Robert W. Ball

Robert Wilson Ball (August 24, 1943 – September 9, 2022) was a Canadian yacht designer, based in Port Credit, Ontario, and later, New Bedford, Massachusetts.

An early 33 was shipped to Europe (to be used by Baltic Yachts for their production) and it was entered in the Three-Quarter Ton Cup that was in Norway that year.

[5]Throughout the 1970s C&C's design group also created boats for other builders, such as the Great Lakes 33 trawler, built by Ontario Yachts.

"[11]Robert Ball gave a speech at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club's tribute to George Cuthbertson, where he expanded on this idea, saying: As much as custom designs were notable, it was production boats that paid our way, and George imbibed the message – that they are much more challenging design-wise, since performance is important, but attractiveness, and practicality for the builder and the sailor was actually the key to successful designs.

You see, the team is not as big as it used to be, but the success of the 37R is testimony to the fact that perhaps Ball's talents were being diluted by the input of too many other in-house, competing designers in the past.

[13]In September 1990 Robert Ball left C&C Yachts to join Concordia Custom Yachts (Concordia Company), in Padanaram, Massachusetts,[10] but continued to do design work for C&C International as RWB Design until the Niagara-on-the-Lake factory fire destroyed molds, boats under construction, and facilities in 1994, essentially putting C&C out of business in Canada.

[15] In 1985 the then president of C&C Yachts, David Gee said, "Rob Ball has more boats on the water than most other naval architects that you can name.

First launched as a limited series production design, interest in the 40 was initially low—C&C had been beaten to the market by boats like the North American 40 (which it had been approached to build under contract), Swan 411, Islander 40 and Tartan 41.

[10][18] Initially built by the C&C Yachts Custom Division in Oakville, Ontario, the owners of these products of Erich Bruckmann's shop were free to experiment with interior layout (a number of these original owners, with racing foremost in their mind, experimented to the point of ordering yachts with virtually no interior layout to speak of), as well as with the options of a taller rig or deeper keel.

The first 11 were built without interior liners, and many features experimented with on these and subsequent custom-produced boats found their way into the production model.

Some of the most comprehensive and beneficial in-water testing was derived from Amazing Grace, owned by Robert Herron of Port Credit, Ontario, through her performance at the SORC.

[18] The C&C 40's reputation was made on Long Island Sound, a hotbed of racing activity and a traditionally strong market area for the Canadian Company's products in that era.

In short time, market interest snowballed for a product that had been delayed going into the first phase of its development plan by a lack of orders.

[10][18] The Canada's Cup winner in 1978 was a C&C design, the Two Ton class Evergreen,[19] owned by Don Green with Hans Fogh at the helm.

The deck hatches opened inward, which could be a safety hazard if they gave way during a capsize or broach, and the Evergreen crew faced protests over this defect in both the SORC and in the Canada's Cup.

After the competition that year, the rule books were rewritten to preclude safety problems like those raised by the design of Evergreen, and as a result, C&C never received another commission for a Canada's Cup yacht.

She is a yacht built for comfortable living, she was made to be as independent of land as possible through such features as two sources of AC power, desalinators, an enormous freezer, and a pair of dinghies.

[23] Davies, along with family and friends sailed Archangel over 90,000 mi (144,841 km) in the period from 1980 to 1991, visiting dozens of countries along the way.

[25] During this period Sir Blake used her as his command boat for Team New Zealand through their successful defence of the America's Cup in 2000.

[26][27] Michael Bundock, a member of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, purchased Archangel from Lady Blake in Barcelona in 2004.

Bundock then spent about two years sailing her halfway around the world, eventually taking her back to his home in New Zealand.

Magistri was targeted to the heavy air conditions expected in a typical Admiral's Cup series and was built to high standards of Kevlar, foam, and carbon fibre.

In the Channel Race Magistri won - probably my best ever result because against the best in the world, with a normal amateur crew.Farlinger sailed her exclusively offshore, and only for a short period, before selling her to Jacob Wallenberg of Stockholm, Sweden.

Renamed Insdispensible II Wallenberg campaigned her successfully and competed as a member of the Swedish Admiral's Cup team in 1985.

[10] In a July 1988 review, Lloyd Hircock wrote in Canadian Yachting magazine, "The C&C 44 is a splendid sea boat—dry, kindly, strong and seaworthy ...

[31][32] A Cruising World poll in 2013 elected the Landfall 38 as number 29 in their list of 40 greatest production monohulls of all time.