J.R. (Rod) Macalpine-Downie

1934 – 1986

by Dick Gibbs, his design partner (beginning in 1964).

(from Buccaneer website)

Born, Appin, Argyll, Scotland.

His father, a specialist in hypervelocity artillery shells was also an offshore sailor.

Rod attended Eton where he majored in Biology and won the King’s Scholar Award. He considered a career as a concert violinist.

While chicken farming in Scotland in 1961, he saw a Shearwater Cat and although he never designed a boat, concluded he could do a better job. The first boat was Thai MK4 which won all six races of the 1962 European, One of a Kind' regatta. He followed that with the winning of the first International Catamaran Challenge in 1963, and had seven more consecutive wins.

He was the first developer of the 'UNA' rig and wing masts. A series of 'Crossbow' designs won 5 consecutive competitions. Players Fastest sailboat, Trophies at a top official speed of 41 knots, the last of which sailed in 1984, unofficially at 60+ knots. At the time of his death, a new crossbow was underway, which he believed was capable of 70+ knots.

The partnership with Dick Gibbs in 1964, sealed with a handshake, put 80 boats in to commercial production, resulting in 15,000+ boats. Of all his designs, it is probably the BUCCANEER that ended up being the most popular and commercially successful.

Designs (30)

Name	LOA (ft)	First Built	Last Built	Rig
APACHE 41	40.83	1970	—	Masthead Sloop
APACHE 45	45	1970	—	Masthead Sloop
AZTEC 23	23	1977	—	Fractional Sloop
BANDIT 15	15.25	1972	—	Fractional Sloop
BANDIT 17	17	1972	—	Fractional Sloop
BARRACUDA 13	13	1964	—	Cat (unstayed)
BUCCANEER 18	18	1968	—	Fractional Sloop
CHEROKEE 35	35	1973	—	Masthead Sloop
COMANCHE 32 (SAILCRAFT)	32.18	1978	—	Masthead Sloop
COPPERHEAD 14	13.75	1970	—	Gunter
DAGGER 14 (CHRYSLER)	14.5	1976	—	Cat (Marconi)
DINGO 15	14.92	1963	—	Cat (rotating spar)
GLOUCESTER 15	15	1987	—	Fractional Sloop
GLOUCESTER 18	18	1985	—	Fractional Sloop
IROQUOIS 30 MKII	30	1968	—	Fractional Sloop
MAN-O-WAR 15 (CHRYSLER)	15	1964	1980	Cat (Marconi)
MUSKETEER 17	16.5	1973	—	Frac. Sloop (Rotating Spar)
MUTINEER 15	15	1972	—	Fractional Sloop
NAVAHO 46	46	1972	—	Cutter
PHOENIX 18	18	1964	—	Frac. Sloop (Rotating Spar)
PIRATEER 13 (CHRYSLER)	13	1974	—	Fractional Sloop
SHARK CATAMARAN	20	1963	—	Frac. Sloop (Rotating Spar)
SIDEWINDER 16	15.5	1969	—	Fractional Sloop
STARWIND 15	15	1984	1987	Fractional Sloop
STARWIND 18	18	1982	—	Fractional Sloop
THAI MK IV	17	1958	—	Frac. Sloop (Rotating Spar)
ULTIMATE CONCEPTS 32	32	1989	—	Masthead Sloop
UPSTART 16	16.5	1967	—	Fractional Sloop
WHIP 17	17	1974	1975	Fractional Sloop
YACHTING WORLD CATAMARAN	15.5	1964	—	Fractional Sloop