Couger 19

Description

The Cougar 19 (also known as the Prout Cougar, Cougar Cat, or Cougar III in some references) is a classic early beach catamaran / trailerable sailing catamaran from the late 1950s to early 1960s. It's a wooden (spruce and mahogany) or wood/fiberglass hybrid design produced by G. Prout and Sons in the UK, who were pioneers in small catamarans (predecessors to models like the Shearwater and Telstar). The Cougar was a derivative/one-design evolution inspired by early Prout catamarans, emphasizing lightweight construction, beachability, and family-friendly sailing. It features lightweight fiberglass pontoons (hulls) in later or restored examples, a simple sloop rig, and a deck floor (trampoline-style) instead of trampoline netting, allowing it to carry multiple people (up to 6+ passengers comfortably). It's great for protected waters, bays, or lakes — stable, fast for its era, and easy to trailer/launch. Produced from around 1958–1965 as part of Prout's early lineup. Exact numbers unknown (not mass-produced like later Shearwaters), but likely in the low hundreds or fewer, making surviving examples rare today.