Engineering:Shark 24

Short description: Canadian-designed 24 ft sailing yacht

Shark 24

Development
Designer	George Hinterhoeller
Location	Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Year	1959
No. built	over 2500
Design	One-Design
Builder(s)	Hinterhoeller Limited C&C Yachts Halman Manufacturing Co. Bodo Guenther Marinedepot* (*current builder)
Role	racer, recreational sailing
Boat
Crew	2 to 3
Boat weight	2,100 lb (950 kg)
Draft	3 ft 2 in (0.97 m)
Hull
Type	monohull
Construction	Fibre-reinforced plastic
LOA	24 ft (7.3 m)
LWL	20 ft (6.1 m)
Beam	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Engine type	3–6 hp (2.2–4.5 kW)
Hull appendages
Keel/board type	fixed fin
Ballast	iron 675 lb (306 kg)
Rudder(s)	transom hung spade
Rig
Rig type	bermuda rig
I (foretriangle height)	20 ft (6.1 m)
J (foretriangle base)	7.3 ft (2.2 m)
P (mainsail luff)	23 ft (7.0 m)
E (mainsail foot)	10.2 ft (3.1 m)
Sails
Sailplan	fractional sloop
Mainsail area	117.3 sq ft (10.90 m2)
Jib/genoa area	73 sq ft (6.8 m2)
Upwind sail area	190 sq ft (18 m2)
Class is a member of World Sailing

The Shark 24 is a Canada -designed 24 ft sailing yacht which has earned itself a reputation of extraordinary reliability and longevity among sailors both in North America and Central Europe. Having been designed by George Hinterhoeller back in 1959 to cope well even with the harshest conditions found in the Great Lakes region, the vessel has proven to be well suited for extended leisure trips as well as for tough racing.

The Shark 24 was awarded International status by World Sailing in 2000.

History

George Hinterhoeller grew up in Austria where he sailed the light displacement fin keel sailboats that were common there. By 1959 he had emigrated to Canada and was working for a boat builder in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Hinterhoeller decided to design and build a sailboat for himself that was similar to what he had sailed in his youth in Austria. The result was a 22 ft (6.7 m) plywood boat he named Teeter Totter. Other sailors saw the resulting boat, and how fast it sailed compared to the heavy displacement boats common on the Great Lakes at the time and asked Hinterhoeller to build similar boats for them. Hinterhoeller modified the design, stretching it out to 24 ft (7.3 m) and started production of what he then called the Shark. The customer who commissioned the fifth hull requested it be built in fibreglass and offered to help Hinterhoeller build it using this new material. The resulting boat was a success and all subsequent Shark produced were built in fibreglass as this resulted in a lighter boat that took far less time to build so was less expensive and required much less ongoing maintenance.

Design

The shark is a light displacement cruising and racing sailboat. It has a 7/8 fractional sloop rig, a small cabin and a self-bailing cockpit. The iron fin keel, combined with a transom hung spade rudder, and a flat run aft allows the hull to ride up on its bow wave and plane under the right conditions, giving the Shark more speed than a displacement hull of the same waterline length. It had a displacement-length ratio of 123, extraordinarily low for its time.

The Shark has a V-berth, two quarter berths, and a small galley with sink, stove and icebox. It has sitting headroom under the small deckhouse.

Events

World Championship

A World Championship Regatta for the Shark 24 class has been continuously contested for over 50 years. The regatta follows a three-year rotation where for two consecutive years the regatta is hosted by the Canadian Shark Class Association in Canada, and the third year it is held in Europe in Austria, Germany, or Switzerland.

See also

Sharks upwind

• List of sailing boat types

Similar sailboats

• Achilles 24
• C&C 24
• Challenger 24
• Columbia 24
• Dana 24
• Islander 24
• Islander 24 Bahama
• J/24
• MacGregor 24
• Mirage 24
• Nutmeg 24
• San Juan 24
• Seidelmann 245
• Tonic 23