On Monday, sailors from around the Newport, RI region gathered at Safe Harbor’s Newport Shipyard to say so long to and remember the life of yacht designer Rodger Martin. Rodger had passed away on May 14 with his wife Patty at his side at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s hospital, where he was waiting for a full lung transplant. In his last minutes he asked his close friends Tony and Judy Knowles, who were also there, to sing a sea chanty for him – something they are known for. So, they sang as Rodger slipped away. At the memorial service, it was fitting that Tony and Judy would lead the assembled crowd of friends in a bittersweet chorus of that shanty, Eddystone Light. Rodger loved fast boats and fast cars and was a visionary of how to design boats that are both fast and easily sailed. The photo of Patty and Rodger above with their 30-foot catch ketch Presto says so much about Rodger’s design philosophy. With a centerboard and kick up rudder, Presto can be beached or anchored in very thin water, all the better for true gunkholing. The wishbone cat ketch rig is easy to handle and very powerful so it drives Presto’s sweet hull at speeds you’d expect from a much larger racing boat. I’ve seen Presto sail at 10 knots with a dinghy trailing off her stern. As for cruising accommodations, simple is the operative word. Rodger had the ability to find the essence of whatever boat he was designing and refine that essence into a finished yacht that sailed exceptionally well while providing the simplest solutions to the cruising or racing needs the project demanded, whether that be offshore cruising boats like Quadrille, Ceteca or the Aerodyne 47, racing boats like Mike Plant’s Duracell and Coyote, sport boats like the spirited VX One or all around cruiser-racers like the Barret Holby-built Quest 30s. Rodger was also a great friend with a wry sense of humor so it was no surprise that friends, clients and collaborators all raised glasses in a last toast to this uniquely talented and delightful man. He will be much missed. Scuttlebutt published a fitting obituary on May 28 that you can read here.
