DESIGNER OF FAMOUS SHAMROCKS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 262, 4 November 1944, Page 5 (Supplement)

DESIGNER OF FAMOUS SHAMROCKS

William Fife, of Fairlie, Ayrshire, who designed many ra " n S famous including several of the famous Shamrocks for the lateSirThomas Lipton, died in August at the age oi 88 Mr. Fife was one of the most famous yacht designers the British SSI " p1 "35433E P turned out. That was in 1899. She was defeated by the defender Columbia. Four years laterhe dr the plans for Lipton s Shamrock IH-> which was beaten by l h e in the last Cup event held off Sandy H< He turned out his yachts at Fairlee, Scotland, on the Clyde, and there also designed many of the six-metre and larger boats for international ia ßefi'des his racing craft, Mr. Fife drew the plans for many off-shore cruisers. They included some of the most famous Clyde cutters. Throughout his yachts were noted foi then heavy weather and. seagoing qualities During the First World War he did naval work for toe B ritish Admiralty. He was at one time superintendent of Inglass and Co., a leading British shipbuilding firm, and was a pioneer in the designing of steel-constructed vessels. In 1925 he was called upon to submit designs for the alteration _ of King George V.'s yacht Britannia.