| Shearwater III | |
| Designer: | Francis & Roland Prout |
| Location: | Canvey Island, Essex, UK |
| Year: | 1956 |
| No Built: | 2000+ |
| Builder: | Prout & Sons, Fairey Marine |
| Crew: | 2 |
| Trapeze: | Twin allowed |
| Displacement: | 120kg (270lb) |
| Hulls: | 2 |
| Hull Type: | Catamaran Twin Centreboard |
| Construction: | Wood / Fibreglass / Composite / Carbon Fibre |
| Loh: | 5.03m (16.5feet) |
| Lwl: | 4.82m (15.81feet) |
| Beam: | 2.29m (07.51feet) |
| Hull Draft: | 0.91m (02.99feet) min 0.18m (00.59feet) max |
| Keel Type: | Twin pivoting centreboards |
| Rudder Type: | Twin drop rudders |
| Rigs: | Fractional Sloop (Rotating Spar) |
| Sailplan: | Bermudian Sloop |
| Sails Other: | Spinnaker introduced 1972 |
| Sailarea Upwind: | 14.86m2 |
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".[1] According to the UK's National Maritime Museum, The Shearwater III was the world’s first production catamaran.[2]
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.[3] [4]
Shearwaters regularly field at least 15 entries at National Championships since 1998.[5]