Alfred E. (Bill) Luders Jr.

Alfred E. "Bill" Luders Jr. (December 31, 1909 – January 31, 1999) was a prominent American naval architect, innovative yacht designer, and accomplished sailor from Stamford, Connecticut. Born one year after his father, Alfred E. Luders Sr., founded Luders Marine Construction Company in 1908 (initially in Byram, CT, then moved to Stamford Harbor in 1912), Bill apprenticed in the family yard early on. He briefly attended the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture but left due to illness and never returned to formal education, instead diving into hands-on work at the yard—eventually becoming its director and leading it until its closure in 1968 after 60 years.