Yachts of yesteryear

This outstanding ocean racing yacht was in Newport Harbor from 1945 to

1965. Owned by Larry Holsigner of Newport Harbor Yacht Club, she was

moored off B Street on the Balboa Peninsula. She was very strongly built

and beautifully finished with Honduras mahogany planking, oak frames,

bronze knees and Everdur fastenings.

Nam Sang arrived on the West Coast in time for the 1939 Honolulu race,

which she entered under the burgee of the San Francisco Yacht Club.

Regarding the name Nam Sang, a professor of Chinese Literature at

Stanford University reported in 1945 that “nam” meant south and “sang”

may mean star in the Cantonese dialect.

About 1994, Nam Sang was under power coming down the Sacramento River,

which was at flood stage. The river had risen so much that Nam Sang’s

mast did not have the usual clearance under a large bridge.

Contact was made by the high mast, and she swung around at right angles

to the swift current. With the current pushing on the hull and the

leverage of the high mast against the bridge, she was pushed down on her

beam-ends and quickly filled with water through her open hatches.