Internet search bits of Newporter trivia information.

[Justine]

A Newporter 40' once owned by Rock Hudson is currently up for auction on eBay. The owner of the boat, Christopher Chamberlin, has written a brief summary and history to share with everyone about the auction. A link to the auction is also located at the end of the article.
My wife and I just listed our 1956 Newporter 40' Ketch--the very same ketch that Rock Hudson bought in the late 1950s--for sale. According to "Rock Hudson His Story" by Rock Hudson and Sara Davidson, "In the summer of 1959, Rock (Hudson) moved from Malibu to Newport Beach and bought a sailboat, a Newporter, from actress Claire Trevor and her husband, Milton Bern. He changed the name from "The Lady Claire" to "Khairuzan," after the character he had played in "The Golden Blade." He spent a great deal of time with Claire and Milton, who became a surrogate father and taught him to sail."

I purchased Rock Hudson's former Newporter many years later on the East Coast, in 1986. The seller, a Connecticut charity, was unaware of its special provenance and so was I. I only learned of the vessel's famous prior owners, including Rock Hudson, from reviewing insurance records from Lloyds of London. Then, my "Lady Claire" sail bags made sense!

My wife researched the matter further and has found several references to our boat. For instance, a Web site referencing golden girls of film states: "The Burnetts (Gia Scala & Dan Burnett) spen[t] a lot of time with his old neighbor Rock Hudson at his ranch and go sailing to Catalina Island on Hudson's 40-ft ketch Khairuzan (Arabic for "good luck")."--This would be our ketch! Also, Rock mentions in our boat in an interview: "Regrets?" he asked in an interview not long before his death. "Oh, I have a few. I wanted to sail around the world in a big ketch I owned, but I was always too busy."

A few more facts about the ketch: it is the twelfth Newporter built, hull #12, in the line of boats built by C.E. "ACK" Ackerman in Costa Mesa, California, starting in the early 1950's. Later Newporters were built in New Jersey, where our ketch now resides in a boatyard in South Amboy. Newporters are famous for their style, grace, practical design, and sea-worthiness. She's a pleasure to sail and stay aboard. No wonder Rock wanted to sail her around the world!

[Justine]

Wow out this whole guy's exciting life he states restoring a Newporter was his proudest acheivement. Amazing :)


CLIFFORD S. BABCOCK 1925-2008

from the Kennebec Journal


WEST GARDINER -- It saddens the Babcock family to announce the passing of our patriarch. Complications from a continuing heart condition caused his passing Saturday evening, Nov. 1, 2008, at Maine Medical Center in Portland.
He was born in Randolph in 1925 to Mary Griffin Babcock and Clifford S. Babcock Sr. He was educated in local schools.

He met his wife, Natalie, at the Togus VA, in the 1950s, where he was an orderly and she was a registered nurse. They married in 1953 and lived in Gardiner until moving to West Gardiner, where they both were lifelong residents.

At age 17, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served as an anti-aircraft gunner on board the battleship U.S.S. Alabama in the Pacific and Atlantic theaters of operation. He was very proud of his service, as was his family, and so should the public be.

Clif was quite an adventurous man and his hobbies and interests were many and varied.

He always enjoyed being around the water, and over his long life many boats had been built and repaired at his workplace and home. As a young sea scout, he had made diving helmets from old fuel cans with air provided by bicycle pump. He also had built canvas kayaks to run the waves on Cobbosseecontee Stream.

In his earlier days, during the 1950s, he raced outboard hydroplanes throughout the state with highlights including jumping his race boat over a flaming ramp. He also had practiced the carnival sideshow act of blowing himself out of a wooden box using dynamite. During the 1950s and '60s, he raced stock cars at places like Oakland, Oxford, Unity and Beechridge. When he partnered with Bob Adams in the garage business, he had as many as three stock cars in his stable. During the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, he participated as owner/mechanic for his sons as they competed in boat races all over the United States under the American Powerboat Association, America's oldest sanctioning body. His equipment was always competitive, and he held the respect of all those around him.

He was a certified scuba diver, and also had at one time been a licensed pilot. He also enjoyed riding motorcycles and hunting when he was younger. He was a very gifted mechanic and was known for his ability to be a problem solver.

He was employed over the years as a heavy-equipment operator for McKee Construction company and was a mechanic for the city of Gardiner. He operated his own auto repair shop, Babcock's Garage in West Gardiner, for years before taking the job as maintenance supervisor at Gardiner General Hospital. Upon the closing of Gardiner General, he became the maintenance supervisor at Augusta General Hospital, which later became Mid Maine Medical, now MaineGeneral Medical Center; he retired from this job in 1982. After his retirement, he began to work once again on his love of boats. His proudest achievement was the repair and restoration of a 12-ton 1957 Newporter ketch. He and his wife so enjoyed this vessel, and they spent much time around Rockland and Boothbay Harbor aboard it until Nat became ill.

[Justine]

AMERICA'S CUP: ARTIST AS PROPHET
This is the editor's column from Sports Illistrated. I found the photo and am wondering if anyone can find our Newporter.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/edb/reader.html?magID=SI&...

Page 20 -21


Now try not to get distracted by reading the articles hehe That one on the scouting report on page 62 is interesting :)

And ladies try not to drool on the computer as you pass page 30 ;p

( Ok be honest how many went straight to page 30? hehe)


Sirs:
One picture in your Sept. 15 issue was worth a year's subscription price to me. On pages 20-21, showing an artist's conception of the America's Cup racecourse, is a boat I am much interested in. But the curious thing is, this boat has never been in eastern waters.

The ketch shown just off Point Judith is undoubtedly a Newporter. One cannot mistake the combination of clipper bow, deckhouse, dinghy hung on stern davits and, above all, the Newporter monkey rail. There are now 63 of these famous Newporters on the West Coast, two on the Great Lakes and one in Florida.
FRED O. PAIGE
Philadelphia

?The Newporter, previewed in our Nov. 5, 1956 issue as the first production-line, fiber-glass-covered ocean sailer, has since made an outstanding name for itself on the West Coast. Artist Joe Kaufman, not a Californian, has never seen one but, like cartographers of old and their sea monsters, drew in a Newporter for its decorative accent

[Justine]

Oh my golly gosh, Moonfleet has been tweetered :(

http://twitpic.com/2d9j9

[Justine]

Oh Dennis, Dennis, Dennis :O

You been holding out on us Dude. But you can run but you can not hide from the internet trivia Woman :)

Great video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.blip.tv/file/197875

Man the Newporter is a beautiful boat and anyone who thinks otherwise is nuts.

[Justine]

My Heart goes out to you Marion, Mr Seaman sounds like he was a wonderful and great man.

ROBERT F. SEAMAN, M.D., M.P.H. 1923 – 2008
By his Loving Wife and First Mate - Marion
Robert was a long time member of the Adventurers‟ Club of Long Angeles, The Shoreline Yacht- Long Beach and the Navy Yacht Club Long Beach. He was Fleet Surgeon for SYC, NYCLB and Southern California Yachting Associa-tion. He was a Life Member of the U.S. Power Squadrons and retired from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary after 22 years active service. Robert was on the National Staff of both organizations.
He became an Eagle Scout and learned to fly in Hap Arnold‟s Squadron in Santa Rosa, CA, and enjoyed pistol tar-get shooting. Was a member of the American Medical Association, American Cetacean Society, Toastmasters, King Harbor Yacht Club, The Magic Castle, XL Motorcycle Club and the Elks. He was Commodore of the Long Beach Sea Explorer Scouts and on the BSA National Staff.
Robert enjoyed dancing - tap, soft shoe and ballroom. That‟s where I met him.
And, of course, Sailing! He lived aboard his beautiful sailing vessel „ETOILE‟ for 20 years including four years blue water cruising. „ETOILE‟, a 40 foot Newporter ketch is for sale--contact me if interested. He enjoyed teaching every aspect of boating/sailing and made learning fun using the KIS method. Meteorology and celestial navigation are on the top of the list.
Robert enjoyed traveling and served as physician in several foreign countries: [Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua and Panama]. He served two tours as Ship‟s Surgeon on the‟ Glomar Chal-lenger‟, two tours on the Alaskan Oil Pipeline and on the Tall Ship „Sea Cloud.‟ After leaving the „Challenger‟ in Tierra del Fuego he traveled overland through South America to Panama to Florida, USA and HOME!
During WWII, Robert was a U.S. Army Air Force B-24 Pilot with the 8th Air Force, 446 Bomb Group, European Theater [England]. He completed 35 combat missions and forced to crash land once.
After the war he went on to receive his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of California Irvine and received his Master‟s in Public Health from the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
Robert decided what he wanted to do, set goals, studied/prepared then accomplished what he set out to do. He was a wonderful, caring, humorous, intelligent, loving and knowledgeable husband. I will miss him – a lot.
Late last year, Robert had extensive thyroid cancer surgery. The radioactive iodine pill administered in March did not kill the remaining cancer. The left vocal chord was paralyzed during surgery, BUT in early July Dr. Berke adminis-tered collagen to the damaged chord making the good chord vibrate against it and his speech improved.
On August 28, 2008, I took him to ER because he couldn‟t stand or walk without support. The ER CT scan showed swelling and bleeding in the left side of the brain. The MRI on Friday showed a large tumor. He returned home on August 31, 2008 - - - his 85th Birthday!
The meds worked for almost two weeks. We ate out often, had dinner with friends on Sep 7, walked one-half mile several times a week. On Wednesday his legs were a little swollen. Torrance Memorial Home Health & Hospice visited on Thursday. The RN returned on Friday to give me additional instructions and was surprised at how quickly he de-clined. He did not want to „live‟ in a hospital bed in the living room so all equipment was canceled and he died peace-fully and pain free on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 5:30 A.M.
A man of strong will and ethics he chose to pass quickly - much to the surprise of everyone.

[bob mitchell]

Justine said:

AMERICA'S CUP: ARTIST AS PROPHET
This is the editor's column from Sports Illistrated. I found the photo and am wondering if anyone can find our Newporter.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/edb/reader.html?magID=SI&...

Page 20 -21


Now try not to get distracted by reading the articles hehe That one on the scouting report on page 62 is interesting :)

And ladies try not to drool on the computer as you pass page 30 ;p

( Ok be honest how many went straight to page 30? hehe)


Sirs:
One picture in your Sept. 15 issue was worth a year's subscription price to me. On pages 20-21, showing an artist's conception of the America's Cup racecourse, is a boat I am much interested in. But the curious thing is, this boat has never been in eastern waters.

The ketch shown just off Point Judith is undoubtedly a Newporter. One cannot mistake the combination of clipper bow, deckhouse, dinghy hung on stern davits and, above all, the Newporter monkey rail. There are now 63 of these famous Newporters on the West Coast, two on the Great Lakes and one in Florida.
FRED O. PAIGE
Philadelphia

?The Newporter, previewed in our Nov. 5, 1956 issue as the first production-line, fiber-glass-covered ocean sailer, has since made an outstanding name for itself on the West Coast. Artist Joe Kaufman, not a Californian, has never seen one but, like cartographers of old and their sea monsters, drew in a Newporter for its decorative accent

[Justine]

Hi,

I ran into this on a search:

http://floridaboats.net/archive/newporter%20slide%20show/slides/40%...

 

http://floridaboats.net/archive/newporter%20slide%20show/slides/40%...

 

Not sure where it came from but it is interesting :)

 

[Eddie Offermann]

Just found a copy of this issue on EBay. While I have the pages dealing with our favorite boat in digital format, I thought it would be nice to have the actual magazine!

Justine said:

Ok for you boys :) Just incase you need a reason

Year : 1959
PLAYMATE: Yvette Vickers
COVER: Yatching "Mr. Playboy"
PICTORIALS: Tania Velia
FEATURES: Beat poetry by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso; Oscar Levant profile; Leonard Feather previews Playboy's First Jazz Festival in Jazz, Jazz, Jazz;three pages of cartoons by John Dempsey with captions by Francis D. Collins, Two's A CrowdFiction by Herbert Gold, The Incredible Adventures of Dino; single-page Jules Feiffer cartoon, Superman; 9-page Yatching article includes gear and photos of Chris-Craft 55-foot Constellation, Huckins Linwood 53 Fairform Flyer, Newporter 40-foot cruising ketch, Matthews 42-foot convertible sedan cruiser and others.
PAGES: 96