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.

Early life

Morgan was born in ''

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'' November 1929 and raised in Florida. Morgan built the yacht ''Brisote'' and completed a St. Petersburg, Florida to Havana, Cuba race with Bruce Bidwell. Morgan attended the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UTampa, UT or Tampa U) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UTampa offers more than 200 programs of study, including 19 master's degrees and a br ...

and took a job with Johnson Sails, located at the

Jean Street Shipyard Jean Street Shipyard (established 1843) is a shipyard in the United States, located on the Hillsborough River in Tampa, Florida. It is located approximately 5 miles from the mouth of the Hillsborough River, about 1 mile above the Hillsborough Av ...

on the Hillsborough River. In 1952 he founded Morgan Racing Sails in Tampa, FL. While making sails Morgan met yacht designer George Luzier, who got him interested in designing boats.

Racing

In 1957, Morgan, along with Charlie Hunt, designed and built ''Brisote'', a 31-foot plywood

yawl A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put. As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast ...

. After successfully appealing disqualification due to a lack of engine, he entered the Havana race and took second in ''Brisote's'' division. In 1960 Jack Powell commissioned Morgan to build the 40 foot centerboard fiberglass

''Paper Tiger''. The "famously successful" ''Paper Tiger'' won the SORC

Southern Ocean Racing Conference Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

in 1961 and 1962.

Morgan Yachts

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 St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

, 1965 after graduating high school and starting his own sail company. Morgan suffered the misfortune of falling ill with tuberculosis, delaying production. Morgan asked Bidwell to join the business, delivering the first yacht in 1965. Early models included the Tiger Cub and fiberglass sloop Morgan 34. The company grossed 1.7 million in 1965. 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." First built in 1971 the spacious boat became popular with charter companies, becoming "the standard charter boat." The Out Island 33 was designed and first produced in mid-1971 as part of the Morgan Out Island series. Morgan's involvement in the company ended in 1972. Ownership of Morgan Yacht was sold to

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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 The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

. 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

Morgan left Morgan Yachts in 1972.

sold the company to

Catalina Yachts Catalina Yachts is a U.S.-based builder of fiberglass monohull sloop-rigged sailboats ranging in sizes from eight to 54 feet in length. It was founded in 1969 in Hollywood, California by Frank Butler (founder), Frank Butler . Catalina Yachts is ...

in 1984 and sold a redesigned Morgan Out Island 41 from 1986 to 1993. Morgan found Heritage Yacht Corporation in 1975, producing trawlers and sailing yachts. The company was forced into bankruptcy and ownership transferred to

. Heritage Yachts sold the tooling for their line of Morgan Trawlers to Chris-Craft and Morgan began working for Chris-Craft, doing design work on their trawler line. Morgan later designed the Com-pac 35 under contract for

Hutchins Yachts Com-Pac Yachts is an American brand of sailboats, made by the Hutchins Co., Inc., a boat builder based in Clearwater, Florida. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. Over time the brand and the company h ...

Designs

* Columbia 40 * Morgan 22 * Morgan 24/25 * Morgan 34 * Morgan Out Island 41 * Morgan 41 aka M41 * Morgan 42 aka M42-1 * Morgan 42 aka M42-2

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Charley 1929 births 2023 deaths America's Cup yacht designers American boat builders American yacht designers Morgan Yachts Designers from Chicago