Where it all began

Granville Island is a district of Vancouver that houses close to 300 businesses, a hotel, a theatre company, art gallery and public market, as well as a large marina and offices. Among these is the studio of Ron Holland, a self-taught yacht designer who requires little introduction.

Born in Auckland (New Zealand) in 1947, this lively and loquacious gentleman transferred his own business to Granville Island after almost four decades spent in Cork County in Ireland, where he had better access to his European clientele. During that period, he, , and , not to mention , and other craft, mostly IOR Rule racing yachts built in cold-moulded timber, then sandwich composite/fibreglass. Among his designs are a few wooden boats, the smallest being a 16ft (4.9m) coastal rowing boat, named and built for racing on the south coast of Ireland, and the biggest a 90ft (27.4m) yacht named , built at Long Beach (California) by Don Gibbs.