The Shark 24 is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

-designed 24 ft sailing

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

which has earned itself a reputation of extraordinary reliability and longevity among sailors both in

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and

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. Having been designed by

George Hinterhoeller George Anton Hinterhoeller (1928–1999) was a Canadian boat designer and builder, a significant contributor to the Canadian sailboat industry for almost forty years. Early life Hinterhoeller was born in Mondsee, Austria on March 16, 1928. He f ...

back in 1959 to cope well even with the harshest conditions found in the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

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 World Sailing is the international sports governing body for sailing (sport), sailing; it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). History The creation of the International Yac ...

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 Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York (state), New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the R ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. 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

plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...

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

at the time and asked Hinterhoeller to build similar boats for them. Hinterhoeller modified the design, stretching it out to 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 Plane most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface * Plane (mathematics), generalizations of a geometrical plane Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * 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.

References

External links