Jeremy Rogers MBE 1937-2022
Celebrated boatbuilder and noted racing sailor Jeremy Rogers has died at the age of 85. His Lymington based boatyard has produced some of the most celebrated yachts of the modern era, with the Contessa 26 and 32 gaining almost legendary status. Meantime, Rogers won the Admiral’s Cup in 1977, skippering a Contessa 43, and came second in the notorious
1979 Fastnet in a Contessa 38.
Rogers was born in Thaxted, Essex on September 16 1937. The son of an RAF officer who was also a keen sailor. During the Second World War, Rogers was evacuated to Ottowa in Canada where he spent a lot of his time building model boats. Back in England post war, he built his first dinghy at the age of 10.
He was apprenticed as a boatbuilder and, aged just 23, he set up his own yard in Lymington in 1961. Initially he built cold moulded Finns and OK dinghies. Throughout his early life he was a keen racer and was keen to push the boundaries of yacht construction. This drew him to glassfibre construction and he was soon building dinghies out of GRP, with his first big GRP launch being a Folkboat. This was soon followed up with his first Contessa 26, Contessa of Wight, which immediately announced herself on the scene by picking up second in the 1969 Round the Island Race. Over the years the 26 has gained a reputation for being one of the finest pocket cruisers out there, blending speed with seaworthiness.
Shortly after this, he teamed up with David Sadler to design the Contessa 32 with hull number one being launched in 1971. The boat cemented his burgeoning reputation and, the boat’s reputation as one of the finest cruising yachts of all time is rarely questioned. Perhaps the boat that perfectly encapsulates the versatility of the 32 is Assent which, for many years, was owned by sailor and adventurer Willy Ker. Under his command, Assent was the only finisher in her class in the storm ravaged 1979 Fastnet race, while Ker also sailed the boat to all corners of the globe, particularly the high latitudes, in his endless quest for adventure.
Meanwhile, Rogers was cementing his reputation as a first class racing skipper, winning the 1974 One Ton Cup in his Doug Petersondesigned Contessa 35 Gumboots. In 1977 he won the Admiral’s Cup at the helm of a Contessa 43, and rounded things o with an impressive second in the aforementioned 1979 Fastnet.
While his business boomed in the late 1970s and early 80s, he was hit hard by the tough economic climate – particularly for exports – throughout the mid 80s, and the business went into receivership with the moulds sold o. Rogers then set about rebuilding the business from scratch and bought back the moulds for the 32 in 1996 and restarting production. The company was handed over to his son, Kit, in 2012 but Rogers remained heavily involved.
He leaves behind his wife, Fiona and his three sons, Simon, Kit and David.