The Pearson Triton, sometimes referred to as a Triton 28, 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 terminolo ...

that was designed by

Carl Alberg Carl Alberg (11 April 1901 – 31 August 1986) was a Swedish born naval architect known for his influence in early fiberglass boats. Career Alberg moved to the United States in 1925 where he began working as a rigger then later as a spar mak ...

as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1958. It was introduced at the 1959 ''National Boat Show'' in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and was one of the first

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

boat designs built. The design also launched Alberg's career as a

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture occupations Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role ...

.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 202-203. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. The design was built by a number of different manufacturers in several configurations.

Production

The Triton started with a conversation between Carl Alberg and yacht broker Tom Potter in 1959. Potter thought that there would be a good market for a 28-foot racer-cruiser boat with stand-up headroom, with sleeping accommodation for a family of four and that would cost less than

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

10,000. Alberg designed the boat, with classic lines, but made from a new material at the time,

and with a price of US$9,700. Alberg and Potter approached the Pearson Corporation, at that time a small fiberglass sailboat manufacturer, founded in 1956 by cousins Clint and Everett Pearson. Upon examining the design they agreed to produce it. The two cousins had to borrow the money needed to transport the prototype from Rhode Island to New York for the National Boat Show, but by the show's completion they had 17 orders for the design. The design was initially 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 ...

Portsmouth, Rhode Island Portsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,871 at the 2020 U.S. census. Portsmouth is the second-oldest municipality in Rhode Island, after Providence; it was one of the four colonies which merged ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It was also built under licence by Jouët of France, who built about 60, and Aeromarine Plastics in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, who built 150 examples. Pearson ended production in 1967. Over 700 were built in total, before production ended in 1968.

Design

The Triton 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. It was inspired by the lines of the traditional Scandinavian

Folkboat The Nordic Folkboat (Swedish: Nordisk Folkbåt) is a Swedish sailboat that was designed by and Tord Sundén as a racer- cruiser and first built in 1942. Even though Sundén drafted the plans with design ideas provided by Iversen, Sundén was ...

. It has a spooned

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 raised transom, a keel-mounted

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

controlled by a

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 or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. ...

and a fixed long

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

. All versions of the design have a draft of with the standard keel fitted. The boat was factory fitted with a

Universal Atomic 4 The Universal Atomic 4 is a four-cylinder, gasoline engine produced by the Universal Motor Company between 1949 and 1984 for use as auxiliary power on sailboats. Both and versions of the engine were produced. Over 40,000 of the engines were pro ...

gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...

. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The boat's galley is located on both sides of the cabin at the bottom of the companionway stairs. On the starboard side is a sink that can be covered for use as a chart table. There is also a two-burner LPG stove. The head has a privacy door and is located forward, just aft of the bow "V"-berth. Additional sleeping space is provided by two cabin berths, providing total sleeping space for four. The genoas have tracks and the

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot i ...

can be roller reefed. 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 ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

locker in the bow.

Operational history

A review in ''Blue Water Boats'' writing in 2012 noted, "The Triton sails as gracefully as she looks. She’s forgiving and nimble, though she does tend to exhibit weather helm. To counter this tendency some owners have fashioned small bowsprits to open up the fore-triangle area, while others recut their mainsail with less canvas at the sacrifice of overall sail area. Although a fast boat for her waterline length she’s slow by today’s standards and she doesn’t point very high. Her short waterline means her light air performance is respectable, and as the wind picks up she heels quickly which increases her LWL and therefore hull speed. The boat is relatively tender up to 15 degrees before she stiffens. West Coast boats, being heavier built, are generally stiffer while East coast boats tend to heel earlier but are more responsive."

American Sailboat Hall of Fame

The Triton was inducted into the now-defunct Sail America American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 1995. In honoring the design, the hall cited, "A telltale of success is durability and since the boats were built in the infancy of fiberglass construction, they were laid up by hand with more than a few layers of glass in the hulls. The boats will last forever, and the Triton Class Association gathers every year for a National Championship. Successful, ground-breaking, popular, vital – the signs of a classic."

Variants

;Pearson Triton :This model was introduced in 1958 and produced by Pearson in Portsmouth, Rhode Island until 1967. It has mahogany wooden trim above decks and

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 ( pan ...

trim below and for the cockpit coaming, a

balsa ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' being ...

cored deck, a fractional sloop rig, length overall of , a waterline length of , displaces and carries of lead ballast. ;Pearson Triton Yawl :This model was introduced in 1958 and produced by Pearson. It has a fractional

yawl A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put. As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast p ...

rig, a length overall of , a waterline length of , displaces and carries of ballast. ;Aeromarine Triton :This model was introduced in 1960 and built by Aeromarine Plastic in California, who built 150 of them. 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, ...

rig, solid fiberglass decks, lacks external wooden trim, has a length overall of , a waterline length of and displaces . ;Jouët Triton :This model was introduced in 1965 and built by Jouët in France. It has a fractional sloop rig, a length overall of , a waterline length of , displaces and carries of ballast. The deck and coach house roof were redesigned to incorporate a forward cabin windshield, a feature of many Jouët boat designs. About 60 Jouët Tritons were completed.

References