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Ron Holland Speaks on Boat Design at Sausalito Yacht Club

In this month’s issue of Latitude 38 we brought you a story about small boat building in the Bay Area. So is it coincidence that legendary boat designer Ron Holland is due to speak as part of Sausalito Yacht Club’s Speaker Series this coming Wednesday? Probably. But we can’t help thinking that this event may have been inspired by all the hard work done by our backyard shipwrights. At the very least it makes a good follow-up to our story. Mind you, Mr. Holland’s boats are no doubt much larger and more involved than the small craft we wrote about, but nonetheless, we feel the speaker event is probably of great interest to many budding boat builders. After all, great things often grow from small.

 

For those who are unfamiliar with Ron Holland’s name, the New Zealand-born (what is it with those Kiwis and sailing?) began his sailing life aboard a ‘P’ class dinghy that he received for his 7th birthday. Despite a less-than-successful first sail, Ron grew to love the sport, and at age 15 was presented with the opportunity to crew from Auckland to Sydney aboard the 36-foot ketch Aloha.

Ron later obtained a boat-building apprenticeship that included drawing and design classes, which eventually became his forte and led to his first design commission at age 19 — a 26-foot yacht, White Rabbit.

The rest, as they say, is history, and also a part of Ron Holland’s interesting story. If you can find a way to tune in to Ron’s Zoom session at SYC this Wednesday, we imagine you’ll find it worth your while.

Day/Time:  Wednesday, May 19 at 6:00 p.m. (PDT)

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4156347245

Meeting ID: 415 634 7245

2 Comments

  1. milly Biller 3 years ago

    OOh will I ever be tuning into that ! I had the wonderful opportunity to meet this brilliant, humble, funny man. and I very much look forward to this !

  2. Richard Smith 3 years ago

    Great show. Zoom meetings like this that this are most welcome as I live in Santa Cruz. Thanks to Ron and The Club!

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