The Pearson 303 is an American

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 ...

that was designed by William Shaw as a cruiser and first built in 1983.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 226-227. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

Production

The design was built by

Pearson Yachts Pearson Yachts was a sailboat manufacturer founded by Everett Pearson and Clinton Pearson in 1956. One of the first fiberglass sailboat manufacturers, they grew rapidly during the 60s and 70s, while also developing and designing new boats. Howe ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

between 1983 and 1986. The company completed more than 300 examples of the design, but it is now out of production.

Design

The Pearson 303 is a recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

with a

balsa ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as balsa, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma'', and is classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the mallow family Malvaceae. The tree is fa ...

core and with wood trim. It has a

masthead sloop A masthead rig on a sailing vessel consists of a forestay and backstay both attached at the top of the mast. The Bermuda rig can be split into two groups: the masthead rig and the fractional rig. The masthead rig has larger and more headsails, a ...

rig, a

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a vertical transom, a

skeg A skeg (or skegg or skag) is a sternward extension of the keel of boats and ships which have a rudder mounted on the centre line. The term also applies to the lowest point on an outboard motor or the outdrive of an inboard/outboard."A small fin f ...

-mounted

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

controlled by a

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...

, with an emergency back-up

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn ...

and a fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

. It displaces and carries of lead ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel fitted. It has of headroom, below decks. The boat is fitted with a Japanese

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...

3GM(F)

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

of . The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The boat's

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

is located on the port side of the cabin and includes a sink, a two-burner alcohol stove and a

icebox An icebox (also called a cold closet) is a compact non-mechanical refrigerator which was a common early-twentieth-century kitchen appliance before the development of safely powered refrigeration devices. Before the development of electric refrig ...

. Hot and cold running pressure water was a factory option. The cabin sole is made from

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

and

holly ''Ilex'' () or holly is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

. The

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

has a privacy door and is located forward, just aft of the bow "V"-berth. Additional sleeping space is provided by the dinette settee, which has a folding table and the aft quarter berth which is a double. The total sleeping accommodation is for six people. Ventilation is provided by eight opening cabin ports, plus two opening translucent hatches, one in the bow cabin and one in the main cabin. The boat has internal

jiffy-reefing Reefing reduces the area of a sail, usually by folding or rolling one edge of the canvas in on itself and attaching the unused portion to a spar or a , as the primary measure to preserve a sailing vessel's stability in strong winds. Restoring ...

. The cockpit has two

genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

winches and two winches for the halyards. The

mainsheet traveler A traveller is a part of the rigging of a boat or ship that provides a moving attachment point for a rope, sail or yard to a fixed part of the vessel. It may take the form of anything from a simple ring on a metal bar or a spar to, especially in a ...

is mounted on the bridge deck and the genoa has sheet tracks. There is an

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

locker in the bow.

Operational history

A review in ''Practical Sailor'' magazine wrote of the design "A quick look at the numbers shows that the Pearson 303 is a conservative design, moderate in every respect ... They also suggest a boat that is not particularly fast ... Our conclusion is that the Pearson 303 is a big 30-footer, intended for safe coastal cruising. She admirably succeeds in doing what she was designed to do. The only risk accrues to those who mistake her for something she is not—an offshore, passage-making boat." ''Practical Sailor'' however also faulted the design and its stablemates on company fortunes, saying, "the Pearson 303, and later the 34, 36, 37 and 39 seemed to be nearly the same boat drawn to different lengths. Indeed, in 1991, all of the above models, except the 303 (terminated in 1986), were in production at the same time. There was a bland sameness to them. Not only in terms of the standard hull and deck colors, non-skid pattern, window treatments and interior finish, but in their lines as well. One would suppose that designer Bill Shaw believed the formula to be successful, and for a time it probably was. Nevertheless, we suspect it also may have accounted for the company’s eventual demise ... It seems the company was consumed in a vortex spun of its own successful sameness." David Liscio, writing in ''Sailing'' magazine in 2013 note, "Shaw, who was at the helm of Pearson Yachts as chief designer and corporate executive from 1964 to 1986, has been criticized for cranking out different models that look too much alike. Harsh tongues have lumped the Pearson 303 in with this group, but the 303, which Pearson labeled a performance cruiser, had found an audience of admirers ready and willing to accept a design that sacrifices a bit of speed and handling ability for additional space and comfort below deck." Liscio concluded. "Solidly built, affordably priced and easy to sail, with voluminous space below decks, the Pearson 303 is an ideal coastal cruising boat for a small family or a big-boat sailor looking to downsize." A 2017 used boat review in the ''Spinsheet'', some 31 years after production ended, remarked, "following a design philosophy that dates back to the company’s founding in 1955, Pearson Yachts introduced the Pearson 303, in the 1983 model year as a no excuses, Plain Jane cruising boat. After almost 25 years, she remains just that." The review concluded, "the Pearson 303 is today, as she was in 1983, an ideal boat for a couple or small family on a limited budget looking for a comfortable Bay or coastal cruiser."

References

{{Pearson Yachts Keelboats 1980s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by William Shaw Sailboat types built by Pearson Yachts

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References