If FBYC had a club Hall of Fame, former member Roger Moorman would surely be one of its first inductees. Sadly we learned of Roger’s passing at age 90 on March 9. He was an early member and accomplished racer back in the 50s when he designed and built the venerable 17-ft OD Mobjack in Gloucester County. He is considered a fiberglass pioneer having produced some the nation’s first GRP sailboat hulls in 1954.

FBYC hosted the first Mobjack class race in 1956 and holds Fleet Charter #1 issued in 1959. Roger endeavored to make an appearance at all Mobjack National Championship events, the last of which he attended was at Ware River in 2010.

In 1976, Roger retired from commercial sailboat building and made 25 round trips along the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida by sail on his Morgan 34. In 1996, with the desire to build one last boat, he began construction of a replica of the 31 ft., Lillian D, an 1899 Chesapeake sailing log canoe used by Poquoson oystermen.

For a more complete story on Roger Moorman and the amazing Mobjack, readers are invited to go to the story on the Club’s History site entitled “FBYC: Birthplace of the Mobjack” at the following link: http://www.fbyc.net/Club/History/Articles/07birthofmobjack