kg)
Draft	2.50 ft (0.76 m) centreboard down
Hull
Type	Monohull
Construction	Fibreglass
LOA	9.58 ft (2.92 m)
Beam	4.83 ft (1.47 m)
Hull appendages
Keel/board type	centreboard
Rudder(s)	transom-mounted rudder
Rig
Rig type	Gunter rig
Sails
Sailplan	Catboat
Mainsail area	50.00 sq ft (4.645 m^2)
Total sail area	50.00 sq ft (4.645 m^2)

The Shrimp is a Canadian dinghy that was designed by Hubert Vandestadt and Fraser McGruer and first built in 1972. The boat was designed to employed as a powered yacht tender, a rowboat or as a sailing dinghy.^[1][2]

Production

The design was built by Vandestadt and McGruer Limited in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. The company completed 340 examples of the type, but the boat went out of production when the company closed in 1987.^[1][2][3]

Design

The Shrimp is a recreational sailboat, built predominantly of fibreglass, with wood trim. It is a catboat, with a gunter rig, aluminum spars and a loose-footed mainsail. The mast is 15.00 ft (4.57 m) tall from the waterline. The hull design features a raked stem, a plumb transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a retractable centerboard. It displaces 120 lb (54 kg) and has foam-filled buoyancy tanks to make it unsinkable.^[1][2]

The boat has a draft of 2.50 ft (0.76 m) with the centreboard extended and 0.50 ft (0.15 m) with it retracted. The centreboard and rudder both "kick-up", allowing beaching. The Gunter rig results in three short spars which facilities storage, as well as transportation on a trailer or car roof rack.^[1]

When used as a powered tender, the boat is fitted with a small outboard motor. To allow it to be towed a bow eye is fitted.^[1]

Operational history

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "a tender, rowboat, outboard, and small training dinghy, the Shrimp has an unusual gunter rig that helps in trailering or car-topping because the spars are short."^[2]

See also

• List of sailing boat types

Similar sailboats

• Blue Crab 11
• Echo 12
• Puffer (dinghy)
• Skunk 11

References

1. McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Shrimp sailboat". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
2. Sherwood, Richard M.: A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition, pages 4-5. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. ISBN 0-395-65239-1
3. McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Vandestadt and McGruer Ltd. (CAN)". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.