researching the history of newporter 40's

[jim sherk]

we have owned Kings Ransom (hull 49) for about half a year, and are well along on a retrofit of 'most everything.

i am interested in pulling together some history of the NP40.

can anyone steer me to literature that relates to our boats? there's not a lot coming thru Google.

i do have a book "the cruising life", penned by an owner of Sultana, sailed to the south seas., but it's very general in nature.

i'm told that it was popular with famous folks of the 60's.

thanks in advance.

jim sherk, Wilmington CA berth

[bob mitchell]

The first place to look is Forum # 1 on page 11 on this site (the last page) under Forums. There is an original document telling the Ackerman (boat designer) story.
"Construction Details" on page 9 of forums contains a lot of historical photos. The next place is in the "Eagles" (the early (1960s, etc) newsletters of the early Newporter owners. They are posted in the forums on a fairly regular basis - and I will post one right after this post as an example. These are pretty cool in the sense that they give you the flavor of the early Newporter community, and, if you find the right one, will probably talk about the original owner and characteristics of hull # 41!
On page 10 of the forums is the "Leprechuan Transpac Story", about a fairly famous racing Newporter, that was recently for sale, from a 1971 Eagle. (See page 8 of Forums for first Eagles post)
And last but not least, is Clyde Phillips, one of our members who actually built Newporters in the Dorchester, N.J. shipyard. He has written several articles with historical perspectives, such as "Captain Clyde Recalls Newporter Boatyard Days" on page 9 of the Forums - and actually has a blog on this site that includes most of the information he has posted. Clyde has his own Newporter site - see bottom of page 6 in forums for links, and is always willing to answer questions if he knows - technical and historical.
So filter through this site, cumbersome though it is, and I am sure you will be surprised how much history is here, and hopefully you will find and add some more!

[jim sherk]

wow, my cup runneth over. will try not to get indigestion consuming all this at once! thanks much
jim

bob mitchell said:

The first place to look is Forum # 1 on page 11 on this site (the last page) under Forums. There is an original document telling the Ackerman (boat designer) story.
"Construction Details" on page 9 of forums contains a lot of historical photos. The next place is in the "Eagles" (the early (1960s, etc) newsletters of the early Newporter owners. They are posted in the forums on a fairly regular basis - and I will post one right after this post as an example. These are pretty cool in the sense that they give you the flavor of the early Newporter community, and, if you find the right one, will probably talk about the original owner and characteristics of hull # 41!
On page 10 of the forums is the "Leprechuan Transpac Story", about a fairly famous racing Newporter, that was recently for sale, from a 1971 Eagle. (See page 8 of Forums for first Eagles post)
And last but not least, is Clyde Phillips, one of our members who actually built Newporters in the Dorchester, N.J. shipyard. He has written several articles with historical perspectives, such as "Captain Clyde Recalls Newporter Boatyard Days" on page 9 of the Forums - and actually has a blog on this site that includes most of the information he has posted. Clyde has his own Newporter site - see bottom of page 6 in forums for links, and is always willing to answer questions if he knows - technical and historical.
So filter through this site, cumbersome though it is, and I am sure you will be surprised how much history is here, and hopefully you will find and add some more!