• Source: Tony Castro

      • Tony Castro (full name Antonio Maria de Lancastre de Mello e Castro), Conde das Antas, Conde da Lousa, Visconde de Pernes, born 1952, is a British yacht designer, known for numerous winning designs. Born in Lisbon, Portugal, he has been designing sailing and motor yachts since about 1980, with more than 10,000 boats launched, ranging from custom boats and one-design production models to superyachts. His design firm is based in Hamble-le-Rice, England.


      Career


      As a Chartered Engineer, his first job came about when it was discovered that Denis Doyle's yacht Moonduster was floating above her 'marks', having been built less heavily than had been intended her designer, Germán Frers. Castro advised that lead be attached to the underside of the coachroof and had a hole drilled in the keel to reduce her stability, which gave the vessel an exceptionally good handicap for a boat of her size. Moonduster held the Round Ireland monohull record from Wicklow to Wicklow for nearly 15 years until the record was broken by a Whitbread around the World yacht. Her fastest elapsed time for the race came in 1984, when she took only 88h, 15m and 43s to complete the course.
      After leaving Ron Holland’s design team in 1980, Castro's first significant racing yacht design was Justine III, for Frank Woods of the National Yacht Club in Ireland. She was the first and only yacht to win the One Ton Cup with five straight first place victories. The same owner then built Justine IV, which was crowned best Offshore Admiral's Cupper in 1983.
      Then followed Iztanother Purla, a 43 footer which missed being chosen for the British Admiral's Cup Team, but then went on to win all 7 races in Cowes Week, beating all the Admiral's Cuppers, helmed by the late Sir Peter Blake and his NZ crew from Steinlager. A boat full of innovative ideas, including praddle steering, a method of steering using a vertical arm rising from below the cockpit floor.
      Later successes included the two-time Quarter-Ton Cup winner McDonald's, the Half Ton Cup winner Balthazar, and the 6mR World Championship and Coupe de France winner Thisbe.
      He was appointed by a member of Royal Cork Yacht Club to redesign the J24, with the aim of producing an exciting sports boat. The client expected a bigger mainsail, a new deck moulding and an effective keel to give greater stability. The result was the 1720 sportsboat. A new era in Sportsboat racing had started: the boats were built in County Kerry, and about 100 were built starting with sail number 1720.
      Castro's designers work with many boatyards internationally, including the Royal Huisman, Jongert, Palmer Johnson, Neptunus, CS Yachts, Laser, and Jeanneau, Beneteau, Galeon, Focus, Williams, etc.


      Achievements




      = Major achievements

      =
      His designs have won Yacht of the Year awards, a Superyacht Design award and several World championships. He has also designed yachts for use in television drama productions by the BBC.

      4 International Offshore Racing (IOR) World Championships
      Designer of the only IOR boat ever to win all its races in a World Championship
      International 6m World Champion
      Designer of 4 "Boat of Year" awards in the UK, France and US
      Admirals Cup Winner 1989 with "Juno IV"
      Co-Designer for "BLUE ARROW", a British America's Cup challenger


      = Designs

      =
      Castro's boat designs are:

      Arcadia 30 (Jeanneau)
      Barracuda 45
      Clipper 70
      CORK 1720
      CS 30
      CS 34
      CS 36 Merlin
      CS 40
      CS 44
      Jaguar 24
      Jaguar 265
      Laser SB3
      MG 26 (Castro)
      MG 335
      MG Spring 25
      Parker 31
      Parker 325
      Regatta 39 (Jeanneau)
      Saga 409
      SB3
      Sun Dream 28 (Jeanneau)
      Sun Fast 1/2 Ton (Jeanneau)
      Sun Odyssey 28.1 (Jeanneau)
      Sun Shine 36 (Jeanneau)
      Sun Shine 38 (Jeanneau)
      Sun Way 28 (Jeanneau)
      Sun Way 28 CB (Jeanneau)


      = Other achievements by date

      =


      Memberships


      Member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects ( UK - RINA)
      Member of the Society of Naval Architects ( USA - SNAME)
      Member of FEANI
      Member of the Royal Cork Yacht Club
      Member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club
      Member of the Royal Southern Yacht Club
      Member of the Associacao Naval de Lisboa
      Member of the Clube Naval de Cascais


      References



      Yachts designed by Tony Castro

    Kata Kunci Pencarian: