Newport 30 open transom

[Dubble D]

Currently we have a 1984 Newport 30 designed with a `walk thru` transom. Owned the boat for about two years now and have yet to see another one like it. Searching web has not produced any info yet.
Has anyone seen one, owned one? Curious as to how many were made. Will post pic as soon as one of the boys comes around to show the old man how to do it.

[UNCIVILIZED]

She may be a custom, & or aftermarket modified boat. As in places where there's lots of racing, with plenty of support boats nearby. And especially in locales with mild weather like SoCal - Coupled with; lots of engineers, designers, racers, & boat tuners; guys do mod's to boats all of the time. And or, that's where they try out ideas for "yet to be born", full fledged boats, first.
On pre-existing boats, first, before birthing a new class/design of boat. So it'd bear closer inspection, in order to see if her hind end is original or not.

Like the Schock 40 for example. Which went though several generations of mod's. Some of which worked, & worked quite well. Being adopted by future fleets. And other bits being almost fully outlawed from racing/sailing.

[roverhi]

Would be willing to bet the boat was customized by one of the PO's. Open transom boats weren't common in 1984. Could have been an effort to get new life out of an old mould but doubt it.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Yeah, that's where my comments came from. As I've seen several Schocks, & Frers of that vintage, setup with open transoms. That, & a buddy who was a sailmaker & rigger, put a monster, double spreader rig on his Newport 30.
She was fun, & real, real fast, unless & until, certain frequencies of wave patterns kicked up. Then that extra weight up high just killed her, with her small rudder & keel.

Does the boat in question have a split backstay? Also, adjustable, or no? And by chance, do you have some pics?
As on some boat designs, it's easier to compensate for the altered backstay load paths than in others. Ditto on rudder mountings, & the loads which they generate.

So pics of her cockpit as compared to other, closed transom, sisterships would be helpful in us making educated guesses.
'Course so would pics of the insides of her aft end...

[Dubble D]

At first looking at boat I was with you Roverhi. Somebody doing artwork with a sawzall to make improvement to the hind end. I`m thinking that Uncivilized might be more on track as she was molded/laid up this way from the factory. I do agree that a walk thru was not used in that era of design. That`s where my curiosity lies. Was there one made and they said "woops, that didn`t work" or was there a small run of them? Would like to find someone who has some info on what Newport was doing back then.

[UNCIVILIZED]

It'll be interesting finding someone who knows. As back then, Orange County was literally that. ALL Orange Groves.
So, ah, things have changed just a little.

That said, it wouldn't be too tough to compare a resin sample from that section of the boat against one from elsewhere in her. To see if things were laid up at the same time (or close to it), using the same/similar batches & types (chemical signatures) of resin.
It'd probably be as close to definitive as anything else, test wise.

[Dubble D]

Seems you have some curiosity also. Yep, split backstay, non adjust. Good idea on glass/resin comparison. While crawling around back there it does not appear to have any seams or fades that are not where they are meant to be. Will have to give me a week or so before I get home to post some pics.
I have talked with one fellow in our marina who says he has seen one in S.F. Bay area, but after talking to him more over the past year I think he has `seen` many things.
I`ll post some pics as soon as I can.
Thanks

[UNCIVILIZED]

Yes, I've always been preternaturally curious. Since I was old enough to wiggle off across the floor & go explore the world on my own.
It got me my first Real tool set when I was 3, steel tools (including saw) & all. Plus it still garners me lots of unique & interesting invites.

That said, regarding your lamination conundrum. And advanced amateur could rebuild a transom into a new configuration, sans unseemly folds, or much in the way of "off" laminations, to give it away to anyone. But... sometimes pics do tell a tale. Like if a fabricator was hung over that morning at work So that "too perfect" a job is as much of a give away as is a bad one.

And with large camera memory cards, plus multiple photo mode settings, coupled with high res images, it's almost as good as a microscope (literally). With the benefit of the fact that you just put the camera back there, at arm's length, & snap off 100 shots, sans any real aiming. And then expand & analyze the images on your computer, in your free time.

It's GREAT for mastheads, which you can't quite see to inspect, & or work on. Just point, & start clicking. Changing the angle a bit, every few snaps.

Far, far cheaper & easier than back in the day, when it took a roll of 36 in order to get 4-6 decent/good shots of your masthead. To just determine it's configuration, as it was too high to see from the bosun's chair.

Ditto for engine sub-assemblies, rudder quadrants, etc. Which happen to be peskily out of easy reach.

[westwon]

I have a 1981 Newport 2 with split back-stays. It doesn't have an open transom, but I sure wish it did! I would love to see some pictures of the OP's setup. These wonderful old classic plastics have most of what I would want in a newer, more expensive 30 footer, but they sure would be great with a more accessible transom

Steve

[Stu Jackson]

IIRC, someone once said Newports were less expensive copies of Catalinas. Don't know if it's true or not, but the first Catalinas of that size range came with split transoms on the original cockpit shapes in 1990. The wider Catalina cockpits on our C34 boats, called the Mark IIs, occurred in 1994. The Catalina 30 Mark IIs had the T shaped instead of straight cockpits in 1990, their Mark IIIs had the walk through cockpits on the original narrow cockpits in around 1994 also.

So it sure sounds like an owner mod.

[westwon]

friends of ours have a Catalina 30. The 2 boats are remarkably similar. Almost copies The Newport is 2000 pounds lighter though, and that's both good and bad. The Newport is a bit faster in light air, but the Catalina is (or seems any way) much stiffer.
Anyway, both great boats (the Chevrolets of boats someone said to me)

Steve

[Dubble D]

okay we`ll see if these pics upload to this thread

[Stu Jackson]

Sweet. The addition of the swim step leads me even more to believe it was a very nicely done PO mod.

Here's what Catalina 34s did with their step through transoms:

Evolution of the Catalina 34 - c34.org

Look for the Mark 1.5.

[westwon]

OK, that's not just a transom mod. The entire back end has been redone. I have not seen a Newport 30 with opening rear seats and the entire center seat area (which IS opening) has been removed. Looks great though! As long as it was well done by the modifier, it's a great change
Steve

[Jim Cate]

I wonder what they did to replace the transverse stiffness that was lost when the transom was cut. The loads from the split backstay will try to bend the sides of the boat together, this is originally resisted by the transom. Now that's missing...

but it does look like a nice job!

Jim