George Cassian

George Cassian was a yacht designer and founding partner of Cuthbertson & Cassian yacht designers, one of four companies that in 1969 formed C&C Yachts, a Canadian yacht builder that dominated North American sailing in the 1970s and early 1980s. His was the second “C” in C&C, with his design associate George Cuthbertson, being the first. Cassian would continue as a designer with that company until his untimely death in 1980 at the age of 47.

Early life George Cassian grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, near the western Toronto lakeshore. As a teenager he began to sail in an old dinghy at the Toronto Sailing And Canoe Club. As he gained experience he began to sail competitively. Over time he sailed and competed in most of the hotter one-design classes — Lightnings, Dragons, 5.5s — and over time he came to be regarded as a highly competitive sailor.

Education George Cassian studied technical draughting at Central Technical School in Toronto, Ontario.

Career On graduation Cassian decided the future looked bright in aircraft design, so he went to work in the design office of A.V. Roe. With the cancellation of the Avro Arrow contract, Cassian was one of the 17,000 Avro employees laid off on 20 February 1959.

Cuthbertson & Cassian Ltd. The Monday after the Avro shutdown Cassian walked into George Cuthbertson's design office in Port Credit, Ontario, introduced himself as George Cassian, and told Cuthbertson that they had met at a party one or two years prior. A keen sailor, member of Toronto Sailing and Canoe Club, Cassian asked if his skills might be of some use in Cuthbertson office.

Cassian had another nickname, Little George (Cuthbertson was Big George). That was because he was only six feet tall, and weighed only 170 pounds, compared to Cuthbertson's six-foot-four 220 pound frame.

The boat, named Red Jacket, was built by Bruckmann Manufacturing, in Oakville, Ontario, in fiberglass with a balsa core; the resulting structure was (and is) strong, stiff and significantly lighter than the wood or solid fiberglass yachts then sailing. Red Jacket is considered to be the first sailboat engineered with a cored hull (other earlier boats had balsa-cored decks, and powerboat builders were using it in transoms and superstructures). No doubt the weight savings and panel stiffness of her cored hull contributed significantly to her racing success. She was launched in May 1966 and took 11 of 13 starts that summer. That winter, Red Jacket headed south and won the famed SORC (Southern Ocean Racing Conference), which was a series of six races with the major two being from St. Petersburg to Fort Lauderdale and from Miami to Nassau.competing against over 85 of the best racers of the day. Red Jacket was the first Canadian boat to win the SORC. George Cassian was a regular member of the crew of Red Jacket.

The C&C designs that came off C&C's drawing board in the early 70s for production building at the Niagara-on-the-Lake plant of George Hinterhoeller included the C&C 25, 27, 30, 35, and 39. The Custom Shop under Erich Bruckmann built such Cuthbertson & Cassian designs as the Redline 41, C&C 43-1, C&C 50, and the successful C&C 61. The Redline 41 Condor would follow Red Jacket's lead and win SORC overall in 1971.

Death George Cassian died of a heart attack on 10 April 1980, following a strenuous squash tournament at just 47 years of age.

Cassian was survived by his first and second wives and four children.