George Taylor Newell
G. Taylor Newell was born March 30,
1911 in Rochester, New York. Like the Jimmy Buffet song, he was the "Son of a Son of
a Sailor". Both his father, George Russell Newell and his Grandfather, George Henry
Newell were avid sailors on Lake Ontario. George Henry Newell was, in fact, Commodore of
the Rochester Yacht Club near the turn of the century. The first Ripple, which our Newell
Cadet was named for, was a 30 ft. centerboard sloop which was the flagship of the Yacht
Club from 1886 to 1889, when G. H. Newell was Commodore.
Taylor’s first boat was a Star
class sloop that was given to him by his father when he was 12 years old. The "Lucky
Star" was his pride and joy and he kept a meticulous log of his sails aboard her
throughout his teens. This log is filled with sketches in his fine quick hand of boats and
hull designs that appealed to him. Even at this young age, his talent is evident.
He attended the University of
Rochester and by my records began designing yachts at an early age. A 1935 copy of
"Rudder" magazine includes a design of his that was completed when he was just
24 years of age. His initial career as a young man, however, was that of a civil engineer,
like his own father. His love of sailing and yacht design continued and fairly quickly it
become his profession.
He worked for a number of years at the
firm of Sparkman & Stephens in New York. During that time, and throughout his life, he
was almost always designing something at home. There was seldom a scrap of paper in the
house that didn’t have a rough sketch of a hull on it. Occasionally, he would even
sketch an idea on the white tile in our bathroom and then warn us not to clean it off
before he had a chance to get it down on paper.
During WWII he remained at work and
designed mine sweepers for the war effort. After a heart attack scare, he began to work in
Connecticut for C. R. Horton, one of the designers of the Cort Nozzle. This work primarily
involved tug, barge and tanker designs for McAllister , Esso and others. He was a designer
of the ill fated Marjorie McAllister tug which sank, losing all hands, off the east coast
in, I believe, the early 70’s. Even with the tugs and barges, he was always a
craftsman and a perfectionist. He often sketched a person somewhere on deck and was proud
of such innovative designs as a tug with a hydraulic pilot house that could go down so
that the tug could pass under bridges on the Mississippi with ease, and then extend up for
maximum visibility when pushing or pulling.
The Newell Cadet was one of the boats
that Taylor designed on his boards at home. Among others where, "Maria" and
"Duchess", both built by Norge Boats out of Norway and Holland. His own Newell
Cadet, "Ripple" was his pride and joy. She was always ship shape and he was on
her every available moment. He sailed her primarily on Long Island Sound and then each
Spring and Fall would take her to and from Bullock’s Point, Rhode Island, where she
wintered at the boat yard of a friend and retired Naval Architect, Edward Weber.
Here are Taylor’s own words on
the Newell Cadet, from the Background section of one of the logs he kept of his Cadet.
"Ripple IV was built in 1968 by Cheoy Lee Shipyard in Hong Kong BCC and shipped to
New York aboard the S.S. Temeraire of the Barber Steamship Lines, arriving in late January
1969. Ripple IV was designed by the writer, G. Taylor Newell, as a stock boat for Cheoy
Lee Shipyard. A prototype all-teak boat was delivered to Greenwich, Conn. In 1965 and
subsequently some 120 hulls were built before Cheoy Lee discontinued the model. The class
is known as the Newell Cadet and also as the Offshore 27. The hulls were of fiberglass
construction with overlaid teak decks and cabin trunks." (N.B. it is my belief that
more than 120 hulls were produced although my Father was not reimbursed, nor did he have
first hand knowledge of more being produced)
Taylor had a quick mind and a
mischievous sense of humor. He was fast with a pun or a come back and enjoyed a good
practical joke. A favorite of his was aimed at nervous or annoying guests aboard Ripple in
a good blow. He would begin by reassuring them that Ripple couldn’t possibly capsize.
"As her designer I can assure you that her center of gravity is such that is just
can’t happen. I used a basic stability formula…." At this point he would
begin to call out some fictitious mathematical equation and then stop in the middle with a
puzzled and worried look on his face. "Quick, get me a pencil and some paper!",
he would say and then begin to frantically work and rework the bogus equation. He put them
at ease soon enough with a sly little grin and a twinkle of his eye.
The last boat he designed was a small
rowing dory named "Eggshell" which was similar to one he remembered having as a
young boy. He was lucky enough to have her built by the same team that designed and built
Patient Lady, the catamaran which one the Little America’s cup for several years
running. Shortly after Eggshell was built, Taylor suffered a series of strokes in 1979
that stripped him of his short term memory and his ability to go out on the water on his
own. I’m happy to still have Eggshell today and take her out yearly in Saugatuck
Harbor out in front of our home.
Until his death in 1987, Taylor still
remembered many of his old sailing stories and was never without a pencil. We marveled at
the fact that, although he couldn’t remember what he had for lunch, he could still
tell us how to design a propeller. I think his love of designing was summed up for me
right before his death when an Intensive Care Nurse came to me and asked me what he did
for a living. She was curious because my Father had asked her for a pencil. Thinking that
he had some important final note to write, she offered to help him and asked him if he
needed anything else. "No", he said, "I just feel better when I’m
holding a pencil."
Ruth aboard her own Cadet, Ripple V
Correspondence from Ruth Newell,
daughter of G. Taylor Newell, designer of the "Cadet" series.
Dear Mr. & Mrs. McGarvey,
I'm looking for any information on people who own a Cheoy Lee Newell Cadet. My
father, G. Taylor Newell designed her in around 1968. It was first built and put out
as the Newell Cadet, and later Cheoy Lee changed the name to the Offshore 27.
I'm especially interested in finding out if the boat "Ripple" is still around.
This was the Newell Cadet that my father had modified especially for him by Cheoy
Lee, it sported a lead keel and an aluminum mast that was a foot taller than the standard
issue. She sailed out of Rowayton, CT, was sold to Rhode Island and last I heard of
her, was on the CT River about 10 years ago. Originally she had a plaque on her
bulkhead indicating that she was built for the designer and a small half model on the
door to the head.
My dad died in 1987 and I'd love to find Ripple or at least see other Newell Cadets that
are still out there.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Ruth Newell Donohue
Dear James
Thanks also for copying me on
the e-mail from Robert. The cabin sole grate was a great feature. My Mother
made good use of it, with an awning, to sleep on an air mattress outside, rather than
within the cabin on fair nights.
The full headroom, I must admit, was not in my Dad's original plan. In fact,
he was initially unhappy with making the cabin higher because he thought it hurt the boat
aesthetically. After using her, however, he did agree that it made for a comfortable
cabin.
The Newell Cadet was one of many boats that my father designed on speculation, hoping for
a buyer. Several other designs of his were picked up by Norge Boats in Norway and
built out of wood. One of them from the early fifties, design name Musketeer, boat
name Maria, is still in use in Long Island Sound today.
After working for some years for Sparkman and Stephens, and a stint designing mine
sweepers during the war, my father worked for C.R. Horton and designed many tug boats for
the Mcallister and Esso Lines, as well as tankers, barges, etc.
Sailboats and sailing were always his first love and he would often come home after a full
day on the boards to work at his board at home. This was where the Newell Cadet, and
many other boats were designed.
The Cadet design was picked up by Lion Yachts out of Greenwich CT and an agreement was
made with Cheoy Lee to produce them and pay a royalty. By my father's estimate as
listed in a 1977 log entry, there were some 120 Cadets built. We always felt that
perhaps a somewhat larger number than this was correct because he had ongoing challenges
in getting royalty payments from Cheoy Lee and often had to contact them to let them know
that he knew of more boats that he had not been reimbursed for.
Please feel free to call, write or e-mail any questions you have. I'll probably wind
up giving you more information than you could possibly want and will leave it to you to
include whatever you choose.
Thanks for making my day,
Regards,
Ruth |
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