Pearson sold 750 Tritons before ending production in 1966. Aeromarine in California built roughly 125 more in the early 1960s. Writing in Practical Sailor, one longtime observer called the Triton a landmark boat on which many good sailors cut their teeth. The observer also noted that it established Pearson Yachts as a premier builder of fiberglass boats.
Design and Construction
The Triton follows the Cruising Club of America rule, with low freeboard and a tall, rather ungainly cabin trunk needed to provide headroom. The hull, deck, cabin trunk, cockpit, and toe rail are integrally molded as a single fiberglass-reinforced polyester unit, while the deck has a balsa core. West Coast boats are all plastic; East Coast boats have wooden coamings and trim.
Hull thickness ranges from about 3/8-inch at the rail to perhaps 3/4-inch around the keel. A transducer hole cuts through roughly 5/8-inch of laminate. Earlier boats carried external ballast. From around hull #385, cast-lead ballast was lowered into the keel cavity and glassed over, widening the keel.
The builder claimed that the laminate below the waterline was engineered so that, if the boat were laid on its side with its entire weight resting on the keel and one square inch of hull, the hull would yield no more than 1/2 inch without structural damage. Owners report that the solid hull has survived a hurricane with only gouges. However, some fibers weren’t completely wetted out, and Practical Sailor found the deck weak in places, with some areas parted from the hull.
Rig, Sailing, and Handling
The Triton came with sloop or yawl options. The original sloop had a three-quarter fractional rig, and its jumper struts make the boat easy to identify at a distance. A shorter masthead rig appeared later but didn’t perform as well. On yawl versions, the main mast was shortened by two feet and the boom by one foot.
The long keel has a well pared-away forefoot, with the rudder beneath the helmsman. This arrangement provides excellent directional stability and minimizes leeway, though by modern standards the hull has a great deal of wetted surface.
The Triton heels quickly to about 15 degrees and then stiffens. She’s surprisingly quick for her short waterline, which lengthens when the boat heels, and she tracks well. With a large mainsail and small foretriangle, she carries weather helm under working sails. Handling in reverse is unpredictable because of the long keel and aperture-mounted propeller.
The 30-hp Atomic 4 easily drives the boat at a little more than six knots.
Accommodations
Alberg noted that fiberglass construction gave the Triton interior room roughly equal to that of a wooden 35-footer. The boat accommodates a family of four to six, with more than six feet of headroom in the main cabin. Forward, however, a step in the coachroof reduces headroom to well below six feet.
The interior’s best feature is a pair of forward-facing opening portholes in the main cabin at that step. The head is private but small. Furniture is plywood covered with plastic veneer intended to resemble teak.
The plywood icebox has only an inch or two of Styrofoam insulation and a side-loading door, although its upper shelf can be reached from the cockpit. Early boats had no headliner. Later examples gained a gel-coated fiberglass liner in the main cabin, but the forward cabin remained bare in all but the last boats. A teak sole rests on wooden athwartship beams.
Known Issues
Some of the earliest Tritons had side-opening seat lockers that were dangerous unless tightly sealed. Early rigs also used single lower shrouds, which proved inadequate. Double lowers became standard after about hull #120, and kits were made available to existing owners. Even so, several rigging-tang failures have been reported. The spreader sockets are aluminum sand castings that can also break without warning.
The deck-stepped mast rests on beams with insufficient load-carrying capacity. Numerous owners report that the deck beneath the mast has caved in. Repair requires unstepping the spar and fitting stronger beams.
Internal-ballast boats commonly have voids in the ballast cavity. The bronze rudder shoe needs electrolysis checks. The mahogany rudder, fastened with bronze drift pins, can crack as the wood expands during haul-out, prompting many owners to build new rudders.
A wet bilge can rot the wooden beams supporting the cabin sole. The main-cabin windows are also on the verge of being too large, making storm shutters worth fitting.
Refits, Maintenance, and Ownership
Beyond rudder and mast-beam repairs, some Tritons have been repowered with Universal’s four-cylinder diesel. On Atomic 4 boats, removing the companionway ladder exposes the engine’s front and makes servicing fairly easy.
A few owners have reshaped the rudder to reduce weather helm, squaring and deepening its trailing edge. The builder’s claimed leakproof stuffing box and bronze seacocks speak to a simple, maintainable platform.
At least one Triton, Atom, has circumnavigated, while many others have made safe ocean passages.
The Verdict
The Pearson Triton is a forgiving, seakindly small cruiser with genuine offshore credentials and a roomy cabin for its length. Its appeal is tempered by specific structural weak points, however, and the rig—particularly on early boats—requires careful scrutiny.
Pros
- Alberg CCA-rule hull with excellent tracking, a stiffening motion, and surprising speed
- Interior volume comparable to that of a 35-foot wooden boat
- Proven trans-oceanic and circumnavigation record in a 28-foot package
Cons
- Weak deck areas that can part from the hull, along with mast-support beams that can cave in without reinforcement
- Early single lower shrouds, reported tang failures, and breakable spreader sockets
- A rudder that can crack during haul-out, plus side-opening lockers and large windows that need modification
