sign in sign up
<<
Home , Australia II, Ben Lexcen, Cat rigged, Ideal 18, International 14, Ketch

D an Ner n e y

Ros e Her iot Kirby The list of designer Bruce Kirby’s is formidable, headlined by the enormously successful .

by Rob Mazza ithout even doing the arithmetic, Foot (4.3m) to ’s W it’s safe to say that Bruce Kirby Cup 12-Meters, with dalliances into has more built to his designs traditional sharpies. Then than any designer in history. considering Kirby’s career in sailing Top—Bruce Kirby designed ’s The 13' (4m) Laser alone accounts for journalism, as well as being one only modern challenger for the well over 220,000 boats in three dif- of ’s most talented America’s Cup. As Canada I, she ferent rig configurations sailing in 140 helmsmen—representing his native competed in the 1983 eliminations, countries. Add the more than 1,200 Canada in three Olympics, and being and sailed again as Canada II in 1987 San Juan 24s (7.3m) that have been an early inductee in the Canadian following extensive modification. built, not to mention the 800 Foot Hall Above—Kirby began his sailing career (23'/7m). However, Kirby’s design of Fame, the National Sailing Hall of as a magazine editor, learning career and body of work are much Fame, the Sailing World Hall of Fame, design on his own as a sideline. The more eclectic than these three boats and an honoree at New York Yacht success of the Laser enabled him to suggest, running the gamut from Club dinners—one quickly realizes pursue designing full time. high-performance International 14 that his standing in the sport of

2 Professional BoatBuilder Kirby’s original design sketch for the Laser on a yellow legal pad. The 13'7" (4.1m) sailing dinghy, introduced in 1971, wasn’t conceived on the prover- bial napkin, but close. international sailing is matched by very few. even more amazing is that as a yacht designer he was entirely self- taught, without the usual apprentice- program of first working for other designers, or graduating from a known school of naval or any correspondence program in yacht design. Bruce Kirby, by his own admis­sion, was “never any good at math.” High-Performance Kirby grew up sailing at the Brit­ annia on Lac Deschênes, a widening of the Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada. It was not long before he graduated to the International 14 Foot Dinghy, (14), then and now the premier high-performance develop- ment class in the world, with strong fleets in , Canada, , , and the . Kirby was a member of the victorious three- Canadian in , England, in 1958. He returned from that series to design a boat of his own. The International 14 is known as a restricted class. That is, overall dimen- sions of the design envelope are established—along with minimum weight and maximum area—and anything within those limits is allowed. This amount of design in a rapidly expanding post-war economy Courtesy Bru c e Kir b y attracted the best small-boat and designers in the English-speaking designs by helping fellow 14 world, and the performance develop- Roger Hewson (soon to establish ment in the class was remarkable. ) take the lines off a number of Stuart Walker’s 1969 book, Performance existing 14s by other designers of the Advances in Small , con- time, such as Charlie Bourke and Uffa tained many contributions from top- Fox, to establish the envelope in which sailors, with Kirby writing a to work. Kirby’s first design, which chapter on design, focusing on would become known as the Kirby I the development and evolution of his —he always referred to it as Torch, first three 14 designs, the Kirby I, II, the first of a series of “hot” names he and III. Ian Bruce, a name soon to applied to his first three 14 designs— become inextricably linked with borrowed the rig, , , and foils Kirby’s through the Kirby III and V from an existing Bourke design, so and the Laser, wrote a chapter titled only the hull was different. This made “Developments in the International 14 it much easier to isolate the perfor- Foot Dinghy Class.” Prior to 1958, mance of the hull alone, a lesson Kirby Kirby had already played with 14 would apply to many later designs.

April/May 2013 3 D av e Br own ( both ) Left—Kirby’s first designs were for the International 14 Foot class, a high-performance dinghy. He gave each a “hot” name, the first, shown here, being Torch. Right—Kirby grew up sailing on a widening of the Ottawa River west of Ottawa, , and competed in the Olympics three times, representing his native Canada in the and the .

Although not initially designed for 14 sailor Jeremy Pudney ordering a with who chose to sail them as with production, two hulls were soon sold, new Kirby design almost like clock- the design itself, and Kirby was fortu- with 28 ultimately produced in fiber- work every few years. Built in cold- nate that some very good sailors rec- glass by Montreal builder molded mahogany by builders such ognized early that they could do well Bob Harris. As a builder, as Souter and McCutcheon, the British with a Kirby design. Even after Kirby Harris was conscious of weight, and the boats were bright finished, and repre- departed the class, other 14 sailors of Kirby I was under the then-minimum sented a level of wooden small-boat exceptional ability continued to do design weight of 225 lbs (102 kg). construction seldom seen today. The well with his designs. Kirby was a newspaper reporter British 14 legend Stewart Morris won The Kirby IV, originally commis- with little practical knowledge of the last of his 10 Prince of Wales sioned by Jeremy Pudney and built in yacht design or engineering; Torch trophies in a Mk II. Kirby and fellow England by McCutcheon in a cold- was almost entirely an intuitive Canadian Harry Jemmett, both sailing molded mahogany variation, was then approach to dinghy design, based on Kirby IIs, were first and second in the put into fiberglass production in what he had seen of the New Zealand 1963 and ’64 Canadian championship Seattle, Washington, by the Clark boats in England, and on what he had regattas. However, as successful as Boat Company. Garden Tools, Dennis learned with Roger Hewson about the II was, it was the Kirby III, or Clark’s own Kirby IV, made an earlier successful 14s. However, with Inferno, design that proved the ulti- impressive debut, winning the his second design, logically referred mate breakthrough boat for Kirby, International 14 division at CORK to as the Kirby II by the 14 world but with fellow Canadian 14 sailor Ian that year in Kingston, Ontario. Like as Flame by Kirby, he had started to Bruce winning the coveted Prince of partnering the Kirby III with Bruce, master the basics of elemental yacht Wales Cup in England two years in a partnering the Kirby IV with the Clark design, working with a very early row. This led Bruce to put the Kirby brothers would have significant bene- copy of Skene’s Elements of Yacht III into production in his Montreal fits for Kirby in the near future. Design that predated the Francis shop, with an interior he designed. With the success of the IV on the Kinney edition. The Kirby II intro- The Kirby III, in Bruce’s hands, intro- race , Pudney commissioned duced improvements to the Torch duced the super-bendy rig and Kirby to further improve the breed; model, including less wetted surface, levers to the 14 Class, as well the result was the V, built in molded that gave up a little upwind speed to as introducing North Sails to Canada. wood by McCutcheon. Bruce then put achieve better and reaching Kirby never got a chance to sail the III, the V into production in fiberglass in performance. This boat, like the Kirby because by this time he had relocated Montreal with a new completely I, also started life in fiberglass, and to Chicago to take over the editorship molded interior. The V was also the soon was challenging the - of One-Design Yachtsman, which first production 14 to be designed with based Buller designs for 14 supremacy eventually evolved into One-Design & the newly approved in mind. in Canada. Offshore Yachtsman, , From my perspective as a young 14 By this time Kirby’s 14s had also and then Sailing World magazines. sailor in the 1960s and ’70s, the V was taken in England, the heart of Kirby is the first one to say the suc- the first of the modern14 s—with a the International 14 world, with noted cess of his boats has as much to do straight line shear, a double bottom

4 Professional BoatBuilder configuration introduced by Ian Bruce, and benefiting from rule changes such as the higher I measure- ment, long pole, much larger spinnaker, and the trapeze. The V set a new standard in small-boat design and performance. In Canada it almost converted the 14 Class to a one-design fleet with all the top 14 sailors quickly trading up to the V. Building on the success of the V, Pudney commissioned a VI and ulti- mately a VII, but the high-water of Kirby’s 14 design career was undoubtedly the V. With other tal- ented designers now entering the fray—Jay Cross in Canada, American Chris Benedict, and Phil Morrison in England—coupled with continued talks between the International 14s and the New Zealand and Australian 14 classes, rule changes would soon take effect that would make obsolete Br uc e K i r by a large number of these older, heavier designs. The 14 has had some impres- Above—Lines for the Laser. sive design talent associated with it, The model quickly became a including and . highly competitive racing din- When Proctor’s son introduced Kirby ghy, with fleets now in 121 to his wife, he said, “My dear, I’d like countries and more than you to meet the man who put my 220,000 units sold. Also an father out of the 14 business.” Olympic class, it has men’s and women’s divisions. The Laser Right—Australian Michael Ian Bruce, an industrial designer by Blackburn, a Laser World profession, was approached by a cus- Champion, sailed his Laser tomer who wanted to develop a line 110 miles across the Bass of leisure products that might include Strait from northern Tasmania a cartop dinghy for weekend sailing. to the Australian mainland, Ian Bruce commissioned Kirby to averaging more than 8 knots design the high-performance cartop­ for the voyage and topping out pable dinghy, and a prototype pro- at 19 knots on a few occasions. duced, but the project did not go C ou r t e sy M icha l B lackbu n beyond that. However, One-Design & Offshore Yachtsman was organizing a they arrived in Lake Geneva they They still did not have a name for promotional regatta at the Playboy were racing against boats like the first the boat, and certainly nothing resem- Club on Lake Geneva, in Wisconsin, and the first Windsurfer, bling a marketing plan. At a dinner at in conjunction with the 1970 which would also go on to revolu- the St. Lawrence Yacht Club in America’s Cup racing. The race was tionize small-boat sailing. Bruce and Montreal, where the final testing of called “America’s Tea Cup,” but con- Kirby’s Weekender, as it was called the boat was taking place to correct sidering the location of the event, then, finished second in the first race, the rig location problem, the question Kirby later quipped that “America’s and after Fogh recut the sail over- of the name was being bandied D-Cup” might have been a better des- night, won the next race, and was about, and Bruce asked a young ignation for the regatta. leading on the third day when the McGill University engineering student The goal of the regatta was to intro- race was cancelled due to light air. what he thought the name of the boat duce sailboats with retail prices less This was quite respectable consider- should be. The young engineer than $1,000. Kirby suggested to Bruce ing that rig placement had not been thought it should be something mod- that their little cartopper might fit accurately resolved, and excessive ern and technically oriented that right into those parameters, and Bruce helm was a problem through would appeal to youth. Bruce said, rapidly completed the prototype. the weekend. But popular interest “You mean something like ‘Laser’?” While driving through Toronto on the was such that Bruce was willing to The student agreed, and Bruce yelled way to Wisconsin, Ian Bruce picked take this prototype, with a modified down the table at Kirby: “What do up sailmaker Hans Fogh along with rig location, to the 1971 New York you think of Laser?” Kirby wasn’t the freestanding mast and sail. When Boat Show. totally convinced, but over the next

April/May 2013 5 Br uc e K i r by

An interest in shoal Rule (IOR) had just been adopted as and freestand- the rating rule of choice, and the ing rigs led Kirby to Quarter class had just been design a line of defined for level racing of IOR boats -type small with ratings of 18' (5.5m) or less. cruising boats to be Doug Peterson would soon make his built in plywood. He breakthrough with the One Tonner sold hundreds of Ganbare, and Ron Holland with the plans for the home Quarter Tonner Eygthene, but the San builder or profes- Juan 24 predated both. The Clarks sional, and in all pro- wanted a competitive Quarter Tonner, duced five Norwalk so they turned to the designer who Island Sharpie models had already provided them with a ranging from 18' to very competitive 14, little realizing 31' (5.5m to 9.5m). that Kirby had never designed a boat with a and , or designed a

C ou r t e sy Rob er A yliff boat to a design formula. This opened all sorts of questions couple of days the name grew on purchased a house on the water, for Kirby, but a quick study of the him, especially the international rec- where they live to this day, just up IOR, and a phone call to fellow ognition of the name. Ian Bruce soon the Five Mile River from Long Island Canadian designer George Cuthbert­ adopted the international symbol for Sound. son, for whom Kirby had sailed a the Laser as the class insignia, and the That’s when the second benefit of number of C&C designs in the new Laser, built from a new set of his successful 14 designs came home. Southern Racing Conference tooling, proceeded to the New York The Clark brothers were looking to (SORC), including the first C&C 35 Boat Show. At the end of the week, expand their boatbuilding (10.7m), Red (with Lars they had orders for 140 boats, a show to larger boats to take advantage of Bergstrom), and the first C&C 61 sales record that Kirby says still stands the surge in /racer sailboats (18.6m), Sorcery, quickly acquainted today. The rest, as they say, is history. from the likes of C&C, , Cal, Kirby with appropriate righting Kirby himself took hull No. 1 from the Pearson, and many other builders of moments at 1°. Again consulting new tooling, and it was this boat that the 1970s. The International Offshore Skene’s, Kirby dived headfirst into the he later donated to Mystic Seaport for preservation. Sections for the The class numbers more than (7.3m). It was Kirby’s first design 250,000 worldwide, and is now an of a , and to a design Olympic class in two rig configurations. formula—the International Offshore Rule. Introduced at this Full-Time Design time, the rule dominated yacht Laser royalties provided enough racing during the 1970s. Note the income from yacht design alone to IOR “bumps” at stations 2 and 6. allow Kirby to safely switch careers The San Juan 24, designed as a from publishing to design. Bruce and Quarter Tonner, has the largest his wife, Margo, had already relo- number of IOR certificates issued

cated to Rowayton, Connecticut, and of any single design. Br uc e K i r by

6 Professional BoatBuilder Br uc e K i r by The most recent design from Kirby’s drawing board is Phebe, a 38' (11.6m) centerboard built by Damian McLaughlin in North Falmouth, Massachusetts, for Nathaniel Philbrick, who sails her out of Nantucket. A keel/centerboarder to achieve shoal draft with good stability, Phebe shows a hardening of the for good form stability as well.

intricacies of centers of gravity, ballast cold-molded cedar, it was the first Rhode Island) in cold-molded cedar lead, and righting moment calcula- built by the Gougeon over an Airex foam core. Kirby feels tions and measurement. The result Brothers (also makers of WEST more comfortable working in wood was the San Juan 24, which went on SYSTEM epoxy products). After see- than in composites, and did most of to become the boat holding the great- ing Accolade’s success, the Clarks the structural design himself, although est number of IOR measurement cer- relented, and in 1974 the boat went he concedes that Goetz thought she tificates, and a design that quickly into production as the San Juan 30. was overbuilt. She did, however, defined the form of a competitive IOR This success in IOR-level racing led come out right on her lines. Runaway boat, with wide maximum and to the commissioning of the was ultimately selected to be a mem- pinched ends. (7.6m) and designs by ber of the 1981 Canadian Admiral’s This foray into IOR-level racing led Mirage Boatworks in Montreal in 1974 Cup team, joining the Peterson- Kirby to design a number of custom and 1976. Mirage was looking for a designed Pachina out of Vancouver, Quarter, Half, Three Quarter, and One line of cruiser/racer one-designs to and the C&C-designed, Toronto-based Tonners, and finally a 40-footer take on the rapidly expanding J/Boat Amazing Grace. Runaway led the (12.2m) called Runaway. Even though line. The Kirbys established several Canadian team to a respectable sixth- Clark Boats balked at following the one-design fleets throughout the place finish in the 16-team field. San Juan 24 with a larger Half Ton Eastern Seaboard and the , Earlier, she had won her class overall sister, in 1973 Kirby produced the 30' the 25 being the more popular of the on Long Island Sound in 1980 and (9.1m) Half Tonner Accolade. Built of two. repeated that success in 1990. Kirby’s most successful custom one- off, however, has to be his own Cruising Boats Runaway, which he owned in part- Kirby has always been intrigued by nership with John . Runaway shoal draft and centerboards, which was designed to compete in the very in 1979 led to the design of the competitive 40' -size range on Long Nightwind 35' centerboarder, built Island Sound against the many C&C originally by C.E. Ryder in Rhode 40s, North American 40s, and New Island, and later by Fort Myers York 40s already racing. Runaway (Florida) Yacht & . was built by Eric Goetz (Bristol, Although only 13 were built, a Nightwind was to become Kirby’s Following the San Juan 24, Kirby own boat for several years, kept at designed several custom yachts to the the behind his house in IOR, including the 40' (12.2m) Runaway Rowayton. for himself and a partner. Built by Eric Kirby’s old 14 compatriots were now Goetz of cold-molded cedar over an Airex getting on in age and were looking foam core, Runaway was a member of for other sailing options, prompting a

D an Ner n e y Canada’s 1981 Admiral’s Cup team. commission in 1982 from some

7 Professional BoatBuilder C ou r t e sy O nta io Y achts ( both ) Left—A fleet of Ideal 18s rounds a mark. The design has become popular as a club racer at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club and Larchmont (New York) Yacht Club, among others. Right—The is built by Ontario Yachts in Burlington, Ontario.

Ottawa sailors to design a shoal-draft author Nathaniel Philbrick. Built looking for the ideal Long Island centerboard cat- with freestand- by Damian McLaughlin in North Sound one-design to best meet the ing rig. Called the Georgian 34 (10.4m), Falmouth, Massachusetts, Phebe sails needs of its members. Surveys at and then the Ticon 34, four were built. out of Nantucket. other clubs produced similar parame- The concept of shoal draft and free- ters: between 22' and 24' (6.7m and standing rigs led Kirby to reexamine One-Designs 7.3m) in length, trailerable, good in the New Haven Sharpie concept, pop- It is Bruce Kirby’s racing back- light air, reasonably priced, not too ularized in the late 19th century in ground that has stood him in such physically demanding, comfortable to Florida by the writings of Commodore good stead in yacht design, and sail, and having a good turn of speed. Ralph Munroe. Designed for home nowhere is it more evident than in Wally Ross, author of Sail Power, building in plywood, Kirby’s Norwalk the number of one-design classes stepped forward and said that if Kirby Island Sharpie designs come in five Kirby has designed. After the success would design it and find a builder, sizes from 18' to 31' (5.5m to 9.5m) of the Laser, it was only a matter of Ross would pay for the tooling and with all except the smallest being cat- time before he was approached to handle the marketing. Based on the . The sorting, assembly, and design a keelboat equivalent, and that submitted criteria, Kirby produced mailing of plans was initially done by request came in 1979 from his own the drawings for the , and the Kirby and Margo in the basement of Noroton Yacht Club, the same year first hulls were built by Bob Seidel­ their home, but eventually they that the Nightwind and Runaway mann in New Jersey, but after a plant handed that responsibility over to were designed. The club had been fire, production moved to C.E. Ryder others. To date, more than 1,000 sets surveying its members for the param- Corp. After more than 300 units, pro- of plans have been sold. eters of an ideal yacht club racer. duction moved to its current builder, Kirby’s latest design, launched in They already had Stars, , J/24s, Ontario Yachts, in Oakville, Ontario. 2010, is a 38' (11.6m) cruising center- and Tempests in the fleet, but, to Recently, the Sonar has entered pro- board yawl Phebe for historian and increase weeknight racing, they were duction in England, which will host

Left—The 23' (7m) Sonar with Kirby at the helm. It’s his per- sonal favorite one-design; in fact, even though he is over 80, he still actively races on Long Island Sound and in champion- ship regattas. Above—The was created in the 1980s as an alternative to the standard Laser. It has a shorter mast and less sail area, and is the Olympic single-

C ou r t e sy Br uc K i by ( both ) hander for women.

8 Professional BoatBuilder the Worlds this year. To date, over admits that he would have preferred America’s Cup 800 Sonars have been built, and it the original aesthetics. But the basic right after Kirby returned home now forms the largest one-design concept remained the same: to pro- from the 1981 Admiral’s Cup races, keelboat class on Long Island Sound. duce an easily sailed boat with a large the phone rang. Usually when that The Sonar is also Kirby’s own choice ballast ratio that does not need to rely happened, Bruce would say in jest, of racing class, but he admits the tal- on crew weight for stability. A self- “We’d better get that call. It might ent level in the class is so high that allows the boat to be be someone looking to design a it’s difficult to stay at the top. sailed singlehanded. Like the Sonar, 12-Meter!” Well, this time it was In 1986 he was asked to design a the Ideal was put into production at Canadian Marvin McDill calling from singlehanded keelboat for older Finn Ontario Yachts, and its total now tops Calgary, Alberta, asking Kirby to do sailors whose backs didn’t allow 300 units. The Ideal 18 has become just that. Inspired by both the 1980 them to hike out so aggressively. The the backbone of many club-racing America’s Cup racing and a feeling result was the Fox, an 18' cat-rigged programs at places like the Royal of Canadian nationalism, McDill keelboat resembling a cross between Canadian Yacht Club and Larchmont wanted to put together a Canadian the Laser and the Sonar. However, (New York) Yacht Club. challenge. Kirby, as it turned out, though 38 were built, the class did Kirby’s latest one-design is the little had been following Cup racing not become established beyond its Pixel, designed primarily for junior closely, going back to his reporter home base on Long Island Sound. sailing, to the performance gap days with the Montreal Star when Greater success came in 1988 for kids who are too big for the Opti­ he talked his editors into sending when Kirby was approached by his mist but not yet ready for the Laser. him to Newport to cover the 1962 old friend Frank Schumway, who was However,­ unlike the singlehanded races. He even had the lines plan looking for a more modern equiva- Opti­mist and Laser, the Pixel has a jib for an unsuccessful Sparkman & 1 lent to the old Herreshoff 12 ⁄ 2 and can take crew on board to better Stephens 12-Meter he had obtained Bullseye that he could race with his teach teamwork and cooperation at the from a fellow sailing journalist. wife. Designed originally on more junior level. Built originally in epoxy So a new set of lines was devel- classic lines, the and shear of in with a carbon fiber , it oped and tested at the National what would become the Ideal 18 has now been switched to polyester to Research Council’s towing tank in were modified to give it a more con- allow the use of conventional gelcoat. Ottawa. This tank had been con- temporary look, although Kirby More than 200 have been sold. verted to large-model yacht testing

9 Professional BoatBuilder with the help of C&C alumnus Steve Canada I and Killing, who had used it to test the Canada II (essentially C&C-designed 1978 Canada’s Cup the same boat but winner, Evergreen. A second set of with modifications to lines was produced to try to improve keel, displacement, upwind performance, and it was and rig) were develop- tested with the desired results. As ments of Kirby’s life- with his early work in 14s, the goal time interest in the was not to copy what had been done America’s Cup. before, but to build on it and produce Canada I was refined original work superior to anything by extensive testing done to date. What would become at the National Canada I was developed from that Research Council second set of lines and was built towing tank in in aluminium by McConnell Marine in Ottawa, while Canada Ontario, with construction and engi- II and several other neering specified and supervised by 1987 U.S. challengers Steve Killing (see “Object Lessons,” were tested in Professional BoatBuilder No. 13). Escondido, California, However, in the 12-Meter class, origi- at a larger facility. nality was very difficult, with ultimate performance at any given speed ultimately dictated by the choice of length. That was generally true…until the 1983 challenge, when designer turned the sail- ing world upside down with the world’s first wing keel and a short waterline (see “The Hydrodynamicist,” D an Ner n e y

April/May 2013 10 PBB No. 121); the Australians won eloquently puts it: “I just took a wild- Don Green’s Steve Killing–designed the challenge, sending the Cup to eyed swing at it.” True North. An elimination trial was for the defense in 1987. For the 1987 America’s Cup, held between the two Canadian chal- Based on what Kirby saw of Canada I was converted to a wing lengers off Santa Cruz, California, to Australia II ’s wing keel, he incorpo- keel to be a trial horse for the new decide which boat would represent rated a wing keel in his 8-Meter boat Canada II, but lack of funding Canada. Canada II won 23 of the 24 design Octavia, which went on to precluded building the second boat. races, and was selected to make the win the 8-Meter World Cup in 1984 After further modifications to the orig- long trip to Freemantle, Australia. In against older 8s, and three new boats inal hull, primarily lengthening the its heavier airs, however, the designs from with conventional . waterline to suit the higher with even longer and with This was the first wing keel to appear expected in Australia, Canada I correspondingly less sail area had the in that longstanding class. As Kirby so became Canada II to compete with advantage, and Canada II was even- tually eliminated from the series. won back the Cup for the U.S. in Stars and Stripes ’87. That was the last time the America’s Cup would be raced in 12-Meters. Retired in Rowayton As other successful designers gain more work, they usually add staff and increase the size of their offices. This is a temptation Kirby has avoided, and is still working on his own in his basement office overlooking the Five Mile River. That is not to say Kirby works entirely alone. Like many established “old school” designers, Kirby has never made the transition to computer-aided design, but he does have a close working relationship with Paul Fuchs, a University of Michigan who lives nearby and often translates Kirby’s hand-drawn lines plans to computer models for the accurate cut- ting of frames and to reaffirm the hydrostatic calculations. In the case of his last project, Phebe, Mathew Smith—working with the builder Damian McLaughlin—supplied input and drawings on structural details. Now in his mid-80s, Kirby no longer feels the need to continue designing, but has not completely ruled out a new project…if it is “inter- esting enough.” Yes, he would cer- tainly consider drawing a new boat for the right people. But looking back on a design career that now spans more than 50 years, Kirby admits in his typically understated fashion: “I was lucky to hit things when they were happening.”

About the Author: Rob Mazza is a naval architect and professional engi- neer with a long design background with C&C Yachts, Mark Ellis Design, and Hunter Marine. He has recently been involved with structural core materials with ATC Chemicals (Corecell) and Baltek.

11 Professional BoatBuilder