Review: Kim Holman - A Talented Yacht Designer
http://www.stellasail.org.uk/Kim_Holman.html
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Kim designed many beautiful yachts but for us he created in 1959 a very special boat, the Stella. A racer/cruiser which he designed specially for sailors on the East coast waters to fit their budgets and give them performance, excitement and satisfaction, whether from a race well won or a cruise enjoyably accomplished. Kim Holman - A Talented Yacht Designer Taken from Practical Boat OwnerYachting World - Burnham Week 1961 The Daily Telegraph Obituary'The climax of the week for the larger yachts is the Town Cup on the second Saturday when the A and BI Classes combine for what is always a long course with no time limit.
Capella of Burnham (W. H. Hawkins) won the Town Cup by five minutes from Fidelis (F. J. Welch) with Whirlwind (R. S. Wilkins) third, only 8 seconds behind. Capella of Burnham was launched earlier this year by R. J. Prior and is built to Buchanan's "Vashti" design.
Fidelis, designed by and built for her present owner in 1931, also did outstandingly well; she was in the first four on every day and was sailed with a calm efficiency which was a joy to watch.
Whirlwind, the third prize winner in the Town Cup, had had a wonderfully successful week with five firsts, a second and a third in A Class. She is a nearly new yacht built by Tucker Brown to Holman's design and is a near sister to Clair de Lune although with a masthead rig and slightly longer ends. She was sailed for most of the week by A. E. Bird. Her closest rival in A Class was Firecrest (L. T. Daniels), a powerful, beamy masthead sloop designed by Buchanan, which had a prize every day but one.
A Class were the first away each day but their starts were comparatively leisurely affairs when compared with those of BI Class which followed them. Whirlwind, in A Class, was twice the first over by a long margin although she, herself, was 30 seconds late. In contrast the BI fleet usually started more like dinghies with one or two over and a bunch on the line within two or three seconds. The sister ships, Jabula (W. H. Gough-Cooper and J. Boardman) and Vashti (J. M. Laing) did well and the slightly smaller Aelfwyn (W. J. C. Stanley, sailed by Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan) was also well up in the fleet, but none of these could get near to Capella of Burnham and Fidelis.
After the two large classes had started the new Stella O.D. fleet came to the line. Last year a new Holman designed sloop Stella was launched by Tucker Brown's two days before the week and took seven firsts in a row. One year later, twenty-four yachts have been built and another twenty-four are on order, which must be about the quickest growth of a keel-boat class in history. Fourteen starters came to the line in this new class, which is strictly controlled, and the places were well spread. Starlight of Mersea (R. Hill) did best with three firsts and three seconds but she did not have things all her own way by any means and several of the local boats were hard on her heels. Whirlwind II (R. S. Wilkins) which was sailed by several different people during the week, did well, and Starshell, owned by the designer of the class, C. R. Holman, had a first, a second, a third and two fourths. 'Kim Holman, who has died aged 81, was a world-renowned yacht designer with a prodigious output; after designing his first 20-footer in 1955, he produced plans for countless boats, some of which are still being made to his specifications today. Holman's philosophy was straightforward: he did not believe in extremes. Grace, and a rising fore and aft sheer, were his hallmarks.
Christopher Rushbroke Holman (always known as Kim) was born on January 18 1925 at Carbis Bay, Cornwall, and educated at Sherborne. His father was an athlete as well as a businessman. During the war Holman joined the Royal Navy, and sailed 32-ft cutters full of raw young trainees in the choppy waters of Harwich harbour while stationed at HMS Ganges. This was followed by a spell in the Mediterranean, where he obtained his watch-keeping certificate; he returned to Britain and, working on the Humber, became the youngest officer to run a minesweeper.
After demobilisation Holman went to Bristol University, where he "didn't get a degree but did learn to drink and have fun". In 1950 he joined the yacht designer Jack Francis-Jones at Waldringfield, Suffolk, to learn his new profession. He quickly became a life-long friend of the yachtsman and skipper Michael Spear and a regular crew in his highly successful Brambling, winning most of the east coast Blue Riband races. He also raced a Merlin Rocket named Pink Gin.
In 1955 Holman designed himself a 20-ft sloop, Phialle, specifically to win the Pattinson Cup at the 1956 Burnham Week Regatta, which she did by a large margin. Later in the season she went on to win the Harwich to Ostend race.
In 1957, having moved to Firs Chase, West Mersea, he bought a share in Gowens, the West Mersea sailmaker, and set about designing one of his most famous boats, the 35-ft yawl Rummer, of which several clones were built.
In 1964 Don Pye joined forces with Holman, becoming a full partner in 1968. Holman went on to develop, among many others, the 26-ft Nymphet (more commonly referred to as the Holman 26), and the hugely successful Twister - which Pye successfully adapted for GRP construction - the Elizabethan 29 and 35, the Victorian, Bowman 36, Centurion and Hustler 25.5, 30 and 35.
Holman's interests away from the drawing board were wide; he was a founder-director of Suffolk Yacht Harbour, one of the largest and best-equipped all-tide marinas on the east coast.
After several years in London, he moved back to his beloved east coast, settling at Powers End, Witham, Essex, with his companion Jim Mignotte.
He was a member of West Mersea Yacht Club, Haven Ports Yacht club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC).
Holman always said when buying a new boat:
"Never compromise or economise on the hull and deck."
Kim Holman, who died on April 8, was a kindly man who loved chamber music, was an astute collector of antiques and had a sharp eye for real value when it came to paintings.'
The first Stella achieved outstanding success in its first Burnham Week and Stellas (all of the same vintage) still race and win notable trophies in current racing.
A few years ago, Kim joined the Stella fleet at Burnham on Crouch for the Stella Class 40th birthday celebrations.
‘I’m sure’ he said ‘they are in better shape now than when they were built!’.
Most of these fabulous boats are still in active service - racing and cruising - a tribute to their superb design and the craft of their builders.
The Stella Class Association exists and thrives (now approaching its 50th birthday) thanks to Kim’s wonderful concept. Kim died on 8 April 2006.
Trevor Dodwell, co-owner of Persephone
'The climax of the week for the larger yachts is the Town Cup on the second Saturday when the A and BI Classes combine for what is always a long course with no time limit.
Capella of Burnham (W. H. Hawkins) won the Town Cup by five minutes from Fidelis (F. J. Welch) with Whirlwind (R. S. Wilkins) third, only 8 seconds behind. Capella of Burnham was launched earlier this year by R. J. Prior and is built to Buchanan's "Vashti" design.
Fidelis, designed by and built for her present owner in 1931, also did outstandingly well; she was in the first four on every day and was sailed with a calm efficiency which was a joy to watch.
Whirlwind, the third prize winner in the Town Cup, had had a wonderfully successful week with five firsts, a second and a third in A Class. She is a nearly new yacht built by Tucker Brown to Holman's design and is a near sister to Clair de Lune although with a masthead rig and slightly longer ends. She was sailed for most of the week by A. E. Bird. Her closest rival in A Class was Firecrest (L. T. Daniels), a powerful, beamy masthead sloop designed by Buchanan, which had a prize every day but one.
A Class were the first away each day but their starts were comparatively leisurely affairs when compared with those of BI Class which followed them. Whirlwind, in A Class, was twice the first over by a long margin although she, herself, was 30 seconds late. In contrast the BI fleet usually started more like dinghies with one or two over and a bunch on the line within two or three seconds. The sister ships, Jabula (W. H. Gough-Cooper and J. Boardman) and Vashti (J. M. Laing) did well and the slightly smaller Aelfwyn (W. J. C. Stanley, sailed by Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan) was also well up in the fleet, but none of these could get near to Capella of Burnham and Fidelis.
After the two large classes had started the new Stella O.D. fleet came to the line. Last year a new Holman designed sloop Stella was launched by Tucker Brown's two days before the week and took seven firsts in a row. One year later, twenty-four yachts have been built and another twenty-four are on order, which must be about the quickest growth of a keel-boat class in history. Fourteen starters came to the line in this new class, which is strictly controlled, and the places were well spread. Starlight of Mersea (R. Hill) did best with three firsts and three seconds but she did not have things all her own way by any means and several of the local boats were hard on her heels. Whirlwind II (R. S. Wilkins) which was sailed by several different people during the week, did well, and Starshell, owned by the designer of the class, C. R. Holman, had a first, a second, a third and two fourths.