Mcat 52
- Mcat 52
Richard Newick’s trimarans have become the stuff of legend. But is their number limited to the existing collectors’ fleet, or are we likely to see them back in build in boatyards? Only the future will tell, but we have wanted to see the launch of a restored Native 38 model to get a positive response to this hypothesis and proceed to test it, (almost) as though it were a new model.
In 1979, following receipt of the order for Moxie (the 50 foot winner of the 1980 Transat and Newick’s third trimaran after Gulfstreamer and Rogue Wave), Dick left St.Croix in the Virgin Islands where he had honed the naval architect skills which had given rise to his first trimarans. He later moved to Martha’s Vineyard where he was to encourage architects, sailors and builders along the US east coast, the creative melting pot of the period. By the late seventies, Newick was universally known among the racing elite (specifically American and French) around whom there gravitated a few specialist journalists and a core of enlightened talent. Newick only enjoyed partial racing success however, as this wasn’t necessarily the architect’s primary aim. For him it was more a question of personal accomplishment. His visionary interpretation of designs originating in Polynesia, both intuitive and calculated, were combined with real on-water experience (in 1955 Dick Newick toured northern Europe by kayak!). The immediate and spectacular use of possibilities offered by the Gougeon brothers’ new West System technique (wood-molded ...
Boat Test price5.00€ Inc. tax
Purchase
What readers think
Post a comment
Gwen D.
Thank you for filling the gaps Paul!
We always love when all the parties come together to give the most accurate story details for our readers!
See you soon on the water,
The Multihulls World team
Paul P.
There is quite a bit of missing history here. I purchase Native in the mid-1990's when she was lying on the hard near Falmouth, MA. In consultation with Dick Newick, I had the boat refitted by Damian McLaughlin at his yard in Falmouth. We then sailed the boat in stages from Falmouth through the Panama Canal and then up to San Francisco. We raced in the round-Angel's Island race in SF Bay (in which we finished first on corrected time and second boat-for-boat to Peter Hogg's Aotea (an Antrim design). I then listed the boat for sale with Gary Helms (one of SFO's multihull gurus). After she was sold I lost track of her, but the history then picks up with her "arrest" on drug charges, abandonment in Huatulco, and ultimate salvation in France. This is a boat with a colorful history. I completely concur with the article's description of her un-matched sailing performance and her spartan accomodations. Thank you for bringing a great boat back to life on the printed page.