Designed to Cruise [Hardcover]

Roger Marshall (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 286 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc (September 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393033333
• ISBN-13: 978-0393033335
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,887,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roger Marshall

Roger Marshall's work has appeared in magazines worldwide as well as the New York Times, The Daily Telegraph (UK), The Providence Journal, Sports Illustrated, Sail, Yachting World, Australian Sailing, Seahorse (UK), Kazi (Japan)and many other newspapers and magazines. He has appeared on Boating Today TV as host and commentator and is now the editor of Hobby Greenhouse magazine and contributor to several boating magazines. He has been a editor and contributor to many other magazines and has written more than 700 magazine articles. Marshall is the author of fifteen books, two of which were translated into Italian and Spanish. He has also won a number of prizes for his writing. His latest novel Soliton is available on Amazon's Kindle.
Marshall's day job a designer of sailing and powerboats. After completing a program in small craft design at Southampton College in England, Marshall moved to the United States to take a position at Sparkman & Stephens, Inc. in New York. He was a designer there for over 5 years and then left to establish his own yacht design studio. He was project manager for the Courageous Challenge for the 1987 America's Cup campaign in Australia. Before going with the Courageous group he lectured a six-semester program leading to a minor in small craft design at Roger Williams University. In 1999 one of his designs was selected for inclusion in Ocean Cruising magazine's American Yacht Review. The Avid 24, a production bass boat is currently under construction.
Marshall has extensive sailing and boating experience. He has sailed at all levels including with the British Admiral's Cup team on Quailo III and aboard Prime Minister Heath's Morning Cloud and once with the Japanese team. He has also sailed in many world and national championships, 11 Bermuda races (twice with the British Onion Patch team), and 5 Fastnet races (twice with the British Admiral's Cup team), and the 1997 Atlantic Challenge from New York, to Falmouth, England, placing third. He has cruised on both power and sailboats in many parts of the world, especially the European, Mediterranean, and North American coastlines.
He is past President of Boating Writers International, former chair of the Innovation Awards committee, is also a member of the jury for the prestigious DAME Awards held at the METS show in Holland. He a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the Garden Writers Association.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars For rich people who favor modern boats, April 20, 2003

By 

Hitoshi Noguchi (Oita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Designed to Cruise (Hardcover)

The reviews written for Roger Marshal's other books apply here as well. His book(s) seem to be written for people who can afford boats of the 45-70ft range. Marshal is an excellent boat designer and his articles explaining his designs for some sailing magazines are superb and informative. I still remember his excellent off shore cruiser, evidently designed for a knowledgeable owner, that appeared on Wooden Boat magazine years ago.

But as an author, his audience is not the relatively modest sailor who wants to buy a dependable boat of the 25-35ft range. I am sure Marshal designs such boats too. But there is little profit in designing little boats. His books are aimed at people who pay his mortgage. His book is quite informative for people who are interested in learning about Marshal's craft.

But the text is dry. His illustrations are unromantic. A rare emotional moment in the introduction is squandered in expressing his disdain for the twinkle eyed dreamers who come to his office with notions that are too vague for him to care for. But those crazy romantic urges are what compels sailors to buy books on boats.

Worst of all, he has no sense of fun. When placed next to such contemporary designers as Benford, Bolger and Bueler, Marshal's book severely lacks the element of the unexpected. His boats in the book look stale, like the majority of the boats you see at boatshows. This is all the more sad because there actually is a reason why so many rich people choose him to design their boats. Marshal is a man who understands boats. But he does not understand boat books.

4.0 out of 5 stars Theory, systems and more, October 10, 2003

By 

Bruce Kirkpatrick (the worktable on my boat) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Designed to Cruise (Hardcover)

This book explains why modern boats are the way they are. The principles are valid for any size or price boat. It explains theory and construction practices in currently in use in boat manufacture from hull and rig design to mechanical system choice, placement and tradeoffs. The intended audience is not the designer/engineer or the armchair romantic, but rather the person who is looking to make more informed decisions in selection and purchase or to commission design and construction of a boat likely to be available in the mainstream market today.