Model No. 714: Alerion, Sadie, NP29 and FI31

Model by: NGH
Made when: July 1912
Stated model scale: 1/12
Model length (ca.): 25.8" (65.5cm)
Implied vessel LOA at 1/12 (ca.): 25' 9" (7.9m)
Power/Sail: S
Vessel Type: NGH (1); Newport 29 (4); Sloop (1)
Hull Configuration: Keel&Centerboard (1); Keel (3); Unknown (2)
Model location: H.M.M. Model Room North Wall Right

Vessels from this model:
6 built, modeled by NGH

Original text on model:
"#718 cb cruiser Scale 1" July 1912 ALERION N G Herreshoff Bermuda
#732 SADIE 6" more overhang forward and 4" wider 1914
#727, 728 & 737 = DOLPHIN, MISCHIEF & COMET 1914 [Newport 29 Class]
Scale 3/4" Over hangs increased and breadth deck increased 5". Keel." (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)

Model description:
"21'9" lwl Alerion (III) and Sadie, keel/centerboard cabin sloops of 1913. Also, with change of scale and full keel, the 29' lwl Dolphin, Mischief, and Comet, Newport 29-class sloops of 1914. A 4th boat of the class originally named Paddy (now called Teaser) was launched in 1926. Three of the four still sail and race successfully, Comet having been lost in the Hurricane of 1938. This model also served as the basis for the 31' 6" lwl Fishers Island 31-class sloops of which thirteen were built between 1927 and 1930. Torch, beautifully restored and on display in the Hall of Boats represents this latter class at the Herreshoff Marine Museum." (Source: Bray, Maynard. 2004.)

Model discussion:
"Thomas: Did you say that this expanded sheer lift, or this little veneer, was that for SADIE.
A.S. deW. Herreshoff: I believe that was for SADIE, but the same shape was used for the Newport 29's and that keel.
...
Bray: The scale was changed from 1in to 3/4in I guess.
A.S. deW. Herreshoff: Yes
Bray: Now you said the same model was used for the Fisher's Island 31's?
A.S. deW. Herreshoff: Yes, but the ends were doctored some in the overhangs both forward and aft.
Bray: I believe the 31's are a little deeper too, aren't they? Isn't the lead further down?
A.S. deW. Herreshoff: Yes
Bray: What would that be just a continuation of the Newport 29 keel?
A.S. deW. Herreshoff: Yes, and probably the sternpost slanted in a little further too.
Bray: As I understand it, that would be done all on the mold loft floor.
A.S. deW. Herreshoff: Yeah
Bray: Almost like designing a boat full size, isn't it?
Thomas: A lot was done on the mold loft floor; would your father have done that?
A.S. deW. Herreshoff: No, there were men who were good at that.
Thomas: Her profile's changed quite a bit. She's quite a bit longer on deck.
A.S. deW. Herreshoff: The Fisher's Island 31's were designed when my father was away. I was the one who ? the boat." (Source: Herreshoff, A. Sidney deW. [Excerpts from the transcript of an oral interview held with Barry Thomas and Maynard Bray, both Mystic Seaport Museum.] Bristol, R.I., October 15, 1975, p. 8-9.)

Comment:
"No date is noted on this model but the first pantograph hull sections drawn from it are dated August 2, 1912 with a note 'From finished model' suggesting that by that date at the latest this model had been completed. Note, that another, earlier set of pantograph hull sections believed to be related to what eventually became #718s Alerion, exists. It is dated April 28, 1912 and carries a note '21ft cruising boat for light rig. Model nearly finished'. These earlier pantograph sections show a displacement of only 4,830 lbs compared to 5,730 lbs for the August 2, 1912 pantograph sections. It is thus believed that NGH carved a preliminary model in late April 1912, followed by a final model in early August 1912. The early model has not yet been identified." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 4, 2020.)

"... the Newport 29 Class boats were eminently fine for day sailing, cruising and racing, especially excelling in the later. It is not precisely known why Capt. Nat designed them based upon his smaller ALERION III. Doubtless his satisfaction with the ALERION made him comfortable expanding moderately and substituting fixed keel for the keel-centerboard of the ALERION. For years in my Dad’s Model Room at 125 Hope Street in Bristol, there was a separate piece of wood laid upon the deck of the ALERION model to represent the keel extension of the larger boat. This piece fits perfectly to the original model to serve as design of the keel extension and its dimensions of lead ballast. ... I glued that extension piece to the model; that is the way it can be observed today. ..." (Source: Herreshoff, Halsey C. "The 2014 CYS Commemorates the Great Herreshoff year of 1914." In: Herreshoff Marine Museum (publ.). Proceedings. The 6th Classic Yacht Symposium. May 2- 3, 2014. Bristol, RI, 2014, p. 4.)

Related model(s):
Model 0714 by NGH (1912); sail, 6 built from
Model XA2-1_05 by ASdeWH and NGH (1926?); sail, 14 built from