Lock Crowther
| Lock Crowther | |
|---|---|
| Born | Australia |
| Occupation | Ship Designer |
| Children | Brett Crowther |
Lock Crowther (c. 1940?–1993; first name by birth Lachlan[1]) was an Australian multihull sailboat designer. He grew up in Bairnsdale in the East Gippsland region of Victoria.[1] Though his first name was Lachlan by birth, he insisted on being called Lock or Lockie.[1]
Career
Lock and his family[1] built his first boat, a trimaran called Bunyip, in 1959 while he was still a teenager. In 1960 he raced in the Easter regatta at Paynesville, Victoria, Australia, and won against a field of 300 boats. This initial success inspired others to build similar boats. Crowther then studied electrical engineering in Melbourne[1] and in the early 1960s became involved in multihull design and the Amateur Yacht Research Society.[2] In 1962 Trio was built based upon his designs.[1][3]
Crowther's next design was the Kraken 25, garnering some recognition.[2]
Later, Lockie decided to give up his day job in Melbourne and move to Sydney to design multihulls full-time.[1]
In 1969, a Kraken 40 won the New York to Bermuda race with him aboard.[2]
Crowther's first offshore racing trimaran, Bandersnatch, won the Sydney to Hobart multihull race in 1996.[2]
Legacy
During Crowther's career, over 2500 of his designs were built.[2] A notable design was the trimaran Spirit of America, an early user of GRP-foam sandwich construction featuring composite beams with unidirectional fibres and turned-down ends. Crowther also developed 'bulbous bows' to reduce pitching, and thus increase speed when sailing upwind in a swell.
After Crowther's death in 1993, Crowther Designs was run by his son, Brett.[2] Based in northern Sydney, it merged with Incat Designs - Sydney in 2005[4] to form Incat Crowther.[5] Some Crowther designs are now offered[6] through Melbourne-based Bloomfield Innovation, run by a former associate.
Designs
Please note this list is incomplete.
- Bunyip 20 (1959)
- Trio (1962)
- Buccaneer 24
- Buccaneer 28
- Buccaneer 33
- Buccaneer 35
- Buccaneer 40
- Kraken 18
- Kraken 25
- Kraken 33
- Kraken 40
See also
References
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- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
- http://www.incatcrowther.com/ Incat Crowther
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