Born and raised in New Zealand, Ron Holland has spent half of his life in Ireland building his career as a superyacht superstar yacht designer.
He know runs two design studios one in Kinsale and the other in Vancouver.
At the moment he is back in his old home town of Auckland were together with Yacht Research Design director Professor Richard Flay of Auckland University he has created a course that can lead to a Masters degree in Superyacht Design.
After two years in the making the first course leading towards a Master of Engineering Studies in Yacht Engineering qualification has started.
Students from around the world will pay more than £15,000 each while New Zealand students pay about £4,000.
The 65-year-old designer grew up in Auckland where he served an apprenticeship in boat building.
As a designer, his clients have included Prince Rainier of Monaco and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. He was the brains behind the 61 metre Mirabella V the world’s largest single-masted sailing yacht which he designed for Joe Vittoria formerly the CEO of the Avis car rental company. The 50 metre steel cruising ketch Thalia, owned by Russian businessman Mikhail Khimich is another of his achievements.
Talking in New Zealand he said, “There are probably only half a dozen universities in the world that have some kind of yacht design programme. This one is perhaps the best in that it combines such a diverse range of subjects.”
The full time, two-year course covers:
- Aerodynamics
- Computational fluid dynamics
- Hydrodynamics
- Manufacturing
- Materials
- Small craft naval architecture
- Yacht Structures