The Shannon 38 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 Walter Shultz, plus George Stadel III and George H. Stadel Jr. of G, H. Stadel & Son as a cruiser and first built in 1975.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 314-315. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. The Shannon 38 can be confused with the Shannon 38 HPS an unrelated, 2013

motorsailer A motorsailer is a type of motor-powered sailing vessel, typically a yacht, that can derive power from its sails or engine, independently from each other during moderate seas or winds. A motorsailer may have a sail-to-engine power ratio in the ra ...

design.

Production

The boat was built by Shannon Yachts in the

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 ...

and was the company's first design. The boat was produced from 1975 to 1988, with 100 examples completed, but it is now out of production.

Design

The Shannon 38 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 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 ...

, with

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 ...

wooden trim. It has a

cutter rig A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bor ...

or optional

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

rig with

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

spars, a

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 counter 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 wheel 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 ...

or stub keel and centerboard. The design includes a teak

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay A bobstay is a part of the rigging of a sailing boat or ship. Its purpose is to counteract the upward tensio ...

and cockpit coamings. It displaces and employs lead ballast. A small number were constructed with a

pilothouse The interior of the bridge of the Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska">RV_Sikuliaq.html" ;"title="Research Vessel ''RV Sikuliaq">Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska file:Wheelhouse of Leao Dos Mares.jpg, Wheelhouse on a tugboat, topp ...

. The keel-equipped version of the boat has a draft of , while the centerboard-equipped version has a draft of with the centerboard extended and with it retracted, allowing operation in shallow water. The boat is fitted with a British Perkins Engines

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

of for docking and maneuvering. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The interior design was semi-custom, but a typical layout could include sleeping accommodation for six people. An aft port quarter berth also serves as the navigation station seat. The drop-leaf dinette table folds and has two settee berths, plus a raised pilot berth on the port side. The bow cabin berth is a double on the starboard side, and has a work bench and sail locker opposite. The galley is located at the foot of the

companionway In the architecture of a ship, a companion or companionway is a raised and windowed hatchway in the ship's deck, with a ladder leading below and the hooded entrance-hatch to the main cabins. A companionway may be secured by doors or, commonly in ...

steps on the starboard side and includes a three-burner propane stove and a

icebox An icebox (also called a cold closet) is a compact non-mechanical refrigerator which was a common early-twentieth-century kitchen appliance before the development of safely powered refrigeration devices. Before the development of electric refrige ...

. The head is aft of the bow cabin and on the starboard side. Interior trim is of teak. Ventilation is provided by four

dorade vent A dorade box (also called a dorade vent, collector box, or simply a "ventilator") is a type of vent that permits the passage of air in and out of the cabin or engine room of a boat while keeping rain, spray, and sea wash out. Design The basic fo ...

s, 12 bronze ports and two deck hatches, one over the bow cabin and one over the main cabin. There is an aft vapor-proof propane locker, with external, overboard venting. For sailing there are eight winches fitted for the

halyard In sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist a ladder, sail, flag or yard. The term ''halyard'' comes from the phrase "to haul yards". Halyards, like most other parts of the running rigging, were classically made of ...

s, staysail,

mainsheet In sailing, a sheet is a line (rope, cable or chain) used to control the movable corner(s) ( clews) of a sail. Terminology In nautical usage the term "sheet" is applied to a line or chain attached to the lower corners of a sail for the purpos ...

genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

and

reefing Reefing reduces the area of a sail, usually by folding or rolling one edge of the canvas in on itself and attaching the unused portion to a spar or a stay, as the primary measure to preserve a sailing vessel's stability in strong winds. Restoring ...

. There also are

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 ...

and staysail travelers provided. The design has a

PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) is a handicapping system used for yacht racing in North America. It allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to be raced against each other. The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages ...

racing average handicap of 181.5.

Operational history

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "this Shannon has been designed for long-range offshore cruising. The keel is long and full. Basic options include either a cutter or a ketch rig and either a standard or a pilothouse design. Cabin layout is semi-custom and will depend upon the choices above."

References

{{Reflist Keelboats 1970s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by Walter Shultz Sailboat type designs by George H. Stadel Jr. Sailboat type designs by George Stadel III Sailboat type designs by G, H. Stadel & Son Sailboat types built by Shannon Yachts

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References