David Chivers Publishes First Book

IMCA International Measurer and Technical Advisor David Chivers is a man of many talents. Not only is he our resident expert on all things technical and a highly respected professional musician but he's also just become a published author with a biography of British dinghy design legend Austin Farrar.

For those of you who love yachting history and yachting trivia Austin Farrar will be a familiar name. For others his name may not be familiar but many of his sailing dinghy design innovations will be.

Austin Farrar saw an opportunity for innovation in almost everything. Although not a well known public figure, he was respected by those who met him and worked with him and his story is an important part of our sailing heritage. He pioneered work in dinghy design and cold moulding, and subsequently, as one of the leading sailmakers of his day, of cloth manufacture and sail shape. His work on the design of spinnakers and wing rigs is still current and many of today's sailmakers learnt their trade under Austin.

Coming from a family where invention was encouraged, Austin was fortunate to be yacht and dinghy racing in the hey day of the 1930s. He worked on the design of cutting edge offshore races and developed torpedo nets to guard ships during the war. After the war he was the most successful of the designers of the International 14 class and raced with many of the top sailors of the day including an Olypmic campaign for the 1948 Games. His company Seahorse Sails became synonymous with excellence and design development.

David knew Austin personally and this book tells the story of a fascinating man and his incredible life:

- The family heritage and his childhood
- His first jobs as a designer
- Innovations in sail design and sail making
- The Olympics and Little America's Cup
- International 14 dinghies to Austin Farrar designs

You can purchase a copy of David's book Austin 'Clarence' Farrar - An Eye For Innovation at www.bosunpress.com. The book is 246mm x 185mm, contains 236 pages and over 100 illustrations. It is printed in black and white and costs £14.99 plus postage. The ISBN number is 0-9554243-4-8. The book is also available through Amazon and specialist marine publication retailers. Signed copies of the book can be purchased direct from David via daveis@dial.pipex.com