Revered Aussie trailerable yacht designer Robb Legg dies
Legg’s iconic designs introduced cheap, fast and safe trailerboat sailing to a whole generation of AustraliansBrisbane-based trailerable yacht designer Rob Legg has died aged 90 after a career that included the launch of a new, safe and affordable class of sailing.
“It is with much sadness that the RL24 Owners Association advises that Rob Legg passed away on Tuesday 12th February 2019,” the RLYachts.net website posted yesterday. “The RL24 Owners Association offer their sympathy and condolences to his family at this sad time.
“Rob Legg will be remembered for his innovative trailable yacht designs, his passion for sailing and his contribution to Australian sailing,” it said.
The much-revered Legg started his career as a sailmaker, but after building dinghies out of plywood in his back yard soon moved into making boats. In the late 1960s, he envisaged a trailerable sailboat that would sleep four people, be fast, safe – the ability to self-right was an important part of the design brief – and easy to rig and handle.
The first ply boat, Tiki II, would become the template for a range of fibreglass boats spanning across the RL24, RL28 and RL34, and the formation of fibreglass boatbuilder RL Yachts.
The first RL24 was launched in mid-1973 at the Brisbane boat show, with the first five orders rolling in. By the end of the next year, there were about 50 of the boats on the water.
In 1977, Legg left the Gold Coast Sharkcat factory to start his own manufacturing business building the boats.
The RL24 was produced over four significant generations, with the most significant update the addition of a cockpit well so that the boat’s outboard engine could be lifted out of the water more easily, and preventing cavitation. About 500 were made and sold under licence in the US, about 100 were built in Western Australia, and others were exported to Japan with pink-hued hulls. The factory even produced fishermen’s dories.
In 1979, the RL 28 was launched, featuring more headroom and accommodation for up to six, including a shower and head. The boat was also notable for using a hydraulic swing keel. It was followed closely by the RL34 with its 1.25-tonne cast iron keel with a 100kg centreboard.
Legg retired from the business in the late 1980s, and by 1991 production of the RL yachts ended after more than 630 were built.
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