Pakuranga Rotary Club Meeting - 15 March 2021

Our next speaker is Russell Bowler.  Russell retired from Farr Yacht Design Ltd a few years ago but has had extensive experience with Americas Cup both as a designer and as a member of the measurement committee.  Russell will give us some interesting insights behind the scenes of the Americas Cup.

Russell's Bio:

Russell Bowler was Vice President, Director and Shareholder of Farr Yacht Design, Ltd., Annapolis, Maryland USA. Born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1946, Russell's interest in sailboats was apparent at an early age when he quickly rose to the top levels of dinghy class racing. Through his youth, participation in dinghy classes that permitted design variations within a restricted rule provided fertile ground for design and build experimentation. District, National and World titles were listed to his credit as he built and sailed boats of his own design. Early contact with Bruce Farr was made during these stimulating and formative years of sailing.

Russell studied Civil Engineering graduating the British Institute of Engineers professional exams in 1968. Through the 1970s he pursued a career in consulting structural engineering specializing in residential and commercial building structures and leading multi-discipline groups of engineers on a variety of projects in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, UK and USA.

From 1976 Russell began providing structural consulting services for Bruce Farr's expanding yacht design business in Auckland. He joined Bruce in 1980 on a full time basis, and within a year they moved the business to Annapolis on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay where they formed the current corporation known today as Farr Yacht Design.

A pioneer in the use of lightweight FRP sandwich construction in the dinghy classes and its application to high performance racing yachts, Russell's innovative structural solutions were the precursor to currently accepted norms for race yacht construction.

Through the 80's Russell's efforts in the design office produced some significant breakthroughs in sailboat construction. The fiberglass twelve meters of the 1987 America's Cup attracted a lot of attention and controversy in what was to be the last America's Cup using the 12 Meter Rule. He introduced modern composite construction to the gruelling Whitbread Round the World Race of 1985/86 with outstanding success. Under Russell's guidance, the design office developed composite design and building techniques that have become industry standards.

Farr Yacht Design has a staff of 15 including 12 designers and software experts in the research, development and design of high performance sailboats from 14 feet to 150 feet LOA. FYD has produced over 400 designs and approaching 10,000 boats built to these designs in the past 30 years. The work has covered a wide range of styles from Beneteau production boats, Farr 40 and Mumm 30 One Design classes, ocean and buoy racing boats including Volvo 60s and 70s, America's Cup, Open 60s and large custom cruising yachts.