A Legacy of Sailboat Racing
This article first appeared in SpinSheet July 2014.
“Sailing has been an integral part of the Gibbons-Neff family for generations,” says Polly Gibbons-Neff Ortlieb. “We’ve been raised on the water, racing and cruising at different times in our lives. Many of us sailed before we learned to walk, and so we feel comfortable on any size, shape, and type of sailboat.”
Members of the clan have participated in just about every aspect of the sport, so much so that the term “dynasty” comes to mind. Not only have most Gibbons-Neff children grown up participating in junior fleet racing, many have gone on to race small boats around the buoys, campaign in the important Chesapeake Bay races, compete in famous bluewater distance races, enjoy coastal cruising, make offshore deliveries, race log canoes, and sail at the collegiate and Olympic levels.
“Sailing is in the Gibbons-Neff blood,” agrees Polly’s cousin, Amy Gibbons-Neff Hitt. “My generation was taught that sailing is about being on the water with family and friends, and that healthy competition on the racecourse enriches and nurtures those relationships for a lifetime. Win or lose, the best race is always back to the dock to share stories and plan for the next race.” One might surmise that the hyphenated name is the result of a modern marriage, but actually it goes back for many generations. Polly says, “The story I have been told, which may have evolved over time, is that my great-great-grandfather was a Gibbons. After his father passed away, his mother re-married a Neff, and so the son took on both names hyphenated.”
Polly’s great-grandfather, Morton “Uncle Mort” Gibbons-Neff, founded Little Egg Harbor YC on Barnegat Bay in Beach Haven, NJ. His two sons, Morton “Sunny” and Grellet “Tooty,” inherited their father’s passion for the sport, and each brother married a woman who shared the sailing bug. The couples raised their respective four children to be sailors, too, taking them out on the water while still babies, as early as one week of age, and sailing together as a family as the kids grew. A frequent sailor on the Chesapeake and beyond, Sunny campaigned the family’s 40-foot Owens cutter Prim, competing in many Newport-Bermuda races and three Trans-Atlantic races. He won his class in the 1972 race to Spain with son Mitchell aboard as navigator. Meanwhile, Sunny’s brother Tooty and his family were busy sailing, first on a 29-foot wooden sloop Viajero, and then on the family’s 32-footer, Merry Weather.
In the 1950s Sunny moved his family to Maryland’s Eastern Shore where he owned a successful cattle and grain operation, Clovelly Farm, on the Chester River. Eventually, two of Sunny’s children and two of Tooty’s children settled in the Maryland towns of Chestertown, Oxford, St. Michaels, and Annapolis, where today many of their children and grandchildren are top-notch Bay racers and cruisers.
Sunny’s son Mitchell sailed extensively offshore, including two Trans-Atlantic races, and at least 20 Bermuda races, the first of which was as a teenager on Prim. He served as president of Sparkman & Stephens, a naval architecture and yacht brokerage firm based in New York, and was a respected businessman, community leader, and sailor. He passed away in 2007.
Mitchell’s brother Peter led family campaigns out of Annapolis on his J/24 Mirp, Beneteau 345 Dash, and most recently his Farr 395 Upgrade, before his death in 2013. Like his brother, Peter raced more than 20 times to Bermuda. His wife, Debbie, has been an active J/22 sailor, and their children Lyndsey and Peter, Jr. grew up sailing at Severn Sailing Association (SSA) in Annapolis. Older daughters Stevie and Polly became accomplished sailors in their own rights. Polly in particular has an impressive sailing resume and has enjoyed working in the marine industry.
“It’s wonderful that you are writing this article, because my dad always hoped to see our family in the pages of SpinSheet,” she says. Sunny’s sons Morton “Tony” and Henry have also raised passionate sailing families. Tony and wife Donna now reside on the family farm in Chestertown, MD, and daughter Amy lives in Annapolis with husband David Hitt and their two sons.
They are active members of AYC, where Amy has been involved with the junior sailing program. Among many other sailing accomplishments, Amy was the head sailing instructor for two seasons at SSA, placed second in CBYRA Laser Highpoint in 1989, and worked the bow in the 1992 J/24 World Championships. Over on the Eastern Shore, Amy’s uncle Henry continues to sail the family boat Prim, and Henry, Jr. “Henner” sails his J/29 Flossie (named for Sunny’s wife, Flossie, his grandmother) with his wife and three children out of Tred Avon YC (TAYC).
“What impressed me even more than the Neffs’ sailing IQ was the manner in which father and sons worked together with absolute understanding of the task at hand, whether racing or not,” says Lane. “While each was as comfortable and skilled at taking the helm, trimming the sheets or talking tactics, each was confident without being conflictual. Sunny set the tone, as he would man the winch and trim the jib or spinnaker as often as he would steer. I was awed by their coordination and camaraderie. There was no yelling or screaming, no petty bickering or machismo; there was simply knowing what had to be done, when it had to be done, and just doing it. I wanted some of what they were as a team and a family.”
Today, Tooty’s children and grandchildren continue to race and cruise out of AYC and TAYC. Daughter Julie Gibbons-Neff Cox moved to the Eastern Shore and was very active for many years at TAYC and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Her children Sewall and Jeff have raced on the well-known Eastern Shore boats Ariel and Amadeus, and their cousin Sarah grew up sailing at Camp Tockwogh in Worton, MD, where she also served as a sailing instructor. Tooty’s son Jeff and wife Leslie and their daughter Cara are members of AYC, where they’ve been active supporters of the junior program, which Leslie’s father helped to establish.
Because we could probably fill most of this issue with details about the Gibbons-Neffs and their sailing accomplishments, we’ll conclude by simply listing some of the highlights. In addition to sailing all of the well-known Bay races multiple times and many Newport Bermuda, Annapolis Bermuda, and Annapolis Newport Races, members of the clan have been represented on the Drexel University, Hobart College, Old Dominion University, Tufts University, and the U.S. Naval Academy sailing teams.
Gibbons-Neffs have also competed in the IRC championships, Women’s Rolex, J/24 East Coast and World championships, Nantucket race scene, Block Island Race Week, SORC, Key West Race Week, Women’s Nationals in Hawaii, Ft. Lauderdale to Montego Bay Race, the Oxford regatta, Solomons, Screwpile, and local weeknight racing. They’ve also delivered boats and cruised from Maine to Miami and enjoyed cruising the BVI, Caribbean, Bahamas, Lake Michigan, and the Mediterranean.
