Peter Ibold
Peter A. Ibold (August 1, 1936 – August 20, 2010) was an American naval architect.
Biography
At the end of the last century, naval architecture saw the traditional look come back in force. Peter Ibold is one of the founders of this trend, with one of the earliest examples being his 1970 design for the Endurance-35, drawn the year he founded his naval architecture office in Paris.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ibold grew up in Connecticut. His study of civil engineering, town planning, and economics took him successively to the University of Maine (BSc), University of California at Berkeley, and Stanford University (MSc). An around-the-world trip in 1964–65 aboard a 12-meter trimaran, a first for that time period, was an adventure and a revelation for Ibold. It led to a contract with National Geographic.
Starting out as a hobby, naval architecture became a passion for Ibold. In 1970, his design for the Endurance 35 won competition. Encouraged by an enthusiastic press, he put together his own design office. The office moved to Monaco in 1977 and then back to the French Riviera in 1990 before he finally settled back in Paris in 1993.
Over the years, Ibold has designed more than fifty vessels, including powerboats, sailboats, yachts and workboats. They have been built in a number of yards, such as Belliure in Spain, Stratimer in France, and Colvic Craft in Great Britain. His collaboration with Belliure has been most fruitful. His greatest successes continue to be the Endurance series, with more than one hundred and fifty 35-footers, forty 40-footers and about thirty 30-footers launched to date by Belliure alone.
For several years, Ibold lived on a Dagless Fleur de Lys, an English motoryacht. He has designed the motoryacht Albacore series (7 to 10 meters) as well as many other motoryachts.
Ibold retained a love for all things concerning the sea, including his involvement with several foundations and maritime associations - a happy legacy of his round-the-world trip.
Ibold died on August 20, 2010 in Paris, France.
- Reproduced with the permission of The Encyclopedia of Yacht Designers, edited by Lucia del Sol Knight & Daniel Bruce MacNaughton, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York/London, 2006 (pp. 242–3). (<<www.eyd.net>>)
University Studies
- BSc - University of Maine (USA) - Civil Engineering.
- MSc - Stanford University (USA) - Economic Planning.
- Course work at the University of California at Berkeley (USA) - Urban and Regional Planning.
Career
- 1960/62: Engineer - State of California for design & planning of freeway bridges.
- 1962/63: Consulting engineer with Packard, Muir & Train, Sacramento CA.
- 1963/64: Graduate work.
- 1964/65: World Sailing Trip.
- 1965/68: Project manager in consultancy offices in Australia, England & Scotland.
- 1966/67: Professor (part-time) of transportation planning at the University of Edinburgh.
- 1968/70: Consultant on transportation economics to the OECD in Paris.
- 1970: Plan of the Endurance-35 sailing yacht won design contest in the U.S.A.
- 1970: Created naval architecture consultancy office in Paris.
- 1975/78: Consultant to the French Merchant Marine Ministry.
- 1978: Moved to Monaco and created Peter Ibold Designs.
- 1990: Moved back to France (Cap-d'Ail) to continue Peter Ibold Designs' activities.
- 1993: Returned the office to Paris to continue under the name of Ibold Yacht Designs.
Projects/Activities
- Designs of more than fifty vessels from 8m to 35m, both sail and power, commercial and recreational, built by some twenty different yards in a dozen different countries.
- Member of the board of directors of the French Institute of Naval Architects - IFAN.
- Chairman of the IFAN's Permanent Technical Committee, to the end of the 1997 term.
- Member of the national Commission for Recreational Boating Safety - CNSNP. - of the French Ministry of Transport
- Member of the Technical Committee of the Institute for the Certification and Standardisation in Recreational Boating - ICNN - an approved Notified Body.
- Professor (part-time) of naval architecture at the Ecole d'Architecture de Nantes.
- Author of various technical papers given at symposia of the RINA in London.
- Author of numerous articles in the specialised press, both technical and anecdotial.
- French representative of the Maxsurf (hull design) CAD program package.
- Editor for Boatswain Press, Ltd. (U.K.) for the Belgian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Mediterranean parts of their SEAFILE nautical almanac, and responsible for the French electronic (CD-ROM) version.
- Manager of the Franco/American Association C.S.S. ALABAMA (underwater archæology).
Professional Associations
- Member - Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers - SNAME (USA).
- Royal Institution of Naval Architects (Chartered Engineer - "CEng") - RINA (UK).
- Founding Member - French Institute of Naval Architects - IFAN.
- Registered Civil Engineer (Professional Engineer - "PE") - State of California (USA).
Non-Professional Associations
- Yacht Club de France.
- Yacht Club de Monaco.
- Association C.S.S. Alabama.
References
Cruising World, February 1989, "Boat Reviews : The Endurance 38", by Herb McCormick