I am sure most of you will have heard of David Sadler who has sadly died at the age of 93 at his home in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. His name is synonymous with Sadler Yachts – boats which are plentiful around Tollesbury and the rest of east coast. In fact, it was his son who started the business, but David designed many of the Sadler range.

What you may not know is that David Sadler was born in Tollesbury. He was born here on 13th February 1921 and spent a good deal of his youth with his grandfather in his fishing smack on the river. He went to the village school and won a scholarship to attend Colchester Grammar. He then went on to Kingston Technical College.

His first cruiser was a Folkboat which he bought in 1962 and it was this boat that inspired the design of the Contessa 26 – his first major design. Indeed the name is derived from his wife’s name – Tessa. He then went on to design the Contessa 32, the Sadler 25, 32 and 29. He joined his son’s business when he retired from the Ministry of Defence as a design and development engineer and later retired to sail around the world in a Contest 42 – a voyage that took around 10 years. He then settled in New Zealand.

So – thanks David Sadler – your legacy lives on in Tollesbury and around the world.