Bjarne Aas (28 February 1886 – 29 March 1969) was a Norwegian engineer, sailor, yacht designer and ship builder.

Biography

Aas was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

(now Oslo), Norway. He was a son of Henrik Ernst Aas and Anette Sofie Sørensen. He studied ship construction at the

Karljohansvern Karjohansvern (''Karljohansvern Orlogsstasjon, KJV'') at Horten was the main base for the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1850 to 1963. Background In 1818, it was decided to establish a naval base in Horten. It was first called ''Hortens verft'', ...

technical college (''Karljohansverns tekniske skole'') in

Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...

. After graduation, he worked as a boat designer in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

, later in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

and

Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...

. In 1916, he founded Norsk Gearfabrikk AS on Isegran in Fredrikstad. He was decorated Knight, First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1957.

Designs

In total, he designed approx. 615 boats. His breakthrough as yacht designer came in 1924, when his 6mR yacht ''Elisabeth V'' won a gold medal at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

. In 1932, Aas designed ''

Biskop Hvoslef The ''Biskop Hvoslef'' is a veteran Norwegian sailing vessel. The vessel was named after Bishop Waldemar Hvoslef (1825-1906). Bjarne Aas designed the vessel which was his first rescue boat. The ship was built for the rescue company of Br. Fal ...

'' which was his first rescue boat. He went on to design a total of 14 rescue boats. He was also known for the design of a number of other 6mR yachts. Among his best known designs is the International One Design.

References

1886 births 1969 deaths Engineers from Oslo 20th-century Norwegian engineers Norwegian sailors Norwegian yacht designers {{norway-engineer-stub