Shark 24
# Shark 24

The Shark 24 is a Canadian-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.

| Yearvte | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1966 Ottawa | Canada Sid Dakin | | |
| 1967 Montreal | Canada Sid Dakin | | |
| 1968 Niagara-on-the-Lake | Canada Sid Dakin | | |
| 1969 Toronto | Canada Sid Dakin | | Canada Roy Brown |
| 1970 Ottawa | Canada Sid Dakin | | |
| 1971 Mississauga | Canada Jim Jackson | | |
| 1972 Kingston | West Germany Horst Shaunbacher | | |
| 1973 Montreal | Canada John Fitzpatrick | | |
| 1974 Sandhamn | West Germany Horst Shaunbacher | | |
| 1975 Fort Erie | Canada John Fitzpatrick | | |
| 1976 | Sweden Eric Schauman | | |
| 1977 Travemünde | West Germany Helmut Jungbut | | |
| 1978 Mississauga | Canada Clare Norris | | |
| 1979 Toronto | Canada Don Walton | | |
| 1980 | West Germany Rudi Magg | | |
| 1981 Mississauga | Canada Ralph Gilbert | | |
| 1982 Hamilton | Canada Paul Davis | | |
| 1983 Attersee | Austria Anton Stader | | |
| 1984 Fort Erie | Canada Hal Ebert Mike Entwistle Sandy Ebert | | |
| 1985 Toronto | Canada Dana Richardson Peter Eagar Mo Regnier | | |
| 1986 Konstanz | Austria Flossi Felsecker | | |
| 1987 Niagara-on-the-Lake | Canada Hal Ebert Mike Entwistle Sandy Ebert | | |
| 1988 Fort Erie | Canada Hal Ebert Mike Entwistle Sandy Ebert | | |
| 1989 Attersee | Austria Flossi Felsecker | | |
| 1990 Kingston | Canada Peter Schell | | |
| 1991 Toronto | Canada Peter Vickery David Starck Jamie Day | | |
| 1992 Kreuzlingen | Austria Flossi Felsecker | | |
| 1993 Oakville | Canada Greg Cockburn Peter Eagar Christine Forsyth | | |
| 1994 Niagara-on-the-Lake | Canada Don Ruddy | | |
| 1995 Friedrichshaven | Canada Don Ruddy | | |
| 1996 Kingston | Canada Jeff Mitchell Peter Aker Robert McCooey | Canada Graham Jones Tof Nicoll-Griffith Luis Carrasco | Canada Jack Mitchell Chris Daniels Ken Mitchell |
| 1997 Fort Erie | Canada Don Ruddy | Canada Jack Mitchell Chris Daniels Ken Mitchell | Canada Jeff Mitchell Peter Aker Robert McCooey |
| 1998 Breitenbrunn | Canada Don Ruddy John Clark Kathy Ruddy | Austria Flossi Felsecker Franz Lackerbauer Johannes Tinsobin | Austria Franz Flasch Franz Gratzel Doris Potsch |
| 1999 Toronto | Canada Sid Dakin John Dakin Julian Aziz | Canada Jack Mitchell Chris Daniels Ken Mitchell | Canada Mark Wiggins |
| 2000 Parry Sound | Canada Don Ruddy John Clark Martin Shaw | Canada Sid Dakin John Dakin Julian Aziz | Canada Jeff Mitchell Andrew Shaw Peter Aker |
| 2001 Kreuzlingen | Canada Don Ruddy John Clark | Austria Flossi Felsecker | Canada Rodney Smith |
| 2002 Toronto | Canada Greg Cockburn Peter Eagar Christine Forsyth | Canada Steve Elwood | Canada Michael Lee |
| 2003 Ottawa | Canada Greg Cockburn Peter Eagar Christine Forsyth | Canada Sid Dakin John Dakin Julian Aziz | Canada Don Ruddy John Clark |
| 2004 Müritz | Canada John Clark John Fraser Ethier Annie Claude | Germany Jürgen Ahlfeldt Jürgen Borgwardt Dieter Dülffer | Austria Michael Schahpar Elfriede Schahpar Peter Feichtinger |
| 2005 Windsor | Canada Johan Koppernaes Doug Brown Michael Lee | Canada Sid Dakin John Dakin Kyle Dakin | Canada Paul Davis Peter van Rossem Nathan Baron |
| 2006 Toronto | Canada Johan Koppernaes Doug Brown Michael Lee | Canada Stephen Jones Lisa Katz Jones Kathryn Fuller | Canada Jeremy Lucas Chris Dorrington Graham Eisenhauer |
| 2007 Traunsee | Germany Horst Rudorffer Anita Correll Thomas Molz | Canada Johan Koppernaes Doug Brown Michael Lee | Austria Michael Schahpar Florian Leitner Elfriede Schahpar |
| 2008 Hamilton | Canada David Foy Jamie Foy David O'Sullivan | Canada Johan Koppernaes Doug Brown Michael Lee | Canada John Dakin Kyle Dakin Morgan Dakin |
| 2009 Niagara-on-the-Lake | Canada David Foy Jamie Foy David O'Sullivan | Canada Josh Wiwcharyk Chris Clarke Martha Rafuse | Canada Johan Koppernaes Doug Brown Michael Lee |
| 2010 Kreuzlingen | Canada Greg Cockburn Hal Ebert Peter Aker | Canada David Foy Jamie Foy David O'Sullivan | Austria Ernst Felsecker Klaus Kratochwill Franz Gratzel |
| 2011 Montreal | Canada David Foy Jamie Foy David O'Sullivan | Canada Johan Koppernaes Doug Brown Michael Lee | Canada George Stedman Etienne Portelance Robert Levy |
| 2012 Kingston | Canada Robert Davis Paul Davis Brandon Tattersall | Canada Peter Aker Howard Moscrop David Giles | Canada Johan Koppernaes Doug Brown Michael Lee |
| 2013 Muritz | Canada Keven Piper Tom Nelson Jordin Clark | Austria Michael Schahpar Bernhard Hynie Nancy Harvey Douglas Mc Farlane | Canada Greg Cockburn Hal Ebert Peter Aker |
| 2014 Toronto | Canada Keven Piper Tom Nelson Jordin Clark | Canada Peter Van Rossem Peter Van Rossem Jr Stan Wallace | Canada Andrew Morgan Daina Morgan Martin Shaw |
| 2015 Ottawa | Canada Dave Foy Jamie Foy David O'Sullivan | Canada John Dakin Morgan Dakin Trevor Dakin | Canada Peter Van Rossem Stan Wallace Peter Jr. Van Rossem |
| 2016 Ebensee | Austria Michael Schahpar Klaus Kratochwill Ben Hynie | Canada Keven Piper Tom Nelson Jordin Clark | Austria Christan Binder Thomas Czajka Harald Hynie |
| 2017 Toronto | Canada Richard Robarts Colin Clark Cameron Mason | Canada Greg Cockburn & crew | Canada Jeffrey Gillmeister & crew |
| 2018 Kingston | Canada Stephen Jones Geoff Moore Breck McFarlane | Canada Martin Shaw Andrew Morgan Daina Morgan | Canada Peter Van Rossem Stan Wallace Matt Fair |
| 2019 Muritz | Austria Christian Binder Harald Hynie Thomas Czajka | Canada Peter Van Rossem Matthew Fair James Fair | Austria Michael Schahpar Ben Hynie Klaus Kratochwill |
| 2020 Montreal | | |
