HONORARY DEGREE FOR JASON
HOME NEWSINDUSTRY NEWS HONORARY DEGREE FOR JASON
23 Jul 2018
Share
Jason Kerr has received an honorary degree from Solent University
Yacht designer Jason Ker has been awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Maritime Studies by Solent University.
Founder of Ker Yacht Design, Jason has forged a reputation for racing yachts, later expanding into high performance cruising monohulls and catamarans.
“I’m absolutely honoured to receive this award. Solent gave me a fantastic grounding in engineering that has allowed me to develop my skills and keep learning throughout my career,” said Jason. “It’s amazing how the lessons I learned over 20 years’ ago still form so much of what I know today.”
Commissions
Jason’s diverse early career included building composite yachts near Sydney, conceptual R&D for fast car ferries in Tasmania and multihulls and trimaran superyachts in the UK.
His first design commission in 1997 led to further commissions and the start of Ker Yacht Design.
A pivotal point in his career came with the design commission for the 55ft racing yacht Aera that won seven of the inshore races of the 2003 Admirals Cup and the overall trophy for the 2004 Sydney to Hobart race.
Aged 33 Jason was recruited to set up and lead the design team for Team Shosholoza – the first South African America’s Cup Challenge.
Continuous technological development has proved a hallmark of his career, not only during two further America’s Cups, but also on his designs of racing yachts and successful projects in ship hull form optimisation.