EIGHT BELLS: Richard Barre Nye

Mr. Richard Barre Nye, a former Wall Street businessman and avid yachtsman, died March 14, 2013.

A graduate of Dartmouth College, Mr. Nye attended Amos Tuck School of Business Administration before joining his father, Richard “Dick” S. Nye, at Georgeson and Company, a proxy-soliciting firm in New York City. The firm would become a key player in the world of mergers and acquisitions; known for its successful communication strategies and its ability to influence shareholders, Georgeson proved adept at both defense and offense, helping clients fend off corporate raiders or takeover target companies. After Mr. Nye assumed management of Georgeson in 1981, the firm’s services expanded to include investor relations and stock watch programs. At the time Richard Nye sold Georgeson in 1989, it was the oldest and one of the most prestigious firms in its field, with approximately 500 clients to its credit, and offices in New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Dallas and Los Angeles.

The Nyes’ involvement with the company led to another passion when Lloyd Georgeson, founder of Georgeson & Co., sold Richard S. Nye his yacht Vanward. Father and son, novices on the water, discovered what would become a lifelong love for sailing. They became keen yachtsmen and competitors. In 1946 the Nyes purchased the first of three yachts they would name Carina, sailing out of Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich, Ct. with a loyal crew of dedicated amateurs. They made a formidable team and enjoyed numerous triumphs, including first in fleet for the 1952 Newport to Bermuda Race, the 1955 Transatlantic Race to Sweden and the 1972 Transatlantic Race to Spain, and first in class for the 1966 Transatlantic Race to Denmark and the 1969 race to Ireland. Mr. Nye was also a member of the U.S. team which won the 1969 Admiral’s Cup. When his father could not compete, Mr. Nye continued with the sport, chalking up numerous wins with the third and last Carina, a custom-built 48’ sloop.

Following a divorce in 1970, he lived in New York City for several years, but continued to sail out of Indian Harbor Yacht Club, where he encouraged the same love of boats and deep water in his children. When he was not racing, he often cruised Maine’s coastal waters, frequently venturing into Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Mr. Nye retired to Mount Holly Vermont, with his second wife, Patricia Nye. In Vermont he became active in local affairs. He served on the board of Green Mountain College and the Black River Academy Museum, and supported, among other institutions, Vermont Public Radio and the Vermont Historical Society. Living on the shores of Lake Nivenah, he protected the lake as fiercely as he loved it and occasionally hosted regattas for Dyer dinghys.

Mr. Nye is survived by his children, Jonathan, Melinda, Robert, and William Nye, his stepdaughter Jennifer Leigh Taylor, his sisters, Edith Jones of Orchard Park, New York and Caroline Hawe of Chesapeake, Virginia, and his first wife Joyce Nye (mother of Jonathan, Melinda, and Robert). In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to American Parkinson Disease Association, the Parkinson’s Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, the Department of Neurology at Fletcher Allen Hospital in Burlington, Vt., or Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.