Watkins 36

Description

The Watkins 36 (also known as the W36 or Watkins III in some references, offered in aft-cockpit and center-cockpit/W36C variants) is an American fiberglass cruising sloop designed by William H. Tripp Jr. in collaboration with the Watkins brothers. It was built by Watkins Yachts of Clearwater, Florida, as the company's flagship model. Introduced in 1981, the design originated from acquired molds of the Portman 36 (itself derived from the Coronado 35/Columbia 35 lineage), which underwent significant modifications including a long shoal keel with skeg-hung rudder for stability and grounding protection in shallow Florida/Bahamas waters, through-bolted flanged hull-to-deck joint with aluminum toe rail, all-opening ports, Bomar hatches, and a sloping cabin top. These "big boat feel" features—emphasizing cruise-ability, strength, and comfort—were later incorporated into smaller Watkins models. Production of the aft-cockpit version ran primarily from 1981 to 1983 (with a handful of additional hulls possibly into 1984), during which a very limited number were completed—likely fewer than 20-30 total for the W36 series before the model was phased out in favor of the Watkins 32/33 as the new flagship; the related center-cockpit W36C saw about 58 boats built from 1981 to 1984.