The Morgan Outisland 41 owes much of its sucess to great planning, innovative design and ideal timing.

Charley Morgan, founder of Morgan Yacht Corporation, learned that having the right ideas at the right time pays off. In 1969 the New York Yacht Club adopted new rating rules that favoured racing boats and dulled large cruising boats' competitive edge. Morgan and design-engineer Eric White decided to ignore the ratings game and created the wide beamed, 13' 10", Morgan Out Island 41 for coastal cruisers and non racing sailors.

The Morgan Out Island first appeared at the Annapolis Boat Show in 1970 where it displayed its tri cabin arrangement with an aft stateroom, forward cabin, separate main saloon, private heads, and hanging lockers for personal gear. Morgan also added an air conditioner, generator and diesel engine, and a shoal draft keel for easy anchoring.

"In the Morgan Out Island, the owner could get away from other people," said Morgan. The boat's privacy and functionality really helped it succeed.

The Out Island 41 became the cruising boat of choice for coastal sailors, families and couples who wished to live aboard part time. In its first year one hundred and twenty Morgan Out Island 41's were sold. The next year, with two production lines running full time, output reached an incredible one boat per day. At the time the boat sold for $35,000.

The attributes that made the Out Island 41 popular with cruising owners, living space and privacy unheard of in a production yacht, made the boat a natural for bareboat chartering, it was instrumental in the growth of the charter industry. For years the Out Island 41 was the standard boat of the Caribbean charter fleets.

Thousands of Out Island 41s were sold over a production run that extended into the nineties. These boats are still a common sight in the Caribbean, the Bahamas and along the U.S. coasts, where owners continue to appreciate the pioneering cruising boat that weds the comforts of home to the challenge of sailing.