36mmthick

done race committee work for America’s Cups sailed in J-Class sloops.Hooking up with Harry Noyes thrust Stan Livingston into the apogee of thegold-plated yachting world. Livingston quickly proved he was ready for primetime by winning six of nine starts on the New York Yacht Club cruise thatsummer, and guiding Tiaga Too to a Stamford/Vineyard Race victory. He alsofinished well on the Eastern Yacht Club Cruise. "She was bright hulled," hesays of Tioga Too. "Every day after sailing we went over the side and wipeddown the varnish with a chamois."Livingston rowed and swam for Yale teams, and planned to attend HarvardBusiness School. The War intervened. Rather than be drafted, he got into the V-7program, was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Navy in 1941, and like everygraduate of the day immediately shipped out. He spent two years on a destroyerin the Pacific, then got transferred to PT boats for the last two years – "In theMed, luckily enough."A friend from theRoyal Cruising Clubsent them a flier forthe Oyster 46 fromthe London BoatShow with the note,"This is the boatfor you"As we were leaving, one of Hinkley’s service reps appeared to discuss Manukai’sneeds, so I dropped in on Bob Hood, the yard’s service manager. "He’s a trueblue water cruiser," Bob said of Stanley. "Very hands-on for his age. He varnishedManukai’s decks, and does a lot of mechanical and electrical stuff. He’ll pull outthe manual, read it, understand it, and then work with the guys and get involvedin the best sense. I call him an old salt."Halsey Herreshoff, son of the legendary designer Nathaniel, runs the HerreshoffMuseum in Bristol. Stanley Livingston sits on the board of Halsey’s America’sCup Hall of Fame. Halsey has known Livingston ever since he was his boatboy as a teenager. "He was tough, but kindly," Halsey says. A task master? "Ididn’t consider him a task master, but then," Halsey says, "I was used toworking for my father."It’s a ten minute drive from the Hinckley yard to Livingston’s home, "Wind Hill",in Bristol, where a Golden Retriever and a blond Labrador rush out to administerhugs. The house is a high-roofed, aged wood and stone Tudor design built in1891. It’s located on Poppasquash Point, half way down a long hill that endsopposite Hog Island on the south end of Bristol Harbor. From the front porch, it’sa well-hit number one wood and a full pitching wedge to the dock. In the cozykitchen, Martie Livingston, an attractive, diminutive woman full of grace, isheating up lobster bisque. Her grandfather, who started the Nicholson FileCompany in Providence, bought the house in 1921. It’s been expanded sincethen, but the interior has maintained a timeless, comfortable feel. Bright, colorfulphoto-realistic landscapes of the Livingston’s favorite haunts in Hawaii by Mauiartist, Curtis Wilson Cost, are hung here and there on the walls throughout thehouse like rays of sunshine.Stanley and Martie’s brother were fraternity brothers at Yale. But with Martie fouryears younger and a student at Miss Porters’ School, it wasn’t until late inStanley’s senior year that they met. They were married in 1943, while Livingstonwas at PT school in Rhode Island. Sailors in love. Stanley is quick to point outthat Martie began sailing at a much younger age than he. It’s still her passion.Just five years ago, Martie and her daughter won the Wind Hill Trophy, a racearound Prudence Island for Herreshoff twelve-and-a-halfs. "Stanley is old enoughto be forgiven if he were to get a power boat," says Howland Jones, an old anddear sailing friend of the Livingston’s. "But Martie wants to sail."In a room off the kitchen dedicated to dogs and boats, Stanley considers a wall ofphotographs of the boats he and Martie have owned. First was Kokua, a roomy,42' family cruiser the Livingston’s bought in 1950 when their first child was 4.22 www.oystermarine.com