Roger Hewson 1933 - 2023

The founder of Sabre Yachts, Roger Douglas Hewson, of Highland Green, Topsham, passed away peacefully on Dec. 2, 2023.  Roger was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on March 2, 1933, son of Irene Elderkin and Joseph Selden Hewson.  Roger attended Westmount High School and graduated from McGill University with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1955. He married Charlotte Gulick Hewson “Charlie” in 1955 and they celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary in 2023.  Roger followed his father’s footsteps in Hewson Construction where they built industrial buildings in Montreal, including four pavilions for the 1976 World’s Fair.  The Hewsons moved to Maine in 1970 where Roger founded Sabre Yachts. Over the years Sabre built over 1600 sailboats from 28 feet to 45 feet, and later began building power boats, which Sabre continues to build today. Roger was a very competitive sailor and raced in the International 14-foot Dinghy, Dragon and Cruising Classes. He also learned to fly and had many years at the controls of his Cessna airplane.  Roger and Charlie met through skiing and they enjoyed many years skiing as a family in the Laurentians, at Pleasant Mountain, and later at Sugarloaf where he skied until his mid-80s.  Roger served on boards of several non-profit organizations including the National Sailing Association, National Marine Manufacturing Association, Business Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve of Boston, and Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce. Most recently he served as a volunteer at Maine Maritime Museum.  The Hewsons lived on Raymond Cape on Sebago Lake for fifty years in a home which Roger designed and built in 1971. In 2010 they moved to Cundy’s Harbor, and later to Highland Green in Topsham. Roger was predeceased by his sister, Joanne Hewson Rees, of Montreal, by one day.  Roger is survived by his wife, Charlie; his daughters Deborah Merrill and Evelyn King and her husband Bruce; his son, Halsey; grandchildren Seth King, Abbie Garcia-Tunon and her husband Javi, Lee King, Parker Merrill and Dana Merrill; and great-grandchildren, Javi, Lucy, and Luke Garcia-Tunon.