VEFA Gallery Ron Holland – Drafted Destiny— The Art of Functional Sculptures By Contributor and Artist Lynne La Fleur
Note!! The exhibit closes in just 2 weeks on Saturday, November 1, 2025
Great Hope, 2025 (watercolor on canvas)
Ron Holland is a legend. He has won global acclaim for his racing victories and superyachts far beyond his native New Zealand. His innovative designs place him as one of the greatest design minds of the modern maritime age.
Drafted Destiny — a collection of Ron’s drawings and watercolors is currently on exhibit at VEFA Gallery in Torrance through Saturday, November 1. As curator Alexey Steele puts it so well — Ron Holland shaped vessels that were not just fast, they were beautiful. He changed sailboat racing, not through formula, but through forms that move through waves and currents like whales and sharks.”
Golden Apple, 2025 (water color on canvas)
It all started in 1973 — Ron asked himself a question: “How do I actually get to be a yacht designer? The only way I saw to do it was to design a race-winning yacht. So, I got a clean sheet of paper and said, I want to create a design that will mean I can be a famous yacht designer and play with boats all the rest of my life!” And that’s exactly what he did.
“I designed and built my first personal racing yacht which was called Eygthene. The boat was 24 ft long and 10 ft wide. This was different; no one had ever tried this before.
1973 USA Quarter Ton Mid Winter Championship —
“We started off quite well but we were not winning; there were two boats ahead. I know if we can beat these guys, we can win the championship and I get to go to Europe for the World Championship and I get to become a yacht designer!
“A very light wind is against us; we’ll have to zig zag up to the finish line. Then we see a chimney with smoke blowing in the distance, a new wind is coming. We turn 90º toward this new wind. The other guys are stuck. So we catch that wind, we go around them, and we’re first to the finish!”
The rest is history. Ron may now be best known for his superyachts: Mirabella V launched in 2003, at 247 ft it is the largest ever single-masted (300 ft) sailing yacht, and Ethereal.
Close as I Dare, 2025 (watercolor on canvas)
Left to right: Jim Clarke, Alicia Ide, Ron Holland and daughter Kelly Holland with Kiwi Magic
At the recent “Evening with Ron Holland,” Ron presented his newest watercolor print “Kiwi Magic” to Jim Clarke and Alicia Ide of the Culver City Arts Foundation. Proceeds from the sale of prints will go to support programming for New Zealand Hospitality House hosting the New Zealand teams during the 2028 Olympics. The reason for the name is during the 1986-1987 America’s Cup challenger series, Kiwi Magic won 46 out of 47 races. The America’s Cup currently resides at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
Ron spent his days sailing from the time he was eight. Born in Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, he says he was shaped by the isolation of the island, its pioneer spirit, and an innate feeling for the forces of the sea and for the forms that move through them.
On December 4th, Ron Holland, Voyage of Discovery, a 90-minute documentary will be showing at the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey. For more information email info@dryc.org or phone (310) 832-4664. Ron Holland published his memoir All the Oceans: Designed by the Seat of My Pants in 2018.
Reflections, 2025 (watercolor on canvas)
VEFA Gallery is a contemporary art gallery bringing global artistic discourse to Southern California. Our mission is to bring together artists from as wide a perspective as possible around a topic that is relevant today. We believe art is an excellent vehicle to educate and make possible contributions in the world. 21825 Hawthorne Blvd. Torrance, CA 90503
Wednesday-Sunday 12-8pm and by appointment - No admission fee (310) 251-2944
Lynne LaFleur attended Malaga Cove School, Lunada Bay Elementary, and Chadwick School, received her BFA from Pratt Art Institute in Brooklyn and has lived in New York City, Colorado and Northern California before returning to Palos Verdes in the late 1980s.
For more information, please contact Lynne at “lynnelf1@gmail.com”- The Centennial Celebration poster and all the individual illustrations (both as fine art giclée prints and as educational posters) are available for purchase from her website: www.lynnelafleur.com Facebook: LynneLaFleurArtist Instagram: “lynnelf1”