Bristol Yachts

Bristol Yachts was an American company which was among the first commercially successful production fiberglass sailboat boat builders.

Clint and his cousin Everett Pearson began building fiberglass dinghies in 1955 in their garage on County Street in Seekonk, Massachusetts, just over the Massachusetts/Rhode Island state border.

Fast corporate expansion resulted in cash flow problems, so the cousins raised capital by selling equity in Pearson to Grumman Allied Industries in 1961.

Clinton left in 1964 and bought out a troubled sailboat-maker, Sailstar, in West Warwick, Rhode Island, and moved into the abandoned Herreshoff boatyard.

Paul Coble designed the Corsair (another Sailstar model later identified as the Bristol 24)--a very stout and roomy 24 footer.

Hood designs generally were centerboard boats which aimed for performance without deep draft, although some models offered the option of a deeper fixed keel.

Bristols were typically built more heavily than many comparable production sailboats, with features such as skeg-hung rudders, keel-stepped masts, fully encapsulated keel ballast, interior cabinetry bonded to the hull for strength, heavy-duty bronze seacocks, and heavy fibreglass lay-up.

Bristol Yacht Co. laid up the hull for the early 42 foot model which was a round-bilge design by the famed Eldridge-McGinnis naval architecture firm.