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<P><B><FONT FACE="Arial">MDI LUDERS CHANGES HANDS, PORTS</FONT></B>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Gifford Combs is the proud new owner of WATERMELON, Northeast Harbor Luders # 3. The sale was concluded recently in Dan Burt's London office while Combs was visiting that city. This was comforting news to those of us who keep a watchful vigil over our local Luders fleet - hoping none will stray to far afield. Indeed, WATERMELON, in one sense, comes closer to home as her anchorage moved from the surf-bound cliffs of Schooner Head, in Bar Harbor, to the more tranquil confines of Seal Harbor. Here she will join four other Luders there:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">NEH #7, JULIE J, long owned by the Ford family</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">NEH #16, CHINQUAPIN, kept by Jane Zirnkilton since about 1948</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">NEH #25, GOLDEN ARROW, bought new in 1947 by Nelson Rockefeller and still beautifully kept by his widow.</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">MDI #29, SEA BISCUIT, imported last year from the Chicago fleet by Bill Eacho (& handsomely refurbished)</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">We owe a note of appreciation to Dan Burt, both for the immaculate way in which he has kept WATERMELON maintained, but, too, for his participation in the revival of Mount Desert Luders racing in its first season in 2002. It was the presence of WATERMELON on the starting line that lent considerable impetus to this effort.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Gifford Combs is an especially welcomed addition. As a recent Commodore of the Seal Harbor Yacht Club he has been a conspicuous and welcoming presence for us there. Few yacht clubs can offer such a handsome club house as this one and it is a source of some pride that Luders have established a firm presence in their anchorage. The annual Seal Harbor regatta has been an event much enjoyed by our local fleet (notwithstanding Luders have won the last three!) and we look forward to even more interclub activity.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">For those interested in such things, WATERMELON was bought new to Northeast Harbor in the original fleet in 1946. She was owned by Dr. Mathew T. Mellon, a descendant of the famous banking family. Interestingly, it seems to be the single Luders photographed by the late W.H. Ballard, a local photographer who specialized - in part - in marine subjects. (On the other hand, he did a series of International One-Design photos in 1938 when those boats arrived.). The two surviving negatives (in the MDI Historical Society) were among Mr. Ballard's 'plainest.' and seem to have been taken about 1946 when the boat was new.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">WATERMELON disappeared from the Northeast Harbor Fleet lists in 1955. Whether she was simply not raced or sold away at this time to Greenwich, Connecticut (where she spent some years) is not known. In the 1970's she was brought back to the area and kept on Petit Manan Point (largest undeveloped peninsular on the North Atlantic coast, by the way) and in Hancock Point. Still later, she was acquired by Ollie Spears, Jr., of Bar Harbor, who did a thorough restoration and subsequently sold her to Dan Burt who assured the boat's high level of maintenance.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Thank you to Dan Burt for his effort to keep WATERMELON in our fleet and to our newest members, the Gifford Combs family.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Welcome indeed !!</FONT>
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