HMCo #909s Mab

Particulars

Construction_Record_Title.jpgName: Mab
Later Name(s): Little Audrey (1937-1941), Tyche II (1947-1952), Larus (1953-1954), Sprite (1954-)
Type: S-Class Bar Harbor
Designed by: NGH
Contract: 1924-12-6
Launch: 1925
Construction: Wood
LOA: 27' 6" (8.38m)
LWL: 20' 6" (6.25m)
Beam: 7' 2" (2.18m)
Draft: 4' 9" (1.45m)
Rig: Sloop
Sail Area: 425sq ft (39.5sq m)
Displ.: 6,030 lbs (2,735 kg)
Keel: yes
Ballast: Lead (3350 lbs)
Built for: McMurtry, George C.
Amount: $3,500.00
Note(s) in HMCo Construction Record: "S" Class for Bar Harbor
Last year in existence: 1989 (aged 64)
Final disposition: Broken up in or after 1989.

Note: Particulars are primarily but not exclusively from the HMCo Construction Record. Supplementary information not from the Construction Record appears elsewhere in this record with a complete citation.


Model

Model #718Model number: 718
Model location: H.M.M. Model Room North Wall Right

Vessels from this model:
93 built, modeled by NGH
#828s Gob (1920, Extant)
#830s Spinster (1920)
#831s Papoose (1920, Extant)
#832s Woodchuck (1920)
#833s Cheerio (1920)
#834s Widgeon (1920, Extant)
#835s Kajee (1920, Extant)
#836s Daphnia [Daphina] (1920)
#837s Doodah (1920)
#838s Teaticket (1920, Extant)
#844s Vant (1920, Extant)
#845s Swallow (1920, Extant)
#846s Fano (1920, Extant)
#849s Cima [Cimi] (1920, Extant)
#850s Ellen (1920)
#851s Monsoon (1920)
#852s [S-Class for W. R. Potter] (1920, Extant)
#853s [S-Class for T. A. Howell] (1921)
#854s Aminta (1920)
#855s [S-Class] (1921)
#856s S-Class for A. L. Lindley (1921, Extant)
#857s [S-Class for T. A. Howell] (1921)
#858s Meg (1921, Extant)
#859s [S-Class for M. J. O'Brian] (1921, Extant)
#864s Shona (1921, Extant)
#870s Surinam (1922)
#871s Perneb [Pernab] (1922, Extant)
#872s [Unbuilt. Cancelled] (1922)
#873s Pandora (1922, Extant)
#876s [S-Class] (1922)
#909s Mab (1925)
#910s Albatross (1925, Extant)
#911s Elinor (1925)
#912s Emily II (1925, Extant)
#913s Spray (1925, Extant)
#914s Skip (1925)
#915s Lulworth (1926)
#956s Firefly (1926, Extant)
#957s Seafarer (1926, Extant)
#958s Beze B [Bizi Bo] (1926)
#959s Periwinkle (1926, Extant)
#960s Artemis (1926, Extant)
#963s Koshare (1926, Extant)
#964s Bridget (1926, Extant)
#965s Avocet (1926, Extant)
#967s Stella II (1926, Extant)
#970s Naut (1926)
#971s Rocket (1926, Extant)
#980s Vixen II (1926)
#996s Ellen O. [Ellen A.] (1926)
#1013s Sonnet [Seafarer Crossed out] (1926)
#1014s Pronto (1926, Extant)
#1015s Rowena (1926, Extant)
#1018s Kotic [Kotick] (1926, Extant)
#1019s Fandec II (1926, Extant)
#1020s Vanessa (1926)
#1021s Iroquois II (1926, Extant)
#1022s Dilemma (1926, Extant)
#1023s Jacks (1926)
#1034s Barracuda (1927, Extant)
#1035s [S-Class for A. W. T. Bottomley] (1927)
#1036s [S-Class for A. W. T. Bottomley] (1927)
#1037s [S-Class for A. W. T. Bottomley] (1927)
#1051s Danae (1927, Extant)
#1052s Spindrift (1927)
#1056s Vindex (1929, Extant)
#1075s Elva (1928)
#1076s [S-Class for A. W. T. Bottomley] (1928)
#1077s [S-Class for A. W. T. Bottomley] (1928)
#1080s Priscilla (1927, Extant)
#1119s Sea Dog (1929, Extant)
#1120s Anita (1929, Extant)
#1121s Pirate (1929, Extant)
#1122s Antares [with Bobbie, Barbara crossed out] (1936, Extant)
#1123s Nightmare (1929, Extant)
#1124s Whoopee (1929)
#1125s Barracuda V (1929, Extant)
#1126s Alpha (1929)
#1127s Iris (1929)
#1128s Olive (1930, Extant)
#1129s Surprise (1930, Extant)
#1130s Aeolus [?] (1932, Extant)
#1151s Pluckermin II (1930, Extant)
#1152s The Fair American (1931)
#1179s Osprey (1930, Extant)
#1180s Penguin (1932)
#1181s [S-Class] (1930)
#1182s [S-Class] (1930)
#1183s [S-Class] (1930)
#1184s [S-Class] (1930)
#1385s Tinker Too (1936, Extant)
#1414s Wawis (1937, Extant)
#1415s Stormalong (1937)
#1416s Estelle Dunbar III (1941, Extant)
#1417s [Unbuilt S-Class] (1937)
#1418s [Unbuilt S-Class] (1937)
#1419s [Unbuilt S-Class] (1937)

Original text on model:
"828 class 20' 1/2" w.l. to rate in S class Nov. 1919 Scale [1"]" (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)

Model Description:
"20'6" lwl S-class sloops of 1919 and beyond. One of the boats, named Coquina, is in the Herreshoff Marine Museum's collection, and The S-class Association is still very much alive." (Source: Bray, Maynard. 2004.)

Related model(s):
Model XA2-1_04 by NGH (1919?); sail
S-Class


Note: Vessels that appear in the records as not built, a cancelled contract, a study model, or as a model sailboat are listed but not counted in the list of vessels built from a model.


Offsets

Offset booklet number(s): HH.6.146-4

Offset booklet contents:
S-Class (Cape Cod Shipbuilding Embargoed)


Offset Booklet(s) in Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Restricted access --- see curator.)

Drawings

Main drawing Dwg 076-130 (HH.5.05572) Explore all drawings relating to this boat.

List of drawings:
   Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
   HMCo #909s Mab are listed in bold.
   Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
  1. Dwg 112-072 (HH.5.09368): Winch for Boom Hanging (79-40) (1907-09-21)
  2. Dwg 109-005 (HH.5.08776); Spinnaker Boom End for Small Racing Yachts (1910-10-18)
  3. Dwg 096-121 (HH.5.08083); Sails > One Design S Class Yacht for Racing and Cruising (1919-10 ?)
  4. Dwg 076-130 (HH.5.05572); Construction Dwg > 828 Class Knockabouts (1919-11 ?)
  5. Dwg 076-130 (HH.5.05572.1): Construction Dwg > 828 Class Knockabouts (1919-11 ?)
  6. Dwg 096-121 (HH.5.08081): Sails > Sail Plan for One Design S Class (1919-11)
  7. Dwg 128-060 (HH.5.10179): Sails > Sails for 828 Class (1919-11-28)
  8. Dwg 065-066 (HH.5.04662): Rudder Hanging for 828 Class (1919-12-24)
  9. Dwg 084-097 (HH.5.06548): Companion-Way Details for Water Tight And (1920-01-14)
  10. Dwg 096-121 A (HH.5.08082); Sails > S Class Boat, 17' Rating (1924-11-01)
  11. Dwg 148-000 (HH.5.12234); Sails > S Class Boat (1924-11-07)
  12. Dwg 148-000 (HH.5.12235); Sails > S Class Boat (1924-11-07)
  13. Dwg 148-000 (HH.5.12236); Construction Dwg > Class S Boat (ca. 1931)
  14. Dwg 130-000 (HH.5.10543): Sails > S Class Boat (1935-03-26)
  15. Dwg 096-121 B (HH.5.08083.1); Data Relating to Herreshoff Class Boats [S-Class and H-23] Given to North American Yacht Racing Union (1938-01-13)
  16. Dwg 096-000 (HH.5.08123): Sails > Proposed Rig, Herreshoff "S" Class (1939-12-11)
Source: Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Together with: Hasselbalch, Kurt with Frances Overcash and Angela Reddin. Guide to The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 1997. Together with: Numerous additions and corrections by Claas van der Linde.
Note: The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection is copyrighted by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass. Permission to incorporate information from it in the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné is gratefully acknowledged. The use of this information is permitted solely for research purposes. No part of it is to be published in any form whatsoever.

Documents

Nathanael G. Herreshoff

"[1925-06-07] Sun 7: [Thermometer] 89 [to] 60 [degrees]. Still hot, but in p.m. wind changed to NE and made a great change. ... Took sail in S boat [probably one of the new Bar Harbor Class S-boats #909s-#913s] with Ann in p.m. ...
[1925-06-10] Wed 10: Strong SSW [wind]. T&L early, fog most of day, ch[anging] to NW by sunset. 5 S class boats [#909s-#913s] left for Bar Harbor." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1925. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

L. Francis Herreshoff

"... 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.)

Other Modern Text Source(s)

"1925. ... Herreshoff's had all the firm could handle. By the end of March the seven [sic, i.e. five?] S boats for Bar Harbor [#909s Mab, #910s Albatross, #911s Elinor, #912s Emily II, #913s Spray] were nearly finished, they were building two of the Herreshoff 15-footers to be used at Newport [probably #997s Nabob II and #998s Nancy]; the Alden designed S boat [#931s Nassau] for a Chicago yachtsman was planked and ready to be turned over and set on her keel; twelve 14-foot sailing skiffs [#924s-#929s, #935s-#938s, #946s, #947s, #950s, #951s], the same as N. G. Herreshoff had taken to Florida the year before but with centerboards instead of fin keels, had been shipped to the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, and they had orders for two 50-foot auxiliary schooners, Harlequin [#934s] and Rofa [#933s], for New Bedford men. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 25.)

Further Reading
  • 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.

Images

Registers

1960 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts (#7648)
Name; Former Name(s): Sprite; Larus
Owner: William D. Harris; Port: Barrington, R. I.
Building Material Wood; Type & Rig K[eel], TC [Trunk Cabin], Slp
LOA 27-6; LWL 20-6; Extr. Beam 7-2; Draught 4-9
Sailmaker Ratsey; Sails made in [19]53; Sail Area 425
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer N. G. Herreshoff; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1927

1967 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts (#9010)
Name; Former Name(s): Sprite; Larus
Owner: William D. Harris; Port: Barrington, R.I.
Building Material Wood; Type & Rig K[eel], TC [Trunk Cabin], Slp
LOA 27-6; LWL 20-6; Extr. Beam 7-2; Draught 4-9
Sailmaker Thurston; Sails made in [19]60; Sail Area 425
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1926
Note: Sail No. 21

1970 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts (#9360)
Name; Former Name(s): Sprite; Larus
Owner: William D. Harris; Port: Barrington, R.I.
Building Material Wood; Type & Rig K[eel], TC [Trunk Cabin], Slp
LOA 27-6; LWL 20-6; Extr. Beam 7-2; Draught 4-9
Sailmaker Thurston; Sails made in [19]60; Sail Area 425
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1926
Note: Sail No. 21

Source: Various Yacht Lists and Registers. For complete biographical information see the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné under Data Sources. Note that this section shows only snapshots in time and should not be considered a provenance, although it can help creating one.

Supplement

From the 1920 and earlier HMCo Index Cards at the MIT Museum
  • 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.
From the 1931 HMCo-published Owner's List

Name: Mab
Type: J & M
Length: 20'6"
Owner: McMurtry, George C.

Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. "A Partial List of Herreshoff Clients." In: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Herreshoff Yachts. Bristol, Rhode Island, ca. 1931.

From the 1930s L. Francis Herreshoff Index Cards at the Herreshoff Marine Museum
  • Note: The L. Francis Herreshoff index cards comprise a set of some 1200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and / or ownership information. Apparently compiled in the early 1930s, for later HMCo-built boats like the Fishers Island 23s or the Northeast Harbor 30s are not included. Added to in later decades, apparently by L. F. Herreshoff as well as his long-time secretary Muriel Vaughn and others. Also 46 cards of L. F. Herreshoff-designed vessels. The original set of index cards is held by the Herreshoff Marine Museum and permission to display is gratefully acknowledged.
From the 1953 HMCo Owner's List by L. Francis Herreshoff

Name: Mab
Type: 20' 6" J & M
Owner: George C. McMurtry
Row No.: 390

Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. "Partial List of Herreshoff-Built Boats." In: Herreshoff, L. Francis. Capt. Nat Herreshoff. The Wizard of Bristol. New York, 1953, p. 325-343.

From the 2000 (ca.) Transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Vermilya/Bray

Month: Dec.
Day: 06
Year: 1924
E/P/S: S
No.: 0909
Name: Mab
OA: 27 1/2'
LW: 20' 6"
Rig: J & M
K: y
Amount: 3500.00
Notes Constr. Record: S Class for Bar Harbor.
Last Name: McMurtry
First Name: Geo. G.

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.

Research Note(s)

"Sail numbers 2 and 21." (Source: Upham, Kenneth B. History and Register of the S-Boat. No place, 1994, p. 75.)

"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.)

"[Broken up in 1999.]" (Source: Upham, Kenneth B. History and Register of the S-Boat. No place, 1994, p. 75.)

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

Note

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Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné.
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Citation: HMCo #909s Mab. Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné. https://herreshoff.info/Docs/S00909_Mab.htm.