Sail Number: NY-12, US 1661
Type: NY-32
LOA: 45’4″ / 13.81m – LWL: 32’0″ / 9.75m – Beam: 10’7″ / 3.22m – Draft: 6’6” / 1.98m – Design Number: 125 – Designer: Sparkman & Stephens – Original Name: Rampage II – Original Owner: Arthur W. Page – Current Owner: Hans J. Schultz – Year Built: 1936 – Built By: Nevins Yacht Yard Yacht Builders, City Island, NY – Contract Cost: $11,000 – Hull Material: Philippine mahogany on white oak frames – Gross Displacement: 27,000 lbs – Ballast: 12,000 lbs – Sail Area: Original 950 sq ft
Historical:
From: Debbie Rogers – Rampage II #12 (2/16 /07)
The first owner of NY32 #12 was Arthur W. Page, who became a NYYC member in March 1936 while the boats were being built at Nevins (see pre-launch sections) Page was a member of the Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club (CSHBC) and its president from 1932-1937. (Fairchild & Crocker, 1964) Page was also a member of NAYRU in 1936. In 1944 Page became the president of the YRA of LIS (Yachting, March). Page named the NY32 Rampage II . The first Rampage was an Atlantic among those first ordered in CSHBC in 1929.
Page was one of the older first owners, being fifty-two when he bought Rampage II. His obituary (NYT September 7, 1960) cited him as a “business executive, editor, publicist and government consultant … who concerned himself with the future, with the shape of things to come.” In 1936 he was vice-president in charge of public relations at A T & T, a position he held from 1927-1947. “In 1945 he was appointed a temporary special consultant to the Secretary of War in public relations.” After graduating from Harvard in 1904, Page went into the publishing business with Doubleday, Page & Company. The last fourteen of the twenty-two years he spent there were editing World’s Work, when his father, Walter Hines Page, was appointed by President Wilson the U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James. “Mr. Page’s public service started in 1930 when he was an advisor to the United States delegation at the London Naval Conference.”
Page had three sons, Walter, John and Arthur, and a daughter, Molly. Walter, his son, wrote about the 32s in the 1937 ‘Souvenir Program, Sixteenth Defense The America’s Cup’ as mentioned in the pre-launch chapter. Molly was among the juniors on the 1937 cruise (see 1937 ‘chapter’). His wife Molly was CSHBC representative to the Women’s Championship at least in 1936 in Atlantics (Mystic coll. 198, v ). John’s wife, Susan, said she was a girl friend when the Page’s had Rampage II. The family and friends sailed aboard her and it was fun. (pers com 2/05). Both Susan and her nephew, Walter (em 4/06), said that Arthur’s wife, Molly, or Hap as she was known, probably encouraged him to get the boat. Son Arthur’s wife, Anita, remembered it as a wonderful family boat. As family, they went on all the races, cruises and many afternoon sails. The boat was big enough for everyone (pers com 2/05). Anita suggested the reason they sold Rampage II was that everyone was married or off working and did not use the boat any more. The race results for the first several years of class racing (see sections by year ) show that Rampage II finished better each year and in 1939 and after did more long distance races.
Rampage II did not turn up in any of the races on LIS after her 1941’s Whaler’s Race win at New Bedford YC. Lloyd’s Register showed the next owner of #12 to be William Schroeder in 1947. However, Yachting 1942 referred to Norman Owen’s NY32 winning races from Gibson Island, MD (see 1942 section+). It was #12 and her name had been changed to Gallivant. Norman was one of three brothers who were the Owens Yacht Company, Baltimore, MD, and the director of engineering and a pioneer in the mass production of boats.
“Norman wrote me that after racing an unusual self-designed Chesapeake 20, an R-boat, and an 8-meter, the brothers acquired their first racing cruiser, a New York 32 that they raced with considerable success during World War II. He described one Poplar Island Race when he and his crew overslept in Gibson Island’s harbor and were awakened by the sound of committee-boat guns firing. They hurriedly motored around the island and out to the starting line at Baltimore Light (a distance of nearly five miles), cut off the engine before starting, overtook the racing fleet that had started earlier, and won the race. The only problem was that they were disqualified for having run the engine after the preparatory gun.” (Henderson, 1999, p103)
The first Owens cutter was designed shortly there after. As Henderson wrote, Norman felt that “most designers will claim that the rules develop the boat and I knew the current CCA rule was vulnerable for exploitation. We got a big break having a low B.D. [ballast-displacement] ratio which I took advantage of. I selected displacement that was a little lighter than the average boat because of the success I had sailing the New York 32. I developed a midship section that was quite similar. I was also very impressed with the sailing qualities of the 20 square meter….”
Owens sold the 32 to William Schroeder of College Park, MD in 1944 (Yachting, April). Schroeder raced Gallivant some in the Chesapeake Bay and appeared to have sold her in 1947 (see yearly race chapters) The new owner was Frederick C. Lyman of Minnetonka. MN.
Lyman became a NYYC member in December 1947, bringing Voyageur back into the Club. Lyman was a member of the Minnetonka Yacht Club and its commodore in 1940 and 1941 (Brainard, 1982). Sailing and racing at the MYC was primarily aboard scows of all sizes. In 1949 Lyman became a member of the CCA. Among the design plans for the NY32 is one dated November 11, 1947 (#125-C10-1, see plan ‘chapter’) entitled ‘galley revisions -F C Lyman “Voyageur”. Among the modifications was the installation of a three-burner alcohol stove. In November 1947, Lyman ordered a nylon mainsail from Ratsey (Mystic coll 236, v 163). Ratsey estimated the cost of a 12oz hand sown mainsail sail for Voyageur to be $1388 for an October 1959 order and an intermediate jib at $365 for a February 1950 order (coll 236, v 121). Lyman was preparing Voyageur for an Atlantic crossing in 1950, the first for a NY32.
Lyman recorded this passage from New York to Bergen , Norway, by Voyageur from June 15 to July 19 as a letter to his sons. After the crossing, his wife and daughter joined him and various friends to cruise in Norway and Sweden for the summer. At the end, they left Voyageur in Copenhagen for her return aboard a Moore McCormack freighter. According to Charlotte (per com 5/05) the crossing was the year she graduated from college. Her father, at age 60 years, did a “practice trip” to Barbados in 1948 with younger male friends and she and her parents sailed a lot in the summer during her college years. First it was on an chartered Alden schooner, then the NY32. After Voyageur Lyman bought an Alden yawl that he sailed for many years.
In the foreward to “New York to Bergen in Voyageur” Lyman described this work as “a letter which I wrote, from time to time, on the trip, with a certain amount of subsequent editing.” The crew aboard for this passage in addition to Lyman were R. A. (Rex) Saunders, Gordon R Cole, Emmett Holt and Russell (Rusty) Thomas. “All had been around boats all their lives” and were either in college or in their late twenties. Gordon, a 1943 graduate of USMMA, was an expert navigator and signal man. “We had a good signal light aboard with which Gordy could communicate with passing ships, and we had made arrangements with Lloyds of London that whenever we were reported, that they would relay the information to Mrs. Lyman in England, and to my office in Minneapolis, Minnesota.” Charlotte said there were about four telegrams advising that Voyageur had been sited and giving the location. She and her mother had traveled around England and Scotland while her father was crossing the Atlantic.
The first writing Lyman did was July 5th, “midway between Newfoundland and Scotland”, when they were “slatting around in mid-ocean with hardly enough wind to fill the sails …” He estimated they were ten days or so from Bergen and had “not had anything like the predominate amount of good strong westerlies that we could reasonably have expected in these waters.” Everyone was in excellent shape. After twenty days at sea, they still had fresh oranges, onions, potatoes and carrots. “Also a crate of apples which are perfect. They should be as they have been tied on deck, and the temperatures, while hardly to the choosing of the crew, have at least been excellent for the preservation of apples.” Lyman described watches, meals and food. They ate very well even with the boat rolling and none were sick. He mentioned their “good seagoing galley and the wonderful Heritage stove that always stays level.” They did all their provisioning through SS Pierce “and have been well pleased with the result.” Lyman had originally planned on a total crew of six, but that Rod Stephens and Paul Nevin did them a favor when they convinced him to go with five. It meant less gear to stow and they had worked out watches and aboard jobs among the five of them well. He described the many layers of clothing worn topped off with boots and oilskins, that worked. The temperature in the cabin had not been above fifty-three degrees and it was much colder on deck. Voyageur , a “little Sea Queen”, was staying dry below decks even with driving rain. Some drips had been found and dealt with by the crew and she only made a pail or so a day in the bilge. “I am constantly pleased and gratified that so many of the things that we have added or changed as a result of our previous voyages, or on advice from Rod, have turned out so well.”
On July 7th, Lyman continued his letter as they were running before a light westerly. He wrote more about how the boat was laid out and how things were stowed. “We copied Mustang’s block and tackle and shock cord steering aid and can easily offset any amount of weather helm.” It was a day when they had made their fourth contact with a passing tanker to be reported to Lloyds. On July 11th , Lyman wrote they were north of Ireland and hoped to be north of the Hebrides by that night. They were running before about a 12 mph wind. He wrote that day about some of the events of the actual crossing. From a late afternoon start from Nevins Yard in hazy easterly winds, they “had a fine new hand sewn mainsail that needed careful breaking in, and as this has to be done by reaching around in clear weather with light airs, we couldn’t sail any that evening. We couldn’t motor up the sound either, as our gas tank was low and it was so late that filling stations were closed, so all we could do was motor over to Hempstead Harbor and drop the hook. Twelve hours wasted at the start.”
The next morning was dead calm and they had no success getting more fuel. But a slight breeze came up so they started breaking in the mainsail and got to Port Jefferson for dinner and fuel. They set out at 11 pm. But between tearing a hank while setting the genoa and then the leeward back stay, after falling over board in the breeze, getting wrapped around the propeller forced them into Block Island fo rthe night. The next day Emmet succeeded in clearing the propeller shaft while swimming in the cold water.
“The wind had moderated a good deal, so with full main we stood out of the channel, reached around the north end of Block Island and then ran off towards Martha’s Vineyard. The fleet in the Bermuda race was coming up, all reaching along very fast, mostly with reduced canvas and we sailed right through them at right angles to their course, being careful to keep clear. It was quite a sight.”
In the fleet bound for Bermuda were three of Voyageur ‘s sisters — Mustang, Alar and Lord Jim.
By July 18th, they were near the Norwegian coast having contended with “fog, calms, vicious seas, head winds and real gales…” They had been carried north of the Shetland Islands. At the time of his writing, the day was sunny with a light breeze and he predicted with luck they would be in by noon. Lyman then went on to relate more of the actual crossing events. On the Grand Banks, they saw many fishing schooners. “One Portugee rowed over and traded us two beautiful cod fish for a package of cigarettes, and the battered old Portugese steamer that was servicing the fishing fleet reported us to Lloyds.” He supposed it was an “average passage for a boat of our size when not racing…” In the really lareg seas they had at times, Voyageur rode the “waves just like a duck and with no more concern.” In the North Sea, they spent much of the time reefed or under storm trysail trying to stay off the islands. They made landfall a day later and after clearing customs, left “our valiant VOYAGEUR where, as always, she was the handsomest yacht in the harbor” and proceeded to their hotel for “hot baths.”
At the end of his letter, Lyman included a “Footnote” which included such information as the total of the day’s runs were figured to be 3640 miles for a direct distance of about 3300 miles. Voyageur cruised about five thousand miles over the summer. Her engine ran beautifully getting at least four miles per gallon. Lyman noted that the “things that made the crossing successful were:
1. A fine boat in fine condition.
2. Careful and thorough preparation.
3. An excellent crew.
4. Good Fortune.”
In addition to writing about his crossing and the Scandanavian summer cruise, Lyman authored Pioneer Harvest about early Minneapolis. Voyageur started her summer cruising from Bergen July 24th and ended in Copenhagen on September 3rd. Lyman was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club (KSSS) via the North American station in NY upon his return. Charlotte described the trip around the Baltic as “fabulous”.
Parkinson (1960) described Lyman’s Atlantic crossing as “a very fine salt water record in keeping with Cruising Club traditions.” Voyageur was named “after the early explorers of his native state.” In 1948 Lyman shipped Voyageur to Barbados and then with a crew of other scow sailors and his wife cruised back via the Windward and Leeward Islands. He did a couple of cruises between Moorehead City, NC and Nassau before the Atlantic crossing. “He shipped Voyageur home for three more cruises to the Bahamas before he sold her. He misses her today, but many would envy what he has to remember.”
The S&S brokerage sheet on Voyageur dated April 1954 listed her engine as a 1948 Gray 25 hp. She had three berths in the main cabin, two in after stateroom and one forward for crew. The sails listed “hand sewn working sails used one season, 12 bags of sails for racing and storm use.”.
The buyer if Voyageur was Marion Brawley Jr, of NY and Charleston, S.C. according to Lloyd’s Register (1955). Brawley’s stepson, Dwane Iselin, said the boat was at City Island when she was bought and she came with a cradle. Iselin, a cousin [or ?? — how mom related to O’Donnell ??] of the first owner of #14, said they took her to Charleston and moored her in the “shrimper harbor” at Mt Pleasant. He described the NY32 as a “good boat to grow up on” (pers comm 1/05) In the summer the boat was in the Chesapeake where she was sailed by the family or taken by the older teenagers on short cruises. There was a captain, but he was only aboard in the winter when Brawley and his wife cruised on the boat to the Bahamas. In the summer the captain was a gardener for the family. [ck ? about hurricane story and trees with #12 ?? ]
In the August 1958 Yachting ‘LI Soundings’ pages, William Taylor wrote that Walter Barnum had bought the NY32 Voyageur through S&S “after being on the beach for a dozen years.” Bill, Walter’s grandson, said that he thought his grandfather and father owned Voyageur for about two years, when he was eight years old (per com 11/04). They cruised in her off Branford, CT. Bill remembered the Alden schooner, called Voyageur, that his Dad, Humphrey, bought in 1966 very well. Walter Barnum had the schooner Brilliant , now at Mystic Seaport, designed in 1932 by Olin Stephens and built at the Nevins yard. She was not designed for racing, but did race to Bermuda in 1932. According to an article in the Mystic Seaport Log ( 19 .. , 34(2)), Walter Barnum was born in 1887 and died in 1966. He was a distant cousin of P.T. Barnum. He began sailing in 1898 at Larchmont and had sailed Lawley and Alden designed yachts. He was President of the Pacific Coast Company and involved in coal mining, railroads as well as cement and lumber production.
Lloyd’s Register for 1958 listed Walter Barnum as Voyageur ‘s owner, but in 1959 it was Paul Barnum. In 1960 the owner was again Walter but was listed as Humphrey Barnum in 1961. In 1962 the owner was listed as Maurice Rosenbloom of Old Westbury, NY. In 1958, Rosenbloom sent Rod Stephens a ‘picture’ of ‘Raider’
In WoodenBoat (1986, #73), Rod Stephens related the story of the Rosenbloom bronze mast step that was installed in his NY 32, Mustang . Rod’s story was in response to the question “Did you ever have to refasten MUSTANG ?” Rod said he did not, but had rebuilt the mast step. He also pointed out that later designs had metal mast steps. The mast step installed was drawn in November 1961 (see plan chapter; #1691 but not listed on design #125 pages) for Maurice Rosenbloom. Rod described the event as follows:
“How the step came to be put in is a funny story, and happened because a rather affluent friend owned another 32, watched me working on MUSTANG, and admired the way it went. So he said, “I want to get my boat exactly like yours.” He took pictures of MUSTANG, and I told him exactly what wasn’t good about his boat and should be changed; and after the work was done, he asked, “If you could do one thing to your boat, something more, what would it be?” And I said, “I’ll tell you what I’d do if money were no object. I’d have a bronze maststep installed with some stirrups leading up to the chainplates. Then there would be less tendency for the shrouds to push the mast down through the bottom of the boat.”
So he did that to his boat, and then- without me knowing it – started in on mine! I found her all ripped up in the galley and asked the yard, “What’s up?” Phil Goss, who was running Minneford’s yard then, said. “You’re getting a nice new bronze maststep from Mr. Rosenbloom!” So I said, “Isn’t it wonderful, but it’s a pretty expensive job.” He replied that it was going to be done, and that I was not supposed to know anything about it – or be expected to pay for it. He was a real friend, that Mr Rosenbloom.”
Much of what follows was found among Thomas Closs’ files (lent by his son Tom jr). Closs bought Raider , as Rosenbloom named #12, on December 31, 1962. Rosenbloom, in March 1962, began the documentation of Raider. In the brokerage information Rosenbloom supplied he stated that the boat had been “completely rebuilt to new condition during the Winter of 1961 and was finished in the Spring of 1962.” Included in that work he mentioned wooding the hull, replacing bad planking, complete refastening, deck and cabin house recanvased, a new transom was installed, new stainless steel rigging and a new bronze mast step. “The boat was continuously hand sanded and painted with Vinlest until a sleek lasting finish was acquired. Every outlet through hull fittings were counter sunk to eliminate any resistance.” She got a new engine and feathering propeller. Rosenbloom stated that she was stronger than the day she was built due in part to the “62 Oak steam bent sister ribs installed whether they were necessary or not.” He stated that over $100,000 had been spent on the boat “within the last six months.” Rosenbloom wrote, “I know the excess of money spent on the boat might be considered by some not to have been a good investment; yet I wanted to maintain the original New York 32 Class Hull design and was afraid of the new wood that is being put into boats today.” He would only consider a “conscientious owner” and wrote that regarding price, he would prefer not to put a definite price on it since the situation is slightly a unique one.” He wanted offers made. (picture at dock from S&S)
The broker was Henry Meneely in Annapolis and a letter from Meneely to Closs in late September 1962 said that he had reached “Mac Rosenbloom, who had been away, until this morning.” It continued —
“He says that regardless of what he might get ultimately for his boat, RAIDER, he does not feel he would accept as little as $35,000 for her right now and of course that is more than you subject to inspection offer of $30,000. But he did not refuse anything, merely said that for such a range he would not commit himself at this time.
He is sending me a resume of the boat and I find she has done very well racing this season. He told me that he has over $16,000 worth of sails and over $4000 of equipment, which includes such items as a Plath (I think) sextant and other expensive gimmicks. He also told me he would be strongly affected by the manner in which the yacht would be cared for and appreciated when it finally becomes time to sell her.”
Closs sent a hand written note back at the end of September to “Old Friend Hank” thanking him for his letter. “I rather gather that he probably will not let us have her at 30,000, although rankly Hank I don’t think it would interest me above that figure.” But Closs said to leave the offer in until it would automatically be withdrawn if not accepted in October. “If we get her I would like it sooner so that I can bring her back here for the winter — in other words before he lays her up. One thing is certain, Hank, you can assure him that the yacht will have continuing good care if we get her!” An agreement was reached on December 31, 1962 between Rosenbloom and Closs over the sale of Raider. Meneely wrote Closs on the same day to say that he would arrange for Raider to be stored at Minneford’s Yard in City Island from January 1st until launching at his expense. The half season of winter storage paid by Meneely was $180. The spring commissioning from late April to early May 1963 totaled $221.81 of which $2.04 was materials including gold leaf for guilding the name on the transom. (copies bill in Closs’ files)
In the 2005-2006 Registry of Wooden Boats, Rosenbloom was listed as the owner of Greyhound described as a “Paine 36” built in 1936. Her prior names were Kea, Actaea and White Heather . She was 50′ overall length and 36′ on the waterline. Unfortunately Rosenbloom had died before he could compare the NY32 and the Paine 36, both so competitive in the 1936 Bermuda Race and in NYYC cruises. Rosenbloom’s daughter April (per com 12/05) said her Father had Alzheimer’s when he died. He was “impossible with money but a nice, sweet guy” and often seemed in debt. His brother was Carl Rosenbloom, the owner of the St Louis Rams. Tom Closs jr said (pers com 2/05) that Rosenbloom raced #12 for a season before getting into the 8-metre class with Cheeta [ck spelling]
With the purchase of Raider , Tom Closs became the second owner of a NY32 to then own another. From 1955 -1960, Closs owned NY 32 #13 that he named Fun. The first owner of #1 was the only other person to have owned two of the class. From 1939-1946, Closs owned an Alden Coastwise Cruiser (Carrick & Henderson, 1995) named Fun (x Sema), winning about 70 racing prizes. Closs named his boats Fun after the boat his father built for him in 1922. According to his obituary, Baltimore Sun, February 22, 1999), Closs sailed that boat from Canada to the Caribbean and in the Great Lakes. The boat looked like fun and that became her name. Closs “attended Hobart College and the University of Alabama. Later, he went to the University of Cincinnati on a basketball scholarship and graduated in 1934 with a bachelor’s degree in physics.” From 1934 to 1941 Closs was a design engineer with Weston Electrical Instrument Company in Rochester, NY. From 1941 to 1943 he was assigned to Bausch & Lomb to work on the Norden bomb site project. Closs moved to Maryland in 1951. “He was past president of the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association, past commodore of the Sailing Club of the Chesapeake, founding member and past president of the Maryland Boat Act Advisory Committee and past Rear Commodore of the Cruising Club of America.” He was also one of four founding yachtsmen in 1953 of the Wednesday Night Races at the Annapolis Yacht Club, which his obituary said attract some 150 racers weekly. From 1970 until he retired in 1977, Closs owned car dealership, Closs Volkswagen. “Perhaps the highlight of his racing career was taking first place of 300 competitors in the Fleet at Block Island Race Week in 1977” wrote Robert Hilson Jr. in his obituary.
Among Closs’ files were several letters from August to October 1963 the subject of which was trying to find a buyer for Raider. In one to John Odenbach , a Rochester YC member, he said his only interest in selling Raider was because he was building a “new fiberglass one” which was due in mid-September. [ck Tom what she was & why not get her ?] Closs said that the NY32 had had $130,000 spent on her in 1962 “in order to make certain every detail was perfect.” His hoped that they could work without a broker as his aim was to net $35,000. In September, Closs wrote Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr after he had looked at Raider, and hearing he was interested in buying Trig (see chapter #20). The letter enumerated nine details about Raider which Closs felt showed her to be a better value than Trig. The observations he made included her new engine, new epoxy and canvas deck, new rigging, no broken ribs, four No. 6 Nevins winches in the cockpit, bronze mast step and her original rig that “has proven to be faster on all angles of sailing than any of the yachts which were converted to the shortened masthead arrangement.” Raider had the ‘Mustang’ cabin arrangement for berths (see plan/ design section) while Trig had the original cabin berth arrangement, which Closs was sure could be restored on Raider if Roosevelt wanted. At the end of October, Closs listed Raider with John E Bodkin & Co., yacht brokers, in Detroit, MI. She had sleeping accommodations for six with no mention of a crew berth forward. Her engine was a 1962 gasoline Universal (Atomic 4) 30 hp. Her rating was 35.0 CCA for 1962. The sail inventory said there were eight most all from 1962. She came with a Dyer dinghy and had a brass fireplace. In November, Closs got a letter from Skip Gmeiner (see #2 chapter) suggesting the idea of a NY32 club for the owners and asking if Closs was interested and if he knew where some of the boats were. Closs responded in early December with some locations of boats and said he had had some “bites” from Detroit for Raider. There were three NY32s in Detroit at that time, soon to be joined by three others.
Raider and Closs raced in three Annapolis Newport Races. In 1963 she was fifteenth in class B just behind her sister Proton II , Closs’ Fun. She was not sold. In 1965 Raider finished eighth in class II. There were three other 32s in the class. Proton II finished fourth, Ice Fire was fourteenth and Half Moon and Roosevelt was sixteenth. The 1967 race was very rough race with many DNFs. Raider finished eighth in class II. Proton II did not finish and Ice Fire finished eleventh (see #3 for race description) Although Closs raced #13 Fun to Bermuda in 1956, he did not do that race with Raider. On Chesapeake Bay, as reported in the ‘Chesapeake Activities’ pages of Yachting, Raider finished third to Proton II ‘s second in the 128-mile Virginia Cruising Cup Race from Annapolis, MD to Hampton, VA in 1964 (August). In the first Chesapeake Race Week (1966, August) in class A, Gresinger’s Artemis , a Cal 40 built two years earlier, beat Raider by a slim margin for class honors. Later in the season (October, 1966), Raider finished the Potapskut Sailing Association race back from Miles River just twelve minutes before the time limit expired to take class A and fleet honors. There were 71 starters in the race and only 12 finishers.
Raider and Proton II (see #13 chapter) collided during pre-start maneuvers during the annual team race between Annapolis YC and the Sailing Club of Chesapeake late in 1964 season. This is the collision which prompted Closs to write Gmiener looking for a boom (see chapter #6). Closs’ son Tom recalled the accident, which almost killed his father, (pers com 2/05) as “horrific” from the deck of Raider. The two 32s were coming head to head in a 30 mph breeze — Raider on starboard and Proton II on port — about ten minutes or less before the start and before Closs had taken the helm. After the collision, it was clear that had the two boats followed the starboard -port rules, rather than jockeying to miss each other, the accident would have been avoided. Instead Raider’s bow came up on Proton’s deck between the chain plates and the mast and swept aft. Proton’s rig fell across Raider catching an eye bolt on Raider’s forestay and taking down the top four feet of her mast. As the boats began to separate, Tom could not free the bolt from the rigging because of the tension. Charlie Price, Proton ‘s owner, had started her engine allowing him to drive Proton forward to ease the tension which allowed Tom to free the two boats. The accident broke Proton’s boom as well as mast. Price bought Trig’s (see #20 chapter) extra mast. Peter Gueis, a Proton crew member and master carpenter, rebuilt the mast and scarfed the top of Raider’s mast. Closs, in a late November 1964 letter to Rod Stephens, wrote that he enjoyed Rod’s presentation at the CCA dinner, looked forward to having him stay with the Closs’ in March when he was to speak at the Windjammer’s meeting and asked about Raider’s old boom.
“When I purchased “Raider” our mutual friend Mack Rosenbloom said he had the old standard boom that was used on her and inquired as to whether or not I wanted it. At that time I couldn’t think of anything I needed worse than a second boom, but now it so happens that “Proton’s” boom was broken when we had our accident and we are wondering if that one is still available. I understand that you may have it now and if so, I wonder if you would sell it to us.”
In December after returning from the west coast, Rod wrote back saying, among other things, that he had called Minneford’s about the boom and found that Phil Gauss had already written Closs. Closs responded back to Rod, after they had talked on the phone, that he was sending a check for $100 to cover the cost of the boom. “Just tell Phil that we will pick it up sometime within the next two or three weeks there at the yard. We sure appreciate getting it and it will save us some additional expense on the job.” So it was Raider’s boom and not Falcon II”s that ended up on Proton II.
In April 1965, Closs wrote Skip Gmeiner about the possibility of bringing Raider to Detroit for the Mackinac Races after the Annaoplis Newport Race. He was looking for some information to help with his planning. Gmeiner wrote back with answers to Closs’ questions in May. That included the specifics of the trip through the barge canal in NY (see #2 chapter for details) and assurances that Raider would find dockage as a guest in Detroit when she arrived. He also sent a copy of the season schedule Closs had requested. In early June, Closs wrote Stuart, owner of Whisper III (#1), to see if he wanted to bring his 32 along to Detroit. Closs’ evolving plan was to take Raider from Newport to Albany and arrive in Rochester for the 4th of July races there. Then move on to Detroit for the Mackinac Race scheduled for July 24th. He hoped to “loaf back to Put-in-Bay for the Interlake Regatta and from there ease homeward.” Closs had learned the easiest spar stepping arrangement was in Rochester, rather than in Buffalo, as Gmeiner had done with Apache. Closs Jr. said (2/05) that although his dad talked about taking Raider to the Lakes after the Annapolis Newport Race, Raider ended up staying two months in Newport that year.
In mid-July 1967, Rod wrote Closs, to say how pleased he was to see on their bulletin board the picture of Raider from the July 11th “outdoors page of the Washington Post, which mentioned the very great success of RAIDER during the recent series of races.” In a ‘PS’ Rod asked if they used roller reefing and, if so, how they like it. Closs wrote back the following week to thank him for his note.
“It probably surprised you almost as much as it did us, but in any event, it was pleasant winning the Race Week activities here…. We are uncertain as to exactly why RAIDER is going better this year than previously, but perhaps an accumulation of little details to which we have given particular attention may have improved her capabilities. We did adjust the rigging quite a bit differently this year, pretty much along the lines we used successfully on FUN. For example, we straightened her mast to full plumb and on down wind legs we seem to get a bit more power by letting the back stay off so that the mast is actually slightly over the bow. We do have a pretty good suit of Hood sails which helps a lot. All of these things coupled with a little luck can help a good bit as you know.
RAIDER does have a roller reefing boom which I believe you designed and as rolling reefing goes I think it is a pretty good one. We were deeply reefed for a number of hours in the ocean race and we have used it on quite a few other occasions with varying success. There seems to be quite a substantial tack difference when a reef is rolled in, depending upon which direction the boom is rolled, although this could be my imagination. I have the distinct feeling that the boat is powered better under reef when the boom is rolled so as to be on the leeward side of the sail.”
Any response from Rod on the reefing boom subject was not found in Closs’ files.
In January 1968, Closs wrote Gmeiner of the NY 32 Owner’s Club to say that he was interested in finding a buyer for Raider. He enclosed a set of inventory sheets and a copy of a letter he had sent to various brokers. The letter to brokers, the copy included to the Michigan Boat Sales, Inc in Grosse Pointe, began ” We have decided to make an earnest effort to sell RAIDER …… we feel that this boat would be particularly interesting for campaigning on the Great Lakes.” He went on to mention her new Hood sails and bronze mast step which had eliminated the working of the hull — “this boat finished the 1967 Newport-Annapolis Race without leaking either from underneath or over head. That race is generally conceded to be the roughest ocean race ever run.” Closs included results of her 1967 winning season on Chesapeake Bay where she beat “many of the new “hot” boats, including numerous Cal 40’s.” In the Poplar Island Race and the Love Point- Swan Point Race, Raider was both first in fleet and first in class. She placed first in both half season and overall fleet in the Annapolis YC Wednesday Night Series. In the CBYRA Race Week, she was first overall in the series among 55 yachts and first in her five class races. The inventory sheets included the work done in 1962 (including new galley Heritage stove and 200 pound insulated ice box plus electronic gear) plus two new life rings from 1967 and the Nevins winches were now Davis winches, also in bronze. Her rig was the ‘Mustang’ one with the spreaders cut down and the smaller jumper. Her running back stays were controlled by hi-field levers. Her 1965 – 1967 genoa, spinnaker, working jib and mainsail were from Hood, although there were several Ratsey sails listed without any year designation. Among the Ratsey collection (Mystic #236) no orders by either Rosenbloom or Closs were found for the NY32. Raider’s topsides were black and she had a white deck and waterline. Raider’s CCA rating for 1968 was 37.8. Closs concluded his letter to the broker saying that in the “hope of finding a suitable buyer we have just reduced the price to $30,000 gross.” She could be seen in Annapolis in the water, but her rig was in storage.
The USCG abstract of title for Raider’s documentation recorded her sale to John Archer and Peter Sheehan of Maryland in February 1969. Closs’ files had a hand written letter from Sheehan dated February 6, 1969, in which he returned negatives they had borrowed of Raider and thanked Closs for their use to have prints made. He also had much to report on the reasons for the “lateness of the settlement on the boat.” Sheehan wrote
“At this juncture we have put down $7000 cash. John and I were then told by Arnold C Gay Co. that we would have no trouble at all financing the balance. Needless to say this has proved to be quite incorrect. Our credit as far as the banks are concerned is fine; however, the problem seems to be centered around the age of the boat. This is irregardless of the fact that the boat was rebuilt in 1962 or thereabouts and irregardless of the fact that the survey stated that the fair market value of the boat was estimated at $30,000.”
He went on to explain that the banks had a problem with the boat’s age and the insurance company was ordering changes and repairs to the engine and related wiring before they would insure the boat. Sheehan assumed the USCG had inspected the engine installation in order for her “certification” to be in order. He hoped to have better news to offer by the weekend. On the back of the letter were some notes, presumably by Closs, that ended with “2/24 got check from Newark”.
The next entry on the documentation title is the sale of Raider from Archer and Sheehan to Hans Schultz in Virginia. The date given is August 21, 1969. Schultz commissioned a survey dated August 19th by H P Sinclair, marine surveyor, of Oxford, MD. Raider was at the Gay Yacht Yard at the time of the survey. She appeared to be in fine shape.
In 1986 Mike August of Vitesse took pictures of Raider , one of the NY32s that attended the 50-year reunion at SCYC
Raider is still with the Schultz family. According to Hans Schultz, Jr. Raider has been in a slip at Hartge Yacht Yard in Galesville, MD since they bought her in 1969. Her hull was overhauled a few years ago. Her transom must have been replaced sometime prior to 2000, when one of the Schultz’s had Olin Stephens autograph it. Olin was at Mystic Seaport autographing his new book All This and Sailing Too. Schultz told those standing nearby that the transom was going to hang over a mantel at home. They are among the very few families that have owned their NY32 over 35 years (now 47 years).
