Paper Tiger (1967) was the catamaran design that brought Ron Given international attention.

Photographer unknown, Sea Spray Collection, New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa / Portrait: Sea Spray Collection, New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa

Gulf Tiger takes its first sail in Auckland, 1977 – the year Ron Given started designing full-time. She was the prototype for one of Given’s successful Tiger catamaran series.

Photographer unknown, Sea Spray Collection, New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa

Split Enz, a 12-metre racing catamaran designed by Ron Given in 1984. She broke the record for the Auckland–Russell Coastal Classic in 1996.

Photographer unknown, New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa

RON GIVEN

(1937–)

Multihull specialist Ron Given is celebrated for his fast but safe catamarans for racing and cruising.

Catamaran – ‘boat of the future’

Ron Given had a background in engineering and motorbike racing. Then boats captured his imagination, particularly the catamarans and trimarans of the 1950s.

‘There was obviously much room for improvement … and this inspired me to allocate all my spare time and money into research and development of the catamaran ... the boat of the future.’

Do-it-yourself designer

Given built his first multihull in 1961, aged 24 – a trimaran design by American Art Piver. He designed and built his first multihull in 1963. He learned much from the books of yacht designers like L. Francis Herreshoff.

Given spent the next 20 years competing nationally and internationally in boats he designed and built. Racing was crucial, he said, ‘to prove one’s design and development theories’.

RON GIVEN

Tiger years – ‘Multihull wizard’

The Paper Tiger Class designed in 1967 earned Given a reputation as a multihull wizard. After this 14-foot (4.27m) catamaran raced successfully in Auckland, its popularity soared. It became an international one-design class with over 6000 plans sold – and is still going.

Over the next decade or so, Given designed and raced more successful ‘Tigers’ in various sizes, ending with his land yacht, the Sand Tiger. His 36-foot (11m) Tigress won the 1983 Coastal Classic Yacht Race.

RON GIVEN

Offshore pursuits

Given started designing full-time in 1977, focusing on coastal then offshore catamarans. During the late 1980s and 1990s he was also designing powercats.

Offshore multihulls had to be safe as well as fast – the added challenge involved more research and development. Given usually personally delivered his catamarans to clients overseas. He once said, ‘I see all voyages as research and development.’