Jeremy Rogers

Jeremy Charles Rogers MBE
Born	28 June 1983 Thaxted, Essex
Nationality	British
Occupation	Boatbuilder

Jeremy Charles Rogers, MBE (born Thaxted, Essex, 16 September 1937) is a British boat builder and sailor, based in Lymington, Hampshire, in the United Kingdom, and the manager of an eponymous boatyard, Jeremy Rogers Limited.

During his 50-year career Rogers has been responsible for the construction of a large number of well-known yachts and established himself as a first-class yachtsman.

Evacuated to rural Canada during the Second World War, Rogers and his brothers passed the long winters making model boats, but it was back in England that Rogers built his first proper dinghy at the age of ten whilst at Clayesmore School in Dorset. Then, after serving his apprenticeship with Jack Chippendale MBE as a traditional wooden boatbuilder, he set up in business in 1961 at the age of 23. Despite his training in wooden boatbuilding, he was one of the first to appreciate the potential of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), and he went initially into the production of GRP dinghies, followed in 1966 by a modified GRP Folkboat called the Contessa 26. This was an instant success, as was the subsequent Contessa 32, designed in collaboration with David Sadler.

The Contessa 32 was voted the London Boat of the Show in 1972, and with approximately 650 of them already in the water, demand is such that after 40 years the yacht is still in production.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Rogers' company included five purpose-built factories in Lymington and a workforce of nearly 200 employees. Production included Contessas ranging in size from the traditional 26 to the Doug Peterson designed grand prix 35s, 39s and 43s, many of which were exported to a worldwide market. In 1978 and in conjunction with the late Colin Chapman's Lotus car team, Rogers developed vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding, which was used on the Doug Peterson designed OOD 34.

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