Welcome to Project Cheers

Thank you for visiting Project Cheers, a website dedicated to the book of the same title.

You will find on this site, the photos from the book in better resolution than is possible in a paperback, links to videos and sites related to the book subject matter, and updated information about The Boat, The Team that created her, and The Event that continues to make history.

The new release of the book Project Cheers is now available on AMAZON.

Explore! ..and let us know what you think!

Dick Newick
Dick Newick; Multihull designer and pioneer.

The Team

The core team of Project Cheers in 1968, was Jim Morris, Dick Newick, and Tom Follett. The book adds details on the contributions of many others. morris-newick-follett

Jim Morris, Dick Newick, Tom Follet as photographed in 1968 by Fritz Henle in St. Croix, USVI.

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About Jim Morris: A Postscript authored by Halsted Morris, one of Jim and Tootie’s two children can be seen HERE:

fritzhenle.com
Jim Morris portrait by Fritz Henle

About Dick Newick

Additional commentary/anecdotal contributions from friends and family will eventually be added to this website. There is presently a good page created by Joseph Oster, that is full of links and info on Dick Newick’s work. You can link to ‘dicknewickboats’ here.

fritzhenle.com
Portrait of Dick Newick by Fritz Henle 1968

About Tom Follett

fritzhenle.com
Portrait of Tom Follett by Fritz Henle

 

 

More on the team soon…

The Event

It was called then, the  Observer’s Single-handed Trans Atlantic Race, or OSTAR of 1968; This was the event and year that Cheers was designed and built for and raced in. For sailors and spectators alike, this event, under various names, remains an exciting event. This page contains related links and if you find more, please let me know!

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Official OSTAR website of the Royal Western Yacht Club – The U.K. side of the race, @020 is the 60th anniversary of the race and it starts in MAY! Follow the OSTAR and the TWOSTAR also on Facebook.

Newport Yacht Club – the U.S. side of the race.

WIKIPEDIA overview of individual OSTAR races

TRANSAT– the latest website of the race, once called the OSTAR

Video links

1968OSTAR-captains
The captains of the 1968 OSTAR. Tom Follett of Cheers is seen standing 4th from left. Photographer unknown.
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Proa Cheers and Tom Follett’s journey from St. Croix to Gosport.
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1968 OSTAR and proa Cheer’s track including back to St. Croix from Newport.

Cheers Poster!

The book

Project Cheers is a story of brilliant organization and endeavour

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by three men dedicated to an idea which many thought crazy. That idea was a fantastically fast twin hulled craft called Cheers, designed specifically by Dick Newick to win the Single Handed Transatlantic Race in 1968. In the hands of Tom Follett, one of the most capable (and modest) small boat sailors in the world, who endured great discomfort and danger, she put up an astounding performance in the race, sometimes reaching quite hair raising speeds, to finish a very close third. The fact that she did not win can only be attributed to bad luck. —quote from the original book jacket of “Project Cheers”, first published in 1969.

Read a book review of Project Cheers HERE

Cheersbookcoverpic-sm
This was the original cover photo for the book Project Cheers, published in 1969. It was taken by Dick Newick in St Croix, USVI. You can see Buck Island in the back ground.

Buy a soft cover copy of the new edition of Project Cheers, by Jim Morris, Dick Newick, and Tom Follett. Available NOW. You can also pick up a copy at the NW Maritime Center Chandlery in Port Townsend,  and get one while visiting Small Craft Advisor Magazine, or Port Townsend Watercraft.

A hard cover copy of the new edition of Project Cheers, by Jim Morris, Dick Newick, and Tom Follett is being considered if there is adequate interest. You can contact ptwatercraft @ gmail.com to express interest. (no spaces in email address)