07/06/2026
Many of our followers know that Whitacre Yacht Design has collaborated with Bruce Roberts Yacht design since the late 80s. Unfortunately we need relay that Bruce passed away over the weekend. He will be missed greatly by his family along with Tammy & Myself.
He started his design business out of necessity back in the late 60s when he & his wife Gwen ran a marina in Australia. Folks were building their own boats at the marina and they needed design help. Bruce, never being shy, stepped up and began producing plans for folks to build their own boats.
Some 70 years later he was still at it, and some of those initial plans are still being built by folks who newly discover the Bruce Roberts portfolio.
I came to know Bruce back in the late 80s when I was a partner at Kaufman Design, with Mike Kaufman and Ken Court. Being the young one, I was computer adept (now I feel old) and Bruce needed some help with a program we all used. Our relationship blossomed from there, eventually after working directly for him, we became partners and I represented his designs in the US along with doing naval architecture and engineering for the many plans and kits we did.
Tammy & I were lucky to see him in March on a trip to Europe.
Bruce Robert's portfolio provided many amateur and quite a few professional builders with plans from which to build the boat of their dreams. The plans allowed for tailoring to the builder's whims and desires. Truly designs for the common person. Bruce could sell ice to an eskimo, and it was a trait I admired in him. I will personally miss him. He & I arranged that WYD would continue to support the portfolio of Bruce Roberts plans & kits, so his legacy will live on.
