Len Randell, a longtime member and patron of the South of Perth Yacht Club, is celebrating his 97th birthday on March 1st, 2023. Len is a man who has lived a full and active life, and at 97 years old, he still enjoys skippering a 36’ yacht in the competitive Wednesday afternoon fleet.
Len Randell’s design work is very popular among boat owners in Western Australia and can be found in waters around the world. His boats have been built as leisure craft, training vessels, commercial ferries, cray boats, and prawn trawlers. Many strong and reliable former crayfishing and ferry boats have been converted and repurposed as leisure craft and Rottnest cruisers.
If you are the proud owner of a Randell-designed power yacht or sailboat, whether it’s a backyard-built boat from plywood or a luxury cruiser built by local boat builders, you have benefited from Len’s design genius.
Len Randell’s interest in boats started at an early age. As a teenager in the 1930s, he visited Perth boatyards on the banks of the Swan River, and seeing these boats being built inspired him to design one himself at the tender age of 15. His early amateur design work was done in spare time away from his job in the Public Works Department of WA.
In 1952, he became an Associate of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects in London, perhaps the first in Western Australia, and a qualified professional Naval Architect. He set up a commercial practice working from his home and gradually received commissions. Although he designed racing and cruising yachts, it was fishing boats that launched his commercial career. Randell had the technical expertise to capitalize on the introduction of high-powered diesel engines, and soon started working with builders to produce efficient and elegant designs.
Randell’s self-taught background enabled him to be very self-sufficient, working through his designs in a logical fashion that always covered the significant issues of weight, trim and stability, propulsion, and scantlings. Randell erred on the side of adequate strength and was careful to ensure each vessel met its target requirements for strength, speed, and stability, even in the earlier days of vessel design when there were no set official requirements to be accounted for. All Randell’s designs had a handsome appearance, and he considered the artistic side of the design process was just as important as the technical side.
Len Randell is an important figure in the history of boating in Western Australia, and his contribution to the design and construction of boats is immense. To celebrate his 97th birthday, the South of Perth Yacht Club invites all sailors to join Len after Wednesday sailing at the Members Bar at 5:30 pm. It’s an excellent opportunity to meet Len, hear his stories, and celebrate his remarkable life.
