Thats Bruce Kirby to the left,with Eric Jespersen,of Jespersen Boat Builders,Vancouver Island,British Columbia,Canada,builders of the Robert Perry designed Jakatan.
I mention the Lazer to give a comparison to the 'Paper Jet 14' we sell as a kit,the Paper Jet is some 15kgs lighter than a Lazer,there are 26 sets of plans now sold,we are looking forwards to the other 181,974 orders!
Roy
Bruce Kirby:
It was two years later, in the fall of 1958, that he tried his hand at serious design work with his first International 14, which became known as the Kirby Mark I. He designed the boat for himself after having raced in Cowes for Canada against British and New Zealand teams; but before his boat was completed four friends had ordered boats and the designer took the fourth one out of the mould. In that Cowes regatta the Canadian team won, but only because the wind was predominately light to medium. Every time it blew up a bit the Kiwis were superior upwind. So Bruce's Mark I was aimed at speed upwind in heavy air, and it turned out to be quite fast in those conditions. In all there were 28 Kirby Mark 1s built, and there were two of them, including the designer's, on the Canadian squad that won the team event at Toronto in 1961. Six more Kirby 14s were designed in the ensuing 14 years, and in particular the Mark III and Mark V sold very well in all countries where the class was popular.
Bruce, Margo and their daughters Janice and Kelly moved in 1965 from Montreal to Chicago, where Bruce became editor of the old One Design yachtsman Magazine, which is now called Sailing World.
Six months later, at the same time as he was working on his Mark V International14, he was asked by a Montreal friend to design a Ïcar topperÓ dinghy, and the result of that was the Laser, which hit the market in January of 1971. The success of this little boat - there are now 182,000 worldwide - inspired the designer to resign from the magazine and go full time into sailboat design.
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