HMCo #420s Reaper

"[1892-03-04] Fri 4: Turned over 21' boat #420 [Reaper].
[1892-05-03] Tue 3: Horse chestnut & willow trees leaving out. Launched #418 [El Chico] & 420 [#420s Reaper].
[1892-05-04] Wed 4: ... Tried #420 Reaper.
[1892-05-05] Thu 5: Tried #418 El Chico and also #416 [Alpha] & #420 [Reaper].
[1892-05-07] Sat 7: Off trying El Chico [#418s] and [Reaper] [#420s]. ...
[1892-05-14] Sat 14: Off in #420 [Reaper]. ...
[1892-05-31] Tue 31: #420 [Reaper] left for Salem.
"[1892-06-02] Thu 2: #171 ... #420 [Reaper] & 423 [#423s Vanessa] sailed for Boston. ..."
" (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1892. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"Feb[ruary] 7 - 1892.
21ft w.l. fin keel boat #420s.
Frame spaces 8".
In making moulds deduct for planking 1/2".
For timbers at head 7/8".
Timbers will increase in moulded size 5/32" per foot down from head until size is 1 3/8", then to run parallel.
Planking double 1/4" mag[any] and 1/4" cedar all above w.l., below to be 1/2" cedar.
Sheer height given is to under side of deck.
Thickness of keel 1 3/8".
Thickness of stem 2 1/2".
Thickness of deck 1/2" scuist[?].".
Sum[?] stops of # 3 floor.
Floor 4'-6"." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Note (in ink and pencil) in Offset Booklet HH.4.079.] Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"Among the smaller American-owned fin keelers Captain Nat designed in 1892 were 'Reaper' and 'Vanessa' for the twenty-one foot class at Marblehead." (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. 166.)

"PROVIDENCE, R. I., Feb. 7 [1892]. --- The Herreshoffs have contracted to build a 21-foot yacht for a Boston man who wishes to keep his name secret.
The boat will be on the Dilemma model, and will carry a jibsail and mainsail and have a fin keel. ..." (Source: Anon. "On Model of Dilemma. Herreshoff Building a 21-Footer for a Boston Man." Boston Globe, February 8, 1892, p. 8.)

"... One of the fin 21-footers for Boston, that for H. P. Benson, owner of the Wraith, is finished outside and her deck nearly laid. The centreboard is about as far along, and the other fin [ #423s Vanessa] for Alanson Bigelow, Jr., is in frame. ..." (Source: Anon. "Herreshoffs Are Busy. Many Boats Steadily Growing in the Bristol Shops." Boston Globe, March 13, 1892, p. 17.)

"Bristol, R. I. April 18 [1892]. --- ... The hulls of the two Boston fin 21-footers [Reaper #420s and Vanessa #423s] are completed, and the fins could be made ready and the boats put afloat in a very few days if occasion required. ..." (Source: Anon. "Tried on all Tacks. ... Yachtsmen Anxious to See a Performance by the Fin Keel Boats." Boston Globe, April 19, 1892, p. 11.)

"... Providence, May 2 [1892]. --- ... Ten new boats are in the Herreshoff works. Mr. Benson's twenty-one-footer Reaper stands on a bulb fin keel waiting to be launched. ... Two or three fin keels are standing around waiting to be attached to the racers." (Source: Anon. "Wasp Sails For The Hudson." New York Times, May 3, 1892, p.3.)

"BRISTOL, R. I., May 11 [1892] --- The new Herreshoff boats are getting afloat one by one, and the present outlook is for a clearing of shops early in the season, save for the steel steamer [#172p Truant] for Mrs. Newberry of Detroit, which will not be ready until late in the summer.
The latest boat afloat is the 21-foot fin-keel Reaper [#420s], for H. P. Benson of Boston.
She has been tried under sail and seemed to be fast, but there was nothing with which to compare her speed.
Afloat she looks very much like the Kersey 25-rater [#418s El Chico] which is moored off the works, except that she carries a bowsprit some five or six feet outboard and has a longer main boom.
She has a balanced metal rudder of triangular shape, with the point forward and the upper side fitting close to the counter.
The Kersey 25-rater carries no bowsprit and her mainboom barely projects over the stern. ..." (Source: Anon. "New Yachts Afloat. Fin Keel Reaper Has Been Tried Under Sail. Seems To Be Fast, And Very Much Resembles The Kersey 25-Rater." Boston Globe, May 12, 1892, p. 2.)

"Bristol, R. I., May 11 [1892]. --- The Reaper, the Herreshoff 21-foot fin for Mr. H. P. Benson of Boston, was given a couple of trials under sail today, and behaved herself to the entire satisfaction of both her owner and Mr. 'Nat' Herreshoff.
When tried a week ago the boat was found to be a bit tender under her rather large sail plan, so some 100 pounds of lead was added to that already on her fin, making a little over 2000 pounds in all.
With this added weight, the boat today moved as stiff as is desired, and the improvement in her sailing over that of a week ago was most marked.
On the trips today, Mr. Benson was accompanied by Mr. Alanson Bigelow, Jr., owner of the 21-foot fin Vanessa [#423s], and others of his friends.
Mr. Bigelow had come from Bristol hoping for a trip in his own boat, but found that she would not be ready for nearly a week, so he accepted Mr. Benson's invitation for a place in the Reaper.
The trip in the forenoon was made with a fresh southerly breeze which had occasionally a decidedly heavy puff in it.
Mr. Herreshoff had the tiller at the start, but others of the party were given a chance to try the boat before the trip was over.
A beat to windward out of the harbor and down into the bay below Bristol ferry was first in order.
Whole sail was carried, and though in the heavy puffs the boat put her lee rail under, it was hard to get her any farther.
At the same time she moved at a lively rate and pointed very high.
When well out of the bay she ran into the choppy sea, made by the wind against the ebb tide, but she seemed to lose little of her speed, and was very dry and buoyant.
She was then tried at reaching and run-rung, and here, too, showed a fine turn of speed.
After being out a couple of hours a return to the moorings was made, but in the afternoon the boat was taken out again, this time with Mr. Benson at the tiller.
The breeze was about the same as in the forenoon, and the boat behaved equally well, though driven considerably harder, just to see what she would stand.
Her owner's good opinion of her formed in the forenoon was fully confirmed.
As the tirst of the 21-foot fins afloat the boat is a most interesting one, and her performances are equally so.
No one could say of her, however, that she is a handsome craft to look at in spite of her bright decks and polished mahogany sides.
Her stem is a good-looking one with moderate overhang, but her bow with its long overhang is at wide variance with the form which the eye is accustomed to note as marine beauty.
It is there for business though, and in fact the boat has much of that look all over.
Her construction is very light, but seems strong, and in the bad wind of yesterday showed no signs of weakness anywhere.
The boat is very lightly rigged, but here again strength seem to have been combined with lightness.
The blocks are of a composition much like white metal and are very light and neat looking.
The shrouds set up with very handy turnbuckles and the mast is well stayed. The jib sets flying and has a boom on its foot.
The boat has a roomy, open cockpit, a handy tiller, and numerous little devices here and there to save weight or add to convenience.
Of her performances it can be said that she showed herself very fast on all points of sailing, pointed wonderfully well to windward and carried her sail in very good shape.
She is very easy on her helm and a little touch on the tiller when she is under way will send her whirling before a steersman not used to her realizes that she has started.
In this respect she bears out the prediction that the fins would take most careful handling, but under a practical hand there should be little difficulty in this direction.
She tacks very quickly, turning almost as on a pivot, and her crew have to be extra lively with the sheets.
She does not lose way in tacking, and fills away and is off again on the instant.
When driven at high speed --- and she went a good eight miles an hour when reaching yesterday --- she makes very little fuss over it, and the water breaks easily at the bow and closes in without much disturbance at the stem.
In a choppy sea the long bow sets in some good work, lifts the boat over the bulk of the wave instead of letting her drive through it.
The result is a remarkably dry boat and one which every wave does not slow up when it strikes.
To size her up she is a fast, dry, able, quick-working and easily handled boat, a racer first, but a craft nevertheless which, with a smaller sail plan, would be most desirable for deep water sailing.
She may not be the fastest of the fins, or even of the 21-foot fleet, but her performances have shown her to be all that tends to that end, and the writer, after the fullest opportunity to watch her as one of the party on board during her latest trips, classes her and the fin keel type generally as most dangerous competitors against the ordinary type of keels or the centreboards." (Source: Anon. "First Fin Afloat. The Reaper, Benson's 21-Footer, By Herreshoff.
Fast. Dry. Able, Quick Working, Easily Handled Craft." Boston Globe, May 15, 1892, p. 5.)

"... The Reaper [#420s], H. P. Benson's fin from the Herreshoffs, was tried under sail a week ago at Bristol and found wanting in ability to carry ber big sail spread. She was fast until heeled to her gunwale, but then instead of heeling further to the puffs she would lift out her windward side and slow up. The cause was too little lead. Sixteen hundred pounds was the amount originally calculated as sufficient, but now it will be made a plump 2,000, and this amount is expected to keep the boat where she belongs. She floats sufficiently light to carry the added weight and still be within the class limits. Mr. Benson liked the working of bis boat very much, however, and thinks with the added ballast he will have just what he needs for afternoon sailing at Marblebead, as well as for racing. Having tried his boat against nothing but the Kersey 25-rater [El Chico #418s], which really has a smaller sail plan than the Reaper, Mr. Benson has no means of knowing whether or not he has a winner, but from her general performance he has great confidence in the final result. But racing and not talking about his boat is his inclination, and he will have her in Marblehead as soon as possible. She carries about 750 square feet of canvas and will therefore take a big allowance from the centerboards which carry close to a thousand. She will measure only a little over 23ft, sailing length, where they will measure 27 or more, a big bargain in her favor if she is at all fast. The same is true of the Bigelow fin, Vanessa [#423s]. This boat is a twin to the Reaper, and was given the same amount of lead, but now she, too, will have a full ton. --- Boston Globe. ..." (Source: Anon. "Yacht News Notes." Forest & Stream, May 19, 1892, p. 484.)

"Bristol, R. I., May 26 [1892]. --- The Vanessa, the 21-foot fin for Alanson Bigelow, Jr., of Boston, was launched late in the afternoon, and will probably be ready for her owner to try Sunday [May 29, 1892]. Then she and the Benson fin, the Reaper [#420s], will be sailed around the cape." (Source: Anon. "Is Fast Under Sail. Trial Of The New Herreshoff 30-Foot Fin At Bristol." Boston Globe, May 27, 1892, p. 4.)

"Bristol, R. I., May 28 [1892]. --- The Herreshoffs are nearing the end of their season's work, and in a few weeks only the big steel steamer [#172p Truant] for Mrs. Newberry of Detroit will be left in the shops out of the many boats which have crowded them during the winter. The season has been a busy one, and now the firm are awaiting the outcome of the racing with great interest. ... The Benson [#420s Reaper] & Bigelow [#423s Vanessa] 21-foot fins are ready for their owners, and look just like the little racers for which they were designed. Mr. Bigelow hopes for two good sailing days tomorrow and Monday and will then have the boat shipped to Boston by rail, having changed his mind as to sailing her around the cape.
Mr. Benson may follow suit, in which case the boats will not rest before reaching Boston. ..." (Source: Anon. "With The Herreshoffs. Season's Work of Bristol Firm Drawing to a Close." Boston Globe, May 29, 1892, p. 1.)

"REPRESENTATIVE AMERICAN YACHTS
TWENTY-ONE-FOOTERS.
The twenty-one-foot class of 1892 has been relatively the fastest class of yachts ever built, not even excepting the swift forty-six-footers of 1891.... The Herreshoff fins 'Vanessa' and 'Reaper' sailed well, but were no match for [Herreshoff's] 'Alpha.' ..." (Source: Peabody, Henry G. Representative American Yachts. Boston, 1893, p. 22."

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Typewritten and penciled table with data for 'Date of Order', '[Hull] No.', 'Name', 'Length on W.L.', 'Beam', 'Draft', 'Rig', 'Keel or Centerboard Keel', 'Ballast' for #400s CONSUELO, #401s ROMP, #402s CLARA, #403s CALYPSO, #404s COQUINA, #405s ALICE, #406s IRIS, #407s BIRD, #408s PELLICAN[sic], #409s GANNET, #410s MAB, #411s GLORIANA, #412s DILEMMA, #413s SAYONARA, #414s WASP, #415s WENONAH, #416s ALPHA, #417s DRUSILLA, #418s EL CHICO, #419s COQUINA 2ND, #420s REAPER and #421s BEE. Undated (data until 1891 is typewritten, thereafter penciled, suggesting that the table was prepared in January 1892 before EL CHICO, the first boat with a penciled year, was contracted for)." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Construction Record Table. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_04530. Folder [no #]. No date (1892-01 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] Half-page newspaper clipping by W. E. Robinson from the Boston Daily Globe [September 11, 1892, p. 9] titled 'ALPHA [#416s] The Leader. She Wins Championship of 21-Foot Class. FREAK is Second. Review of Season's Racing wih Each Boat's Record.' with detailed account of ALPHA's races in the season of 1892. Other Herreshoff boats mentioned in the article are REAPER (#420s, 3rd in season) and VANESSA (#423s, 4th in season). With woodcut of ALPHA based on Peabody's photo neg. no. 552 of July 28, 1892. Another article on that clipping is titled 'Herreshoff's to build a 90-Foot Steel Schooner' and informs about the pending order of #429s NAVAHOE (which originally was intended to be a schooner)." (Source: Boston Globe (creator). Newspaper Clipping. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_06800. Folder [no #]. No date (1892-09-11).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #420s Reaper even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Reaper (HMCo-made index card)
• Reaper and #420p BPT32 (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.

Name: Reaper
Type: J & M
Length: 21'
Owner: Benson, H. P.

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

• Reaper
• 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.

Name: Reaper
Type: 20' 9" sloop
Owner: Henry P. Benson
Year: 1892
Row No.: 562

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.

Month: Feb
Day: 5
Year: 1892
E/P/S: S
No.: 0420
Name: Reaper
LW: 21' 0"
B: 6' 9"
D: 5' 6"
Rig: J & M
K: FK
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 1325.00
Last Name: Benson
First Name: H. P.

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.

"Reaper's owner Henry P[erkins] Benson (1866-1942), a mayor of Salem, MA, was a brother of the famous painter Frank W[eston] Benson (1862-1951) and of the architect and marine painter John P[rentiss] Benson (1865-1947)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 7, 2016.)

"Built in 88 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $15/day, 44 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"She carries about 750 square feet of canvas ..." (Source: Anon. "Yacht News Notes." Forest & Stream, May 19, 1892, p. 484.)

"Displ. 3880lbs from a preliminary calculation in NGH design booklet entry dated February 7, 1892." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 17, 2014.)

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