The Gem By Michael



"The Drafting Table, Fuji 40 Review"
Bob Perry, Castoff magazine
September 1978

Okay, I didn’t really swoon (nor tremble) over the paper Windy brought back from Mexico (though I do have strong positive associations with that distinctive saltwater/diesel/boat smell). But I did get excited about a real gem I found among all that paper: a 1978 review of the Fuji 40 that appeared in Seattle’s former Castoff magazine. This is a real treasure. Renowned naval architect Robert Perry (Valiant 40, Tayana 40, Nordic 40, and many more) wrote the review shortly after the first Fuji 40 was launched.

Before we bought our Fuji 40, I looked at all 86 trillion sites on the Internet trying to find information about the boat. I contacted S&S in New York and four Fuji 40 owners registered in the U.S. to learn all I could. For all of that searching and inquiring, I never uncovered a reference to this review. Apparently, Castoff magazine is long gone.

Fortunately for future folks interested in the Fuji 40, the article is now accessible from The Fuji 40 tab on this blog. This is important. After Cruising World published my review of the Newport 27, I wrote here about documenting what little information exists about many older fiberglass sailboats, and contributing to the body of knowledge.

Another curious aspect of this Castoff review is the pictures, or rather, the guy who took them. I’ve seen these same pictures of the Fuji 40 all over the place (online and in the original brochures, available here on this blog), but always without attribution. Here, they are clearly labeled as the work of Stanley Rosenfeld.

So?



Flying Spinnakers, by Stanley Rosenfeld, 1938
http://www.rosenfeldcollection.com/



Stanley Rosenfeld
http://www.rosenfeldcollection.com/

So this guys is cool, or was cool. He died at age 89 in 2002. Apparently, he was a renowned photographer of boats, as was his dad before him. His New York Times obituary included a quote: “He was the dean of American yachting. He was the person who photographers today aspired to be.” He is credited with taking perhaps the most iconic photograph in all of sailing: his 1938 photo of two 12-meter yachts, "Flying Spinnakers."

He was a sailors’ photographer who photographed the America’s Cup for 65 years before finally abandoning the event he loved in 1995. Apparently, his remarkable decision was rooted in his love of the vessels and disdain for the advertising that by then covered them:

“It hurts me to look at them. I understand that the boats cost a great deal of money, and that the teams are very serious. But you shouldn't do that to a yacht.”

--MR