Mark Ellis (yacht designer)

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Mark Ellis (born 4 February 1945) is an American-Canadian naval architect, who has designed sixteen production sailboats, along with many custom sailboats and powerboats. He is best known for his Nonsuch series of catboats, the Limestone series of powerboats and Niagara sailboats. In 2003, Dan Spurr described Ellis as "one of Canada's premier yacht designers". [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Ellis was born in Watertown, New York, United States. He currently lives in Oakville, Ontario, Canada and holds dual American citizenship and Canadian citizenship. [2]

Early life and education

Ellis grew up in upstate New York, where his father owned a department store. As a boy Ellis worked in the store and gained his first experience with business. He applied for a degree program in naval architecture at the University of Michigan but decided not to pursue it when he discovered that it mostly focused on large ship design, instead of small boats, which was where his interests lay. He went on to complete a degree in business administration at Boston University instead. [3]

His family were sailors and Ellis learned to sail on an Atkin yawl, on Lake Ontario. His family went on to buy an island in the Thousand Islands and Ellis sailed there. He raced Dragon keelboats and became an instructor at the Clayton Yacht Club in Clayton, New York and the Crescent Yacht Club in Chaumont, New York. [2]

Design career

Ellis started his career in 1965, at age 20 while attending university. His first job in the boat building industry was scraping the barnacles from boat bottoms. He liked to draw boat designs and described himself as a "doodler-draughtsman". He apprenticed at C. Raymond Hunt & Associates and, after graduating in 1968, under Phillip Rhodes. He quickly became a project manager for three custom boats being built in West Germany, using his business training to act as the liaison between the customer and the yard building the boats. With the birth of his first child Ellis and his wife decided to move away from New York City and so Ellis went on to work for Ted Hood at Little Harbour Boat Yard in Marblehead, Massachusetts, where he designed sailboat rigs as well as accommodation and deck plans. In 1970 Ellis and his family then moved to Canada where he worked in the design office at C&C Yachts under George Cuthbertson and George Cassian. At C&C he became a specialist in rig design, with his first assignment the C&C 61 Sorcery and second the C&C 43-1. Given his business background, Ellis gravitated to that end of the operation, noting that C&C did not have "a strong business orientation … boats would leave without being paid for, that sort of thing." Ellis ended up doing sales for C&C's custom division, the Bruckmann yard. [1] [2] [3]

In 1975 C&C decided to expand, with new plants in West Germany and Rhode Island, despite an industry downturn underway. Ellis noted that he thought that business decision was more "eager than sense". Ellis decided to leave C&C and form his own design firm, Mark Ellis Design LLC, located in Oakville and later with offices in Essex, Connecticut. [1] [2] [3]

Ellis' first design commission was the Aurora 40, but his second boat was the Nonsuch 30, a cruising catboat for customer Gordon Fisher. It became the first of what would become a large line of successful Nonsuch sailboats. [1] [2] [3]

Ellis' background in business give him the knowledge and experience in writing contracts to retain control of his designs. Whereas many designers would design for a one-time payment for the rights, Ellis retained the rights to each of his designs and was paid for each individual boat completed. His contracts also gave him control of the tooling for the design, if the original manufacturer ended production or went out of business, allowing his designs to be more easily moved to a new manufacturer. [2]

Ellis also designed powerboats. His first design was the Limestone 24 for customer Fred Eaton, which was constructed by Hinterhoeller Yachts in St. Catharines, Ontario. His second powerboat was the Limestone 20 for Medeiros Boat Works, of Oakville, Ontario. [2]

Ellis designed the Legacy 40, a lobster boat-inspired powerboat design. The tooling was built by Bruckmann in Ontario and then sold to Freedom Yachts in the US for production. The boat was introduced at the 1994 Newport Boat Show. [2]

He also designed motorsailers, boats that combined sailboat rigging with hull designs optimized for motoring as well. His first design was the Northeast 37, which was built by Costa Rican boatbuilder Cabo Rico. [2]

In 2003, Ellis described the 47-foot sloop, Volunteer, as his favourite design. The boat is a custom design for customer Fred Eaton. Built in 1996, it incorporates many style elements from the past, including a raked stem, a raised counter transom, with a long overhang, a low freeboard and a powerful rig. [2]

In describing his own sailboat design philosophy, Ellis said in 2003, "there are really two sides to it. One is aesthetics, which is very important to me. There's a classic line that lasts; 20 years later it still appeals. I don't like trendy, boxy boats, though I can see the reason behind them, like stretching waterlines, but I've never liked bad aesthetics for no good reason. From a performance standpoint, I've done enough racing to like a boat with a nice motion. Balance is key. I could never go along with boats that are odd-shaped and have a cranky motion." [2]

Of his design philosophy, reviewer Paul Howard wrote in Canadian Yachting, "Ellis avoid[s] trends, designing boats for longevity in the way they please the eye and their durability in use." [3]

In 2003, when Ellis was 58 years old, he was living in Oakville and actively sailing and powerboating, still maintaining the family vacation home in the Thousand Islands. [2]

Designs

Production sailboat designs by Ellis include: [1]

Production powerboat designs by Ellis include: [2]

Production motorsailer designs by Ellis include: [2]

Related Research Articles

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The Nonsuch line of catboats is a series of popular cruising sailboats built between 1978 and the mid-1990s by Hinterhoeller Yachts in St. Catharines, Ontario. They are popular in North America, with over 950 boats built. The Nonsuch class was named after the Nonsuch that was the first trading vessel of Hudson's Bay Company, which in turn was named after the Baroness Nonsuch, a mistress of King Charles II of England.

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Naiad 18 Sailboat class

The Naiad 18 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Mark Ellis, first built from 1984 to 1986, and named for the mythological water sprites.

Douglas 32 Sailboat class

The Douglas 31 and Douglas 32 are a series of Canadian sailboats, that were designed by Ted Brewer and first built in 1967. The last boats of this design were built in 1982 and delivered as kits.

Nonsuch 22 Sailboat class

The Nonsuch 22 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat, the smallest of the series of Nonsuch sailboats. It was designed by Mark Ellis Design and first built in 1984.

Nonsuch 30 Sailboat class

The Nonsuch 30 is a Canadian sailboat that was designed by Mark Ellis and first built in 1978. It was the first the series of Nonsuch sailboats and was scaled upwards and down, to form a complete line of boats, from the Nonsuch 22 to the Nonsuch 40.

The Nonsuch 324 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Mark Ellis Design and first built in 1994. It was the last of the series of Nonsuch sailboats built.

The Nonsuch 33 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Mark Ellis Design and first built in 1988.

The Nonsuch 40 is a Taiwanese sailboat, that was designed by Mark Ellis Design and first built in 1988.

The C&C 51 Custom is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Robert W. Ball and first built in 1986.

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George Cassian was a yacht designer and founding partner of Cuthbertson & Cassian yacht designers, one of four companies that in 1969 formed C&C Yachts, a Canadian yacht builder that dominated North American sailing in the 1970s and early 1980s. His was the second “C” in C&C, with his design associate George Cuthbertson, being the first. Cassian would continue as a designer with that company until his untimely death in 1980 at the age of 47.

Erich Bruckmann was a boat builder and founder of Bruckmann Manufacturing, one of four companies that in 1969 formed C&C Yachts, a Canadian yacht builder that dominated North American sailing in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The Niagara 35 is a Canadian sailboat that was designed by Mark Ellis as a cruiser and first built in 1978.

Hinterhoeller Yachts was a Canadian boat builder based in St. Catharines, Ontario. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 McArthur, Bruce (15 January 2020). "Mark Ellis". Sailboat Data. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Spurr, Dan (May 2003). "The Nonsuch 30 man" (PDF). Good Old Boat magazine. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Howard, Paul (May 1994). "Niagara 35". Canadian Yachting . Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
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