Bob Ross began sailing at the age of ten in the P-class trainer at the Plimmerton Boating Club in New Zealand; he progressed to the two-handed Z-class then three-handed Idle Along.
After working in Wellington and New Plymouth as a journalist, Ross moved to Australia in 1955, aged 24 and worked on newspapers as a general reporter. At the Sun-Pic, in his spare time, he started a general boating column and began covering sailing.
Through Finns he met Colin Ryrie, the 1964 Olympic representative and 1964-65 Australian Finn class champion, who recruited him to be first editor of Modern Boating magazine. After six years, Ross resigned and went freelance to become yachting correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and to write books.
With Ken McLachlan, business partner and advertising manager, he founded Australian Sailing, Australia's first all-sailing magazine, in 1976. He sold the magazine to the Yaffa Publishing Group of leisure magazines in 1986, and remained as editor until 2003.