Gaining (serious) credibility

The Imoca 60 class's recent homologation of Hugh Welbourn's dynamic stability system (DSS) has brought this potential enfant terrible firmly inside the establishment fold...

Hugh Welbourn has been pressing the edges of yacht design for over 30 years. Since studying naval architecture at Southampton, Welbourn has immersed himself in designing, refining, building and competing on many important racing yachts. But his interest extends well beyond the elite arenas to projects such as the creation of a range of sail-powered/assisted commercial freighters, examples of which now ply the Caribbean island trade wind routes.

Back in the late 1960s it was the ­development class dinghies that were ­Welbourn's special forte. He excelled in the always innovative National 12 class, scoring five straight wins at the class's championship event, Burton Week. His prowess in the 12, OK and Merlin Rocket eventually led to him being recruited to Great Britain's then legendary Flying Dutchman squad.

But Welbourn's fascination with design had soon moved on from high-performance dinghies. By the early 1970s he had become an unofficial competitor in the first Whitbread Round the World Race of 1973/74; sailing two-handed with Bruce Webb on Gazelle, the pair established ­several shorthanded records. On his return, as well as creating IOR designs of his own, Welbourn's good grasp of the IOR system soon led him to optimisation commissions on numerous other designs.

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