Roderick Macalpine Downie
James Roderick Macalpine-Downie (9 May 1934 – 9 January 1986), known as Rod Macalpine-Downie, was an English multihull sailboat designer and sailor. Son of Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald James Macalpine-Downie (died 1958), M.B.E, Royal Tank Regiment, of a landed gentry family of Appin, he was a King's Scholar at Eton with a focus on biology, but seriously considered a career as a concert violinist. Macalpine-Downie and his wife, Shirley Agnes (née Reid), had two sons and a daughter.
Also recorded as Rod Macalpine-Downie · James Roderick Macalpine-Downie
Roderick Macalpine Downie
- Name
- Rod Macalpine-Downie
- Birth Name
- James Roderick Macalpine-Downie
- Born
- 9 May 1934
- Birthplace
- Appin, Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Died
- 9 January 1986
- Education
- Eton College
- Known for
- Yacht designer
- Spouse
- * Shirley Macalpine-Downie
- Occupation
- architect · designer
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Documentary summary
James Roderick Macalpine-Downie (9 May 1934 – 9 January 1986), known as Rod Macalpine-Downie, was an English multihull sailboat designer and sailor. Son of Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald James Macalpine-Downie (died 1958), M.B.E, Royal Tank Regiment, of a landed gentry family of Appin, he was a King's Scholar at Eton with a focus on biology, but seriously considered a career as a concert violinist. Macalpine-Downie and his wife, Shirley Agnes (née Reid), had two sons and a daughter.
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Roderick Macalpine Downie was architect and designer. Roderick Macalpine Downie was born in 1934. Roderick Macalpine Downie died in 1986.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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wikidata · Q18811039 · wikipedia · Rod Macalpine-Downie
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Rod Macalpine-Downie • Birth Name — James Roderick Macalpine-Downie • Born — 9 May 1934 • Birthplace — Appin, Argyll and Bute, Scotland • Died — 9 January 1986 • Education — Eton College • Known for — Yacht designer • Spouse — * Shirley Macalpine-Downie • Children — 3
Design career
Design career
After seeing a Shearwater catamaran while chicken farming in Scotland, Macalpine-Downie resolved to design a superior vessel, producing the Thai Mk4 catamaran. The Thai Mk4 was extremely successful, winning all six races of the 1962 European 'one of a kind' regatta, in addition to the first International Catamaran Challenge in 1963.
Death
Death
Macalpine-Downie died in 1986, aged 52. A new Crossbow design was partly completed, which Macalpine-Downie believed was capable of 70+ knots.
Designs
Designs
• British Oxygen - a 70 foot catamaran designed for Gerry Boxall and Robin Knox-Johnston, and in which they won the 1974 two handed Round Britain race • Buccaneer 18 sailing dinghy • Crossbow and Crossbow II multihulls • Gloucester 15 sailing dinghy • Mirrorcat catamaran • Mutineer 15 day sailer • Phoenix 18 catamaran • Iroquois (Mk2 launched 1969) racer/cruiser 30’/9.3m catamaran, a very successful design with over 400 built by Sailcraft Ltd, UK • Comanche 32 (1978) cruiser 32’/9.8m catamarans, a very successful design built by Sailcraft Ltd, UK • Apache cruiser 41’/12.5m catamaran built by Sailcraft Ltd, UK
Legacy
Macalpine-Downie is said to have been the first to try both 'una rig' and wing masts. His two most famous designs were the high-speed Crossbow multihulls which set sailing speed records in the 1970s and 1980s. The Crossbow proa set a speed record of 26.30 knots in 1973. Its successor, Crossbow II, set a new record in 1980 of 36.00 knots, a mark which was not surpassed till 1986.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Making Waves: Michigan's Boat-Building Industry, 1865-2000, Scott M. Peters, 2015, p. 204
- 2.Sailing Catamarans and Trimarans – History of Multihulls Part 2. 17 Jan 2014.
- 3.Stephen Pullinger. Sir Timothy Colman's memories of Crossbow 40 years on. Anglia Afloat.
- 4.Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage 1973, p. 1390
- 5.Burke's Family Index, ed. Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Peerage Limited, 1976, p. 47
- 6.MACALPINE-DOWNIE - In Memoriam Announcements - Telegraph Announcements. 2019-03-31.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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