DESIGN LEGENDS: RON HOLLAND

DESIGN LEGENDS: RON HOLLAND

Designer Ron Holland’s has spanned the global industry over a 40-year career, from penning Admiral Cup winners to the world’s largest superyachts, reports Kevin Green.

From a childhood spent messing around on dinghy’s in Auckland’s waterways, followed by a boat building apprenticeship, Ron went on to pen famous maxis such as Condor and innovative designs like the 40-foot Imp, built for the 1977 Admirals Cup. His designs went on to dominate many Admiral’s Cup fleets. Moving abroad in his teens, he has lived in America and Europe, places where most of his customers live, before settling in Ireland. His accomplishments include pioneering large fibreglass composite yachts, competing with many of the best of American and European boat designers and, more recently, launching the world’s largest single-masted composite sailing yacht, the 245-foot Mirabella V. But for all his accomplishments, the softly spoken, 60-year-old Kiwi remains a modest man.

Kevin Green (KG):You've been called the pioneer of 100-foot plus market, how do you respond to that accolade?

Ron Holland (RH):It's timing as much as anything, because we've just seen in the past 10 years this big expansion of the large one-off sailing yacht game.

We've had some great opportunities - at the moment we've done two sailing yachts over 200 feet. Felicita West, a 210-footer from Perini Navi and Mirabella, 247 feet built by BT in England. That was just two unique opportunities after 35 years of starting off with 24-footers and ending up here.

(KG):These opportunities have obviously elevated you within the industry. But you've said you failed miserably academically, so what has been your secret?

(RH):First, it was a geographical thing - growing up in New Zealand. In Auckland, especially, you’re just in the boating thing. I grew up on the beach, started sailing dinghies at eight years of age, so you grow up in that environment.

The second step is that I had a bit of an artistic flare so I could do a 3D drawing at a young age so that was important.

Then, I always had a desire as a kid to go sailing across the ocean, following in the wake of Captain Cook, so to speak.

The other aspect is to always take the opportunities that came up. Like when I was 15 years old, I had the opportunity to sail from Auckland to Sydney in a cruising yacht and that was kind of unique for such a young person. So in a way that ability to take the opportunity and go for it was important.

(KG):That seems quite tough.
(RH):Yes, that’s part of growing up in an isolated place.

(KG):So, over your long career, could you list any particular defining moments?

(RH):There's a few - the first was the chance to go from New Zealand to San Francisco with the family of businessman George Kiskaddon who were building a pretty radical 70- foot plywood racing schooner with John Spencer in New Zealand, and they invited me to live with them. They had another yacht called Spirit and we brought it through the Pacific and down here for the Hobart race, so that was an important aspect. I was 20 years old then.

Also while living in San Francisco I met Gary Mull who was a pretty successful yacht designer and that was my first chance to work in a yacht design studio. Through racing in LA and San Diego I got myself into the top echelons of ocean racing that was going on in the States at the time.

(KG):So, do you feel the San Francisco area was a leading light in design during the 1970s?

(RH):It was a pocket of important stuff going on there. Bill Lee for instance with the Santa Cruz boats - he developed a whole series called the Santa Cruz class and they were light displacement downwind-Hawaii, race-orientated boats. So I was there around that time and it was all part of the mix.

I got friendly with Dave Peterson through the Spirit connection, who like me ended up being in the top echelon of the IOR racing for many years.

But the biggest thing was probably building my own Quarter-Tonner, Egythene, in Florida when I was working for the Morgan Yacht Corporation, some four or five years later. Then winning the American Quarter Ton Championship and getting the opportunity to go to England for the Quarter Ton cup in 1973. So I was in England, having won that regatta, and wondering whether to go back to the States or stay here. Then some Irish guys invited me to Crosshaven to visit the Royal Cork Yacht Club to talk about winning the Quarter Ton Cup. They invited me to build a One Tonner called Golden Apple that was very successful so I just said I’d stay here and help build it. And that’s where I established my design studio, originally in Crosshaven, but now it’s in Kinsale, in the SW of Ireland. That’s 33 years ago and the Golden Apple was successful and I received other commissions for race boats. So, really between 1975 and 1985, I was totally immersed in IOR, ocean racing, level-rating ton cup-type designs. And we had a great share of successes all over the world.

A very important boat I did during that period was the 40-foot Imp - one of the first composite high-tech racing yachts designed for the 1977 Admirals Cup. She won the chance to represent the US in the Admirals Cup and went on to be the top scorer in that regatta, so that was really a benchmark boat for me.

(KG):You've built cleverly on the successes of your design flare, but you must have very good business acumen as well?

(RH):Yes, that is part of it. But quite often these are conflicting desires. A lot of my time is spent on the business side of the design but I think you have to balance these things to keep the continuity going.

(KG):What about the large maxis?

(RH):The next big break was the Kialoa IV, the big maxi yacht we did. We did two of them Kialoa and Condor and they were also the first composite maxi racing yachts and both were pretty successful. That gave me the step into this one-off field.

(KG):In the 1980s you also did projects with major production builders?

(RH):Yes, we worked with Jeanneau and several of the Swan boats. Also Camper&Nicholsons - we did the Nicholson 33 that won the Fastnet, so that was another important milestone.

(KG):Looking back on your career, what advice would you give young, aspiring designers in Australia?

(RH):There's no reason why you can't make a living and a success in Australia. It's interesting to see how many designers are coming out of New Zealand, which you'd think would be more difficult because of the smaller population. So I think you have to use that kind of model.

Originally the designers that were in my era, and I'd include Australian Iain Murray, were kind of seat-of-the-pants designers. I think now it's much more formal. Everyone who works for me has gone through some sort of university course and that’s good because you need both sides of it. And there's more opportunities now I think than there was before.

What I had to do was build my own boat, that’s what I had to do. I put all my money in it, worked day and night, went out there and raced it and won. That's how I did it. And when I tell the younger designers they think that's a bit extreme. But it's not going to be handed to you, you've got to figure it out yourself. And I still think that is the way to do it for a young person - find a way to do a small race boat on the cheap and learn from that experience.

(KG):In a recent survey of superyacht building countries, New Zealand came in at number eight, but Australia didn't register (as it only listed the top 10) so do you think we have the infrastructure and knowledge to get into the superyacht market?

(RH):The answer is yes, and what McConnaghy's are doing with the big race boats is a leading edge thing and your production boat builders, like Riviera, are world class. I was also very impressed with what Ocean Fast were doing in Perth for a number of years with the big one-off projects. Then in Tasmania and Perth, there's two companies doing world- class fast ferry-type of boats. There's a relationship, I think, between all these things. Then you've got very high profile people like Bob Oatley and Neville Crichton that are doing a great PR job for Australia - the two most interesting yachts in the world are both Sydney-based.

(KG):We've undoubtedly got the super maxi race boat market, but it’s the luxury superyacht market which seems not as specialised but is potentially lucrative?

(RH):Yes, and New Zealand has done a great job there. In NZ, there was a pretty nice co-ordination between all the marine industries and the government that was helpful.

(KG):Does the fact that Australia isn't on the superyacht circuit hamper our growth?

(RH):We'll you're no worse off than NZ. And the Great Barrier Reef is a great drawcard, so I think it's more about making this co-ordinated effort and maybe the trade and industry people can help. So maybe there needs to be more of that relationship between the marine industry, marine leisure and government to do more international promotion. I would say that was an important aspect of NZ success.

(KG):The survey that I mentioned noted a trend for bigger yachts, but are there any other significant trends?

(KG):Getting bigger is important, but there's also segments of it like modern high performance cruising sailboats, then there's still a great market for very traditional- looking or classic-style boats. In the motor yacht market, it’s split between high performance big boats, a very small part of the market but high profile. And then the mainstream Mediterranean-looking boats. Then on the other end is the explorer type. We've just launched 150-foot explorer type yacht called the Marco Polo for China which is an important project for Ron Holland Design because we're looking at that long distance fuel-efficiency-type of vessel. So the market is growing and being defined in these different segments.

(KG):What effect has recent technology had on design - you mentioned tank testing before - but how significant is CAD and computer modelling, for instance?

(RH):All tools available have useful aspects. For instance, the high-end racing field, like the America's Cup, has budgets to do lots of research and has pioneered computer modelling of performance predictions. But the one-off field just doesn’t have the big research budgets so the AC is unique in that way. But technology relates to what we're doing now ‘ like this explorer yacht we've just done. We did tank testing with different bulb shapes, different locations of the stabiliser fins, but you can also do that in a computer environment which is accurate and predictable. So its an important pre-design tool But in the main design work there's two aspects - showing the clients what it looks like, sometimes 3D graphics are really helpful, and the other side is giving the builder accurate information. More and more shipyards are using digital interfaces with design-cutting materials.

(KG):You've said the there's a traditional approach to building with the continued use of metals like steel and alloy but composites now have the edge?

(RH):Yes, but it's been slower to take over the market than you'd expect because a well- engineered composite yacht has all the advantages of strength and reliability. So I think that will become a bigger part of the big yacht market.

(KG):So following this shift would this include a carbon superyacht in the future?

(RH):With Mirabella V, we've used a lot of carbon in the deck to make it as stiff as we could, so that's already a trend. And I think there is a superyacht class that wants performance that carbon is a really good way to improve that.

(KG):You've mentioned that you could envisage canting keels in superyachts and it was just a matter of when?

(RH):Yes you could do it but the costs would be horrendous and because there's been problems, people would be nervous but the idea of having a relatively lightweight boat given stability but canting the lead keel out to windward is valid - it’s a way to keep a boat upright and going fast.

But my feeling is that simplicity is good for a long-range cruising yacht but despite that, it's going to happen.

(KG):Looking at other keel designs, there are a large number of shallow draft and even lifting keel superyachts, and they are obviously seaworthy vessels?

(RH):Yes, Perini’s superyachts have lifting keels. It’s because when you get over 100 feet, draught is a problem. And it’s a lot simpler to lift vertically than to cant.

(KG):Does superyacht technologies - involving design issues such as dealing with stresses on materials and so on - relate to the ordinary cruise boat market?

(RH):Things like hydraulic winches, which were developed for larger yachts, are now used on smaller vessel. Also anchor windlass systems and sail handling, so there is that kind of trade-off. After-all, superyachts are all about comfort too and the quality of the interiors.

(KG):Looking ahead, where do you think the superyacht industry will be in 10 years’ time?

(RH):The boats are getting bigger and there's more money in the world, so there's more potential clients out there so this larger end of the superyacht market is growing. I don't see any reason why it can't. Even though there's 200 boats of over 100 feet being built at the moment, that’s a tiny amount of people compared to those that have made a lot of money in the past 10 years. As wealth is created, a superyacht is a great way to create privacy and ascetic pleasure of being on the thing. And better than a house stuck in the south of France where you've got the traffic problem all summer. So I'm optimistic about the future and Australia must have a role to play because of the industries that are springing up now.

(KG):In terms of your own future, what do you envisage yourself doing in 10 years?

(RH):Difficult to say, as I've never really looked ahead I've just taken the next opportunity that comes along! But I think we'll be following the market trend, doing more motor yachts and based on projects like Felicita West and Mirabella V, we’ll still be involved in the big one-off projects.

(KG):Finally Ron, 30 years in Ireland, what's the attraction, apart from the Guinness?

(RH):Half my clients are American and half European, so I'm kind of in the middle and it’s a nice lifestyle. The Irish coast is very attractive so I've never thought to leave despite my spread-out family. My daughter lives in Sydney with my two grandchildren. I've also got teenage daughters in Ireland and a daughter in LA who is a photographer.