Des Townson

Who was Des Townson?

Desmond Thomas "Des" Townson MNZM was a New Zealand yacht designer. He was responsible for designing some of the best-known classes in New Zealand sailing, including the Starling, Zephyr and Dart classes. He also designed many classes of light and medium displacement keel boats, including the renown "Moonlight" which trialed for the New Zealand entry for the One Ton Cup in 1971 which was followed by a series of successful designs for his own enjoyment and that of many devotees, where he refined the Moonlight design principles, including the elegant Townson 32's Starlight and Twilight, the Townson 33 Restless; culminating in the Townson 34's Dreamtime and Talent, his most successful keelboat designs. Des is credited with having at least 3,500 of his designs produced by 2008.

In 1950 Townson won the Tanner Cup, the nation's premier teenage yachting championship. In 2008 his contribution to yachting earned him membership in the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. In his later years Townson focused on producing top one design radio controlled Electron racing yachts.

Townson died on 15 October 2008 after a long battle with cancer at his home in Auckland.