Phil Bolger’s Martha Jane design has character. After building mine, I loved settling back into the corner of her big, deep cockpit and looking up at that beautiful 200-sq-ft tanbark balance-lug sail as it worked us to windward—which it accomplished amazingly well at about 50 degrees off the wind. The boat is also very dry and comfortable. I remember the first time I saw a Martha Jane on the water: I was sailing a Sea Pearl 21—a relatively seaworthy open camp cruiser—and hanging on by my fingernails, while the skipper of the nearby Martha Jane was standing up drinking a cup of coffee.Some people say that the late Mr. Bolger’s designs are an acquired taste. Perhaps that’s true, but there is an inherent beauty about this particular boat. The proportions are right, and there is no extraneous detail. The design is a tremendous study in economy and in form following function. The Phil Bolger–designed sharpie-yawl Martha Jane is a big, simple, well-performing boat. She has good seakeeping ability, and can also be poled up into shallow creeks.
Brian Hunsaker
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