In this interview, Bill Dixon, Chairman of Dixon Yacht Design, reflects on his four decades in yacht design—from early work with Angus Primrose to leading one of the industry’s most respected studios. Dixon discusses the shift toward lifestyle-focused cruising boats, easier handling, and the influence of high-performance sailing on modern production yachts.
His team works with global builders including Moody, Hylas, Xquisite, Heysea, Beneteau, and Pearl Yachts, with standout projects like the Moody Deck Saloon series, Hylas 57, and Xquisite 60. Dixon sees sustainability, electric propulsion, and new wind-assist technologies as major forces shaping future yacht design.
Please go to his website for more information: https://www.dixonyachtdesign.com/
Interviewer: I’m here this morning, or actually this afternoon, with Bill Dixon in Southampton. He is with Dixon Yacht Design and he’s going to tell us more about himself. So, Bill, you’ve had a remarkable career designing everything from cruisers to superyachts. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your career?
Bill Dixon: My name’s Bill Dixon. I’m now chairman of Dixon Yacht Design. We started the company with me at the helm in 1981. Before that, I worked for a designer called Angus Primrose, who gave me my first job in the industry. Sadly, he was lost at sea in 1980.
At a very young age, I worked with some major builders, and when the sad event happened with Angus, these builders said they would support me designing a new range of boats, specifically Moody. So, at a very young age, I started designing production boat ranges.
I studied boat design at Southampton, but my background is boating. My family has been associated with building boats since the mid-1700s. It’s a long association. Now, I have 44 years in the business. It’s an ever-evolving, changing industry.
I’ve been involved with production boats throughout, and I’ve worked and traveled all over the world with builders and customers on many different continents. Strong associations are with European builders, and also Far Eastern builders.
Over that period, we’ve designed lots of sailing boats, superyachts, primarily sailing superyachts, and also a lot of motorboats. Today, the major part of our business is motorboat design, with sailboats as a smaller part of the business. At the beginning, sailboats were a larger part of the business, but that reflects the market and how you move your business with the market.
Interviewer: Boat design has changed a lot in the last few decades. What are modern sailors asking for today that they didn’t think to ask for 20 or 30 years ago? What kind of changes have you seen?
Bill Dixon: Twenty or thirty years ago, we would still be asked to do smaller custom yachts. Today, that sort of business, at least in most of Europe, has stopped. Production boats of all sizes have taken over that market.
We were probably designing large-volume production boats from the start, but what has happened is the lifestyle of the vessel has changed — how the vessel is used, handling, comfort, flexibility. That has evolved yacht design enormously.
Single-handed racing and other forms of high-performance sailing have filtered down into our business.
I’ve always owned a sailing boat. I’ve lived with firsthand experience, primarily cruising, sometimes racing earlier on, cruising the English Channel and some of the French coast. That builds up experience in using boats firsthand, which reflects in my thoughts on what could be done better.
Interviewer: Are there new ideas or different concepts for future vessels? How do you take those ideas and turn them into a yacht design? What does that process look like for you or your team?
Bill Dixon: A lot of the time, it depends on the builder. Sometimes we take the whole concept to the builder, or the builder says, “Look, we’d like to work with you. These are our thoughts on the design. Let’s work together and create this new design, concept, or range.”
Whichever way it is, we have experience, views, and expertise, which is what people buy from us when creating a project. There’s a big investment, and it’s all about making that investment successful. You have to get your vision right. Creating these boats is not a five-minute job. It’s about detail, lots of thought, and evolution of the design until it reaches the final boat that goes into production.
Interviewer: Speaking of production, you have a lot of different boats in production around the world. Can you tell me about some of what’s in production as far as sailing, catamarans, or multihulls?
Bill Dixon: Throughout my career, I’ve been involved in designing Moody Yachts. For 25 years, Moody Yachts were built in the UK, then the brand was bought by Hanser in Germany, who have been building Moodys ever since.
Hanse wanted to do something totally different with the Moody brand, which coincided with my thought process for what a Moody could be — reflecting how we wanted our boat for holidays. It’s a complete lifestyle-type boat that sails incredibly well. The Moody range of decking boats offers a tremendous alternative. It has on-deck living, comfort, safety, and is easy to sail and relatively fast.
We also work with Hylas Yachts. We designed the 57 for Hylas Yachts and are exploring new designs for them, figuring out what their brand wants and how it reflects their clients.
We have Xquisite Yachts, for which we’ve done a new 60-foot sailing catamaran. That’s a new company for us and influenced by the owner’s ideas about what cruising people want from vessels.
In China, we designed a 59-foot sailing catamaran with Heysea, which has shown extremely well at American shows.
Alongside our sailing customers, we work with powerboat clients — Hanse Group, Beneteau, Azimut, and Pearl Yachts. Pearl is a boutique brand from 60 to 100 feet and has been incredibly successful, winning awards.
We also design power cats and other powerboat projects, including a new Swift 37 for Beneteau.
Interviewer: Does anything stand out as a favorite? Have you been aboard one of your boats and thought you got it right?
Bill Dixon: I think the Moody DS is a favorite. I love the concept — the comfort it brings, yet still fun to sail. On-deck living rather than sitting down below is ideal. The best part is sitting inside during bad weather at anchor, looking out, rather than down in the belly of the boat. That ethos is reflected in some of our catamaran designs.
Interviewer: You also do superyachts and custom boats. How do concepts from superyachts or custom boats cross-pollinate with production boats?
Bill Dixon: It goes both ways. When designing boats of any size, we want to make sure they are exciting, hopefully groundbreaking, but not incredibly difficult to build.
Superyacht work reflects the client’s vision and can introduce technologies that filter down, such as advanced sail handling, lifting keel technologies, or hybrid systems.
Superyacht owners increasingly want a boat that can provide luxury and operate silently on batteries overnight. They don’t want generators running, and these requirements are now filtering into smaller production boats.
Interviewer: What trends and technologies will shape yacht design over the next 5, 10, 15 years?
Bill Dixon: Sustainability is a major focus. Sailing is the most energy-efficient boat, yet fewer sailing boats are being built and more motorboats.
I think we will see different ways of propelling boats with wind in combination with power. There is a lot of development in wind propulsion for commercial vessels, which could be adapted for leisure craft. These systems will be more automated, easier to handle, and may also regenerate energy.
In medium-sized production boats, expect more electrical propulsion, regeneration, and energy creation. For those who love sailing, pure sailing yachts will continue, but with a focus on energy regeneration and quiet operation.
Interviewer: If people want to follow your current work and learn more about Dixon Yacht Design, what’s the best way to connect?
Bill Dixon: The best way is to visit DixonYachtDesign.com. The website has a portfolio of our work. We are also on Instagram, where we post new and intriguing ideas, including concepts for future designs like wind propulsion for larger yachts.
Interviewer: You’ve talked about your innovative work and your team. Tell us about the team at Dixon Yacht Design.
Bill Dixon: Our team is small but highly experienced — six people. They work closely with clients and builders. Each member has areas of expertise and works independently when needed. I provide guidance, but design is a team effort. When clients contact us, they are contacting the whole team.
Interviewer: Thank you. I really enjoyed this conversation. You’ve given me a lot to think about, and listeners will find it the same way.