Winter 2005 - New England Multihull Association

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The History of NEMA, part II of a series by Spencer Merz 8 The first part of this series written by Les Moore in the March 2003 edition of the Newsletter dealt with the history of multihulls in general and the early years of NEMA dating back to 1966 in particular. With the Internet now available to almost all, comprehensive historical articles are easily found and I do not wish to regurgitate this enormous fund of material here. The first Newsletter article may be found at nemasail.org/pdf/march2003.pdf pages 6 and 7 for those who are interested. Les Moore and I have compiled a skeletal outline of NEMA from 1965 to 1991 which includes for the early years club officers, speakers, and race events, and this document is available as an efile upon request for those curious. We will depart here from this earlier historical format and deal from time to time with various boats and personalities in early NEMA history that have distinguished themselves in various notable ways. Some of the early craft have come and gone, consigned to a backwater grave or converted into matchsticks. Some were home built, some were designed by people new to the multihull concept, some would look at home on the race course or cruising grounds today. Of particular note is the explosive growth of multihull technology in a very short time compared to the growth of other technological advancements, and the period that will be addressed in this series takes place primarily in the 1980s when new designs and new materials were evolving at a particularly rapid rate. A similar growth period occurred with heavierthan-air craft early in the first half of the 20th century, but otherwise technical advancements were either spurred by war or took place over decades. The first boat under review is a 38' Newick trimaran design built by Tom Bandoni in Wareham MA. Dick’s wing deck Panache II as originally built was 38' x 27' and was calculated to come in N E M A Winter 2005 at 3500 lbs empty. Material was Airex, a new at that time closed foam core material which could be sprung into place over frames and then glassed over. From Tom: “The laminate was strictly unidirectional S-Glass and polyester. The whole first layup event, attended by 14 helpers, was coached by Rory Nugent, owner of the 31' Newick Proa Godiva Chocolatier and one of the original employees of Daffy Duck Marine on the Vineyard which produced all of the production Vals including Mike Birch’s Ostar third place boat, Third Turtle.” Tom was taken by the multihull bug when reading of Phil Weld’s 1980 OSTAR victory in Moxie, and was bitten for good when sitting on a 20' Supercat in Buzzards Bay and seeing Moxie and Olympus Photo fly by. He spent three years overall seeing his project to completion, which involved some 2,000 hours of time of his and many others over a 19 month period to launch day on April 19th of 1983. Aquila (Italian for eagle) launched within her weight figure which was an important factor influencing her eventual turn of speed, as a well known and lamentable fact is that once weight goes into a boat it can never be taken out. She competed in the Under construction Newport-Bermuda multihull race followed by the Buzzards Bay Regatta of that year. It was in this race series that Aquila first sprouted a temporary bowsprit, which helped her offwind performance immeasurably. Here she was regularly to the course marks before Phil Weld’s 60' Gulf Streamer before being overpowered and outsailed to the finish line. About the dedication required to build a boat, Tom recalled a trimaran builder in British Columbia who said “you have to have an iron bar in your stomach” to build a boat, and the number of partially finished boats seen in boatyards and backyards before the proliferation of factory-built fiberglass boats bears testimony to this statement. Tom recalls further regarding launch day: “Built inland in Walpole Mass. And trucked, full width over Rtes 95,128, and Morrisey Blvd, to Malibu Beach, before/at dawn in a freak snowstorm (April 19) Towed by my six cylinder 1/2 ton Chevy pickup. With three methods of communication to State and local Police, and four flag vehicles, and five DPU permits. Even still an anxious commuter passed me by driving under the wing of
the boat! Note, I used the same truck and trailer to bring Larry and Barbara Bedell’s 50' trimaran center hull (Barbara Ann IV) from Dover MA to Tripp’s in Westport, MA.” Calamity befell Aquila in the Spring of her second season, when sailing up a waterway near Buzzards Bay her aluminum mast caught an overhead power line that had dropped below the height stated on the chart, and the high current discharge took out all the electronics and traveled to the water via the cabin top, causing heavy delamination. Fortunately no one on board was injured, and the boat was delivered to Greene Marine in Yarmouth ME where Walter Greene repaired the housetop and built and fitted a rotating wing mast designed by Gougeon Brothers in Bay City MI. Aquila was put on the market and purchased by a group of men from FL who took her south for a time. The southern latitudes apparently did not agree with her, however, and she returned to MA helmed by Steve Black. Renamed and entered in the 1988 OSTAR, or C-Star as it was known that year, Eagle picked up 2 more feet of length in the form of a stern scoop to take full advantage of the 40' class in which she would compete when an open stern extension was installed. A later addition was an outboard bracket to support a 9.9HP Yamaha engine. Installation of a wide, low profile dodger permitted a degree of shelter for offshore work. She was assigned sail number 60 for that event, and carries that number to this day. Steve and Eagle raced to England winning the multihull class for the Legend Cup which acted as a feeder race for the C-Star where Steve finished 4th in class. Steve then competed in various short-handed NEMA races for the next two seasons after which Eagle acquired owner John Barry, a CT resident and businessman, as her next owner in the fall of 1989. It was in Whareham at the end of the first leg of the Newport-Boston race at that time where I first went aboard Eagle and met John and Steve at the end of a very rough and wet first leg completed only by a fraction of the starters. John fitted a serious all-weather bowsprit Greenwich Propane entering St. George’s Cut, Bermuda from Hall Spars to the upturned snout of Eagle the following spring which allowed her to carry offwind headsails in all weather. At this time her original symmetrical spinnaker was replaced with an asymmetric chute. John sailed and raced her extensively up and down the East coast of the US from Halifax to the Caribbean, and for one winter she remained south under the care of Tom Cox who saw that she got to the various starting lines in time for John to leap aboard for the various race events. John continued to campaign the boat, increasing his confidence along the way until he participated in the 1994 double-handed Plymouth - Newport transatlantic race where he placed first in class. For this event the boat was delivered to Plymouth via the Azores by NEMA members and longtime racers Debbie Druan and Dave Koshiol. John then undertook several assaults on the Newport - Bermuda record, finally winning this race and setting a course record in 1996. During the course of these attempts under her new name of Greenwich Propane, she underwent weight reductions which included removal of her rolling furler gear in efforts to enhance speed. The goal of the Bermuda passage record accomplished, John moved on to a larger Chris White designed tri in 1998 and passed GP on to NEMA member Terry Britton who sails her as Trike. Under Terry’s control she underwent structural repairs prior to competing in two Marblehead - Halifax races where she most recently took line honors in 2001. Trike is now reportedly basking in the Caribbean. Not normally mentioned in stories about race boats is the fact that somehow every boat has to retrace her steps and return home, this without the glory of the race but with many of the same discomforts and risks. Greenwich Propane was no exception to this rule, and during the early part of her career as GP I probably had as many miles aboard as her owner, with Tom Cox running a close second. From her beginnings in a shed in Wareham, Aquila has done two Atlantic round trip crossings, including three crossings under full race condition, several Marblehead-Halifax races, a Chesapeake Bay race, several races in southern waters, and multiple trips up and down the Intracoastal Waterway. She has been pressed to the limit but has never experienced structural failure of a catastrophic nature. It is safe to say that at least 25,000nm have passed under her hulls. She was drawn by a master designer, built by an exacting craftsman of first class materials, and has been fitted with the best of sails throughout her career. Still going strong after 20 years! –Spencer Merz Winter 2005 N E M A 9
Page 1 and 2: Winter 2005 Photographer and Yachts
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Page 11 and 12: scene within 20 minutes. They put t
Page 13 and 14: NEMA SPONSORS Maine Cat Wins Boat o
Page 15 and 16: 2005 NEMA Membership Renewal Single

Winter 2005 - New England Multihull Association

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