Nigel Irens

Nigel Irens RDI is a leading yacht designer. Amongst his designs are the Adventurer, a 35m trimaran motor yacht which completed a record-breaking circumnavigation in 1998, and of the record-breaking trimaran used by Ellen MacArthur to break the world record for solo circumnavigation in 2005.[1]

His design portfolio is wide-ranging, from record-breaking yachts to innovative cruising designs such as Roxane,[2] and other sailing designs of traditional appearance such as the Westernman[3] cutters – designed in association with the late Ed Burnett – or the launch Rangeboat, a 12m power craft also of traditional appearance. Typically, Irens' designs synthesise traditional forms with modern materials and methods of construction, with Carbon fibre masts,[2] laminated frames,[3] and epoxied strip wood[4] strongly in evidence.

For a while, when beginning his career as a yacht designer, Ed Burnett worked for Irens, and that led to a number of successful collaborations. They worked together on such designs as Zinnia, a 30ft gaff cutter, Kilrush Nomad II, a 43ft gaff cutter,[5] and the King Alfred dinghy[6] to be built by King Alfred School in London. By 2012, the school had built three, and use them to introduce students to dinghy cruising.[6]

Irens is perhaps particularly noteworthy for the simplicity, efficiency, and essential elegance of his design.