Jeremy Rogers 1937-2022
- Thread starter Just_sayin'
- Start date
Poignard
Well-known member
A full and useful life.
bitbaltic
Well-known member
Respect.
Frogmogman
Well-known member
A wonderful man. Kind and gentle as well as a brilliant boat builder and formidable helmsman. I’ve always felt truly fortunate to have known him, and to have raced with him.
yotter
Active member
Very sad news, a hugely talented man, never met him but sailed on many of his fine boat.
ridgy
Well-known member
What a handsome devil even in middle age. So my wife says though I would agree.
doug748
Well-known member
It's doubtful we will ever see the like again.
Skilled boatbuilder in wood, pioneer in engineering plastics, and first class international helm. He grew Contessa Yachts to be one of the biggest and most innovative yards in the UK. In it's pomp there were 5 factories employing 200 people. Their niche was in fast sailing/race boats that could be cruised, JR ensured they were exceptionally well specified and finished; they were the first yard to commission established design consultants for interior styling work.
Anyone much under the age of Fifty is unlikely to remember the heyday, or to recall the numerous Contessa designs which were not the 26 or 32.
For the 1979 Admirals Cup Rogers produced three hulls for the Contessa 39: one GRP, one Kevlar with foam sandwich, and one single skin Kevlar with GRP; all were injection moulded on the same moulds. Eclipse was probably the lightest hull in the fleet with a basic structure of around 1,000kg which included the carbon fibre rudder. His achievement in skippering the boat to 2nd overall in that year's Fastnet is often overlooked by the tragedy of the race; Ted Turner took first place on a boat twice the size of Rogers's Eclipse.
I have rung the yard a couple of times in the past with quite trivial questions. Each time the receptionist has said, "....hold on we will get someone to ring you back". Each time it was Jeremy Rogers. A Gent. RIP.
.
Skilled boatbuilder in wood, pioneer in engineering plastics, and first class international helm. He grew Contessa Yachts to be one of the biggest and most innovative yards in the UK. In it's pomp there were 5 factories employing 200 people. Their niche was in fast sailing/race boats that could be cruised, JR ensured they were exceptionally well specified and finished; they were the first yard to commission established design consultants for interior styling work.
Anyone much under the age of Fifty is unlikely to remember the heyday, or to recall the numerous Contessa designs which were not the 26 or 32.
For the 1979 Admirals Cup Rogers produced three hulls for the Contessa 39: one GRP, one Kevlar with foam sandwich, and one single skin Kevlar with GRP; all were injection moulded on the same moulds. Eclipse was probably the lightest hull in the fleet with a basic structure of around 1,000kg which included the carbon fibre rudder. His achievement in skippering the boat to 2nd overall in that year's Fastnet is often overlooked by the tragedy of the race; Ted Turner took first place on a boat twice the size of Rogers's Eclipse.
I have rung the yard a couple of times in the past with quite trivial questions. Each time the receptionist has said, "....hold on we will get someone to ring you back". Each time it was Jeremy Rogers. A Gent. RIP.
.
michael_w
Well-known member
My Contessa 33 was probably the best all round boat I've owned.
NB: not a Contessa 32. Mine was a Rob Humphrys design.
NB: not a Contessa 32. Mine was a Rob Humphrys design.
Frogmogman
Well-known member
Brilliant boat.
Bajansailor
Well-known member
I remember your accounts of sailing on Moonlight (I think that was her name?) in various Race Series, and invariably mopping up comprehensively.
This former advert for a 33 on Yachtsnet describes them very well.
Contessa 33 archive details - Yachtsnet Ltd. online UK yacht brokers - yacht brokerage and boat sales
Frogmogman
Well-known member
The yachtsnet article is not wrong about Peter Bruce and Owl; it truly was one of the most successful yachts ever. Peter Bruce was, of course, as navigator, a key member of Jeremy’s crew over the glory years. It was Peter who introduced me to Jeremy.