| Spain. Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia America’s Cup designer Harry Dunning talks about himself |
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| Tuesday, 11 April 2006 | |
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Harry Dunning: Harry Principal Designer of Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, is an accomplished sailor who regularly competes in the world’s premier international inshore and offshore events. He is a member of New York Yacht Club and enjoys many outdoor sports besides sailing. What about your role in the yachting world: what can you tell us? I am a lifelong sailor and have been a professional yacht designer for over 20 years. I got my start in the business working on various projects in the New York area, eventually joining the staff of Farr Yacht Design. After 7 years I left FYD and went to work with Young America for the 2000 America’s Cup. At the end of the Cup I moved to California to work for Reichel/Pugh Yacht Design. After more than 4 years at RPYD I left to join Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia. My years at FYD and RPYD were tremendously productive. I was fortunate enough to play an active role in the design of some of the most innovative and successful racing yachts of the last 15 years. These projects include winners of the Whitbread/Volvo Round the World Race and nearly every other major inshore and offshore event. Highlights at the Farr office include the last of the Whitbread Maxis, the first waterballasted Whitbread 60s for the ‘93 race and subsequent Whitbread 60s for the ‘97 race and Volvo 60s for the 2001 Volvo Race. I was also involved in the design of the successful offshore one design Mumm 30 and Mumm 36, Farr 40, and Corel 45 classes. There were also numerous successful IOR and IMS designs, and the America’s Cup yachts for Tag Heuer in 1995 and Young America in 2000. As the senior designer at the Reichel Pugh office I was heavily involved with the wildly successful and innovative canting ballast racers Wild Oats, Alfa Romeo - Shockwave, and the maxZ86 sisterships Pyewacket and Morning Glory. More conventional designs of interest include the multi record breaking maxi Titan and the TP-52 Quantum Racing which finished second to Mascalzone Latino’s skipper Vasco Vascotto in the 2005 MedCup. I was also able to continue my involvement with the America’s Cup with a lead role in the design of the two Stars and Stripes yachts USA66 and USA77 for the 2003 series. As a sailor I have been very fortunate to have competed in many of the world’s top events. I really got my start in international racing in the late 1980’s on the maxi yacht circuit and have gone on to compete in events like the Fastnet, Newport-Bermuda, Sydney-Hobart, maxi world championships, Key West, and many international championships in the Mumm 30 and 36, Farr 40, and Corel 45 classes. Who taught you the most about sailboat racing? That’s a difficult question. I have been fortunate to sail with many world class sailors and I have learned something from each. What made you choose this career? Engineering and sailboat racing were two strong interests from my youth. Professional yacht design was a logical combination of these two interests. The more that I learned about it, the more I had a passion for it. What was it like where you learned to sail? I grew up in a town on the coast of Long Island Sound, about 20 miles outside of New York City. My parents were members of the Larchmont yacht club. I started in the junior program at age 8 in small 9 foot long cat rigged dinghies called Dyer Dhows. From there I progressed through the junior dinghy classes and later began crewing in various one design keelboat classes. As a teenager I began sailing on local IOR boats. What is the best memory of your early boats? When I was in junior sailing I once found an old green spinnaker that somebody had abandoned. At this time I was still sailing the cat rigged Dyer Dhows, but managed to cut the spinnaker down to an appropriate size and figure out a way to hoist it to the top of the mast by tying the head to the loose end of the main halyard and dropping the main. It was a spectacular ride when I finally got it set, but my instructors and parents weren’t too happy with me... What’s been your biggest disappointment? Probably the grounding and sinking of a maxi yacht while leading the fleet and on record setting pace in the Buenos Aires to Rio race in the late eighties. And the best moment? It’s pretty hard to beat sailing a 9’ dyer dhow with a spinnaker at age 8! After so many boats, what keeps it fresh for you? Two things, the technology and the people. Every design is a new creation, and with constantly evolving rating rules, design technologies, and materials the profession is always evolving. I also greatly enjoy working through the design process with the many talented clients and industry professionals with whom I have come in contact. Which kind of boat do you like most? And why? I love designing and sailing high performance boats. In my design career I have been lucky enough to have designed everything from a custom 5o5 dinghy for Philippe Kahn to America’s Cup Class yachts for Vincenzo Onorato. And my sailing career has been equally diverse, ranging from regional and world championships in small keelboats and dinghies to major offshore contests and world championships in Maxi yachts. The common thread has been high performance. They said that “there is nothing more character building than messing about in boats”… I agree. So what is it about sailing that has captured you for the past years? I’m not sure that I can give a clear answer. I have always been instinctively attracted to yachts and the waterfront and have been so for as long as I can remember. If you could change one thing in the yachting world, what would it be? I would like to see better coordination and unity among national rating authorities. http://www.mascalzonelatino.it/ |
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