Marine author Ralph Naranjo notes, “Bruce King’s biography is a tale that blends some of EB White with a nautical version of Horatio Alger.”  It is a fitting description for this creative naval architect who produced a wide range of boats – from the popular fiberglass production 35-footers for Ericson Yachts, to a fast centerboard ocean racer, to several neo-classic designs inspired by L. Francis Herreshoff’s Ticonderoga. Keeping with Herreshoff’s creative spirit, King designed a 102-footer named White Hawk.  King also collaborated with National Sailing Hall of Fame brothers Jan and Meade Gougeon to use their epoxy composite technology that led to a lighter weight and stronger hull.

King spent some time studying physics in college but moved on from school and took the Westlawn School of Yacht Design course to become an apprentice for designer and boat builder Hugh Angleman.  Naranjo notes that Angleman referred to himself as “The mudflat philosopher.” His guidance to King was that a sailboat should be “pleasing to the eye.” All of Bruce King’s designs have adhered to that credo. King designed a second boat of 90 LOA (length overall) for White Hawk owner Phil Long, who named the new yacht Whitefin.  A third yacht with a similar pedigree was the 112 LOA Signe, which was built on the owner’s tennis court.  Then came Hetairos at 125 LOA, Antonisa, a 124-footer and Alejandra at 134 LOA. All five yachts were traditional designs above the water line with modern keels. While most of King’s designs were built out of cold-molded wood, Alejandra was built out of aluminum; the Ericson line of yachts he produced were built out of fiberglass.

During his 34-year association with both Ericson and Islander Yachts, Bruce King produced 40 different designs.  Ericson developed 24 of King’s designs for production boats, building a total of 7,000 boats ranging from 23’ to 55’ in length.  King also worked with power boats, most notably the 36-foot “picnic boat” based on traditional Lobster boat designs for the Hinckley Company in Maine.  National Sailing Hall of Fame inductee John Marshall was the President of Hinckley at the time.  Although Marshall was originally lukewarm on the idea of building powerboats, he commissioned Bruce King and the picnic boat soon became a big seller.

King designed several race boats to the International Offshore Rule that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s.  King’s unique designs featured a bilge board that had success that can be seen in yachts Aggressive II, Hawkeye and Terrorist.  During this era, King designed and built a 41-foot LOA race boat for himself named Unicorn.  This is the boat that got the attention of Phil Long, who commissioned Whitehawk.  In 1981, King relocated to Maine and has remained there since.  One of his more recent commissions was Scheherazade, a 154-foot LOA ketch built in Maine.

~ Gary Jobson