''Cheers'' was a

proa Proas are various types of multi-hull outrigger sailboats of the Austronesian peoples. The terms were used for native Austronesian ships in European records during the Colonial era indiscriminately, and thus can confusingly refer to the do ...

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

Dick Newick Richard "Dick" Newick (May 9, 1926 in Hackensack, New Jersey – August 28, 2013 in Sebastopol, California) more frequently known as Dick Newick was a multihull sailboat designer. He grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey. At 10 he built two kayaks ...

in 1967. It was one of the earliest designs in his career, which contributed substantially to the revival of

multihull A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans (with two hulls), and trimarans (with three hulls). There are other types, with four or more h ...

vessels from the 1960s to the late 20th century. Like a traditional

, ''Cheers'' had no bow or stern and could sail in either direction.Cheers is a 40ft Proa designed by Dick Newick specifically as an entrant in the 1968 OSTAR, a single handed transatlantic race. Cheers was given an award by the Ida Lewis Yacht Club, Newport Rhode Island, for being the first U.S. yacht to finish a Transatlantic Single Handed Race and the Amateur Yacht Research Society honored the team with a special award for researchhttps://cheersdicknewick.com/category/the-boat/

Race win

In 1968 Newick entered ''Cheers'' in the quadrennial

Observer Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race The Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (STAR) is an east-to-west yacht race across the North Atlantic. When inaugurated in 1960, it was the first single-handed ocean yacht race; it is run from Plymouth in England to Newport, Rhode Island in ...

(Ostar), an open class solo trans-

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

race from

Plymouth, England Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth' ...

, to

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, sponsored by ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

''. ''Cheers'' finished third, beating much larger conventional boats under skipper Tom Follett who became the first American to have finished the race.

Legacy

Cheers is now owned by a French couple, who restored it. France declared the boat a historical monument.

References

1960s sailing yachts {{sailing-stub

Race win

Legacy

See also

References