Donovan Shead 1936 - 2024

Donovan 'Don' Shead left for the better World on Saturday third February, peacefully passing away at the age of 87, surrounded by his family.  Don Shead was born May six 1936, in Birmingham, Britain's most far away city to the sea.  His father Henry Shead, a mechanical engineer with passion for boats both sail and power, will pass his passions to Don at a young age, taking him to sail dinghy racing first on the lake and then at twelve years of age to Cowes, what will become his adoptive town into the years.  Both places will play an important role to Don Shead; Birmingham the UK motor city will give the passion for engines, while Cowes expands the love for the water.  Don raced his first powerboat race in 1961 with a loaned boat, and a year later purchases his own race boat.  In 1967 coming from his racing experience, and a natural design and engineering talent, Don architects his first boat, a six meter speed boat which with him on the helm will come second in the Paris six hours race.  This boat will be produced as the Avenger 21, and is followed by the Avenger 34 which will win the Round Britain race of the same year. With this Don Shead launches his career as naval architect and fast hull specialist, receiving two request for two Class Three hulls, and a Camper and Nicholson 27 meter super yacht on his first year in business.  The year of change for Don Shead comes in 1968 when his designed 25 foot single engine wood build Telstar with Tony Sopwith on the helm wins the Cowes race in rough sea conditions.  A year later in 1969 Don will present himself to Cowes with the first Miss Enfield, built of alumimium and just completed before the race starts.  Unfortunately for Miss Enfield after seventy nautical miles in first place she will retire due to engine problems.  A year later the one meter longer Miss Enfield II will win the Cowes race with Tony Sopwith again on the helm.  With Tony retiring from racing, Don will return to race helming Miss Enfield II himself, winning Cowes again, Naples and Viareggio, while a sister-boat driven by Franco Castoldi also takes line honors in Santa Margherita in 1974.  Don Shead will retire from racing in 1974 when an accident during a race will injure his back, making a one surprise come back in 1981 at Viareggio, where he places second.  Don's Italian race success in the early seventies get's the admiration of Italians Attilio Petroni and Francesco Cosentino, who will commission him a full racing boat.  This will be the 38 foot mono-hull to be build in alumimium by CUV; Cantieri Uniti Viareggio, an alloy subcontractor, and finished by long standing yacht building family Picchiotti. Fifteen of the CUV Picchiotti's are reported build, six 41's, and nine 38.  With the CUV 38 Consentino will win the Class One World Championship held in Argentina in 1978, a feat the CUV Shead hull will do two other times in 1982 and 84.  The Don Shead designed Italian build CUV was the first to break the US hulls dominion of the Class One World Championship after fourteen years from the debut of the racing formula in 1964. Unknown to many is that Don Shead also designed some sail yachts, and a windsurf which set a speed record in the mid eighties.  Miss Enfield II was also revolutionary for its signature wrap around windscreen which gave crew better safety and protection, a design feature Don Shead introduced on the Halmatic DS110 which launched in 1968 and was produced till 72 in 28 hulls.  In 1978 Don Shead will join Sunseeker debuting with the 28 Offshore model, and from their on doing all the designs from five up to 37 meters and till 2007 when he will sell his business to the Poole builder bosses Robert and John Braithwaite, remaining as a consultant until stepping down due to ill health.  Out of tens of models for Sunseeker's a note is deserved on the 34 XPS Portofino which debuted in 1983, and the Tomahawk 37 from 1987, both of these being based on the legendary CUV 38 hull, and competing in offshore racing, although without a success. Apart Sunseeker and the mentioned Avenger's, CUV, and Halmatic, Don Shead designed boats and yachts for Australian Motor Yachts, Broooke, Cammenga, Camper and Nicholson, Devonport, Feadship, Lavagna Admiral, Mefasa, Palmer Johnson, Picchiotti, Souter, Tecnomarine, and Viudes.