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Laser sailboat designer Bruce Kirby dies at 92
Doodling on a yellow legal pad in 1969, Bruce Kirby designed one of the most beloved sailboats in history, a low-slung fiberglass dinghy that became known as the Laser.
by The Washington Post
Jul. 27 2021 @ 8:44pm
Bruce Kirby, designer of the Laser sailboat. (Marius Bugge.)
Doodling on a yellow legal pad in 1969, Bruce Kirby designed one of the most beloved sailboats in history, a low-slung fiberglass dinghy that became known as the Laser.
Light enough to be fastened to the roof of a car, stable and speedy enough to be used by weekend hobbyists as well as Olympic racers, the boat became a fixture of international competitions and local yacht clubs.
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Sailboat designer helmed beloved Laser dinghy
Harrison Smith, The Washington Post
July 26, 2021
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Bruce Kirby, designer of the Laser sailboat.Marius Bugge.
Doodling on a yellow legal pad in 1969, Bruce Kirby designed one of the most beloved sailboats in history, a low-slung fiberglass dinghy that became known as the Laser.
Light enough to be fastened to the roof of a car, stable and speedy enough to be used by weekend hobbyists as well as Olympic racers, the boat became a fixture of international competitions and local yacht clubs.
Its popularity established Kirby as one of the world s preeminent sailboat designers and enabled him to quit his day job as editor of a yachting magazine to practice design full-time. He had no formal training but went on to create such influential sailboats as the San Juan 24 and the Sonar, a 23-foot keelboat now used in Paralympic competitions.
Bruce Kirby, sailboat designer whose Laser dinghy became a global phenomenon, dies at 92
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