James Harold Young ONZM (7 July 1925 – 18 June 2020) was a New Zealand sailor, boat designer and builder.

[1][2] He moved to Auckland when he was 10 years old, and began a boatbuilding apprenticeship in 1940, working on general boat maintenance and the construction of wooden naval vessels until 1945.

[1] After returning from Japan, Young began designing and building yachts, first at a shed in Little Shoal Bay, Birkenhead, and then in Takapuna.

Over the next seven decades, he designed and built numerous innovative boats, including keelboats and catamarans that were successful in racing both in New Zealand and internationally.

[1] In the 2012 New Year Honours, Young was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to boat building.