Herreshoff #188003es [Unbuilt Shadow's Improvement]

"Dear Mr. Foster,
... In the early '80's --- just after Edward Burgess married, he took a house at Popasquash, just across Bristol Harbor, for the Summer and, nearly every day, he would come over to look around and chat. I had just made a model to be an improvement of Shadow, and he quite fell in love with it and, in coming in, would say, 'I have come again to look at the perfect model.' The model is quite the type of Puritan except that the stern is not carried out. I think, at this time, Ned Burgess had convinced himself of the folly of adhering to the English cutter type, and was quite ready to develop the compromise type of which Puritan and Papoose were good examples.
...
Sincerely yours,
Nathanael G. Herreshoff" (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael Greene. Letter to Charles H. W. Foster, dated March 6, 1932. Quoted in Foster, Charles H. W. The Eastern Yacht Club Ditty Box, 1870-1900. Norwood, Mass., 1932, p 139-141.)

"In 1870, while employed by the Corliss Steam Engine Company, I designed the Shadow, a 36 1/2-foot overall sloop yacht built by my brother, John in 1871 for a New Bedford man. After a few years she became the property of John Bryant and was an unbeaten yacht in her class until 1887 when Edward Burgess designed and had built Papoose for the Adams brothers. In her career Shadow accumulated between 140 and 150 prizes, and it is interesting to record that during the greater part or possibly all of this period Shadow sailed her races with the original sails made by the aforementioned Jonathan Alger. These were used only during a race and then carefully stowed away.
Shadow was the original of the type of model Edward Burgess so successfully carried out in Puritan and the following cup defenders, except that they had much of their ballast in lead castings attached to the keel, while Shadow had all her ballast inside. Soon after their marriage Mr. Burgess and his wife passed the summer in Bristol, and we were very often together. I had at that time recently made a model for a yacht, to be an improvement on Shadow. Ned Burgess was greatly pleased with this model, and every time he came in would ask to see the 'perfect model.' The accompanying section lines were taken directly from this model with a pantograph and are interesting to compare with Puritan's as shown in Mr. Stephens' paper." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Discussion of W. P. Stephens' "Yacht Measurement - Origin and Development." In: SNAME (The Society Of Naval Architects And Marine Engineers). Transactions. Volume 43, 1935, p. 34-36. New York, 1936.)

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections on 'N.G. Herreshoff, 6 Walley Street Bristol, Rhode Island' stationery titled 'Section lines taken with pantograph directly from model by N.G. Herreshoff for a 40 feet waterline Sloop yacht about 1880 [#188003es Unbuilt SHADOW's Improvement]. Edward Burgess called it 'the perfect model'. About 1935'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_02720. Folder [no #]. ca 1935.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #188003es [Unbuilt Shadows Improvement] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

"Study Model." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

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