Herreshoff #193301es Velita

"[1933-04-29] Sat 29: ... Sidney turned over his 16 ft boat he is building. [Would this be #193301es Velita?]
[1933-11-22] Wed 22: ... [Archie] Rounds began davit shed for Sidney's new boat Velita [#193301es] at wharf.
[1933-11-23] Thu 23: ... Work on shed & davits for Sidney's boat [#193301es Velita] progressing well.
[1933-11-25] Sat 25: ... Helped Sidney weigh Velita [#193301es], 334 lbs, spars 25 lbs.
[1933-11-29] Wed 29: [Thermometer] 50 - 39 - 50 [degrees]. Very fine with high barom[eter] in a.m., but falling [in] p.m. L[igh]t S [wind in] p.m. Nearly calm air. ... Sidney launched his boat Velita [#193301es].
[1933-11-30] Thu 30: [Thermometer] 62 - 44 - 44 [degrees]. A very warm & fine clear day [with] l[igh]t to strong SW to WSW [wind] ch[anging] to strong NW [at] sunset. Sidney tried his new boat [#193301es Velita] in p.m. ... Velita hoisted on new davits.
[1933-12-02] Sat 2: [Thermometer] 43 - 25 - 40 [degrees]. Very fine & cold early. Mod[erate] WSW to NW [wind] becoming l[igh]t in afternoon. ... Sidney off in Velita [#193301es] in p.m.
[1933-12-03] Sun 3: [Thermometer] 47 - 39 - 44 [degrees]. Overcast all day with a few showers in forenoon. Nealy calm all day. Went with Ann in p.m. to see dinghy racing at Wardwell's. Sidney was there with Velita [#193301es] & Humdink [#1231s]. 14 dinghys sailng in 2 classes. Humdink 1st in all B class races in almost calm.
[1934-03-11] Sun 11: [Thermometer] 31 - 17 - 28 [degrees]. Snow last night clearing in a.m. with snowfall of about 6in. Clear part of afternoon becoming overcast & l[igh]t NE at sunset. Sidney & Becky with others took a sail in Velita [#193301es] in p.m.
[1934-03-17] Sat 17: [Thermometer] 47 - 33 - 43 [degrees]. Very fine, calm early then mod[erate] to l[igh]t SSW [wind]. Clear all day. L[igh]t frost last night & ice made in cove. Old ice [is] still in upper harbor. ... Sidney off sailing Velita [#193301es] all p.m.
[1934-07-14] Sat 14: [Thermometer] 77 - 69 - 71 [degrees]. Generally cloudy with l[igh]t to mod[erate] SW to S [wind]. Took a ride in p.m. to Riverside to see racing at R.I.Y.C. Velita [#193301es] [&] Sidney win in her class.
[1934-07-21] Sat 21: [Thermometer] 82 - 71 - 72 [degrees]. Muggy & partly clear [with] l[igh]t airs. L[igh]t SW [wind in] p.m. Calm [in the] evening. ... Sidney won with Velita [#193301es] in race at Edgewood. ...
[1934-07-28] Sat 28: [Thermometer] 77 - 72 - 72 [degrees]. Fresh SSW [wind] and generally overcast with some showers. Very damp. ... Sidney & Becky win their 3rd race in Velita [#193301es] at E[ast] Greenwich.
[1934-08-04] Sat 4: [Thermometer] 80 - 72 - 74 [degrees]. Very fine, clear & warm. L[igh]t to mod[erate] NW [wind]. Regatta in Bristol Har[bor] in p.m. Velita [#193301es] [was] classed with much bigger boats [and] came in a close 3rd but easily won on time allowance. Her 4th straight victory.
[1934-08-18] Sat 18: [Thermometer] 72 - 63 - 68 [degrees]. Very fine. L[igh]t WSW [wind] early. Mod[erate] SSW [wind in] p.m. ... Ann took me & Mrs M[unroe] & Miss W[irth] to Toniset[? Touisset?] & Cols[?] R[iver] to see boat race in which Velita [#193301es] was a winner.
[1934-08-25] Sat 25: [Thermometer] 75 - 69 - 69 [degrees]. Very fine and generally clear with l[igh]t NW to W [wind]. ... Sidney won race at R.I.Y.C. in Velita [#193301es].
[1934-08-26] Sun 26: [Thermometer] 72 - 65 - 67 [degrees]. L[igh]t rain early & nearly calm then l[igh]t to mod[erate] W to SW [wind]. Part[ly] overcast. Sidney & Becky sailed Velita [#193301es] in [a] long race from RIYC and won in light airs, finishing 1st and 13 m[inutes] by allowance. The last race of season and Velita [has] won [them] all.
[1935-02-16] Sat 16: [Thermometer] 48 - 35 - 40 [degrees]. Very fine & mild. Nearly calm. Snow disappearing fast. Sid & Becky off in Velita [#193301es] in p.m. ...
[1935-04-28] Sun 28: [Thermometer] 73 - 53 - 66 [degrees]. A very warm day with mod[erate] to strong W to WNW [wind] & l[igh]t NW [wind] in evening. Clear till near sunset. Sidney & Becky off in Velita [#193301es]. ...
[1935-07-20] Sat 20: [Thermometer] 80 - 68 - 72 [degrees]. Very fine & clear. Calm & l[igh]t NE [wind]. Sidney & Becky took Velita [#193301es] to Edgewood & won a race in allowance. ...
[1935-08-01] Thu 1: [Thermometer] 81 - 71 - 75 [degrees]. Very fine & warm. L[igh]t to mod[erate] W to SW [wind]. ... Bubble [#285p] & Velita [#193301es] off for picnic at 6-30 p.m.
[1935-08-17] Sat 17: [Thermometer] 80 - 67 - 73 [degrees]. Very fine, clear & warm. Calm [in] a.m. L[igh]t SW [in] p.m. ... Race at E[ast] Greenwich. Velita [#193301es] won. ...
[1936-05-09] Sat 9: [Thermometer] 78 - 53 - 53 [degrees]. Very fine & warm. A summer day. Clear & bright till sunset. Calm early then l[igh]t to fresh NE [wind]. Weaver took off storm windows. ... Sidney floated Velita [#193301es] for first time this year.
[1936-08-01] Sat 1: [Thermometer] 78 - 61 - 72 [degrees]. Very fine, clear & bright. Calm early. L[igh]t to mod[erate] SW [wind in] p.m. WSW [wind in the] evening. Rainbow [#1233s] left in a.m. Becky towed Velita [#193301es] to Newport & won [the] race. ...
[1936-08-02] Sun 2: [Thermometer] 82 - 68 - 75 [degrees]. Our warmest day, clear & fine. Nearly calm [in] a.m. L[igh]t SSW [wind in] p.m. Bubble [#285p] party off as usual & Velita [#193301es] won again at Jamestown. ...
[1936-08-08] Sat 8: [Thermometer] 75 - 60 - 65 [degrees]. Very fine. Nearly calm [in] a.m. L[igh]t to mod[erate] S [wind in] p.m. A good dew last night. Becky won in Velita [#193301es] & Sidney in Skiddu [#1165s Skiddoo] at Edgewood in p.m.
[1936-08-22] Sat 22: [Thermometer] 67 - 61 - 62 [degrees]. Overcast with l[igh]t to mod[erate] NE [wind]. In bed [in] a.m. Races of Barrington Y. C. in which Belisarius [#1266s], Skiddoo [#1165s] & Velita [#193301es] all failed by little.
[1936-08-30] Sun 30: [Thermometer] 75 - 65 - 68 [degrees]. Overcast & calm early, clearing in a.m. Fresh SW [wind] in p.m. Postponed race of Bristol Y.C. small classes [was held] in p.m. Velita [#193301es] won handsomely in her class. ...
[1936-08-31] Mon 31: [Thermometer] 71 - 65 - 65 [degrees]. Very fine & part[ly] clear. Mod[erate] WSW [wind] early. Fresh SSW [wind in] p.m. till ch[anging] to WNW [at] 5 p.m. ... Velita [#193301es] off in evening to picnic.
[1936-11-11] Wed 11: [Thermometer] 45 - 29 - 44 [degrees]. Fine, clear & cool. Mod[erate] NW [wind in] a.m. SW [wind in] evening. ... Sidney launched Velita [#193301es] after being painted by Becky. ..." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1933 to 1936. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"August 30 1934 {1934/08/30} N. G. HERRESHOFF BRISTOL, R. I. Dear Francis ... Sidney's Velita has finished the seasons racing, by winning in every race 5 or 6 - and some even up in a 14' to 16' class, in which she measures 12' + and assumed 14' to go in class. She appears a great success" (Source: Mystic Seaport Museum, L. Francis Herreshoff Collection, Box 17, Folder 10: Letter from N. G. Herreshoff to L. F. Herreshoff.)

"N. G. HERRESHOFF 6 WALLEY STREET BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND July 21, 1935 - {1935/07/21} Dear Francis, ... Sidney & Becky went up to Edgewood yesterday and won with 'Velita', sailing against larger boats. ... Your affect - Father." (Source: Mystic Seaport Museum, L. Francis Herreshoff Collection, Box 17, Folder 11: Letter from N. G. Herreshoff to L. F. Herreshoff.)

"N. G. HERRESHOFF 6 WALLEY STREET BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND Dec, 15. 1935 {1935/12/15} Dear Francis, ... Sidney recently tried out a Development Class boat [#1148s Pig-in-a-Bag] that I designed for Com. George Nichols some years ago, - with an up to date rig having a revolving mast, that Mr. Nichols has sent to Coconut Grove, and hopes to have (?) interesting sailing against Wirth Monroe (and others) during the holidays. I think we all were impressed at the ease this craft got away from 'Velita', Which carries out your contention for more length, when you are not charged for it in racing. ... Your affect - Father." (Source: Mystic Seaport Museum, L. Francis Herreshoff Collection, Box 17, Folder 11: Letter from N. G. Herreshoff to L. F. Herreshoff.)

"February 7, 1933. {1933/02/07} Dear Father: ... I am very interested to hear that Sidney is thinking of building a small sail boat. It is too bad that he did not take more interest in sailing twenty-five years ago." (Source: Mystic Seaport Museum, L. Francis Herreshoff Collection, Box 17, Folder 8: Letter from L. F. Herreshoff to N. G. Herreshoff.)

"March 14, 1933. {1933/03/14} Dear Father: ... I am interested to hear that Sidney is progressing well building the 16' sail boat in his cellar." (Source: Mystic Seaport Museum, L. Francis Herreshoff Collection, Box 17, Folder 8: Letter from L. F. Herreshoff to N. G. Herreshoff.)

"L. FRANCIS HERRESHOFF 20 LEE STREET MARBLEHEAD, MASS. Ans - May 12. {1933/05/12} ... Dear Father: I was very glad to hear some more details about Sidney's dinghy. ... Mr. Sidney's boat is very similar in model to my last year's La Petite and she also has the fault of dragging too much water behind her large stern." (Source: Mystic Seaport Museum, L. Francis Herreshoff Collection, Box 17, Folder 8: Letter from L. F. Herreshoff to N. G. Herreshoff.)

"L. FRANCIS HERRESHOFF Yacht Designer 20 LEE STREET MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS ... November 17, 1933. {1933/11/17} Dear Father: ... I am glad to hear that Sidney had his little sail boat completed." (Source: Mystic Seaport Museum, L. Francis Herreshoff Collection, Box 17, Folder 9: Letter from L. F. Herreshoff to N. G. Herreshoff.)

"VELITA is an elegant W Class (Universal Rule boat) that never lost a race when sailed by my father and mother. She hung in an outreach shed over the water out from our family pier. My father designed and built that so in any season he could pull the boat up to protected safety via the falls at each end connected to lift eyes on the deck. The efficient sliding gunter rig when down exactly fitted the full 16 ft. length of VELITA. Shrouds were the components of double halyards. She was, of course, centerboard and had shiftable sand bags for stability in single-handed sailing. I inherited the boat and cherish her though not sailing her much. She is now fitted with a somewhat imperfect innovative rig that my father helped me work out." (Source: Herreshoff, Halsey. [Email communication to Claas van der Linde.] December 10, 2009.)

"VELITA did have a wishbone rig. Later after hurricane trouble, I built an experimental rig (my father participated and was approving) with a sleeve round the mast to alleviate flow separation around the mast --- a sort of a wing. This is still on my boat, though I don't particularly like the rig." (Source: Herreshoff, Halsey. [Email communication to Claas van der Linde.] December 17, 2009.)

"1934. ... Sid Herreshoff had built a slippery little sloop with a wishbone boom, Velita, and she didn't need any time allowances to win in class T. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 68.)

"... [During the hurricane of 1938 the boat shed between Sid’s and his father’s (Capt Nat) house collapsed, and of the seven boats stored in it, the Velita [#193301es] was the only one not completely destroyed. Sid’s dinghy, the Glory B [#193602es] was washed onto the piazza of the senior Herreshoff’s house, resting there in perfect repose. Sid’s little sloop, the speedboat Bubble [#285p] was feared lost, until she was dug out from a heap of kindling wood wreckage of several small waterfront cottages. The newest addition to Sid’s fleet, the 46-foot cabin launch, the Lang Syne [#251p], recently brought around from Marblehead, accommodatingly came ashore in his yard, so he had his whole flotilla stranded within a dozen feet of his shop door. ...[Also among the destroyed boats was #187406es Riviera. Two other boats that may have been in the boat shed and thus destroyed were #192101es Lantana which NGH reported to have been stored there as late as 1933 and #404s Coquina which was last reported to be in existence in 1932.]" (Source: Simpson, Richard, V. "The Great Hurricane and Tidal Wave of 1938: Scenes of the Disaster in Rhode Island's East Bay." Roger Williams University, Bristol, 2012. http://docs.rwu.edu/hurricane_1938/1, retrieved April 12, 2014.)

"VELITA. Sailing Sloop, c. 1933-35.
A centerboard sailing sloop lightly constructed of cedar on oak frames with mahogany trim. VELITA features a hollow spruce spar, wishbone rig and experimental sails. She was designed & built by Sidney DeW. Herreshoff in his workshop on Hope St. for family recreation and racing. Mr. Sid sailed her in about 50 races and in all but one he was awarded first prize. The single second prize was taken when he arrived at the starting line of the race one half hour late.
LOA 16ft 1in. LWL 15ft. B 5ft 8in. D 7.5in." (Source: Herreshoff Marine Museum. [Plaque on display at the museum.] Bristol, RI, no date [ca. 2005].)

"Although Sidney Herreshoff designed and built Velita in 1935 for his own family's use (his heirs still own her, in fact), the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. later offered this as a stock design, calling it at various times either the 'Sailfish' or the 'Lake George' class. No others appear to have been built, however.
Velita is obviously a handsome and useful boat, with some novel features such as: (1) a sliding gunter rig whose short spars can be stowed inside the boat or easily carried; (2) a wishboom mainsail for aerodynamic efficiency and easy trimming of the sails, (3) a balance-type jib which eliminates the need for a forestay and snaphooks; (4) tackle steering, with a continuous hauling part that can be reached from anywhere in the cock-pit; (5) shrouds comprised of halyards for economy and convenience. Velita was not assigned an HMCo hull number." (Source: Bray, Maynard and Carlton Pinheiro. Herreshoff of Bristol. Brooklin, Maine, 1989, p. 192.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled architectural drawing titled 'Proposed Davits and shed for Rowboat. 12ft 3in long. Scale 1/12. N.G.H. June 20 [19]31' and marked 'This built in July 1931'. In lower left corner a penciled note 'VELITA [#193301es]. 16ft 0in x 5ft 7 1/2in. 17ft 6in x 6ft 0in'. On opened envelope 'From L. Francis Herreshoff, Rotee[?] St., Marblehead, Mass.'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Architectural Drawing. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE02_05080. Folder [no #]. 1931-06-20.)
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"[Item Description:] Four-page advertisement brochure titled 'Herreshoff Bulls-Eye Bulletin. … Modernized Rig and Sail Plan for Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer' with sailplan for a wishbone-rigged 12 1/2 footer, deckplan, description and discussion of the new rig and its advantages (so fast that the 'North American Dinghy Association's general board has ruled out Sid Herreshoff's new Class B dinghy [#193301es VELITA?] rig as unsanitary'), offer to owners of existing 12 1/2s for a conversion kit to wishbone rig for $190, and announcement 'as of March first', a redution of the selling proce of the 12 1/2 footer to $895, sail-awy Bristol, completely equipped with Herreshoff-designed stainless steel fittings and stainless standing rigging, with Italian balloon rope running rigging, and Herreshoff Price List for 1935. Including two photos of #193301es VELITA titled 'A specially constructed experimental boat equipped for trials with wishbone rig'." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Advertisement Brochure. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.069. Box HAFH.6.2B, Folder One Design 12 1/2 Foot. No date (1935).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #193301es Velita even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

"Was built in 1933, no official HMCo hull number." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

"Displ. 384lbs, spars 25lbs as per NGH diary entry from November 25, 1933." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 12, 2016.)

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