Phil Bolger

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Philip C. Bolger (1927- ), prolific boat designer, was born and lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He began work full time as a draftsman for boat designers Lindsay Lord and then John Hacker in early 1950's. Bolger also cites being influenced by mentors L.F. Herreshoff, Nicholas Montgomery and his brother Bill Bolger.

The Gloucester Light Dory, one of Bolger's better-known designs

Bolger's first boat design was a 32' sportfisherman published in the January 1952 issue of the magazine Yachting. Since then, he has designed more than 700 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 replica of an eighteenth-century naval warship, the frigate Surprise (ex-Rose), to the 6 foot 5 inch plywood box-like dinghy Tortoise.

Although his designs range the full spectrum of boat types, Bolger tends to favor simplicity over complexity. Many of his hulls are made from sheet materials--typically plywood--and have hard chines. A subclass of these is called Instant Boats, so named because they are intended to be easily built by amateurs out of commonly available materials. Bolger is also considered to be a modern expert in the design of the sharpie sailboat type and advocates the use of traditional sailing rigs and leeboards.

A Bolger-designed sharpie schooner, built of plywood in the "instant boat" style

Since the 1990s, Phil Bolger has been teamed with his wife, Susanne Altenburger, designing boats under the name Phil Bolger & Friends Inc.

He is a talented writer too, having written many books and magazine articles on small craft design, the most recent book is Boats with an Open Mind.

[edit] External links: Bolger related websites

• Square Boats a web site dedicated to Bolger's boxy sharpies
• Philip C. Bolger a brief biography of Phil Bolger
• Instant Boats online catalogue a catalogue of the Instant Boat class of Bolger plywood boats.
• Messing About in Boats magazine Phil Bolger and Friends currently publish a biweekly article in the magazine Messing About in Boats.
• Yahoo! Bolger Group A Yahoo! discussion group dedicated to Phil Bolger designs
• Bolger Design Database The Bolger Yahoo! group maintains a partial listing of Bolger boat designs.
• Bolger Boats on the Web a large collection of websites with photos of Bolger Boats under construction and on the water

[edit] External links: specific Bolger boat designs, rowboats

• Nymph Nymph, design #455

[edit] External links: specific Bolger boat designs, sailboats

• Sweet Pea Peapod 'Sweet Pea' design #
• Birdwatcher II Birdwatcher II
• Seabird'86 Seabird'86, design #525
• Oldshoe Oldshoe, design #?
• Superbrick Superbrick

[edit] External links: specific Bolger boat designs, power boats

• Houseboat Barge Houseboat design #481
• Wyoming Wyoming #520

[edit] References: books

• Bolger, Philip C. (1973). Small Boats. Camden, ME: International Marine. ISBN 0-87742-036-X. 
• Bolger, Philip C. (1976). The folding schooner, and other adventures in boat design. Camden, ME: International Marine. ISBN 0877420831. 
• Bolger, Philip C. (1980). Different Boats. Camden, ME: International Marine. ISBN 0-87742-134-X. 
• Bolger, Philip C. (1982). Thirty Odd Boats. Camden, ME: International Marine Pub.. ISBN 0-87742-152-8. 
• Bolger, Philip C. (1983). Bolger Boats. Camden, ME: International Marine Pub.. ISBN 0-87742-168-4. 
• Bolger, Philip C. (1986). Schorpioen: A novel of southern Africa. Camden, ME: International Marine Pub.. ISBN 0-941997-00-6. 
• Bolger, Philip C. (1994). Boats With an Open Mind. Camden, ME: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press. ISBN 0-07-006376-1. 
• Bolger, Philip C. (1998). 103 Sailing Rigs "Straight Talk". Gloucester, ME: Phil Bolger & Friends, Inc.. ISBN 0-9666995-0-5.