Ian Bruce

1933 - 2016

Well known Canadian designer, boat builder and championship sailor. An industrial designer by profession, Bruce has spent most of his career in the boating industry.
His is probably best known as one of the developers of the hugely successful LASER class. In 1970, with friend and fellow Canadian Bruce Kirby, who drew the original lines, he created the boat, rig and manufacturing process that has essentially remained unchanged to this day. At one time the LASER was being being built at 9 plants around the world.
As a sailor he twice won the Prince of Wales Trophy in INTERNATIONAL FOURTEENS and twice represented his country in the Olympics in the FINN (Naples) and the STAR (Keel).

During 40 years in the business he has either designed or assisted in the design, developed and built all the following International or Recognized Classes: FINN, FOURTEEN, CONTENDER, LASAR, OPTIMIST, FIREBALL, 470, LASAR II, TASAR, LASAR RADIAL, BYTE and 29er. In the last instance he was part of a team assisting Julian Bethwaite in the development of the 29er, providing the design team with both his product design knowledge and his sailing experience. His own design, the BYTE, is the male and female singlehander to be used in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

In 2009 he was appointed to the Order of Canada, that nations highest Honor. The award is in recognition of his service to sailing, both in Canada and Internationally, and in particular for his involvement in the design and development of high-performance boats for young sailors.
His company PS2000, located in Montreal, builds the OPTIMIST, the CLUB 420, the MEGABYTE, the BYTE and the 29er.

Sailboats Designed By Ian Bruce

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4 Sailboats / Per Page: 50 / Page: 1

MODEL LOA FIRST BUILT FAVORITE COMPARE
BYTE 12.00 ft / 3.66 m 1973
LASER (INTERNATIONAL) 13.88 ft / 4.23 m 1970
LASER 2 14.42 ft / 4.40 m 1978
TASAR 14.83 ft / 4.52 m 1974