No nerves struck. However I am opinionated. I also have known some very good yacht designers who were not NA and whose works were pirated. There is a lot of piracy of designs in Asia.
Tom Fexas has been very vocal in this issue. Ted Brewer ( Westlawn design and Luders associate) also had openly commented on the pirating of his designs.
My friend sold one set of plans for a 38 footer to a famous European yachtsman. This yachtsman (who was also a friend of mine who was lost at sea while singlehanding) wrote extensively in the European press (and a few articles in the U S press). Some of these articles extoled the virtues of the boat's design. Subsiquently over 600 boats that we can document were built from that set of plans (anywhere from 38 to 48 feet) and not a dime of royalties was given to the designer. Even at $300 a set of plans this would have been a sizable sum for the designer.
Bob Austin
No nerves struck. However I am opinionated. I also have known some very good yacht designers who were not NA and whose works were pirated. There is a lot of piracy of designs in Asia.
Tom Fexas has been very vocal in this issue. Ted Brewer ( Westlawn design and Luders associate) also had openly commented on the pirating of his designs.
My friend sold one set of plans for a 38 footer to a famous European yachtsman. This yachtsman (who was also a friend of mine who was lost at sea while singlehanding) wrote extensively in the European press (and a few articles in the U S press). Some of these articles extoled the virtues of the boat's design. Subsiquently over 600 boats that we can document were built from that set of plans (anywhere from 38 to 48 feet) and not a dime of royalties was given to the designer. Even at $300 a set of plans this would have been a sizable sum for the designer.
Bob Austin
