Phil Bolger
Philip C. Bolger (December 3, 1927–May 24, 2009), prolific boat designer, was born and lived in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He began work full-time as a draftsman for boat designers Lindsay Lord and then John Hacker in the early 1950s. Bolger also cites being influenced by mentors L.F. Herreshoff, Nicholas Montgomery, Howard Chapelle and his own brother Bill Bolger.
Bolger's first boat design was a 32-foot (9.75 m) sportfisherman published in the January 1952 issue of Yachting magazine. He subsequently designed more than 668 different boats, making him one of the most prolific boat designers of the 20th century, from the solidly conventional to extremely innovative, from a 114-foot-10-inch (35 m) replica of an eighteenth-century naval warship, the frigate Surprise (ex-Rose), to the 6-foot-5-inch (1.96 m) plywood box-like dinghy Tortoise.
Although his designs ranged through the full spectrum of boat types, Bolger tended to favor simplicity over complexity. Many of his hulls are made from sheet materials — typically plywood — and have hard chines. A subclass of these designed in association with Harold Payson called Instant Boats were so named because they were intended to be easily built by amateurs out of commonly available materials. Bolger was also considered to be a modern expert in the design of the sharpie type and advocated the use of traditional sailing rigs and leeboards.
From the 1990s, Phil Bolger teamed with his wife Susanne Altenburger, designing boats under the name Phil Bolger & Friends Inc. During this time, they emphasized the design of sustainable and fuel-efficient boats for the fishing industry. Also, they participated in a large military commission with the Naval Sea Systems Command on new designs for military landing craft utility boats.
Bolger was a prolific writer and wrote many books, the last being Boats with an Open Mind, as well as hundreds of magazine articles on small craft designs, chiefly in Woodenboat, Small Boat Journal and Messing About in Boats.
Bolger died on May 24, 2009, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His wife explained that "is mind had slipped in the last several months, and he wanted to control the end of his life while he was still able."
Read more about Phil Bolger: Instant Boats, Sharpies, Cartoons, Leeboards and Rigs, Influence, Advanced Gloucester Fisherman Project, Design List