History Of The Shearwater Catamaran

The firm of G. Prout and Sons was a partnership started by Mr Geoffrey Prout and his two sons, Roland and Francis, in 1935. The Company originally specialised in building canoes, and folding dinghies as yacht tenders. After the war, the brothers Roland and Francis and their father opened a small factory at Small Gains Comer on Canvey Island. From then on the firm grew and hundreds of folding dinghies and canoes were sold all over the world.

Roland and Francis Prout

In 1949 Roland and Francis started experiments by lashing two canoes together to make their first catamaran. The idea of developing a catamaran had been in their minds for sometime. They were at this time involved in canoe racing and were champions in kayaks, and were picked to represent Britain in the 1952 Olympics. After which they carried out more serious catamaran experiments. Using racing kayaks tied together with a bamboo platform, then rigging this craft with a mast and sails, the mainsail was a small Lugsail and the jib from a 14ft International dinghy.

This was so successful that the brothers decided to design and purpose build a catamaran. This catamaran was known as Shearwater 1. It was raced locally and won every race. The Shearwater 1 was entered in the "D" class handicap in the Burnham-on-Crouch annual regatta week in 1954, and won this outright. The cat was noticed by many well known dinghy sailors of the day, including Hornet King Beecher Moore and Ken Pearce.

A great deal of interest in catamarans was being generated by these events, and many people wanted to own one. Meetings were held with other boat designers, and as a result the Prouts designed the smaller and more easily trailed Shearwater III, and Bill O'Brien designed the hard-chined Jumpahead. Roland and Francis entered the No I Shearwater III in the first Cross-Channel Dinghy Race from Folkestone to Boulogne in 1956, and beat all the best racing dinghy helmsmen of the day (which included the famous Uffa Fox) by over one hour.

Ken Pearce in the 18ft Endeavour also entered and was first boat home on the beach at Boulogne, with the 16ft Shearwater III about ten minutes behind. This was enough to make the Shearwater the winner on handicap. The resulting publicity created by this win ensured the success of the Shearwater Ill from then on.

Francis Prout Sailing "Yellow Bird" in the 1960's

The Shearwater III was the world's first production catamaran. Sail numbers are now over 2000, of which 1500 were built at the larger premises at The Point - Canvey Island, to which Prouts moved in 1957- where they are to this day.

The Shearwater III became a strong and successful class in Britain with fleets actively sailing all over Britain and the Continent. In recent years the proliferation of new designs has seen a decline in numbers with possibly the Dart taking over as the most numerically popular boat.

The Shearwater achieved RYA recognition in 1959 by being made a National class. The Class Association is very active, with a fiercely contested Travellers Trophy series and the National Championships - a much coveted prize and a hard weeks racing. The first Shearwater National Championship was sailed at Westcliff near Southend in 1957, and was won by Roland Prout, with Francis Prout in third place. The championships in 2001, at Stone Sailing Club in Essex, will be the 45th - an outstanding landmark. The Class is renowned for its friendly and family orientated base and the "Shearwater Village" at the Nationals, where most competitors and their families camp out, is something to see and experience.

It is from the Shearwater that most future catamarans have been influenced. The round-bottomed hull sections have been copied successfully all over the world, culminating in the Tornado, which for many years was the fastest production catamaran around. Only in the last decade have cats become faster with ever-increasing size and sail areas.

Notwithstanding all the recent development in catamaran designs, the Shearwater is still a potent performer and capable of beating newer designs on handicap despite the design being over 40 years old. This is a result of the "gang of four" (Roland and Francis Prout, Jim Ballard and Ken Pearce) who set up the Shearwater Class. They had the forethought to make the Shearwater a "Restricted Class", so allowing it to be developed and benefit by new ideas. Most of which have come from Shearwater sailors, and it has not been bogged down by "one-design" restrictions. The Shearwater is still probably one of the cheapest catamaran classes on the market.

The Prout brothers have in the meantime carried on producing other designs, mostly in the larger cruising classes. Some of the designs produced from 1958 to 1965 were: the Cougar, a 19ft two-man boat which was very successful in the USA; 27ft and 31ft Ranger class cruisers: the 45ft Ocean range; 35ft and 37ft Taranga class; 36ft Princess Catherine and the 77ft Tsulmaran luxury cruiser. The brothers finally designed and built the Snowgoose 35, followed by the present three models, the Quest 31, the Snowgoose 37 and the Quasar 49 one of the most spacious catamarans available.

The Prout brothers also designed and produced a small 14ft outboard-powered catamaran sportsboat called the Panther in which they competed and won the Havoline Trophy at Ruislip in 1962. A hundred or so of these boats were produced, and one raced and completed the Paris 6-hour Race, the first catamaran to do so. The boat finished in about 16th place out of an entry of over 100, in a gruelling race against most of the world's top outboard racing boats. Since then outboard catamarans have dominated this event and most other big outboad events where there is hard rough-water racing.

Perhaps the most successful of the Prout Bothers designs are the latest range now in production. These boats being bought and sailed all over the world have done a great deal to finally overcome the prejudice which has been ever-present against all multihulls over the years. It is true to say that only in recent years has the catamaran become recognised as an established and respectable boat and to take it's place alongside the traditional boat designs.