Des Townson, MNZM was a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 yacht

Yacht

A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

 designer

Designer

A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...

. He was responsible for designing some of the best-known classes in New Zealand sailing, including the Starling

Starling (dinghy)

The Starling is a sailing dinghy designed by Des Townson.- Origins of the Starling :The Starling class yacht was conceived, and the design commissioned, by John Peet in the late 1960s. At the time, there were no single-handed boats available in New Zealand, for bridging the gap between the P-class...

, Zephyr and Dart

Dart (dinghy)

-See also:* Article on Dart class * List of Townson Designs - from the Zephyr Owners Association website. * Grahame Anderson FAST LIGHT BOATS, a Century of Kiwi Innovation....

 classes.

In 1950 Townson won the Tanner Cup

Tanner Cup

The Tanner Cup is a New Zealand sailing competition sailed annually. It is sailed in P Class yachts. It is an Inter-Provincial Competition with one sailor from each region competing. It was first sailed in 1945. Many of New Zealands top sailors have competed in and won the Tanner Cup. Previous...

, the nation's premier teenage yachting championship. In 2008 his contribution to yachting earned him membership in the New Zealand Order of Merit

New Zealand Order of Merit

The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...

 in the Queen's Birthday Honours

Queen's Birthday Honours

The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...

 list.

Townson died on 15 October 2008 after a long battle with cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 at his home in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

.