Norman Cross ( – August 14, 1990
) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
multihull
A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans (with two hulls), and trimarans (with three hulls). There are other types, with four or more h ...
sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
Types
Although sailboat terminology ...
designer.
Career
A design engineer by profession, Cross worked for
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
, then spent 16 years with
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...
' Convair Division in their department of wind-tunnel model design and towing basin testing.
He spent much of his life in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, beginning to design multihulls in the 1950s, starting with catamarans.
His full-time multihull development work began in 1968.
Designs
Cross was responsible for at least the following designs:
*Cross 10.5
*Cross 18
*Cross 24 (1963)
and later Cross 24 MkII
*Cross 26
(1960s or before) and later Cross 26 MkII
*Cross 27 ("stretched Cross 26 MkII"
)
*Cross 28
*Cross 30
*Cross 31
and later Cross 31 MkII
*Cross 32R
*Cross 34 and later Cross 34 MkII
*Cross 34R ("stretched Cross 32R"
)
*Cross 35
*Cross 36
*Cross 36R
*Cross 37
*Cross 38
(1985)
*Cross 39
*Cross 39R ("stretched Cross 36R"
)
*Cross 39RC
*Cross 40RC
*Cross 40
*Cross 40R
*Cross 42
and later Cross 42 MkII
*Cross 44 ("stretched Cross42 MkII"
)
*Cross 45R
*Cross 46
and later Cross 46 MkII
*Cross 48 Model-B
*Cross 49
*Cross 50
*Cross 52
*Cross 52R
*Cross 78R (late 1980s)
References
Multihull designers
Canadian designers
20th-century Canadian engineers
1910s births
1990 deaths
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