
The Westlawn/Cruising World Design
Competition Results
With Sponsorship from Island Packet Yachts, Westlawn
and Cruising
World Hold the First
Design Competition in Over Fifteen Years
An amateur yacht
designer from Tasmania took top honors in a design competition held for Cruising World magazine
readers, in affiliation with Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology and Island
Packet Yachts. The contest, which drew entries from all over the world, was won
by Richard Boult, whose Quick Clinker 31 achieved a well-reasoned and
interesting design with “clean hull lines and appearance,” the judges said.
Boult, who designs commercial ferries, received a $1,000 check in addition to
recognition in the August issue of Cruising World.

Richard Boult’s Quick Clinker 31
A total of 53
submissions came in from aspirants all over the globe in response to the search
for an inventive boat design of between 30 and 60 feet LOA and capable of
serious cruising with two or more people for a minimum of three weeks. Of the
53 entrants, half of the ten finalists were Westlawn alumni or students, and
the first runner-up is a current Westlawn student. (Judges didn’t know if an
entrant was from Westlawn or not.)
Two larger designs
also received recognition:

Keimpe Reitsma’s Cruising Sailyacht 57 Feet
First runner-up was
Keimpe
Reitsma
of the Netherlands, whose Cruising
Sailyacht 57 Feet was praised by the judges as “a beautiful, attractive,
practical boat.”

Paulo Bisol’s Deep Blue 48
Second runner-up
was Paulo Bisol of France, whose Deep Blue 48 has a “nicely proportioned design
with pleasant relationships between the visual masses,” the judges said.
The panel of judges
represented top professionals from every sector of the marine industry: Dave
Gerr, director, Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology; Norm Nudelman,
provost, Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology; Chris Wentz, president,
Z-Sails; Bob Johnson, founder and president, Island Packet Yachts; Rod
Johnstone, co-founder, J/Boats; Bruce King, yacht designer; and Jeremy McGeary, CW
contributing editor. Gerr, Nudelman and Wentz whittled the group of submissions
down to 10 finalists and then turned them over for grading and comment to
Johnson, Johnstone, King and McGeary.
Boult, who worked
briefly for Hall of Fame yacht designer Ben Lexcen in the late ’80s, has been
interested in boat design from an early age, but has spent most of his career
working on commercial vessels. “I hope to use the cash award,” he said, “to
develop a Web site, upgrade some computer software, and try to develop a
yacht-design business.”
To read more about
Boult’s Quick Clinker 31 and the nine other finalist designs, log on to the Cruising
World Web site. Web site readers are also invited to participate in a poll”
and rank the designs as they would judge them, at www.cruisingworld.com/designfinalists.
Click here to read the Cruising
World article about the design contest results. Details of the
2008 contest will be announced in an upcoming issue and on the Cruising
World Web site.
Founded in 1930, the Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology is
the only nationally accredited and state certified distance-learning school of
small-craft design in the United States. As the not-for-profit educational affiliate of the American Boat and Yacht Council, The mission of
the Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology is threefold:
■ To provide our students with the skills knowledge
required to build a rewarding career in the profession of yacht and small-craft
naval architecture.
■ To support continued growth of the
recreational and small-craft marine community through the development of
well-trained, safety oriented, boat designers developing better products for
the benefit of the boating public.
■ To provide continuing education to marine
industry professionals.
To learn more about
Westlawn, please call (860) 572-7900 or visit the Westlawn website at
www.westlawn.edu.