The Morgan Out Island 41 is a family of American

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminolo ...

s that was designed by

Charley Morgan Charley E. Morgan (1929 - 2023) is a legendary American sailboat racer and designer. He is best known as the founder of Morgan Yacht Corporation. Early life Morgan was born in Chicago November 1929 and raised in Florida. Morgan built the yach ...

for cruising and first built in 1971.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 360. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

Production

The design was built by

Morgan Yachts Charley E. Morgan (1929 - 2023) is a legendary American sailboat racer and designer. He is best known as the founder of Morgan Yacht Corporation. Early life Morgan was born in Chicago November 1929 and raised in Florida. Morgan built the yach ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

starting in 1970 and running until 1991, with more than 1,450 completed, but it is now out of production. The series become one of the most commercially successful yacht designs in this size range. Nearly half of the production was purchased by

yacht charter Yacht chartering is the practice of renting, or chartering, a sailboat or motor yacht and travelling to various coastal or island destinations. This is usually a vacation activity, but it also can be a business event. There are two main kinds ...

operators.

Design

The Morgan Out Island 41 is a recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

, with

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

wood trim. It has a

masthead sloop A masthead rig on a sailing vessel consists of a forestay and backstay both attached at the top of the mast. The Bermuda rig can be split into two groups: the masthead rig and the fractional rig. The masthead rig has larger and more headsails, ...

or optional

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

rig with

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

spars, a

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a conventional transom, a center cockpit equipped with a

ship's wheel A ship's wheel or boat's wheel is a device used aboard a water vessel to steer that vessel and control its course. Together with the rest of the steering mechanism, it forms part of the helm. It is connected to a mechanical, electric servo, or ...

for steering and a fixed long or fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

. There are many variations in layout, but the basic design has sleeping accommodation for seven people, with a double "V"-berth in the bow cabin, an "L"-shaped settee, with a folding table and a straight settee in the main cabin and an aft cabin with a double berth. The aft cabin is accessible from the main cabin or from the center cockpit directly, via its own

companionway In the architecture of a ship, a companion or companionway is a raised and windowed hatchway in the ship's deck, with a ladder leading below and the hooded entrance-hatch to the main cabins. A companionway may be secured by doors or, commonly in ...

. The passageway between the aft cabin and the main cabin has a workbench on the port side and double doors to access the engine room on starboard. The galley is located on the starboard side just forward of the forward

ladder. The galley is "L"-shaped and is equipped with a two-burner alcohol-fired stove, a

icebox An icebox (also called a cold closet) is a compact non-mechanical refrigerator which was a common early-twentieth-century kitchen appliance before the development of safely powered refrigeration devices. Before the development of electric refrige ...

and a double sink. A navigation station is opposite the galley, on the port side and has a second icebox below it. There are two heads, one in the bow cabin on the starboard side and one on the starboard side in the aft cabin, both with showers. The below deck trim is teak. Ventilation is provided by a total of 14 opening ports, two opening ports on the transom, aft cabin, bow cabin and galley hatches. Light for the engine room is provided by a cockpit floor prism port light. For sailing the design is equipped with full-length perforated toe-rails that can be used for

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsail ...

sheeting. The cockpit sheeting winches are two-speed. There are

halyard In sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist a ladder, sail, flag or yard. The term ''halyard'' comes from the phrase "to haul yards". Halyards, like most other parts of the running rigging, were classically made of ...

winches on the main mast and the mizzen mast. Both masts are provided with

topping lift The topping lift (more rarely known as an uphaul) is a line which applies upward force on a boom on a sailboat. Part of the running rigging, topping lifts are primarily used to hold a boom up when the sail is lowered. This line would run from nea ...

s. The bow is fitted with an

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

roller.

Variants

;Out Island 41 :This

model was introduced in 1971, with 1,000 boats completed. It has a length overall of , a waterline length of , displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard long keel. A stub keel and retractable centerboard model was also produced in small numbers. The boat is fitted with a British Perkins Engines 4-108

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

of . Later boats produced were powered by a Westerbeke model 4-107 diesel or a Perkins 4-154 diesel. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The design has a

PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) is a handicapping system used for yacht racing in North America. It allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to be raced against each other. The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages ...

racing average handicap of 192 and a

Portsmouth Yardstick The Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a term used for a number of related systems of empirical handicapping used primarily in small sailboat racing. The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the han ...

of 87.0. ;Out Island 41 Ketch :This

-rigged model was introduced in 1972. It has a length overall of , a waterline length of , displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard long keel. The boat is fitted with a British Perkins Engines diesel engine of . The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . ;Out Island 415 :This masthead sloop model was introduced in 1975 and built until 1981, with 300 boats completed. It features a "walk-though" interior and could be ordered with an optional tall rig for sailing in areas with lighter winds. It has a length overall of , a waterline length of , displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard long keel. The boat is fitted with a British Perkins diesel engine. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . ;Out Island 415 Ketch :This ketch-rigged model was introduced in 1977. It has a length overall of , a waterline length of , displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard long keel. The boat is fitted with a British Perkins diesel engine. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . ;Out Island 416 :This cutter or ketch-rigged model was introduced in 1981 to replace the 415 in production and was produced until 1985. It features a taller mast with increased sail area over earlier models. It has a length overall of , a waterline length of , displaces and carries of lead ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard long keel. The boat is fitted with a British Perkins 4-154 diesel engine of . ;Out Island 41 Classic (Morgan Classic 41) Morgan 41 Classic Pumalin

:This masthead sloop model was introduced in 1986 and built until 1991, with 150 boats completed. It was introduced after the manufacturer was bought out by

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 . Catalina Yachts is one of the largest boat m ...

and was sold as the ''Out Island 41 Classic'' and ''Morgan Classic 41''. It differs from all the other boats in the series in having a fin keel and a

skeg A skeg (or skegg or skag) is a sternward extension of the keel of boats and ships which have a rudder mounted on the centre line. The term also applies to the lowest point on an outboard motor or the outdrive of an inboard/outboard."A small fin f ...

-mounted rudder in place of the long keel and keel-mounted rudder, plus a new deck design. It has a length overall of , a waterline length of , displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel. The boat is fitted with a Japanese Yanmar diesel engine. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of .

Operational history

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "the Morgan Out Island 41 is one of the world’s most popular cruising boats. Over 800 have been built, and the boat is used extensively in the charter industry. There is often roller furling for the jib, There are two double cabins that are really private main cabin with a double and a single; and in desperate cases, the nav station and workbench could be used for one person." A 1996 review in the ''Spinsheet'' by marine surveyor Jack Hornor stated, "my reaction to the introduction of the Morgan Out Island 41 in 1972 was, to say the least, disappointment. At the time, I was working as an apprentice marine surveyor and although I had no formal training yet, I was a serious student of yacht design. Much of my spare time was spent studying the work of my favorite designers. I was a traditionalist, fond of the sweet sheer lines, near perfect balance, and classic elegance evident in the designs of Philip Rhodes, Bill Tripp, and Charlie Morgan. In much the same way that I felt Bob Dylan had sold out to pop culture by going electric, I felt Morgan had betrayed his traditional roots and sacrificed elegance and balance for volume and head room with his design of the Morgan Out Island 41. Well, times they are a changing. More than 25 years later, I have a whole different perspective on this design. Dylan did some pretty good stuff too. Pure traditionalists and lovers of all out sailing performance will still not be drawn to the pudgy appearance and less than stellar sailing performance of the Morgan Out Island 41, but time has proven that this is the most popular boat over 40' ever built. More than 1,000 are still sailing all around the world. No comparable boat even comes close to this success. Conservative estimates suggest that 30 to 35 percent of the Out Island 41s went into the charter trade, and I think it's safe to say more sailors have had an opportunity to sail this venerable cruising classic than any other boat over 40'." In a 2010 review, writer Charles Diane said of the design, "the legendary designer/builder Charley Morgan allegedly conceived this boat in a fit of pique when the IOR supplanted the old CCA rule as the racing rule du jour back in 1970. If so it was an auspicious tantrum, as the Out Island 41 turned out to be an extremely successful boat and ultimately helped to transform the business of fiberglass sailboat production. The OI 41 was not only one of the first designs targeted at the emerging bareboat charter industry (the original "charter barge," if you will), it was also one of the first center-cockpit boats and one of the first to blatantly discount sailing performance in favor of maximum accommodation space."

References

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External links