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.
About Jim Morris: A Postscript authored by Halsted Morris, one of Jim and Tootie’s two children can be seen HERE:
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.
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!
The captains of the 1968 OSTAR. Tom Follett of Cheers is seen standing 4th from left. Photographer unknown.Proa Cheers and Tom Follett’s journey from St. Croix to Gosport.1968 OSTAR and proa Cheer’s track including back to St. Croix from Newport.
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
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.
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)