EPILOGUE

Looking back on the 15 years since setting up my studio in Currabinny there have been some unforgettable milestones. After winning the 1973 World Quarter-Ton Championship in my own Eygthene, Irishman Hugh Coveney's faith in my ability brought me to Cork. His successful One Tonner Golden Apple laid the foundation for my future success and established the initial style of my designs. San Francisco businessman David Allen's unconventional approach helped me to become an IOR designer with a race winning formula based on a fast hull shape and internal tubular space-frame structures. Imp won the SORC and the Fastnet Race and was twice top points-scorer for the USA in the Admiral's Cup, all in a heady four year period. When former Prime Minister Edward Heath came to us for his latest Morning Cloud many others followed. In 1979 we had 35 Admiral's Cup contenders launched throughout the world. Then Los Angeles property developer Jim Kilroy was confident that my race winning formula in the Admiral's Cup would also succeed in the exclusive world of Maxi yachts. Kialoa IV was all but unbeatable for three years running as world champion. From there it was only a small step to design even bigger sailing yachts, whose owners wanted speed, comfort and style in equal measure.

In the last 5 or 6 years we have seen such a dramatic revolution in the design and construction of large sailing yachts that it is hard to imagine much improvement in the areas of comfort, safety or efficiency. However, the influence that microprocessors have had on our lives is now beginning to enter the sometimes conservative world of yachts and their benefits will soon be felt. This technology when applied to the control systems of yachts will not only eliminate the miles of wiring and hydraulic tubing which run throughout today's vessels. It will also