For 36 years, Southern Spars Founder and Superyacht Sales Manager, Paul MacDonald has been at the forefront of high-performance, luxury rig innovation for sailing yachts. This Thursday, Paul steps down from Southern Spars, after nearly four decades at the helm of his company. 

Paul is liked and looked up to throughout the company as well as by clients and peers across the industry. As a trailblazer of carbon fibre rigs, his impact has been immense.  Everyone at Southern Spars would like to wish Paul the very best in the next chapter, and to send him a massive thank you for making Southern Spars what it is today.   To mark the occasion, we are taking the opportunity to celebrate Paul’s journey and lasting influence.  

A world-class sailor in his own right, Paul was a crew member on Sir Peter Blake’s Lion of New Zealand, which placed second in the 1985/86 Whitbread Round the World Race. 

Photo: Sir Peter Blake’s Lion of New Zealand / Luis Bartolomé Marcos

His passion for sailing laid the foundation for his hugely influential career in marine technology. In 1988, he co-founded Marten Spars. Born from boatyard Marten Marine, Marten Spars’ mission was to produce state-of-the-art carbon fibre masts and booms for the international superyacht industry. 

Marten Marine had produced the rig for Michael Faye’s Big Boat America’s Cup challenger KZ1 in 1988, but until the early 90s carbon fibre rigs were limited to experimentation at the highest level of grand-prix racing. Adapting the technology for the open market was groundbreaking and would have lasting ripple effects. Today, carbon fibre rigs are standard across high-performance yachts, sailing superyachts, and increasingly mid-size performance-cruisers.  

Photo: KZ1 / Studio Borlenghi

In 2001, Marten Spars merged with fellow Auckland-based carbon fibre innovator, Southern Spars. This brought together Southern Spars’ expertise in grand-prix racing campaigns (including two America’s Cup wins by this point) with Marten’s specialisation in premium superyacht masts and furling booms. This combined expertise has had a huge impact, with breakthroughs in racing rigs consistently trickling into superyacht projects to revolutionise their capabilities.  

Photo: Paul MacDonald and Mark Hauser join forces in 2001.

After the merger, Paul and Southern Spars’ founder Mark Hauser led the combined company. Mark concentrated on racing rigs, while Paul drove the superyacht division, moulding Southern Spars into the global industry leader it is today. 

Paul’s influence has changed what a superyacht can be. Drastically reducing weight aloft, the advent of carbon fibre rigs has enabled taller masts, larger sail plans and innovative designs. Carbon rigs have enhanced stability, safety, and handling—paving the way for more versatile yachts and setting new standards of performance and luxury that are now fundamental to the superyacht experience. Under Paul’s leadership, rigs have now become dynamic systems, conceived with advanced simulation software and monitored by integrated load cells.  

Paul has spearheaded every major cruising project since the merger, delivering groundbreaking rigs to the industry’s most ambitious yachts. Almost all the world’s premier sailing superyachts choose Southern Spars—thanks in no small part to Paul’s unparalleled expertise. His stats are staggering: 204 projects, 7.1km of mast and 3.15km of boom, totalling 313 tons. Among these are many landmark launches that have shaped the sailing superyacht landscape. 

His projects include: 29 Dubois Naval Architects yachts, 29 Frers Naval Architecture yachts, 19 Holland Yacht Design yachts, 13 Judel/Vrolijk & Co. yachts, 12 Hoek Design yachts, 10 Tripp Design Naval Architecture yachts, 9 Farr Yacht Design yachts, 6 Dixon Yacht Design yachts, 6 Castro Naval Architects yachts, 5 Humphreys Yacht Design yachts, 4 Philippe Briand Yacht Design yachts, 4 Reichel/Pugh Yacht Design yachts, 4 Petersen Naval Architects yachts, 3 Dykstra Naval Architects yachts, 3 King Yacht Design yachts, 3 Malcolm McKeon Yacht Design (MMYD) yachts, and 1 Langan Design Partners yacht. His portfolio features iconic sloops like Aglaia, massive ketches like Aquijo, and classics like Adele.  

Photo: Aquijo / Stuart Pearce

Under Paul’s tenure, the definition of sailing superyacht has transformed. Now, the most beautiful and luxurious superyachts—like Hetairos—are optimised for high-performance. 

Photo: Hetairos / Atila Madrona

With recent demand for bigger, faster yachts, Paul’s passion and ambition have thrived, evident in landmark launches like the world’s largest pure sailing yacht, Koru and performance machine Raven. 

Photo: Koru / Oceanco

Photo: Raven / Tom van Oossanen

Paul moves mountains to make owner’s visions a reality—even if it breaks new ground. His willingness to push boundaries consistently challenges our design team and accelerates progress.  

From the first Marten spars to today, Paul’s company may seem transformed, yet it’s unmistakably led by his boundary-pushing philosophies. In 2022, a Southern Spars boom aided a NASA asteroid redirection test, and a Southern Spars wing powered Emirates NZ’s wind-powered speed record. 

Photo: Emirates Team New Zealand

Affectionately known as MacD, Paul’s personality is woven into Southern Spars’ DNA. 

Photo: Superyacht Times

Southern Spars co-founder Mark Hauser:  

“Paul approaches everything with a lot of passion and drive which plays out in yachts’ overall performance. He always gives everyone a chance to be creative—approaching every situation with an open mind, enabling the team to achieve their best.” 

Colleague Rory Protheroe:  

“In our factory, MacD is both liked and looked up to. His charisma and charm not only make him liked and trusted by clients and partners, but make staff feel as valued as the clients… One thing MacD is always very persistent on when putting together proposals is—give the client what they want. If it was something we hadn’t done before, MacD just made it happen.”  

Photo: Emirates Team New Zealand

Paul’s legacy in the industry will continue to grow—his new venture, MCD Yacht Brokers, is representing European boat brands in Australia and New Zealand. 

He hands his Southern Spars batten to Vincent Guiot, who takes the reigns as Southern Spars’ Superyacht Sales Manager.