THE
MARINERS'
MUSEUM
Office of the President and Chief Executive
100 Museum Drive Newport News, Virginia www.mariner.org
January 20, 2006
To whom it may concern,
The Mariners Museum’s mission is to illuminate mankind’s experience with the sea and with the nautical events that shaped the course and progress of civilization. Thus the Museum realizes the need to document the advent of modern multiple-hulled watercraft. Although multihulls have a vast heritage in antiquity the Museum feels that the evidence of their contemporary re-emergence is largely being overlooked. The bearers of this letter, Jim Brown and Scott Brown, are uniquely positioned to gather the post World War Two history of these modern vessels: Jim Brown has been a pioneering designer, builder, sailor and spokesman for the multihull community for fifty years, and Scott Brown is a respected documentary cinematographer and has collected extensive archival multihull footage.
Jim and Scott have established The OUTRIG Project whose mission is “to collect, preserve and disseminate the history and lore of modern seafaring.” Their initial focus is on multihulls and their efforts have begun to secure a considerable store of living history in the form of video interviews and other graphic artifacts. The ultimate results of their efforts are deeded to the Mariners Museum. The Browns have also been instrumental in helping the Museum acquire the personal collections of two other renowned multihull pioneers; Dick Newick and Arthur Piver. Such historic materials are archived an accessible through our Library and Archives.
The Museum’s international Small Craft collection has recently accessioned its first modern multihull and desires to build a more comprehensive collection and possibly create a specialized exhibition on multihull watercraft. This letter, therefore, is to encourage cooperation with the Browns and the OutRig! Project. Their initiative is their personal endeavor, is privately sponsored, and operates entirely apart from the Museum. However, as their Project moves forward its current developments will be updated on the Museum’s Website.
The Mariners Museum is one of the largest maritime museums in the world and is presently preparing to exhibit the preserved remains and a complete re-creation of the USS Monitor.
If you are interested in learning more about the multihull collections at the Museum, contact Lyles Forbes, Curator of marine arts and Traditions at forbes@mariner.org or Lester Weaver, Archivist, at weaver@mariner.org
Sincerely,
John B. Hightower President and Chief Executive
[This letter is transcribed and condensed from the original.]
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