HMCo #422s Handsel [Hansel]

"[1892-03-18] Fri 18: ... Set up 30ft. #422 [Handsel].
[1892-03-23] Wed 23: ... Began planking 30' fin keel #422 [Handsel].
[1892-04-01] Fri 1: ... Turned over #422 [Handsel]. ...
[1892-05-19] Thu 19: Fine a.m., E to S [wind]. Threatening in p.m., rain in [the] evening. Launched 422 [#422s] Handsel & took on wharf. ...
[1892-05-26] Thu 26: ... Delivered #422 Handsel. ...
[1892-05-29] Sun 29: Strong S [wind]. Went to Hull & Marblehead [to race #422s Handsel].
[1892-05-30] Mon 30: Light S showers. ... Sailed Handsel [#422s] at Marblehead & won [by] about 18 m[inutes].
[1893-05-13] Sat 13: ... Launched Handsel." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1892 to 1893. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"The Providence Journal contained recently the following interview with N. G. Herreshoff, the Bristol yacht designer:
' Nat G. Herreshoff, the designer of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, was at the office of the company. He was asked to say something about the performance of his designs on Memorial Day at Boston, Marblehead, and New-York. The three boats which raced on that day were the twenty-one-footer Alpha [#416s] of Boston, the thirty-footer Handsel [#422s] at Marblehead, and the twenty-one-footer El Chico [#418s] at New-York. Alpha and Handsel, it will be recalled, were victorious in the races they entered, but El Chico was beaten, and she has been more talked and written about at New-York this season than any other Herreshoff boat excepting Mr. Archibald Rogers's Wasp [#414s], the forty-six-footer. Handsel, a fin keel, belonging to J. R. Hooper, beat the Burgess centreboard Hawk and the Burgess keel Fancy. ... Mr. Herreshoff said:
... ' 'Handsel is not a racer, but is quite fast. She is for cruising. She beat by 21 minutes --- more than I had any idea she would. I don't know what the matter was with the other boats.
... ' 'The designer ... had sailed Handsel himself at Marblehead, but there wasn't anything to be said about it beyond what the papers had already printed. All attempts to get the designer to say something more on these points were unsuccessful. But about the future of yacht designing and yacht owning he had a word to say. He was asked what would probably be the tendency of the building of another season. ..." (Source: Anon. "Mr. Herreshoff Interviewed." New York Times, June 7, 1892, p. 3.)

"Letter from N. G. Herreshoff to Mr. Foster
In reply to your valued letter of 18th instant, I am afraid I cannot give you much that will be of interest to the members of the Eastern Yacht Club. Being behind the Cape I have had little to do with the E. Y. C, and as I can recollect have sailed but twice in its regattas, and that a long time ago. But both rather interesting, as showing changes in type that were going on in those days.
My first race under the E. Y. C. was in early Summer of 1872 when I sailed Shadow against Malcolm Forbes' White Cap. ...
The next time I sailed in an E. Y. C. race was in 1892, when I sailed Hansel, a fin and bulb keel, 30' w. l. against one or two full cutter rigged 30' w. l. yachts, designed by Edward Burgess. In this race the conditions of wind and course were about the same as for the 1872 race which was ideal for the cutters with large rig, having club topsail, jib topsail and very large spinnaker. Hansel's displacement was probably about one half of that of the Burgess cutters and the rig very much smaller and simpler. No topmast and I do not recollect if with single jib or double head rig and a very moderate sized spinnaker. Hansel, even in the light going, was a long distance ahead at the weather mark and gained gradually all the way to windward and finished with nearly the same lead but with decreased time due to freshening wind.
This race indicated the absurdity of the English cutter rig as compared to the small rig with few ropes aloft, requiring about one half the crew to race.
... Sincerely yours,
Nathanael G. Herreshoff" (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael Greene. Letter to Charles H. W. Foster, ca. 1931. Quoted in Foster, Charles H. W. The Eastern Yacht Club Ditty Box, 1870-1900. Norwood, Mass., 1932, p. 39-41.)

"There were nearly a dozen fin keel boats built, in which two of them, HANSEL [#422s] and DRUSILLA [#417s], I sailed in races, but as usual, [I] tried out all before delivery." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "Some of the Boats I Have Sailed In." Written 1934. In: Pinheiro, Carlton J. (ed.). Recollections and Other Writings by Nathanael G. Herreshoff. Bristol, 1998, p. 56-57.)

"Other notable fin keelers of 1892 designed by Captain Nat were the 'Handsel,' thirty feet W.L., owned by Mr. J. R. Hooper at Hull, Massachusetts; the 'El Chico,' twenty-five feet W.L., owned by H. M. Kersey of New York, and a sister yacht to the famous two and one half-rater 'Wenonah,' which was owned by Henry Allen and cleaned up on the Clyde." (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.)

"Bristol, R. I. April 18 [1892]. --- ... The 30-foot fin [Handsel #422s] for Boston is planked, and her deck is being laid. This boat is, perhaps, the most interesting of the lot, since she can compete directly with such cutters as the Fancy and Mildred both as to racing abilities and cruising qualifications.
Of her dimensions nothing positive is known, but it is most reasonable to suppose that she is about the same thing as Com. Morgan's 35-footer [Drusilla #417s], with possibly a little greater proportionate beam and draught.
She will have, however, what the Morgan boat has not, a cabin house about a foot above the deck and will have a little over 5 foot of head room under it. The house will be stationary and not removable for racing, as was suggested earlier in the season by Mr. John B. Herreshoff in his advocacy of the fin keel type as being good.
Cruisers as Well as Racers.
'There is no reason,' says Mr. N. G. Herreshoff concerning them, 'why they should not have just as good cabin accommodation as any boat with a shallow hull.
'In boats designed only for afternoon sailing cabin accommodations are not very much needed, but when something more is wanted, a low house can very easily be added.'
It will need, however, a practical demonstration of the usefulness of fin keels to make many yachtsmen believe in them, and so their appearance afloat and in commission will be awaited with no little impatience. ..." (Source: Anon. "Tried on all Tacks. ... Yachtsmen Anxious to See a Performance by the Fin Keel Boats." Boston Globe, April 19, 1892, p. 11.)

"Yachtsmen are glad to hear that the 30-foot Herreshoff fin is to be in such good hands as those of Mr. James R. Hooper of the [famous catboat] Harbinger. Though Mr. Hooper does not yet admit his ownership, yachtsmen seem to be well convinced that he is the man, particularly as they know he was dissatisfied with the Harbinger as against a full-rigged cutter in certain kinds of weather." (Source: Anon. "The 30-Foot Herreshoff Fin." Boston Globe, April 24, 1892, p. 23.)

"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. ...
In the shops the 30-foot fin [#422s Handsel], believed to be for J. R. Hooper of Boston, is approaching completion and should be ready within a week. In model she is much like the other fin keels, only a little more bulky, for she is wanted for cruising as well as racing.
She has an eight foot cabin, in which there is a little over five feet head room under a house a foot above the deck. Aft of this is a standing room which will accommodate a party of six or eight for an afternoon's sailing, and aft of this is a small cockpit for the helmsman. When she is racing the standing room may be covered with a tarpaulin.
The boat is far from a 'racing machine,' and probably represents the best that can be done for a cruiser of the fin keel type.
She will be rigged with a pole mast and will carry no topsail. ..." (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.)

"No 422 (Handsel).
Built at Bristol, RI, by Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.
6.6 net tons; 37.8 ft. x 9.4 ft. x 4.1 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
One deck, one mast, plain head, transom stern.
Surveyed and measured, [no date (1892)]." (Source: U.S. Customs Department, Bristol, R.I. Custom House Record Book, 1870s to 1904 (Collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum), s.v. Handsel.)

"Bristol, R. I., May 26 [1892]. --- The 30-foot fin keel built by the Herreshoffs, for a Boston gentleman, was given her first trial under sail this afternoon and seemed to go very fast in the moderate southeasterly breeze which was blowing. She is very much like the other fin keels turned out by the firm, except that she has a little more beam in proportion to her length and also considerable cabin accomodation.
She is painted white, and is a good-looking craft except for the peculiar bow, though even that is not so pronouncedly bad looking as in the 21-footers [#420s Reaper and #423s Vanessa].
Her owner arrived late in the afternoon, and if nothing happens will start early Friday morning on her trip round the cape. He expects to reach Hull Sunday afternoon or evening, pick up his racing crew there and be in Marblehead in time for the Eastern race Monday. ..." (Source: Anon. "Is Fast Under Sail. Trial Of The New Herreshoff 30-Foot Fin At Bristol." Boston Globe, May 27, 1892, p. 4.)

"The Handsel, James R. Hooper's 30-foot Herreshoff fin, left Bristol at 6 p. m., Friday [May 27, 1892] and reached Hull at 11 a. m. yesterday, after a fine run. Her owner picked up his racing crew at Hull, and left at 4 p. m. for Marblehead to be on hand for the Eastern race today." (Source: Anon. "J. R. Hooper's Handsel Is Here." Boston Globe, May 30, 1892, p. 9.)

"MARBLEHEAD, May 30 [1892]. --- If the performance of J. R. Hooper's new 30-foot fin Handsel of Herreshoff design in the Eastern Yacht Club's race today is any criterion of what the other boats of the type will do, then the fins are, to use a slangy but expressive phrase, 'in it with both feet,' and will work a revolution in American yacht racing.
In a good and steady club-topsail breeze from the south, southwest and a choppy sea, the Handsel beat C. F. Lyman's crack Burgess cutter Fancy 15m. 40s. in an eight-mile beat to windward, and practically maintained her lead on the run home before the wind, for she finished 15m. 10s. in advance, and had no need of her 6m. 28s. allowance.
Gordon Dexter's Hawk, with her new method centreboard, was also in the race, but just in the midst of an exciting contest with the Fancy for second-place, she parted her bobstay shackle and was out of it.
At this time, though, the fin had both boats handily beaten, and was a mile to windward of them and constantly increasing her lead.
It was a fair race throughout, with a practically true wind, even conditions and no 'flukes,' and tonight the superiority of the fin is generally admitted and the belief expressed that other races, when she is in better condition, will but still further demonstrate it.
The Handsel was far from being in racing form, for she was launched only last Wednesday [May 25, 1892], and her sails were by no means what a racing suit should be.
The Fancy, on the other hand, was in excellent shape, and her owner thinks she was faster than she ever was before. The Hawk was just off the ways after alterations, but was in fairly good form.
The race was started in the harbor off the club house and at 10.30 the preparatory gun called attention to the signal for a 17-mile course to and around the Graves whistling buoy, leaving it on the starboard, and return.
Fifteen minutes later the starting gun was fired and almost before the smoke had cleared away the Hawk, with her owner at the stick, was across the line and off for the point of the neck, her boom was well off to port and she swung a big club topsail over three lower sails.
The Handsel was headed wrong from the line when the gun was fired, but she swung round as if on a pivot and was across in the wake of the Hawk in less than a quarter of a minute. Her rig of three lower sails on a pole mast looked smaller in comparison with the lofty topsail of the boat ahead, but she seemed to move just as fast and to hold her place. Designer 'Nat' Herreshoff held the tiller.
The Fancy got rather a poor start, and was 40 seconds behind the Handsel, but was moving fast. Like the Hawk she carried a club-topsail.
On the short run down the harbor to the point and round to Marblehead rock there was little appreciable difference in the sailing of the boats, but as they came round the rock and flattened sheets for the beat to windward, the Handsel began to show that superiority which she afterward so fully demonstrated.
Slowly but surely she gained on the Hawk, pointing higher and footing faster, until, when hardly a quarter of a mile away from the rock, she had passed her to windward and quite a distance away.
Astern, the Fancy was footing and pointing a little better than the Hawk, and it was not certain but that she was holding the fin.
The boats were beating out to sea on the starboard tack, and were plunging quite a little into the awkward chop. The Handsel was splashing the most as she took the sea, but it was only on the surface, and she did not slow up any, and was as dry as the others on deck.
The Hawk was the first to tack, and did so at 11.05 and stood inshore. The Fancy crossed her bow, and then tacked to weather of her, and was fairly in second place.
Seeing the others standing inshore, the Handsel's skipper also tacked, and again the boat whirled as if on a pivot and gathered way almost before her sails were full.
It could now be seen that she was fairly ahead of the Fancy, as well as the Hawk, and that if she kept up her good work the beat to windward was hers beyond a doubt.
At 11.14 the Fancy tacked off shore and the Handsel, doubtless deeming this boat her most dangerous competitor, followed suit almost immediately. The Hawk held her inshore tack as long as possible, and then tacked and stood out by the neck.
The sea and wind inshore seemed to suit her better than farther out, and she apparently held her own with the fancy, taking a couple of short tacks in the meantime to weather Tinker's island.
The Handsel tired of the off-shore tack at 11.25, and came inshore, and three minutes later the Fancy tacked almost in her wake, but a quarter of a mile astern, so great had been the gain of the fin.
As the Handsel passed Tinker's island quite a distance out, the Hawk fell in astern and an eighth of a mile to leeward, and at 11.46 all the boats were on the port tack, heading up toward Nahant. The wind was still true, and there was rather more of it than at the start. The Burgess boats were rail down at times, and the fin was well heeled over, but apparently with something to spare. All three were going at a good clip, and were giving the fleet which was following them a good chase, but the fin was crawling away all the time, and steadily increasing her lead.
At 12.12 she took the off-shore tack, but was back again in about 10 minutes and at 12.24 she took what proved to be the final tack for the buoy.
The Hawk, with a short tack to weather Pig rocks, held on past Egg rock and did not tack until well over toward the Nahant shore. This she did at 12.24 and also headed for the buoy. The Fancy crossed her bow and tacked just ahead of her at 12.25. and the boats raced out past East Point with not 50 yards between them. They had hardly been five minutes on this tack, however, before the Hawk's bobstay shackle parted and she was compelled to withdraw.
At this time the Handsel was a good mile ahead and was romping off toward the buoy with a freshening breeze from out Broad Sound which sent her along at a great pace.
She reached the whistler and tacked round it handsomely at 12.43.45. Then she was jibed and her spinnaker set to starboard, and with everything drawing well she slipped away for Marblehead and the finish.
The Fancy tacked round the buoy at 12.50.30, but did not jibe and set her spinnaker to port. In the eight-mile beat to windward from Marblehead rock, the Handsel had beaten her 35m. 45s.
The run home was uneventful except that the wind lightened a little and that the Fancy shifted her spinnaker to the other side.
The Fancy's only hope of cutting down the Handsel's lead was in that she might run faster by reason of her greater spread of canvas, but the fin seemed to hold her easily.
Just after 2 o'clock the Handsel rounded the point into the harbor and trimmed sheets for the short beat to the finish. She came up the harbor very fast, but was headed off by a little shift of the wind and had to make a short hitch to cross the line. She was timed at 2.7.58.
Fifteen minutes later the Fancy followed in the wake of the fin, but got a better start and came across the line without tacking. She was timed at 2.23.08.or 15m.10s. behind. She had gained 35 seconds on the run in, but some of that could be accounted for by the extra hitch the Handsel was compelled to make just at the finish. ...
The Handsel was the centre of interest after the race, and was surrounded by row-boats crowded with people anxious to inspect the boat which could so badly defeat two of Marblehead's pet 'thirties.'
Everybody on the Handsel was in the best of humor when The Globe reporter stepped aboard just after the race and tendered congratulations.
'I am perfectly satisfied with her performance today,' said Designer Herreshoff, 'and see no changes that are necessary except in the sails, and a little tinkering will bring them around all right.'
'What do you think of the fins now?' was Mr. Hooper's greeting, and then he expressed his own satisfaction with the boat and her behavior. Of his trip from Bristol he said:
'We left Bristol at 5 o'clock Friday afternoon [May 27, 1892] and ran to Newport, reaching there at 8 and staying all night.
'Newport was left behind at 6 o'clock Saturday morning, and about an hour later we caught a fine southwest breeze off Brenton's reef, which carried us round the cape and left us at Race point about 10.30 o'clock Saturday night.
'From there to Minot's the breeze was very light and we did little more than drift, but the southwest breeze of Sunday morning brought us into Hull at 11 o'clock.
'We left for Marblehead at 4 Sunday afternoon and got here at 5.50, and you know what we have done today.'
Late in the afternoon the Handsel left for Hull and when last seen was beating up over the course she had sailed only a few hours before. ...
The size of the Handsel's victory was a big surprise to yachtsmen here, and many of them express the opinion that such superiority on the part of the fins will kill racing except among the fins themselves.
The next chance the Handsel will have to race will be in the open regatta of the Massachusetts Yacht Club June 17, off Nahant." (Source: Robinson, W. E. "Fin Boat Won. Surprise Developed at Eastern Race. Wind Played a Part in Event. New Craft Met Head Seas Prettily. Hawk and Fancy were Cleanly Beaten." Boston Globe, May 31, 1892, p. 5.)

"THE much-talked about fin keel has had a racing trial at last, and now yachtsmen are trying to figure out the full meaning of the 15-minute beating which the Handsel, the Herreshoff design, gave such crack 'thirties' as the Fancy and the Hawk in the Eastern race at Marblehead, Memorial day [August 30, 1892]. That this meaning is a wider one than the mere defeat of the Burgess boats, no one who looks into the subject can for a moment doubt, for if subsequent races shall confirm the present apparent superiority of the fin keel type, American yacht racing will have received a shaking up such as has never before been given it, and problems will be presented to race and regatta committees which will demand prompt solution.
It is, perhaps, too early to predict from but one race a sweeping victory for the finkeels everywhere, and in every class in all sorts of wind or weather, but the indications in that direction are too plain to be mistaken.
When a boat fresh from the builders' hands and with her sails in very poor shape meets a noted flyer which is, on her owner's statement, in better condition and faster if anything than ever before, and beats her 15 minutes in an eight-mile thrash to windward under perfectly even conditions, something faster than the ordinary type of yacht has been found, and yachtsmen given more to think about than from many races between boats of types whose performances are fairly well known.
The Fancy was in good racing trim, and the weather conditions were just suited to the rather narrow and deep cutter, yet the Handsel walked handily out to windward of her, tack after tack, and at the same time footed faster and went along fully as easily. Whether or not she can repeat this feat in either heavier or lighter breezes remains for subsequent races to prove, but there is no reason to believe that in any sort of weather her ability to work to windward will be materially reduced even if her speed suffers, and the outlook is that, barring 'flukes,' she will win every race for which she may enter during the season by margins varying with the weather conditions. Before the wind she is apparently about the same as the cutter, but if a boat can secure a commanding lead on windward work, she need not worry about any lack of superiority in running and reaching. ..." (Source: Robinson, W. E. "Fins The Favorites. Boats of This Type Booked for Winners. Handsel's Victory Means More Than Mere Defeat of Burgess Craft." Boston Globe, June 5, 1892, p. 9.)

"The 'Handsel' is a fin boat built by Herreshoff in 1892 for Mr. J. R. Hooper of Boston. She has shown the superiority of this type over the old boats by winning very easily in her class, and also meets all requirements as a cruiser. She has a pole mast, and carries no topsail. Her dimensions are, approximately: Length over all, 40 feet; length, l.w.l., 29.9 beam, 9 feet; draught, 8 feet." (Source: Peabody, Henry G. Representative American Yachts. Boston, 1893, p. 21.

"HANDSEL.
A fin-keel sloop belonging to James R. Hooper of Boston, Mass. She was designed and built by the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. for her present owner, and was launched in May, 1892. She has a cabin, hails from Boston, and sails with the Eastern and Hull Yacht Clubs.
Official number, 96,177.
Length over all, 44 feet 6 inches
Length load waterline, 29 feet 6 inches.
Draft, 7 feet, 9 inches.
Beam, 9 feet 6 inches.
Racing Record, 1892. ---
Eastern Yacht Club --- Handsel won 1st Prize of $50 in the Opening Race, May 30th, racing with Hawk and Fancy. Second in the Handicap Race of June 18th, with Hawk first, four starters, Chapoqouit third. First in the Annual Regatta, June 27th, winning prize of $50, defeating Hawk and Fancy.
Massachusetts Yacht Club: Handsel beat Chapoquoit in the Annual Open Race, June 17th. Hull Yacht Club: Handsel beat Chapoquoit in the Club Race sailed July 2d, and again on August 2d. On August 4th, she again defeated Chapoquoit, winning the first prize, the Rice Cup, valued at $150, and also the championship of her class." (Source: Mott, Henry Augustus. Yachts and Yachtsmen of America. New York, 1894, p. 350.)

"[Handsel (Sail, F K) owned by James R. Hooper, Port: Boston; LOA 44.8ft; LWL 29.9ft; Beam 9.6ft; Draft 7ft; designed by Herreshoff Manufact'g Co. and built by Herreshoff Manufact'g Co in 1892.]" (Source: Stebbins 1896 Yachtsmen's Album, p. 37.)

"How Herreshoff Spurned Brass Buttons 45 Years Ago.
It was on the morning of Memorial Day in 1892 that I first saw Nathaniel G. Herreshoff. He probably didn't see me for I was just one of the hundreds of young men who were in Marblehead Harbor, and he was 'that feller from Rhode Island who built Gloriana,' and he was expected that day with a new boat to race the 30-footers in the Eastern Yacht Club regatta.
While that was about 45 years ago, one characteristic of the man was just as much in evidence then as it is now. There was no showmanship about him.
He had designed and built Gloriana, a most radical departure from the commonly-accepted type, and she had beaten everything in the 46-foot waterline class with ease, and that fall had built for himself the Dilemma, the first fin keel ever turned out by anybody, and she was as good for her size as Gloriana was for hers.
James R. Hooper, then a member of the long since defunct Hull Yacht Club, had Herreshoff build him a fin keel sloop similar to Dilemma called Handsel, and Capt. Nat delivered her at Marblehead in time to start in that race.
Now almost everybody who owned a yacht at that time, and almost everybody who went yachting on somebody else's yacht, sported a yachting cap and a blue suit with brass buttons, yet here came Nat Herreshoff, the most talked-of designer in the country, sailing a 30-foot waterline open sloop (as I remember her she had no cabin house) around the Cape from Bristol and into Marblehead harbor on one of the biggest yachting days of the year with no sign of either blue or brass about him, and a big broad-brimmed felt hat like that of a Mormon elder.
He sailed over toward the town shore and dropped anchor off the old fort. I doubt if he even went ashore. Probably after the race, he and Hooper sailed her to Hull and N. G. went home from there. That last is guess work, but what she did in the race is a matter of record. She raced two Burgess cutters, Hawk, a centreboard, and Fancy, a keel boat, both 30 feet on the waterline. There was weather enough that day to disable Hawk, and Fancy finished nearly 15 minutes astern of Handsel and was beaten 22 minutes on corrected time.
Handsel was one of the first of a long line of fin keel sloops that followed Dilemma. Commenting on a story I wrote for one of the yachting magazines more than a dozen years ago of Handsel's arrival at Marblehead, William S. Stephens, now historian of both the North American Yacht Racing Union and the Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound, who has more yachting lore stored away in his head than any other man in the country, wrote: 'Handsel is an old word of Anglo-Saxon origin, meaning a gift designed to bring good luck, but this boat and her fellows brought anything but good luck to yachting, driving out a fine class of roomy, able and fast racer-cruisers, both keel and centreboard, and inaugurating a useless type of racing machine that culminated in the cup defender Reliance.'
It was a good many years before I met 'Mr. Nat' and I don't think I have ever told him what Mr. Stephens had to say about Handsel, and he probably wouldn't have cared a hang if I had. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Jeff Davis's Log. Providence, Rhode Island, 1937, ch. 4.)

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"[Item Description:] Clipping from an unknown newspaper [Providence Journal?] with several newspaper articles, the first one titled 'Herreshoff's Victory. The Latest Production, HANDSEL, PROVES to be a Flyer. Burgess Keel Boat, Fancy, Beaten 21m 38s' and reporting about HANDSEL's [#422s] famous win in Marblehead with NGH at the helm, the second article titled 'Bristol Regatta, Tilden Thurber Cup Taken by Catyawl [#405s] ALICE', 'ALICE, the winner in the first class, and of the sliver cup, by reason of beating all other boats between 18 and 35 feet, was built by the Herreshoffs, and is used to thest the speed of the new craft sent out by the Herreshoffs', undated, but believed to be from May 30 or May 31, 1892." (Source: Providence Journal (?) (creator). Newspaper Clipping. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_28720. Subject Files, Folder 18, formerly 126. No date (1892-05-30 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] report on lost race on #449s ANOATOK against #422s HANDSEL and STANDARD in Marblehead; new crosscut sails are not at fault; boat is leaking; defeated but not discouraged" (Source: Owen, George, Jr. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_03480. Correspondence, Folder 1_14, formerly 228. 1895-06-19.)
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"[Item Description:] Table titled 'Examples of the Application of Proposed Measurement Rule for the the New York Yacht Club' providing data for Rig, Type under Water, Load waterline, Draft, Displacement, Sail area, Racing length and others for #435s COLONIA, #437s VIGILANT, #452s DEFENDER, JUBILEE, QUEEN MAB, HURON, #414s WASP, #451s NIAGARA, UVIRA, #422s HANDSEL, #449s ANOATOK, #409s GANNET, #408s PELICAN, #446s ALERION, #416s ALPHA, #406s IRIS, and #461s COCK ROBIN. With note 'Blueprint 2. Sept 20, 1895.'" (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Table. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_70900. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 1), Folder B1F06, formerly MRDE15. 1895-09-20.)
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"[Item Description:] Untitled table providing data for Rig, Kind of c.b. or keel, Waterline, Draft, Displacement, Sail area, Racing length and others for #435s COLONIA, #437s VIGILANT, #452s DEFENDER, JUBILEE, QUEEN MAB, HURON, #414s WASP, #451s NIAGARA, UVIRA, #422s HANDSEL, #449s ANOATOK, #409s GANNET, #408s PELICAN, #446s ALERION, #416s ALPHA, and #406s IRIS. Much appears to be the same data as that provided in the table titled 'Examples of the Application of Proposed Measurement Rule for the the New York Yacht Club' and dated September 20, 1895, suggesting this to be the draft also dated similar. With envelope labeled in pencil 'Original N.G.H.'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Table. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_70920. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 1), Folder B1F06, formerly MRDE15. No date (ca1895-09-20).)
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"[Item Description:] #449s ANOATOK fin-keel was unable to beat #422s HANDSEL; how to make her faster?" (Source: Owen, George. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_02390. Correspondence, Folder 1_14, formerly 232. 1895-10-20.)
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"[Item Transcription:] Here are all the dimensions and information as I got them from Mr Eustis, owner of GRILSE [a centerboard sloop built by W. F. Mayberry of Quincy, Mass. in 1894 and owned by A. H. Eustis]. Also drawing as well[?] I can make them at sight after seeing the model.
Yours,
Robert Emmons 2d
GRILSE's measurements
overall 24-6
LWL 16-11
beam 6-1
draught 6 inches
Sail area 360 feet (all she can carry in a breeze)
Weight of Hull originally 626 lbs now 560
Centreboard a bronze daggerboard about 4 feet wide wight 100
She has only about 2 feet overhang aft - next is forward - carries her beam well to the end and sides that flare 10 inches to a foot just tunnelling[?] in on plank shear - freeboard is about 10 inches to 1 ft
Her entrance lines are sharp not at all like the present bluff lines like the boat from Canada or even the SALLY [#462s] as I understand her.
The 'CERO' [30ft knockabout owned by W.E.C. Eustis] which beat the HANDSEL [#422s] last summer is an enlarged model of the GRILSE.
Mr Eustis says that SALLY could beat the GRILSE always in 2 reef breeze but in light and whole sail breezes could not. [Sketch]
My idea is that a boat of a little larger rig and more powerful model will beat GRILSE. From what I hear and have seen daggerboard seems to be good and I do not see why with lead at bottom and made of wood would not be better than bronze. You get your weight lower when either up or down and it seems to give a little which I have a theory favors a boat.
Any of the information you require I will gladly get if possible, and I will bring my young brother [William B. Emmons?] down on Saturday Dec 26 if convenient to you and I can tell you what our racing rules will be as they talk of making a change and the meeting is today. Hoping we can arrange designs and price later,
Yours sincerely ...
[Next page:] [Sketch] This is a rough draught of what the midship section looks like as I saw it on the model an hour ago. Of course as she goes forward her sections get very extenuated[?] as her great plane[?] does not. [Sketch] allow[?] the[?] lines[?] to be drawing in too quickly. I send you a rough[?] idea of what I think her deck and [?] lines look like. RWE 2d [Undated. Given the mention of GRILSE the letter must be from 1894 or later. Given the mention of Saturday Dec 26 the letter is quite certainly from 1896, the only year between 1894 and 1903 when December 26 fell on a Saturday. Given Emmons were to visit NGH on Dec 26 we may assume this letter was written shortly before and quite certainly in December 1896. This may make this letter the earliest R.W. Emmons letter in the HMM collection, Emmons (December 28, 1872 – April 18, 1928) being just 23 when he wrote this letter. It also strongly suggests this letter to have been written in preparation for the ordering of #484s OPPOSSUM, the first of many boats to be built by HMCo for Emmons.]" (Source: Emmons, Robert W. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_42530. Correspondence, Folder 90, formerly 105. No date (1896-12 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] Four handwritten (in ink) pages with tabulated data listing 'Shop No', 'Name', '[Tons] Gross' and '[Tons] Net' for a total of 100 HMCo-built boats and classes. Tonnage data is usually precise to two digits behind the decimal. Random comparisons suggest source of tonnage data to be official Custom House data. Boats mentioned are: #664s, #663s, #625s, #665s, #634s, #658s, #657s, #646s, #641s, #617s, #626s Class, #624s, #621s, #616s, #619s, #590s, #591s, #586s, #592 Class, #618s, #605s, #578s, #560s Class, #580s, #553s, #551s, #552s, #546s, #541s, #545s, #538s, #534s, #533s, #532s, #529s, #534s, #530s, #531s, #435s, #437s, #452s, #499s, #429s, #426s, #424s, #481s, #422s, #417s, #414s, #451s, #215p, #213p, #222p, #235p, #230p, #229p, #236p, #224p, #244p, #247p, #249p, #231p, #232p, #228p, #252p, #250p, #251p, #248p, #168p, #164p, #118p, #142p, #174p, #173p, #194p, #189p, #193p, #183p, #178p, #179p, #181p, #182p, #175p, #163p, #148p, #149p, #172p, #155p, #170p, #186p, #188p, #206p, #207p, #205p, #208p, #209p, #210p, #211p, #212p, #216p. Undated (the latest boat listed, WINSOME, was launched in 1907)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (?) (creator). Handwritten List. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE06_00220. Folder [no #]. No date (1907 or later).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #422s Handsel [Hansel] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Handsel (HMCo-made index card)
• Handsel (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: Handsel
Type: J & M
Length: 30'
Owner: Hooper, J. R.

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

• Handsel
• 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: Handsel
Type: 30' fin keel
Owner: James R. Hooper
Year: 1892
Row No.: 266

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.: 0422
Name: Handsel
LW: 30' 0"
B: 9' 5"
D: 7' 9"
Rig: J & M
K: FK
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 3000.00
Last Name: Hooper
First Name: J. R.

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.

"Built in 111 days (contract to finished; equivalent to $27/day, 122 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Displacement 18645lbs from preliminary weight calculation in NGH design booklet entry dated February 14, 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.