HMCo #423s Vanessa [Vannessa]

"[1892-03-21] Mon 21: Turned over 21' #423 [Vanessa].
[1892-05-28] Sat 28: Launched Iris [#406s], #423 Vanessa, also #417 [Drusilla] from wharf.
[1892-06-03] Fri 3: ... #420 [Reaper] & 423 [#423s Vanessa] sailed for Boston. ...
[1892-07-23] Sat 23: Went to Hull to sail [#423s] Vanessa." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1892. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"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.)

"... One of the fin 21-footers for Boston, that for H. P. Benson [Reaper #420s], 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 [#420s] stands on a bulb fin keel waiting to be launched. ... Another of the twenty-one-footers [Vanessa, sister to Reaper] is still in the shop, but is about done. ... 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. ...
Mr. Bigelow's 21-foot fin Vanessa [#423s] is about ready to leave the shops. ..." (Source: Anon. "New Yachts Afloat." Boston Globe, May 12, 1892, p. 2.)

"... 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 her 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."

"Vanessa, a fin-keel yacht designed by the Herreshoffs and launched this year 1892 for A. Bigelow, Jr., has a very good racing record. In 1892 she entered eighteen races, winning six firsts, six seconds, three thirds and three fourths. She has beaten such yachts as Exile, Reaper, Koorali, Catspaw, etc. She is 30 feet 6 inches over all, and 20 feet 10 inches load waterline." (Source: Mott, Henry Augustus. Yachts and Yachtsmen of America. New York, 1894, p. 71.)

"[Vanessa (Sail, F K) owned by A. Bigelow, Jr., Port: Boston; LOA 30ft; LWL 20.1ft; Beam 6.9ft; Draft 6.6ft; designed by N. G. Herreshoff and built by Herreshoff Mfg. Co in 1892.]" (Source: Stebbins 1896 Yachtsmen's Album, p. 46.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled sailplan titled #423 [VANESSA] Not used'. Note that this sailplan shows VANESSA as a catboat, a rig configuration that is also shown in her construction plan (she was designed with two maststeps). Undated, VANESSA was contracted for and designed in February 1892." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Penciled Sailplan. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0517. WRDT08, Folder 41. No date (1892-02 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] Note with penciled list of photos on verso and recto of Amerian and British yachts including #411s GLORIANA (Rounding SW spit on Goelet Cup day), #416s ALPHA, #423s VANESSA, #417s DRUSILLA, #414s WASP, HARPOON, ELFIN, LUZETTE, YSEULT, DORA, VALKYRIE II, AILSA, BRITANNIA, #450s ISOLDE, #453s VAQUERO, VALKYRIE III, together with image and frame sizes. Undated (August 1892 and later)." (Source: Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRRT_080. Note. Unidentif. / Non-Cataloged, Folder MRRT. No date (1892-08 and later).)
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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 #423s Vanessa [Vannessa] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Vanessa (HMCo-made index card)
• Vanessa (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: Vannessa
Type: J & M
Length: 21'
Owner: Bigelow, A., Jr.

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

• Vanessa
• 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: Vanessa
Type: 20' 10" sloop
Owner: A. Bigelow, Jr.
Year: 1892
Row No.: 708

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: 22
Year: 1892
E/P/S: S
No.: 0423
Name: Vanessa
LW: 21' 0"
B: 6' 9"
D: 5' 6"
Rig: J & M
K: FK
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 1400.00
Last Name: Bigelow, Jr.
First Name: A.

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.

"Vanessa's construction plan and a sail plan in the Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum show that she was designed with two maststeps and to be rigged both as a catboat and as a jib-and-mainsail sloop. In it is unclear if she was also built like this. All photos of Vanessa appear to show her in conventional sloop configuration." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 12, 2019.)

"Built in 94 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $15/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

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