Richard Carlson, Naval Architect

Richard Douglas Carlson, a naval architect who had trained race horses and designed sailboats for ocean racing, died of  heart attack on Nov. 24 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton following a six-month illness. He was 90 and a resident of Sag Harbor.

For several years, Mr. Carlson was the only practicing naval architect on eastern Long Island, having opened a design firm on Shelter Island in 1960. He was frequently called on to measure, appraise, or survey boats, and often delivered them to new owners. He also was a founder the Midget Ocean Racing Club.

All but three of Mr. Carlson’s designs were for cruising sailboats under 45 feet. His best-known and most controversial design was called Cutlass, a 23-foot, 7-inch sloop with a unique reverse shear and transom. He would tell purchasers that he would buy a Cutlass back if they didn’t win half their races. No one ever took him up on it, his family said, and many clients became lifelong friends.

Mr. Carlson studied engineering at Cornell University and the University of Maryland. Although mostly self-taught as a naval architect, he worked with the yacht designers Philip Rhodes and M. Rosenblatt and Son before opening his own firm. Instead of searching for  clients, he would say that each boat would find its way to the right owner. He eventually decided that most Americans disliked sailboats, and found his customers in England, Australia, New Zealand, and South America.

He was born in Montclair, N.J., on Feb. 14, 1924, to Oscar Ludwig Carlson and the former Dicie Enita Cuckler. He grew up there and in Manhasset, and spent summers on Shelter Island. His parents relocated there toward the end of their lives.

Mr. Carlson designed and built his first boat at the age of 10, sailing it around Shelter Island, often with the family dog in the bow.

After serving in the Navy in Pacific Theater during World War II, he embraced his longtime love of thoroughbred horses and became a trainer and an expert on bloodlines. After three years, however, he returned to his first love, designing boats. He did nautical drawings for annual Christmas cards, which, his family said, were cherished by local sailors and displayed at marinas.

Last year, his nautical library, which contained upwards of 240 volumes, was given to the International Yacht Restoration School of Newport, R.I.

 Mr. Carlson and Joan Tyor Martines were married on Dec. 11, 1971. They had met at Storm Trysail Club races on Block Island and later moved to Sag Harbor. His first marriage to Mary Jane Zugelder had ended in divorce.

In addition to Mrs. Carlson, their daughter, Dicie Tyor Carlson of New York City, survives. A brother, Robert Carlson of Shelter Island, and a stepdaughter, Catherine Perry Martines, died before him.

A gathering of friends and relatives is planned at the Carlson residence on Division Street in Sag Harbor on Jan. 11. The family plans to disperse his ashes at sea.