(1950–)

All-rounder Murray Ross has won numerous sailing titles, owned a sailmaking business and designed winning yachts.

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Flying start

Whangarei-born Murray Ross competed in his first national yachting championship at 17, racing in the Flying Dutchman Class. He won in the Javelin Class a year later.

His sailing career would ultimately encompass 40 national titles.

Sailmaker

Ross established a sailmaking company in 1970, after working at Hood Sails in Auckland. His business partner was Brian Jones. Their sails would soon dominate the Flying Dutchman and Javelin classes.

Ross’s ‘smarts on boat speed’ made him an ideal partner for tactical sailor Jock Bilger. In the 1970s, they came second in the Flying Dutchman World Championships three times. They also competed twice at the Olympic Games.

Magic Bus

By the mid 1970s, Ross was becoming interested in yacht design. He approached designer–builder Paul Whiting with his ideas for a quarter-ton boat. Together, they created Magic Bus, which they sailed to victory in the 1976 World Quarter Ton Cup.

Ross produced his first independent design three years later – the Ross 780.

Design career

In the 1980s, Ross moved out of sailmaking to further his design career. He was self-taught, creating his designs by drawing them directly on paper. But he quickly established a reputation for his fast racers and cruisers, including the Ross 40 and Ross 930.

Ross crewed in the Whitbread Round the World Race four times in the 1980s and 1990s, mostly as ‘weather man’ after studying meteorology. He has since held the same role for American and Italian challengers for the America’s Cup.