My sister and I received an email from Pat Newick today.

Dick Newick passed away last night.

As Pat put it = “Dick made a gentle, peaceful exit from the world last night with all of
us gathered around him.”

I learned a lot growing-up from Follett, Morris and Newick. I have a lot of wonderful memories of sailing with Dick, aboard a lot of his designs.

Dick always talked about in a previous life he must have been a Polynesian outrigger canoe designer. I can only guess he will be something extraordinary in his next life.

I will miss Dick a lot. He was one of the great people in the world of sailing, one of the true “good-guys.”

I’m sure there will be a wonderful “Captians Meeting” tonight in heaven with Follett, Morris and Newick.

Halsted Morris

I’m sorry for your loss, Halsted. Thanks for letting us know. Dick’s passing will be a loss for sailing and particularly the multihull community over which he had a profound influence. He was held in universal high regard. Not many people achieve that. It says a lot about the man.

Hello Halsted,

Thanks for passing on this news. At age 87, his passing can’t have been unexpected but, still, it’s unwanted.

I suspect that for a great many proa enthusiasts - especially those of us who are of a certain age - their interest can be traced back directly to “Cheers”.  By designing that amazing sailing machine, Dick Newick did more to raise popular awareness of proas, and to stimulate their development, than any other person. The design signature of his yachts - always light and elegant - was one that I much admired.

Paul

Here are a couple of online articles that offer profiles, of sorts, of him and his work:

  Seacoast Online - 2003 Article on Dick Newick

  “Professional Boat Builder” - 2010 Article on Dick Newick

Paul

I met him many years ago at a Jeffery’s Ledge race skippers meeting.He was with Phil Weld.He announced that by the time all the lead mines were at the first mark, they would be back in Manchester mixing drinks!.I was maybe 13 or 14 at the time.Welds boat,a couple of vals, and Walter Greene were all tied up at the dock.I thought they and Newick were absolutley the coolest thing I had ever seen.I wanted to go and get a close look at them but the “grown ups”
acted like I might catch something if I got to close.Years later I corresponded lots with Dick about his designs.He always had lots of good advise.He gave me a great lesson in “fiscal reality” and boat building.I loved his description of the Val III, “she sleeps one uncomfortably”.What I loved about his work is that it contained only the essential,Great beauty in great simplicity.R.I.P. Dick

Terribly sad news, I never met the man unfortunately, however his legacy will live on in his beautiful designs RIP Dick Newick

Here is a photo of the Follett, Newick and Morris trio. This was in 1971, aboard THREE CHEERS in St. Croix. From left to right, Jim Morris, Dick Newick and Tom Follett. The hat came from a friend.

Now that I know I can attach photos, I may copy a lot of CHEERS photos that have never been published before.

Thanks for letting us know, Halsted. 

I did not know Dick Newick.  But his work affected me, like so many, in fundamental ways.  His profound sense of beauty and potent design logic is an inspiration to all of us.

Cheers, Dick.

chris

Thanks for the news, Halsted. I saw it on SA and then buzzed over here because I knew there are some Proafile members who knew him personally. I like to remind people how truly radical his boats were considered, back in the days of racing against monohulls in the OSTAR.

Thank you Richard C. Newick, for blazing a trail that many have followed. I raise a glass to you, your boats, and your life. Cheers.

BTW, do you have any copies of ‘Project Cheers’ still lying around? I’d love to read it.

I don´t want to focus on the loss of a great man, but on what an incredible amount of creativity, forward thinking and great design he has contributed with to this world! I can not express my feelings in text, but I wish (and believe) he can sense my gratitude to have been fortunate enough to learn so much and to have his work as a source of inspiration.

Thank you Richard C Newick! I hope you have a blast going wherever you choose to go and doing whatever you choose to do in your next life!!!

Johannes Rodin

I’m sorry, I only have my one copy of PROJECT CHEERS.

I read Project Cheers in the seventies. I think I was about 16 at the time. My first proa model was based on Cheers. The book was certainly the catalyst for my lifelong fascination with proas. RIP Dick Newick, you were an original thinker and a great inspiration to many.

Dick Newick,

i wish you a gentle wind for your great yoyage. Your philosophy and you thinking outside the box was always and will always be a inspiration for me. You showed us what is important in boat design, A fast light boat with respect before the mighty sea. Thank you for that.

Halsted,

I feel with you for the loss of such a great friend.

With deep respect, Michel

I was saddened to read of Dick Newick’s death as he and his designs influenced my own boat designing a lot.  When I started the Westlawn course as a 19 year-old it was to learn how to design sailing multihulls - especially ones like Dick Newick’s, and my final design of the course was a 24’ trimaran that had a lot of his details.  After graduating in 1985 a friend and I drove from London, Ontario to Connecticut so I could meet my Westlawn course instructor, Norm Nudelman, and also to continue on to Martha’s Vinyard in the hope of meeting Dick Newick. 

Though we arrived unannounced, Dick let us paddle around in his Herreshoff double paddle canoe (looks like a kayak) while he and two friends tried to sail a simple ‘Pacific’ proa he was experimenting with.  It was about 30’ long, with Piver-like hulls that had the distinctive Newick sheer, and with a single mast and jib.  (I think the mast was stayed, for the techies)  I say “tried to sail” because it didn’t do much in the light winds on that day.  Then last year when I met Dick again at the IBEX show in Louisville and reminded him of this boat, he said - in more colourful language - “that boat never worked”!  It was a dud (a failure), and he said he never quite knew why.  This is a good lesson for multihull experimenters: don’t give up, sometimes even the best make duds!  So many of his boats were so successful and beautiful however, and incredibly simple: that is, the extras were removed until pure boat remained.  Whenever I get stuck in a bad design loop - where things are getting heavier and more complicated - I think of Dick Newick’s lovely designs.  It’s this I remember of the man, and his lightness on the earth, and his generosity with sharing ideas.

Thank you, Dick Newick, you made the world a better place.

Laurie McGowan
Mochelle, Nova Scotia