British naval architect based in Devon. Self-taught, trained on the job in boatyards from the 1960s (Bristol, Severn) before earning a Boatyard Management diploma from Southampton College of Technology. His career shifted in 1976 when he met Canadian Mike Birch and contributed to the extension of the trimaran Olympus, winner of the first Route du Rhum in 1978. Since then, Irens has designed racing trimarans that have made history in offshore racing, and since 1997 he has worked in partnership with French architect Benoît Cabaret on racing designs.
ORMA 60s and Francis Joyon's records
The Irens-Cabaret duo designed a line of ORMA 60 sisterships that won races and broke records: IDEC for Francis Joyon, Sodebo for Thomas Coville, Majan Oman Air for Sidney Gavignet. On IDEC (29.7 m, launched in 2007), Joyon broke Ellen MacArthur’s solo round-the-world record in January 2008 with a time of 57 days 13 hours 34 minutes.
Traditional sailboats and powerboats
Beyond racing trimarans, Irens designed a series of classic sailboats in collaboration with Ed Burnett (Roxane, Westernman cutters, King Alfred dinghies) and motor trimarans (Adventurer, a 35 m motor trimaran yacht that completed the first motorized circumnavigation in 1998). He was awarded the title of Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in 2005.
