Bruce Kenneth Farr (born 1949 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

) is a New Zealand designer of racing and cruising

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

s. Farrdesigned boats have won, challenged for, or placed highly in the

Whitbread Round the World Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

, and

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run i ...

, among others. Farr's services to yacht design were recognised in the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours, when he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. He currently lives near

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

, USA.

Early boats

Farr began building boats at the age of 13 near Warkworth north of Auckland. His first boats were plywood hard chine

Moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

class designs. He later designed and built variants of Cherubs and especially Flying 18s. His early designs were built in plywood with a focus on light weight and good planing shapes. By his late teens he was designing small lightweight keel boats that were successful on the race course. He first achieved acclaim as a sailboat designer in the highly competitive 18ft Skiff class, popular in Australia and New Zealand. Farr designs won the 18 ft Skiff Giltinan World title several times in the early 70s.

Ocean racing

Boats designed by

Farr Yacht Design Farr Yacht Design, founded by Bruce Farr in Auckland, New Zealand, is a racing yacht design firm based in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. The firm is led by Patrick Shaughnessy. Its yachts measure from to . Farr develops custom and produc ...

competed in every

after 1981, and won the 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998 races. The first Bruce Farr yacht in the Whitbread Race was the Farr-designed '' Ceramco New Zealand'', which competed in the 1980 Whitbread Race and won the Sydney to Hobart the same year. Farr's design proved exceedingly fast, and ''Ceramco New Zealand'' would have won the Round the World Race, save for an unfortunate dismasting on the first leg, a trans-Atlantic crossing. The deltas for the rest of the legs would have put ''Ceramco New Zealand'' 30 hours ahead of her next competitor. This yacht was helmed and captained by New Zealand's most famous yachtsman Sir Peter Blake. Farr designed the 58-foot yacht which came to be known as ''Maiden'', with the first all-female crew in the 1989–90 Whitbread Round the World Race, skippered by

Tracy Edwards Tracy Edwards, MBE (born 5 September 1962) is a British sailor. In 1989 she skippered the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, becoming the first woman to receive the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy and was appointed ...

MBE. The yacht had previously been skippered by South African

Bertie Reed Stanley John Reed (more commonly known as Bertie Reed; 19 January 1943 – 18 December 2006) was a South African yachtsman. He was the first South African to complete three singlehanded circumnavigations. Life Reed was born in Port Elizabeth ...

in the 1986-87 BOC single-handed challenge. ''Maiden'' is still active in 2018. In 2001 the event was renamed the

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

. The Farr Yacht Design-designed ''

Illbruck Challenge ''Illbruck Challenge'' is a Volvo Ocean 60 yacht. She won the 2001–02 Volvo Ocean Race skippered by John Kostecki John Paul Kostecki (born July 7, 1964) is an American competitive sailor of Polish descent. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl ...

'' was victorious in 2002. Farr's Volvo Ocean Race boats fared less well in 2006 as all four of his designs experienced problems after various failures in their Farr-designed keel canting mechanisms, including an abandonment of the yacht ''Movistar'' which was unable to prevent the flow of water through the keel box and, to this day, lies on the ocean floor, unrecovered. Farr's

Volvo Ocean 65 The Volvo Ocean 65 is a class of monohull racing yachts. It is the successor to the Volvo Open 70 yacht used in past editions of the Volvo Ocean Race. It was announced at a conference in Lorient, France, during a stopover in the 2011–12 Volvo O ...

was the first ever One-Design selected for the Volvo Ocean Race, for the 2014-15 race, and again in the 2017-18 edition. Farr is the most successful designer of winners of the

, having designed 15 overall winners between 1945 and 2003. Cookson Boatworks developed a new 50' design, using the Farr office to collaborate, called the Cookson 50. Irish-owned yacht ''Chieftain'', conceived, developed and constructed in 2005 at Cookson's in New Zealand, was the overall winner of the 2007 Rolex

Fastnet race The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France. The race is named after the Fastnet ...

. Shortly after it was launched, ''Chieftain'' finished 5th at Australia's

Hamilton Island Race Week Hamilton Island Race Week is a keelboat regatta set against the backdrop of the Whitsunday Islands, on Queensland's Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reef ...

, then won class in the 2005 Rolex

. ''Chieftain'' competed in all of the 2006 season

Royal Ocean Racing Club The Royal Ocean Racing Club is a club in London with a further clubhouse and office in Cowes, Isle of Wight. It was established in 1925 as the Ocean Racing Club, as a result of a race to the Fastnet Rock from Cowes, finishing in Plymouth. It rece ...

races and won class in the Round Ireland, won overall in Round Britain and Ireland Races, was awarded Boat of the Year in Ireland in 2006, and finished as the overall winner of the Rolex Fastnet Race.

America's Cup

Farr is also a designer of

competitors, including New Zealand's entries in 1986 (co-designed with

Ron Holland Ronald John Holland (born 1947 in Auckland, New Zealand)Ron Holland:Desi ...

and Laurie Davidson) and 2000, and

Larry Ellison Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate and investor who is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the American computer technology ...

's United States's

BMW Oracle Racing Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club. ...

Challenger in 2003 (accepted as Challenger of Record for the 2007 Cup). Farr's design ''Young America'' (USA-36) proved faster than the other American sailed yachts, but was unsuccessful in defending the Cup in the 1995 Finals, losing 0–5 to a Davidson designed ''

Black Magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 145 ...

'' of New Zealand, led by the late Sir Peter Blake. Among the most impressive of Farr's design boats was the 90-foot-long

KZ-1 ''KZ 1'', formally called ''New Zealand'', is a one-off sailing yacht built to challenge for the 1988 America's Cup. She was designed by Bruce Farr and is constructed from a carbon fibre and Kevlar/Nomex sandwich, skippered by David Barnes and ...

, the Michael Fay-sponsored boat brought forth to challenge the

San Diego Yacht Club San Diego Yacht Club is a yacht club located in San Diego Bay. It is located in Point Loma across from a spit of land known as Shelter Island. Facilities The San Diego Yacht Club facility has a main dining room and outdoor deck seating, a b ...

immediately following their gaining the cup in 1987. The challenge was unusual in that it did not allow the host yacht club the conventional three to four years to prepare for the event, nor did the challenging boat adhere to the

12-metre class The 12 Metre class is a rating class for racing sailboats that are designed to the International rule. It enables fair competition between boats that rate in the class whilst retaining the freedom to experiment with the details of their designs. ...

design that the America's Cup had been contested in for thirty-five years, nor did it allow time for other international challengers and defenders to participate. The unconventional challenge was answered with an unconventional defence, and the entire episode serves as an excellent case study on how the process of yacht racing can be mired in the legal system when America's Cup participants radically depart from the spirit of the rules. Farr sailed on the boat during the 1988 America's Cup.

Cruising yachts

Farr's cruising yachts have been sold and sailed the world around. His production designs (mass-produced as opposed to custom) have been produced by a variety of yacht manufacturers including Cookson Boats, Carroll Marine,

Beneteau Beneteau or Bénéteau () is a French sail and motor boat manufacturer, with production facilities in France and in the United States. The company is a large and recognized boat builder, commanding a substantial worldwide market, with its holdi ...

, Concordia, Baltic, and Nauta. Some of the larger cruising luxury yachts Farr has designed include ''Bavaria'', ''

Mirabella ''Mirabella'' was a women's magazine published from June 1989 to April 2000. It was created by and named for Grace Mirabella, a former ''Vogue'' editor in chief, in partnership with Rupert Murdoch. It was originally published by News Corporati ...

'', ''Philanderer'', ''Sojana'', and the two Southern Wind-built 100 footers: ''Farewell'' and ''Farandwide''.

Designs

Farr 3.7 The Farr 3.7 is a one-person sailing dinghy (Single Handed Dinghy) designed by Bruce Farr in 1971. The design plans are sold by the ''3.7 Class Owners Association'' and they are built by a mix of professionals and home built by amateurs. The 3.7 C ...

* Farr 35 *

Farr 38 The Farr 38, also called the Farr 11.6m, is a sailboat that was designed by New Zealander Bruce Farr as a Sailing (sport), racer-Cruising (maritime), cruiser and first built in 1978. It is Farr Yacht Design number 72.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A F ...

* Farr 50 Pilot House * Farr 5000 * Farr 6000 *

Farr 7500 Farr may refer to: * Farr Alpaca Company * Farr, Sutherland, a hamlet in, and alternate name of, Strathnaver, Scotland. * Farr, Strathnairn, a village in Strathnairn, to the south of Inverness, Scotland * Farr Yacht Design * Farr (surname), people ...

Laser 28 The Laser 28 is a Canadian-built sailboat designed by New Zealander Bruce Farr and first produced in 1984. Production The boat was built by Performance Sailcraft, the builder of the Laser dinghy, in Canada from 1984 until 1990, but it is now ...

* Farr 1020 * Farr 1220 *

Farr 727 The Farr 727 is a Trailer sailer, trailerable sailboat that was designed by New Zealander Bruce Farr as an International Offshore Rule Quarter Ton class Sailing (sport), racer and first built in 1976. The boat was also built in Canada as the No ...

Farr 920 Farr may refer to: * Farr Alpaca Company * Farr, Sutherland, a hamlet in, and alternate name of, Strathnaver, Scotland. * Farr, Strathnairn, a village in Strathnairn, to the south of Inverness, Scotland * Farr Yacht Design * Farr (surname), peopl ...

* Farr 1104 * Farr 9.2 * '' Ceramco NZ'' * '' Steinlager 2'' * ''Fisher & Paykel'' * '' NZ Endeavour'' * Noelex 30 * '' NZI Enterprise'' * '' Jenny H'' * '' Disque D'or'' * Farr MRX * '' Atlantic Privateer'' * '' UBS Switzerland'' * Farr Phase 4 * ''The Card'' * ''Merit'' * ''Maiden'' * ''Brindabella'' * ''Yamaha'' * ''

Intrum Justitia ''Intrum Justitia'' is a Volvo Ocean 60 yacht. She finished second in the W60 class of the 1993–94 Whitbread Round the World Race skippered by Lawrie Smith Lawrie is a (patronymic or paternal) family name of Scottish origin which means "crafty ...

'' * ''Winston'' * ''La Poste'' * ''Merit Cup'' * Sun Odyssey 51 * ''Tokio'' * ''Tag Heuer'' * Beneteau First 40.7 *

Mumm 36 Mumm 36 is a sailboat class designed by Bruce Farr with about 100 boats built. History The Mumm 36 designed by Bruce Farr was built by Bénéteau, Carroll Marine Carroll may refer to: People * Carroll (given name) * Carroll (surname) * O'Carr ...

* ''Ragamuffin'' * Beneteau First 42S7 * ''Sayonara'' *

Farr 44 Farr may refer to: * Farr Alpaca Company * Farr, Sutherland, a hamlet in, and alternate name of, Strathnaver, Scotland. * Farr, Strathnairn, a village in Strathnairn, to the south of Inverness, Scotland * Farr Yacht Design * Farr (surname), people ...

* Beneteau First 45F5 * ''Flash Gordon'' *

Farr 40 The Farr 40 is a 40-foot one-design sailboat designed by Farr Yacht Design in 1996 following after the Mumm 30. It was originally designed as a one design class but had some compromises in design to rate under the International Measurement Syst ...

* Cookson 12 *''Gerontius''

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Farr Yacht Design company website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farr, Bruce Bruce Farr 1949 births Living people People from Auckland New Zealand yacht designers New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Boat and ship designers America's Cup yacht designers New Zealand expatriates in the United States 1988 America's Cup sailors People educated at Mahurangi College