On the Harbor: Join me as I share my “Newport Beach Sailing Hall of Fame,” story at this week’s NHYC Yachtsmen’s Luncheon

(L-R) Hook Beardslee and Barney Lehman, part of the Newport Beach Sailing Hall of Fame, The Silent Generation

By LEN BOSE

This Wednesday (Sept. 4), I will be speaking at the Yachtsmen’s Luncheon at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club (NHYC). Lunch is open to the public with people starting to arrive around 11:45 a.m. Lunch is served first, and if I recall my presentation starts around 12:20 p.m. The topic will be a review of a story I wrote about five years ago – “Newport Beach Sailing Hall of Fame,” which has been one of the most-read stories over the years. You can find my original story at http://lenboseyachts.blogspot.com/.

One day, I found a story in another local paper that touched on this topic dating back to the 1990s. I found the story out of date, and in my opinion, not deeply researched. I thought to myself, let’s update the story, and I went to work. I had no clue how much research it required. I interviewed David Carol, Phil Ramser, Larry Somers, Don Ayers, Brad Avery, Tom Schock, Henry Sprague, Jane Farwell, George Twist, Dennis Durgan and Dave Ullman, along with spending many hours with the NHYC’s, well-written and updated history book. I did make stops at Balboa Yacht Club (BYC) and the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club (BCYC), and really should have made a stop at Sherman Library. My interest in our harbor’s history is overwhelming, but I needed to stay focused on the sailors.

I still have the recordings of all the interviews of the many people I interviewed, and a couple of them still are fresh in my mind, which seems to be more difficult to recall every year for me. Of all the quotes I still easily recall, was one from David Carol describing a conversation he had with Fred Schenck on the docks of the NHYC. Schenck was approached by Humphrey Bogart to give sailing instructions to his wife Lauren Bacall in her Lehman 10. Schenck at the time was 19 years old and had seen photos of Bacall, yet in person, she was even more beautiful. “She was something else,” said Schenck. After telling the story, Carol was laughing so hard; my guess is Schenck might have described the moment a little differently.

 Another interesting interview was with Henry Sprague. Sprague is known to be a talker, and he must have had tears in his eyes when telling a story when he and Bill Twist were junior sailors and went to a movie theater somewhere around the corner from the BYC. I recall Sprague describing the incident with a third sailing friend who was with them, when one of them produced a couple of M80s, which are very loud explosive firecrackers. “I’m not sure which one of us brought them or who lit them, but two of them rolled down the theater floor to everyone’s surprise. The funny part was the theater manager tried to run us down on foot and catch the three of us. The yacht club was over a mile away and we were maybe 18 years old, and this guy was still just behind us,” Sprague recalled. When I asked George Twist to remark about this story he had a long pause and said, “Yeah, Sprague is quite the character.”

I also had another interesting talk with Dennis Durgan, who covered his America Cup experience, Fastnet Race and Congressional Cup races. The quote I recall most was, “If you can make your Sabot go fast, you can pretty much make anything go fast.”

All of the interviews are priceless to me, and yet I was extremely fortunate to spend time with Nick Scandone. Scandone called me up one night and asked if I could go back East with him to the Norton Yacht Club. Scandone had Lou Gehrig’s disease and was restricted to a wheelchair at that time. My full story with Nick at this event can be found at http://lenboseyachts.blogspot.com/2006/06/all-in_27.html.

If you are wondering how I decide who should be inducted into the Newport Beach Sailing Hall of Fame, it must be someone who has spent most of their lives competing in our harbor, their attendance would most certainly increase the boat’s performance and I would recognize their advanced skill level in the sport of sailing.

A sailor’s story is always an interesting one…quite often funny and sometimes sad. I had my share of laughs and tears while researching and writing this. I hope you enjoy it and are inspired to see your name or that of a loved one on the list. I hope you can make it to the luncheon.

Sea ya.

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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.