Walter Greene is an American naval architect and boatbuilder based in Yarmouth (Maine), specializing in offshore multihulls. He co-designed with Dick Newick the Acapella series of trimarans (12 m / 39'4"), whose first unit — renamed Olympus Photo — won the first Route du Rhum in 1978 with Mike Birch, beating the monohull Kriter V by 98 seconds after 23 days of racing.
The Greene Marine shipyard
Walter Greene founded the Greene Marine shipyard in 1980 in Yarmouth (Maine), on the Cousins River, with his wife Joan and his sister Esther. The yard works with wood, epoxy, fiberglass, and later carbon fiber. Over nearly forty years, Greene built or contributed to more than 150 boats, mostly racing and cruising multihulls.
The Acapella series
Five Acapella trimarans were built at the yard starting in 1978. Lightweight construction, 12 m platform, 16.8 m mast, 2.5-ton displacement — the design co-signed with Dick Newick shifted ocean racing toward multihulls. Walter and Joan Greene themselves raced a Round Britain in 1978 on an Acapella, finishing 1st in class and 4th overall.
