Lock Crowther (9 September 1940–1993; first name by birth Lachlan) was an Australian

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. He grew up in Bairnsdale in the

East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres (14%) of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: East Gippsland (Sta ...

region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Though his first name was Lachlan by birth, he insisted on being called Lock or Lockie.

Career

Lock and his family built his first boat, a trimaran called ''

Bunyip The bunyip is a creature from the aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. Name The origin of the word ''bunyip'' has been traced to the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia ...

'', in 1959 while he was still a teenager. In 1960 he raced in the

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

regatta at Paynesville,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and won against a field of 300 boats. This initial success inspired others to build similar boats. Crowther then studied electrical engineering in Melbourne and in the early 1960s became involved in multihull design and the '' Amateur Yacht Research Society''. In 1962 ''Trio'' was built based upon his designs. Crowther's next design was the

Kraken 25 Kraken 25 was a day racing trimaran sailboat designed by Lock Crowther in the wake of his successful Bunyip 20 design.''Scanned specification brochure for Kraken 18 / Kraken 25 / Bunyip 20.'' Advertised as "Virtually a C Class trimaran of unbel ...

, garnering some recognition. Later, Lockie decided to give up his day job in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and move to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

to design multihulls full-time. In 1969, a

Kraken 40 Kraken 40 is a trimaran designed by Lock Crowther in Australia and first built in 1970. See also *List of multihulls *Lock Crowther *Kraken 18 *Kraken 25 *Kraken 33 Kraken 33 Mk IV was a 4-5 berthBrochure of the Trimaran Yacht Club of Victori ...

won the New York to Bermuda race with him aboard. Crowther's first offshore racing trimaran, ''

Bandersnatch A bandersnatch is a fictional creature in Lewis Carroll's 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'' and his 1874 poem ''The Hunting of the Snark''. Although neither work describes the appearance of a bandersnatch in great detail, in ''The Hunting ...

'', won the

Sydney to Hobart The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run ...

multihull race in 1996.

Legacy

During Crowther's career, over 2500 of his designs were built. 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. Based in northern

, it merged with Incat Designs - Sydney in 2005 to form

Incat Crowther Incat Crowther is an Australian Company, headquartered in Belrose, a suburb of Sydney specializing in Marine engineering design. Incat Crowther has offices in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States and Romsey, UK. The company has a diverse produc ...

. Some Crowther designs are now offered through

-base
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 36 * Buccaneer 40 *

Kraken 18 Kraken 18 was a day racing trimaran sailboat designed by Lock Crowther in the wake of his successful Bunyip 20 design,''Scanned specification brochure for Kraken 18 / Kraken 25 / Bunyip 20.'' as a scaled-down version of the earlier Kraken 25 w ...

Kraken 33 Kraken 33 Mk IV was a 4-5 berthBrochure of the Trimaran Yacht Club of Victoria. 1977 (or earlier). Accessed State Library of New South Wales, inside second volume of Trimaran Yacht Club of Victoria newsletters, 7 February 2015. ocean racing trim ...

*spindrift 37

References

External links

*http://www.incatcrowther.com/ Incat Crowther {{DEFAULTSORT:Crowther, Lock 1993 deaths Multihull designers Year of birth uncertain 1940 births