(1958–)

Prolific yacht designer Greg Elliott is internationally renowned for his super-fast, lightweight yachts, including the super maxi yachts Mari Cha IV and Maximus.

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Training

Aucklander Greg Elliott completed a boatbuilding apprenticeship with Charles Bailey & Son in 1977. As part of his training, he studied the basics of yacht design under Alan Wright at Auckland Technical Institute. He then built several yachts to his own design.

In 1984 he launched his 45-foot (13.72m) yacht Party Pro. This boat won 12 races in the first 13 starts, but was wrecked in the 1987 Auckland–Suva race. The boat’s features would become Elliott hallmarks, especially the generous beam, low-drag hull shape and light displacement. Radical at the time, the features soon became mainstream.

Big boats, big success

Elliott went on to create a number of trailer yachts that became established one-design classes. Many of his racing yachts have won honours and broken records throughout the world.

Primo, a 52-foot (15.85m) rotating wing-masted schooner, held the records in the Auckland to Russell Coastal Classic for nine years. Outsider, an Elliott 52 Super Sport, was winner of the inaugural Trans-Atlantic Newport to Hamburg Race in 2007. Maximus (2005), a 100-foot (30.48m) canting keel yacht, was winner of the Rolex Trans-Atlantic Race, 2005, and holder of many records.

Elliott was also co-designer of the 42.6 metre MARI CHA IV, the fastest monohull in the world in 2003.

To date, more than 1,000 boats have been built to Elliott designs around the world.

Olympic class

Elliott designed the trailerable Elliott 5.9 in 1978. In 1980, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) selected this design for the fleet of yachts for their new youth-training scheme. ‘If (trainees) can handle a 5.9,’ the coach said, ‘they can handle anything.’

In 2001, RNZYS replaced this fleet with a 6-metre boat purpose-designed by Elliott. In 2008, the Elliott 6 was selected as the women’s match-racing keelboat for the 2012 Olympics.