Laser Designer Bruce Kirby Dies at 92

20th July 2021

Annalise Murphy racing a Laser Radial in Medemblik in June 2021

Annalise Murphy racing in Medemblik in her Laser Radial, a variant of the classic dinghy design by Bruce Kirby Credit: Sander van der Borch

Scuttlebutt Sailing News pays tribute to legendary yacht designer Bruce Kirby, who has died on Sunday (18 July) at the age of 92.

Kirby is internationally renowned as the designer of the Laser class — in which Ireland’s own Annalise Murphy will be chasing Olympic glory in Tokyo in a few days’ time.

However, the former newspaper man from Ottawa in Canada had a lengthy sailing career in his own right from the 1950s, competing in Olympic Games in the Finn (1964) and Star (1968) as well as designing several world-title-winning International 14s, a class he raced in his youth.

In the 1970s Kirby drafted designs for a string of boats still in wide use today — among them the Sonar, which remains a boat of choice for the Paralympics.

And he was a skipper for Canada’s Admiral’s Cup campaign in 1981 in a yacht of his own design.

But Kirby will forever be associated with the iconic dinghy he conceived of in 1969 and which has brought Ireland our strongest Olympic sailing results today.

Scuttlebutt Sailing News has more HERE.

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MacDara Conroy

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MacDara Conroy is a contributor covering all things on the water, from boating and wildlife to science and business

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About the ILCA/Laser Dinghy

The ILCA, formerly known as the Laser, is the most produced boat in the world, with 220,000 units built since 1971.

It's easy to see why the single-handed dinghy has won the title of the most widely distributed boat of all time.

The Laser is a one-design dinghy, the hulls being identical but three rigs that can be used according to the size and weight of the sailor.

The class is international, with sailors from 120 countries. The boat has also been an Olympic class since 1996, being both the men's and women's singlehanded dinghy.

Three rigs are recognised by the International Laser Class Association (ILCA):