Charley E. Morgan (November 17, 1929 - January 7, 2023) was a legendary American sailboat racer and designer. He was best known as the founder of Morgan Yacht Corporation.[1][2]
Morgan was born in Chicago November 1929 and raised in Florida.[3] Morgan built the yacht Brisote and completed a St. Petersburg, Florida to Havana, Cuba race with Bruce Bidwell.[3] Morgan attended the University of Tampa[3][4] and took a job with Johnson Sails, located at the Jean Street Shipyard on the Hillsborough River.[3] In 1952 he founded Morgan Racing Sails in Tampa, FL.[3] While making sails Morgan met yacht designer George Luzier, who got him interested in designing boats.[5]
Racingedit
In 1957, Morgan, along with Charlie Hunt, designed and built Brisote, a 31-foot plywood yawl.[6] After successfully appealing disqualification due to a lack of engine, he entered the Havana race and took second in Brisote's division.[3][4] In 1960 Jack Powell commissioned Morgan to build the 40 foot centerboard fiberglass yawlPaper Tiger.[3][6] The "famously successful"[6]Paper Tiger won the SORC Southern Ocean Racing Conference in 1961 and 1962.[5]
Morgan Yachtsedit
Unable to find a builder to manufacture the Tiger Cub, a smaller version of Paper Tiger, Morgan founded the Morgan Yacht Corporation St. Petersburg, Florida, 1965 after graduating high school and starting his own sail company.[6] Morgan suffered the misfortune of falling ill with tuberculosis, delaying production.[5] Morgan asked Bidwell to join the business, delivering the first yacht in 1965.[5] Early models included the Tiger Cub and fiberglass sloop Morgan 34.[5] The company grossed 1.7 million in 1965.[3]
The company's first model was the Morgan 34 built in fiberglass. This was followed by the Morgan 24, 30, 41, and 45. The Morgan 41 designed by Morgan, his most popular design, became a standard in the sailing charter industry for its strength, simplicity, and space belowdecks. In response to customer feedback while operating Morgan Yacht, Morgan designed the shallow draft Morgan Out Island 41, "the most popular boat over 40 feet overall ever built."[6] First built in 1971 the spacious boat became popular with charter companies, becoming "the standard charter boat."[3][6] The Out Island 33 was designed and first produced in mid-1971 as part of the Morgan Out Island series.[7]
Morgan's involvement in the company ended in 1972.[8]
Ownership of Morgan Yacht was sold to Beatrice Foods in 1968, providing funds for Morgan to design and build the wooden 12-meter yachtHeritage to compete for selection as defender of the America's Cup.[3] Morgan acted as skipper during the defender selection trials but lost to Intrepid. After Morgan left the company was passed from one corporate entity to another, until it came into the hands of Catalina Yachts in 1984. Catalina continued manufacturing a few models, including the Out Island 41, before the Morgan name was retired.
Later lifeedit
Morgan left Morgan Yachts in 1972.[6]Beatrice Foods sold the company to Catalina Yachts in 1984 and sold a redesigned Morgan Out Island 41 from 1986 to 1993.[9]
Morgan found Heritage Yacht Corporation in 1975, producing trawlers and sailing yachts. The company was forced into bankruptcy and ownership transferred to Catalina Yachts.[3] Heritage Yachts sold the tooling for their line of Morgan Trawlers to Chris-Craft[10] and Morgan began working for Chris-Craft, doing design work on their trawler line.[3]
Morgan later designed the Com-pac 35 under contract for Hutchins Yachts.[11]
^"Eight Bells: Charley Morgan". Sail Magazine. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
^"Well-known yacht designer Charley Morgan will speak Monday evening at the Matheson Museum". www.gainesville.com. Retrieved February 10, 2010.[permanent dead link]
^ abcdefghijkl Goebel, Cindy (September 2002). "The unsinkable Charley Morgan". Southwinds Magazine. Holmes Beach, FL: Steve Morrell. Retrieved February 9, 2010. [dead link]
^ abHopkins, Charles (August 31, 2006). "An Introduction to the Morgan Sailboat". Fishing and Boating. from the original on March 26, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2010. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ abcde Stinemetz, Morgan (October 2005). . Southwinds Magazine. Holmes Beach, FL: Steve Morrell. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
^ abcdefg Jones, Gregory O. (2002). The American Sailboat. St. Paul, MN: MBI Publishing Company. pp. 181–183. ISBN0-7603-1002-5.
^Page ii-A of 1976 Morgan Out Island 33' Manual, "The Out Island was designed and first produced in mid-1971 as a 'charter member' of the Morgan Out Island Series"
^McArthur, Bruce (2021). "Morgan Yachts 1963 - 1992". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
^Cruising World - Jan-Dec 1998. 10. Vol. 24. 1998. pp. 11–. In the late 1960s, Charlie Morgan saw sailboats evolving from comfortable CCA Rule racer-cruisers into out and-out IOR ... Catalina Yachts took over Morgan Yachts in 1985 and introduced the redesigned Ol 41 Classic, which they produced ...
^"1983 Chris-Craft West Indian Trawler Trawler for sale - YachtWorld".
^"Cruising the Com-Pac 35", Practical Sailor, 40 (9): 26–31, 2014, from the original on September 3, 2014, retrieved August 31, 2014
charley, morgan, other, people, named, charlie, morgan, charlie, morgan, disambiguation, charley, morgan, november, 1929, january, 2023, legendary, american, sailboat, racer, designer, best, known, founder, morgan, yacht, corporation, morgan, island, 28content. For other people named Charlie Morgan see Charlie Morgan disambiguation Charley E Morgan November 17 1929 January 7 2023 was a legendary American sailboat racer and designer He was best known as the founder of Morgan Yacht Corporation 1 2 Morgan Out Island 28Contents 1 Early life 2 Racing 3 Morgan Yachts 4 Later life 5 Designs 6 ReferencesEarly life editMorgan was born in Chicago November 1929 and raised in Florida 3 Morgan built the yacht Brisote and completed a St Petersburg Florida to Havana Cuba race with Bruce Bidwell 3 Morgan attended the University of Tampa 3 4 and took a job with Johnson Sails located at the Jean Street Shipyard on the Hillsborough River 3 In 1952 he founded Morgan Racing Sails in Tampa FL 3 While making sails Morgan met yacht designer George Luzier who got him interested in designing boats 5 Racing editIn 1957 Morgan along with Charlie Hunt designed and built Brisote a 31 foot plywood yawl 6 After successfully appealing disqualification due to a lack of engine he entered the Havana race and took second in Brisote s division 3 4 In 1960 Jack Powell commissioned Morgan to build the 40 foot centerboard fiberglass yawl Paper Tiger 3 6 The famously successful 6 Paper Tiger won the SORC Southern Ocean Racing Conference in 1961 and 1962 5 Morgan Yachts editUnable to find a builder to manufacture the Tiger Cub a smaller version of Paper Tiger Morgan founded the Morgan Yacht Corporation St Petersburg Florida 1965 after graduating high school and starting his own sail company 6 Morgan suffered the misfortune of falling ill with tuberculosis delaying production 5 Morgan asked Bidwell to join the business delivering the first yacht in 1965 5 Early models included the Tiger Cub and fiberglass sloop Morgan 34 5 The company grossed 1 7 million in 1965 3 The company s first model was the Morgan 34 built in fiberglass This was followed by the Morgan 24 30 41 and 45 The Morgan 41 designed by Morgan his most popular design became a standard in the sailing charter industry for its strength simplicity and space belowdecks In response to customer feedback while operating Morgan Yacht Morgan designed the shallow draft Morgan Out Island 41 the most popular boat over 40 feet overall ever built 6 First built in 1971 the spacious boat became popular with charter companies becoming the standard charter boat 3 6 The Out Island 33 was designed and first produced in mid 1971 as part of the Morgan Out Island series 7 Morgan s involvement in the company ended in 1972 8 Ownership of Morgan Yacht was sold to Beatrice Foods in 1968 providing funds for Morgan to design and build the wooden 12 meter yacht Heritage to compete for selection as defender of the America s Cup 3 Morgan acted as skipper during the defender selection trials but lost to Intrepid After Morgan left the company was passed from one corporate entity to another until it came into the hands of Catalina Yachts in 1984 Catalina continued manufacturing a few models including the Out Island 41 before the Morgan name was retired Later life editMorgan left Morgan Yachts in 1972 6 Beatrice Foods sold the company to Catalina Yachts in 1984 and sold a redesigned Morgan Out Island 41 from 1986 to 1993 9 Morgan found Heritage Yacht Corporation in 1975 producing trawlers and sailing yachts The company was forced into bankruptcy and ownership transferred to Catalina Yachts 3 Heritage Yachts sold the tooling for their line of Morgan Trawlers to Chris Craft 10 and Morgan began working for Chris Craft doing design work on their trawler line 3 Morgan later designed the Com pac 35 under contract for Hutchins Yachts 11 Designs editColumbia 40 Morgan 22 Morgan 24 25 Morgan 34 Morgan Out Island 41 Morgan 41 aka M41 12 Morgan 42 aka M42 1 13 Morgan 42 aka M42 2 14 References edit Eight Bells Charley Morgan Sail Magazine Retrieved September 27 2023 Well known yacht designer Charley Morgan will speak Monday evening at the Matheson Museum www gainesville com Retrieved February 10 2010 permanent dead link a b c d e f g h i j k l Goebel Cindy September 2002 The unsinkable Charley Morgan Southwinds Magazine Holmes Beach FL Steve Morrell Retrieved February 9 2010 dead link a b Hopkins Charles August 31 2006 An Introduction to the Morgan Sailboat Fishing and Boating Archived from the original on March 26 2011 Retrieved February 9 2010 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help a b c d e Stinemetz Morgan October 2005 Charley Morgan Legend in His Own Time Southwinds Magazine Holmes Beach FL Steve Morrell Archived from the original on July 15 2011 Retrieved February 9 2010 a b c d e f g Jones Gregory O 2002 The American Sailboat St Paul MN MBI Publishing Company pp 181 183 ISBN 0 7603 1002 5 Page ii A of 1976 Morgan Out Island 33 Manual The Out Island was designed and first produced in mid 1971 as a charter member of the Morgan Out Island Series McArthur Bruce 2021 Morgan Yachts 1963 1992 sailboatdata com Archived from the original on August 20 2021 Retrieved August 20 2021 Cruising World Jan Dec 1998 10 Vol 24 1998 pp 11 In the late 1960s Charlie Morgan saw sailboats evolving from comfortable CCA Rule racer cruisers into out and out IOR Catalina Yachts took over Morgan Yachts in 1985 and introduced the redesigned Ol 41 Classic which they produced 1983 Chris Craft West Indian Trawler Trawler for sale YachtWorld Cruising the Com Pac 35 Practical Sailor 40 9 26 31 2014 archived from the original on September 3 2014 retrieved August 31 2014 https sailboatdata com sailboat morgan 41 https sailboatdata com sailboat morgan 42 1 https sailboatdata com sailboat morgan 42 2 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Charley Morgan amp oldid 1189160537, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
