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Webmaster Note: Thanks to Paul Ingle, Jr and Paul Ingle (Seminole) for this Trina drawing.
The Dolphin 24 owes a lot to her strong genes, and many of them came from the Shaw 24. Trina, Hull #1 is pictured here. In an after hours project while working for Sparkman & Stephens, Bill Shaw designed her to the new MORC rule and later said of her " I did a half-size prototype of Finisterre, just to test the principles."
She was built in 1957 by Jensen in Denmark - double planked mahogany and cedar over oak, a keel/centerboard with a yawl rig. According to Han van Diemen (Arlette) she was one of eight Shaw 24s built by Jensen, 7 of which were exported tp the US.
Trina was the first boat designed specifically for the Midget Ocean Racing Club (MORC), initially a rule for off shore racing boats under 24' and later extended to boats under 30'. Following her launching in 1957 Trina won 27 consecutive races, racing under 4 different handicap rules, including MORC. She excelled in all weather especially in light air. Click here for a larger view and more pictures of Trina.
Dyke Williams, who is the longtime owner of Trina, wrote an extensive article on the Dolphin and Trina's role in her genesis that appeared in Good Old Boat magazine - Sept/Oct 2005. It is really required reading for Dolphin owners and others interested in this design. In that article Dyke reports that 24 Shaw 24s were built in wood, some as sloops. Click here to go to the article.
The following is a comparison of the the original Dolphin design built by O'Day and others, the later Yankee Dolphin and Trina
O'Day Dolphin Yankee Dolphin Trina
LOA 24'2" 24'2" 23'11"
LWL 19'0" 19'0" 18'6"
Beam 7'8" 7'8" 7'5"
Draft, up/down 2'10"/5'2" 2'10/5'2" 2'9"/5'3"
Displacement 4544# 4250# 4800#
Ballast 1440# 1650# 1500#
LOA/LWL 1.272 1.272 1.182
Sail area 296 sq ft 296 sq ft 270 sq ft
Engine Palmer 8hp inboard 8hp outboard (std) inboard
Trina is a true classic inside and out as you see here with this close up at her cockpit. She has comfortable accomodations, is a quality built and maintained boat, and a great race record. And, she has pretty offspring!
Webmaster Note: After many, many years Dyke Williams is selling Trina. This is a special boat that will appeal to a special buyer. She is a legend. You can find out more about her by contacting Dyke directly at auldbear@aol.com
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Field Investigator Chris Becker has provided some new information on 2 Shaw 24's which have been entered into the Roster - Richard Karpinski's Sailvation and James Hertin's Pshaw . In addition, we have Chris Peragine's Ariadne with whom he circumnavigated Vancouver Island - mostly solo, Robin Farrand's and John Rogers' Compass Rose , and OJ Young's Elva, the 1962 MORC national champion.
These last three boats have fiberglass hulls. When your webmaster told Dyke Williams, our Shaw 24 historian, he was surprised not knowing of Shaw 24s with glass hulls. Chris Peregrine told us that his Ariadne won the M.O.R.C. championship in 1962. She was built in Texas, 'stove in' by a hurricane and arrived in New Orleans as the first fiberglass!! hull in the Southern Yacht Club fleet. She also won the Gulfport - Pensacola race in 1963.
So, relating to this matter, an internal Rod Stephens memo from S&S files dated Feb 13, 1964 will be of interest to the reader. It pertains to a conference attended by George O'Day, Lyman Bullerman, CEO of O'Day Corp, Bob Larson of US Yachts and Rod Stephens. The last part of this memo is below.
"A discussion of the competition of the Shaw 24 and Canada followed:
The Gulf units were produced (bootlegged, seemingly) by an outfit that went broke - or worse. Rumor has it that 30 or 40 units were produced and sold. Bill Shaw has no facts and received no royalties. George and Bob agreed to see what they could find out and let us know. The Canadian competion is legitimate. The producer has limited production; perhaps 30-40 per year. These yachts will affect DOLPHIN sales in Canada. How much will depend on the workmanship and performance of the boats. However, this is legitimate competition and there is nothing to be done at this time. R.S."
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Paul Ingle, Seminole, contributed the following scanned copy of an April, 1958 article in Yachting Magazine about Trina. It was instrumental in Paul getting a Dolphin. We will work on a better quality image but these are 50!! year old black and white images. Paul's March 19, 2008 email (excerpted) follows. You can see the full text of his email on Seminole's page at the end
...... December 1958, I was in the Barber Shop one day and looking at the April 1958 copy of Yachting Magazine and came across the famous story about Wilbur L. Scranton’s little Shaw 24, Trina, of Milford, CT. Well, I fell in love with it right there and then, and the next time I saw Ted (Webmaster Note - Ted is Ted Melsheimer, an outside contractor working on the North American Aviation B70 bomber project near Los Angelus where Paul was an engineer) , I told him all about my “Dream Boat”. He said, “ You like that little boat, do you”. When I said “You Bet”, he then replied, “ Well come on back to my shop again. I’ve moved all the machinery out again and I’m nearly finished strip planking one identical to it. I really like it also.” Well, the program I was working on at NAA, was about to shut down due to funding and other, political reasons, so I was headed back East at that time, and come February 1959, my wife and I were headed for Connecticut and a new career. Unfortunately, my association with Ted also ended, so I have no further knowledge to add about Ted’s copy of Trina. I do, however have a copy before me of the article about Trina, and also a copy of the Shaw 24 MORC Centerboard Yawl lines from the same article..
The interior photo at right is from the V-berth looking past the mast, and the pulled aside curtains, into the main cabin toward the companionway.
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