HMCo #864s Shona

"... in some ways the most interesting product of 1919 was the one-design class of 'S' boats, which came out early that spring.
While there were few of them built the first year, perhaps twenty, the company continued building them off and on for the next eight or nine years so that eventually there were perhaps a hundred and fifty or more of them, and besides being good little cruisers they have furnished active racing up to the present time in widely separated districts. If I remember right these little yachts cost less than two thousand dollars the first few years, so they have been a good investment for some owners for they were built well enough to last for years if handled carefully. Perhaps the 'S' boats would even have been more popular if they had been a little better looking but that defect should not be wholly blamed on Captain Nat for it was the request of the original sponsors of the class that they have short overhangs and full bows and sterns. This feature has made them rather queer-looking Universal Rule boats, and consequently they are not particularly fast for their rating. But there have been few all-around better boats for afternoon sailing, cruising, and racing, and perhaps also the last one-design class that was somewhat comfortable." (Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. The Wizard of Bristol. The Life and Achievements of Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, together with An Account of Some of the Yachts he Designed. New York, 1953, p. 306.)

"Herreshoff has turned out one good sized power cruiser this year, the Helianthus [#378p], for the personal use of N. G. Herreshoff, besides a fleet of nine S class boats [#852s S-Class for W. R. Potter, #853s S-Class for T. A. Howell, #854s Aminta, #855s S-Class, #856s S-Class for A. L. Londley, #857s S-Class for T. A. Howell, #858s S-Class for J. F. Byers, #859s S-Class for M. J. O'Brian, #864s Shona] that were distributed from Cape Ann to New York, and the six-metre Shiela [#861s] for the races on the other side, and it is reported that the firm is about to resume work on the 105-foot power cruiser [#377p Ara] for Alexander Winton of Cleveland. Work on her was stopped in December last year, and nothing has been done on her since that time, when a lot of the Herreshoff hands were laid off." (Source: Davis, Jeff. "Narragansett Bay Yachtsmen Planning for Next Season." October 1921, p. 43.)

"... Latest additions to the rainbow class of the North Shore, the Herreshoff one-designed 'S' knockabouts are the Shona [#864s], owned by Philip Morse, with a white bottom and red top sides, and the Kajee [#835s], purchased last Winter by Thomas Nelson Perkins, which is to have black topsides. ..." (Source: Anon. "Notes From The Week's Log." Boston Globe, June 10, 1923, p. 62.)

"... Another change in name but not in ownership is to be noticed In the Herreshoff 'S' knockabout fleet. The Nancy, raced last season by F. Haven Clark, this year is listed as the Sally Anne, ..." (Source: Anon. "Notes From The Week's Log." Boston Globe, June 3, 1928, p. B18.)

"A change in the ownership of one of the ever popular Herreshoff 'S' knockabouts is to be noted by the sale by Mr Howard in connection with E. Arthur Shuman Jr of EIdredge Mc-Innis, Inc. of the Sally Anne for F. Haven Clark to William S. Febiger of Manchester. The Sally Anne will remain in the North Shore class with Mr Febiger transferring his racing from the Manchester 17-footers to the 'Ss'." (Source: Fowle, Leonard. "S Knockabout Sally Anne Changes Hands But Remains in Local Class." Boston Globe, April 12, 1931, p. A56.)

"1921. ... Herreshoff Busy.
Building had boomed during the Winter and Spring. The Herreshoff Company turned out nine S boats [#852s, #853s, #854s, #855s, #856s, #857s, #858s, #859s, #864s] that went to Marblehead, Oyster Bay and Peconic Bay and the 62-foot power cruiser Helianthus [#378p] for Nathaniel G Herreshoff's personal use, and a 6-metre sloop, the Sheila B. [#861s], to sail in the international 6-metre races at Cowes, England. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 10.)

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled 'Lead for 828 Class [#828s, #830s, #831s, #832s, #833s, #834s, #835s, #836s, #837s, #838s, #844s, #845s, #846s, #849s, #850s, #851s] 20 1/2 wl. Leg-o-mutton Knockabouts for S class. 1/4 size. Nov[ember] 13 1919'. With calculations and 'Note --- boats trimmed by the stern and 2nd year lot [#852s, #853s, #855s, #856s, #857s, #858s, #859s, #864s] lead to be moved forward 3in. N.G.H. Sept[ember] 12, 1920'. " (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_08090. Folder [no #]. 1919-11-13.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #864s Shona even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Benfield, James W. "Reviving the 'S' Class." Yachting, May 1945, p. 56-57, 104. (3,516 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. How the Western Long Island Sound S-class fleet was built with a deliberate strategy.
• Upham, Kenneth B. History and Register of the S-Boat. Privately printed, no place, 1994. (13,553 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. The definitive source of info on the S-class, but unfortunately current only up to its date of publication in 1994. History of the class and its various fleets, technical comments, detailed vessel-by-vessel provenance, owner and name indices.
• Bray, Maynard and Claas van der Linde. "The Origins of the S-Boat. A Remarkable Herreshoff One-Design." Wooden Boat #267, March/April 2019, p. 74-79. (1,201 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. A short history of how the S-Class came about, including new insights from recent research of original Herreshoff documents. With photos and reproductions of the original construction and sail plans.
• Silken, Alan (text). Silken, Cory (photos). "Setting Sail in America. The Remarkable Story of Herreshoff S Class Sailboats." Seapoint Books, Brooklin, ME.
  Appreciation of the S-Class, history of the design and local fleets, portraits of surviving S-boats and a catalogue of all S-boats
• Silken, Alan (text). Silken, Cory (photos). "A Century of S-Boats. The Enduring Appeal of a Classic Herreshoff One-Design." Wooden Boat #267, March/April 2019, p. 80-85. (1,510 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Appreciation of the S-Class and a history of the fleets in Narragansett Bay, Quisset and Long Island and a summary of the leading S-boat restorers.
• van der Linde, Claas. [No title. Note about S-Class Weight Discrepancies.] March 11, 2022. (11 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Claas van der Linde. Note about discrepancies in published and unpublished sources of displacement of S-class boats and why 6030lbs is currently assumed to be the correct weight.

• Shona (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Note: The vessel index cards comprise two sets of a total of some 3200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and information regarding drawings, later or former vessel names, and owners. They were compiled from HMCo's early days until 1920 and added to in later decades, apparently by Hart Nautical curator William A. Baker and his successors. While HMCo seems to have used only one set of index cards, all sorted by name and, where no name was available, by number, later users at MIT apparently divided them into two sets of cards, one sorted by vessel name, the other by vessel number and greatly expanded the number of cards. Original HMCo cards are usually lined and almost always punched with a hole at bottom center while later cards usually have no hole, are unlined, and often carry substantially less information. All cards are held by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass.

Month: Feb.
Day: 17
Year: 1921
E/P/S: S
No.: 0864
LW: 20' 6"
B: 7' 2"
D: 4' 9"
Rig: M
K: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 3500.00
Notes Constr. Record: S Class
Last Name: Morse
First Name: C. A.

Source: Vermilya, Peter and Maynard Bray. "Transcription of the HMCo. Construction Record." Unpublished database, ca. 2000.

Note: The transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Peter Vermilya and Maynard Bray was performed independently (and earlier) than that by Claas van der Linde. A comparison of the two transcriptions can be particularly useful in those many cases where the handwriting in the Construction Record is difficult to decipher.

"Windows left out [for] 852 class." (Source: Annotation on S-class construction plan 76-130, Hart Nautical Coll. acc. no. HH.5.5572, dated November 1919.)

"Sail number 15." (Source: Upham, Kenneth B. History and Register of the S-Boat. No place, 1994, p. 72.)

"Boston Globe, Sep. 25, 1921, p. 48 reported on S-boat 'Shona' owned by Philip R. Morss having been added to the fleet in Marblehead 'the latter part of July' 1921. Name 'Shona' confirmed by a Boston Globe, August 10, 1921, p. 11 article which reported on P. S. Morss having sailed the Herreshoff S-boat 'Shona'. Owner 'C.A. Morse' was mispelled in the Construction Record and should have been 'Charles A. Morss', of Marblehead, who was the father of Philip R. Morss." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

"Sail number 16 according to Stebbins neg. no. 25855, taken on August 12, 1921." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 17, 2010.)

"Sail area approximately 425 square feet, measured." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Yachts by Herreshoff. The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company: Designers and Builders of Sailing and Power Craft since 1861. Bristol, Rhode Island, 1937.)

"See note about about weight discrepancies in published and unpublished sources under 'Further Reading' heading." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 11, 2022.)

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