Best Yacht Designer in the GRP Era

[youen]

Stephens
Frers
Finot
Harle

 

[jordanbasset]

Bruce Farr, mostly simple clean lines
http://www.farrdesign.com/designs_full_a.htm

 

[Seajet]

Sparkman & Stephens
Holman & Pye

Agreed though they made their names with wooden jobs.

 

[Champagne Murphy]

I can't believe no-one has mentioned David Sadler!
Contessa 32 was (and is) still held up as the epitome of GRP design. He followed that with the Sadler 25, 29 and 32

PS I'll admit to some bias (S32)

 

[snooks]

Any thoughts ?

Yes. Define 'best'

David Sadler
Chuck Paine
Stephen Jones
S&S
J&J
Judel Vrolijk
Van der Stadt
Ed Dubois (if you skip past the Westerly Seahawk)

And many many more, but there is no one 'Best', they all have pretty boats and not so pretty boats

 

[snooks]

No coincidence two Sadler owners suggest David Sadler :encouragement:

 

[Seajet]

David Sadler almost goes without saying, so I guess that's why he wasn't mentioned earlier !

I forget who did the Mystery 35, but they need a nod too.

 

[bedouin]

Kim Holman - although a bit old fashioned now
Stephen Jones for more modern designs

 

[snooks]

I forget who did the Mystery 35, but they need a nod too.

Stephen Jones

 

[rogerball0]

Jones
Giles
Dubois

 

[rudolph_hart]

IMHO:

Fast: Bruce Farr, Stephen Jones.

Pretty: S&S, Holman & Pye, Van De Stadt

Bit of both: Rob Humphries

Again, just my opinion

 

[Topcat47]

Yes. Define 'best'

David Sadler
Chuck Paine
Stephen Jones
S&S
J&J
Judel Vrolijk
Van der Stadt
Ed Dubois (if you skip past the Westerly Seahawk)

And many many more, but there is no one 'Best', they all have pretty boats and not so pretty boats

+1

C&N made a lot of good GRP boats, e.g. 26,32, 35,55 but with different designers.

 

[halcyon]

For showing the way the new material could be used it has to be one of the French designers who got into curved surfaces and did away with sharpe corners, which just imitated wooden boat construction

George Hurley, curves and rounded corners, full moulded head lining, pre build modular furniture sets for each boat, volume build.

Also Alan Buchanan.

Brian

 

[Martin999]

Can't see that David Thomas hasn't been mentioned but also for superb sailing and good looks Pelle Petterson - Maxi Yachts

 

[Tradewinds]

+1

C&N made a lot of good GRP boats, e.g. 26,32, 35,55 but with different designers.

Many by Ray Wall (see post #8)
30, 31, 35, 39, 55

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Impossible to answer unless you can define 'Best' in this context.

Apologies - Bit tongue in cheek.

Probably could have been " Your Favourite Designer" .

 

[Jock89]

Any thoughts ?

For me....Bob Perry. All his boats are gorgeous.!

 

[Judders]

I can't understand how I got to the fourth page before David Thomas got a mention.

Sonata, Impala, Sigmas galore, Elizabethans and many one offs.

I'd give an honourable mention to David Sadler to.

 

[michael_w]

Oliver Lee

should be on the list; his designs are best viewed from below in the hoist, to see what lovely shapes he created.

' Willing Griffin ', a slightly modified Hunter 19, took David Blagden across to 10th place in the 1972 OSTAR and into the record books as smallest entrant ever allowed, let alone to finish !

D.B's book about her, ' Very Willing Griffin ' is now an expensive, sought after classic.

Oliver Lee is the only designer to merit an ' The Genius Of ' section on the committee groups on these forums ( see the dark band above the forum headings ) - his Squibs still form large ( largest ? ) fleets at Cowes and several well known posters here have Hunter 490's as second, fun boats simply because they are such a delight to sail.

His hulls may be OK but the rigs are very strange. The Ajax with its stumpy mast, over long boom and idiotically high I measurement complimented by a titchy spinnaker which means the pole is miles off the deck. The much vaunted Squib is remarkably similar in appearance.

 

[Woodlouse]

David Sadler?