Herreshoff #190009es San Toy [Boomerang]

"BRISTOL, Sept. 16 [1900] --- ... The small racer of Francis Herreshoff, Jr., of Brooklyn, named San Toy, that was launched last Tuesday [September 11, 1900], is certainly unique in the matter of light construction. Of an over-all length of 19 feet 6 inches and a waterline of 12 feet length, she draws but three inches of water. The beam is 6 feet. The boat is square at both ends, and is so extremely light that two men could pick her up and carry her easily with all gear on board. The elimination of anything like moderate weight timbers for a boat of such length is made up for in the way of interior bracing, resembling trestle work of light oak pieces, placed upright, and also diagonally, from stern to stern. The hull is remarkably flat, and is further strengthened by a covering of canvas, painted white. The deck is crown shaped, having a small circular hatch well aft in which to stow sails. The mast is hollow and in two pieces, bound together with seizing. There is no headstay, the buff [sic, i.e. luff?] rope of the jib answering for such a stay. The masthead contains two brass spreaders and a forward truss not much larger in thickness than a lead pencil. She has been tried in light airs, and with the wind abeam makes almost as fast time as a catamaran. The centreboard down with a weight of thirty-five pounds of lead attached to it holds her to windward well.
Her best point of sailing is before the wind or on a broad reach. The San Toy was first named Boomerang. She will be entered next season to race with the Fall River racers Unique and Columbia. These boats will probably have to allow her time. She raced Wednesday with the Opossum [#484s?] and beat her. On Thursday afternoon in a scrub race with the Kildee [#460s] the San Toy beat on elapsed time, although the Kildee beat her on windward work three minutes. The designer [N. G. Herreshoff] sailed the Kildee. San Toy ran away from her before the wind." (Source: Anon. "Yacht News Of Bristol." New York Times, September 17, 1900, p. 10.)

"... In the Walker's Cove yard the designer's steam yacht Squib [#188p] was hauled out for the winter a few days ago. ... Other craft laid up there recently are the freak San Toy, owned by Charles F. Herreshoff, 2d, and the Opossum [apparently #484s], same owner. ..." (Source: Anon. "Yachting News Notes." Forest & Stream, November 17, 1900, p. 397.)

"BRISTOL, R.I., Dec 18 [1900] --- ... The stories circulated abroad, according to accounts, about designer Watson beng suspicious of Charles F. Herreshoff 2d, are looked upon here as being unjust to the young designer now delving [spelling?] at his studies in the university of Glasgow, with the main object of finishing his course. It is known here to a certainty that Charles F. Herreshoff 2d decided last September to take the course in naval architecture at Glasgow shortly after the San Toy Kildee incident, when the young man's design proved to have better spread than the design of the veteran Nat Herreshoff. There was no further use for the boy in the drafting room when the two had been sailed, and the boy proved more than a match for his uncle.
Nat Herreshoff, peculiar as he is in manner, would never adopt such a plan as he is credited with. In the nature of things his reported espionage upon Watson is out of the question. Twice he has vanquished the models of the latter --- in 1893 and 1895, when the Vigilant and Defender kept the cup on this side of the water by beating the two Valkyries.
Young Herreshoff is studying naval architecture at Glasgow with the object of finishing a three years' course of study in one. He went to Glasgow a month before the challenge was received on this side of the water from Sir Thomas Lipton." (Source: Anon. "Story of C. F. Herreshoff Not Credited Here" Boston Globe, December 19, 1900, p. 8.)

"... In a letter just received by the correspondent of The Associated Press, from Charles Herreshoff II., the designer of the fast racing boat San Toy, now pursuing a course of study at the University of Glasgow, the young designer, in answer to queries, tells things about the 65-footer he has just designed at Glasgow for P. M. Inglis. ..." (Source: Anon. "Constitution Could Float Now." New York Times, April 7, 1901, p. 6.)

"BRISTOL, R. I., June 8 [1901]. --- The friends of Charles P. Herreshoff II. are very jubilant to-day over the victory the young man gained over his English competitors in Glasgow when the 65-footer Nevada, designed and owned by him, won by a long lead the race with a host of crack racing boats.
Mr. Herreshoff is barely twenty-one years of age. He is the son of James Herreshoff of California, and a nephew of Nat Herreshoff. He designed the San Toy and another small racer in Bristol last season, both of which proved very fast." (Source: Anon. "Nevada's Victory Pleases Herreshoffs." New York Times, June 9, 1901, p. 8.)

"Charles Frederick, born May 28, 1880, at Nice, France; spent his childhood at Bristol, where from 1883 to 1893 he attended the local public schools; like his older brother, he then went to Coronado, Cal., but did not remain to pursue his studies at the university there; on the contrary, he resumed to the East and studied the subject of designing at Bristol for a time and later went to Baltimore, where he was employed by the Maryland Steel Company; from there journeyed to Glasgow, Scotland, where he entered the famous university and took a special course in naval architecture; in the year 1902 he returned to America and lived for a time in New York City, but afterward took up his abode at Bridgeport, Conn.; he was engaged in designing motor boats and high speed gasoline engines, in which he displayed the characteristic skill of the family. While taking his university course in Glasgow, he designed a racing sloop which beat all her competitors; he attained the same success later at home with motor boats; his 'Den' proved to be the fastest boat of that period in the world; later he carried his remarkable success into the automobile field, and while living in Detroit designed and manufactured a car named the 'Herreshoff,' which became well known in this country for speed and other good qualities. CharIes Frederick Herreshoff married April 9, 1902, Elizabeth Harrison McCormick, of New York City, where she was born Feb. 11, 1884; two children have been born of this union: Allan Stuart in New York City, Feb. 8, 1903, and Elizabeth, June 22, 1904; in 1908 a separation led to a divorce between him and his wile, and he remarried in 1912, Edna May Burt, of Detroit, and they now reside in Coronado, Cal." (Source: Bicknell, Thomas Williams, 1834-1925. The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Volume 4. American Historical Society: New York, 1920.)

"... During his short visit to Bristol, James [Herreshoff] ... beguiled John [Brown Herreshoff] into employing his son Charles Frederick as an apprentice draftsman.
Young Charles, handsome and blessed with the physique of the big Herreshoffs, was popular with his Bristol contemporaries, but not with his uncles. His first design, the sloop San Toy, for his cousin Francis Lee Herreshoff in new York, was evidently below the company's standards. They did not record her dimensions. President John examined the finished product and recommended that, for the good of the firm's reputation, she be broken up.
Charles was so mad he bragged that San Toy could beat any comparable boat in Bristol Harbor. The challenge was taken up by his uncle Nat, who chose one of his favorite sloops, the 18-foot Kildee [#460s], to teach his nephew a lesson. Kildee was soundly trounced. In a fury, Captain Nat proposed a second race and that time it was even worse. The young 'un had proved his point but ---
'I have a feeling I won't be around much longer,' Charles told his Bristol friends.
He wasn't.
His departure from Bristol did not stop him from having a distinguished career as a naval architect. ..." (Source: Carter, Samuel III. "The Boat Builders of Bristol." New York, 1970, p. 154.)

"... When brother James and his second son, the handsome Charles Frederick [Herreshoff, 1880-1954], returned to Bristol from California, which had lost its charm for them, James convinced J. B. to hire his nephew as an apprentice draftsman. Charles Frederick had his share of the family's proclivity for inventive ideas. He designed the sloop San Toy for his New York cousin, Francis Lee Herreshoff. J.B. examined the lines of the finished product and proclaimed the boat a failure. The craft, he proclaimed, was so beneath the standards of the company that he recommended it be scrapped.
Young Charles was so sure he had designed and built a superior vessel that he challenged his uncle Captain Nat in a race in Bristol Harbor against any boat of Nat's choosing. Captain Nat, in the Kildee [#460s], was badly beaten. Nat demanded a rematch; this time he was bested more soundly than in the initial match.
It was this Charles Frederick who inaugurated the manufacturing of a line of elegant, speedy family automobiles. In 1910, the newly incorporated Herreshoff Motor Company contracted the Lycoming foundry and Machine Co. of Detroit, Michigan, to manufacture the engines for the Herreshoff National Champion, Model 25. The Herreshoff Motor Company's general offices and factory were located at 630 Harper Avenue, Detroit. ..." (Source: Simpson, Richard. Herreshoff Yachts. Bristol, 2007, p. 82.)

"C. F. Herreshoff was the son of James Brown Herreshoff, the oldest brother of N. G. Herreshoff, of the Californian branch of the Herreshoff family. No plans of San Toy appear to have survived at either Hart Nautical Collections or the Herreshoff Marine Museum." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 1, 2010.)

"Launched 1900-09-11." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 1, 2010.)

Note: Research notes contain information about a vessel that is often random and unedited but has been deemed useful for future research.