HMCo #428s Merry Thought

"[1892-08-24] Wed 24: ... Took order for catboat #428 Merry Thought.
[1892-12-19] Mon 19: Hauled up #428 [Merry Thought] in Brownell Boat house.
[1893-05-19] Fri 19: Fine. Launched Merry Thought #428.
[1893-05-30] Tue 30: ... Delivered Merry Thought (#428)." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1892 to 1893. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"... Providence, R.I., Aug. 24 [1892] ... Simultaneous with launching the last boat of the season [steam yacht Truant #172] was the signing of a contract for the first new yacht for next year. This is to be a thirty-foot racing yacht and is to be a centreboard racing boat, finished outside in mahogany. Her owner will not let his name go out, and is so particular about the secret that not even the members of his immediate family knew he was at Bristol this morning. John B. Herreshoff, the President of the company, said the craft would be an improvement on any centreboarder yet turned out by them, and the world will probably get something new as a result of their contract. [While not identified by name, the date of the contract implies that this was a reference to the catboat Merry Thought.]" (Source: New York Times, August 25, 1892, p.2)

"... The Herreshoffs are putting the cabin joiner work in the 90ft. steamer [#173p Kalolah], the 30 [#430s Bonnie Doon] and 25-footer [#428s Merry Thought] are about completed, and they have lately received orders for a catboat [apparently #433s Mojave] and jib and mainsail boat [?], each 20ft. long, for New York." (Source: Anon. "New Yachts." Forest and Stream, December 22, 1892, p. 545.)

"With one large cutter [#429s Navahoe] on the stocks, another keel [#435s Colonia] ready to lay and a probable order for a third [#437s Vigilant], to say nothing of more than the usual number of small racers and steam yachts, the Herreshoff shop is a busy place just now. ...
The general work of the Herreshoffs includes several steamers, the largest [#175p Louise] for Chas. B. Hayden, of Columbus, O., is 102ft. over all, 14ft. beam, and intended for lake and inland work. ...
The next steam yacht [#173p Kalolah] will be of similar model but 92ft. over all and 76ft. l.w.l. ... A third steam yacht for Mr. R. M. Riddle [#174p Loon] will be 62ft. over all, 10ft. beam. Beside these is a 28ft. navy launch for the Enterprise [#176p Launch for Massachusetts school ship Enterprise].
Little was heard last season of a 30ft. centerboard racer sent in July to Great South Bay for John W. Masury [#426s Edith M.], but the boat proved so successful that the firm are now building another for John Gibb [#430s Bonnie Doon], for racing in the same waters. ... There is also a 25ft. shoal draft cat [#428s Merry Thought] for an unknown owner [John P. Crozer], a racing boat; and two 21-footers [#433s Mojave and #434s Kite] of the Alpha [#416s Alpha ] type [sic, Alpha was a sloop, Mojave and Kite catboats]. Miss Sutton, owner of Wee Win, has ordered a 1-rater [#431s Mirwena (Morwena)], a fin-keel, and another [#436s Bubble] has been ordered by an Austrian yachtsman. There is also a 17ft. l.w.l. centerboard racer [#432s Viola] for an unknown owner [Howard Marston]." (Source: Anon. "Building." Forest and Stream, January 19, 1893, p. 61.)

"... The sloop Merry Thought, for John P. Crozer, left the works Tuesday [May 30, 1893] for New York, and has been reported as making good time up the sound...." (Source: Anon. "Approaching Completion." Boston Globe, June 4, 1893, p. 22.)

"W. P. Kirk of Toms River is building a boat that is expected to be a flier. ... Her building is an outgrowth of last Summer's yachting record on the Barnegat, when the Toms River cat fleet --- long admitted to contain the fastest craft of their rig and inches extant --- at last succumbed in a heavy September gale to the Merry Thought, built by Herreshoff and owned by Dr. J. P. Crozier of Crozier Theological Seminary, Chester, Penn. ..." (Source: Anon. "Yachting News and Notes." New York Times, March 27, 1894, p. 7.)

"Getting Busy on Old Barnegat.
These are busy times around the club houses of the various yacht clubs on Barnegat Bay. In most instances arrangement is being made to open up on May 30 [1911] for the summer. ... John P. Crozer, of Upland, Pa., a leading spirit in Beach Haven yachting and the owner of the finest fleet of yachts on the Jersey Coast, is, having his various craft overhauled by Captain Will Smith at Tuckerton, where they were laid up for the winter. Mr. Crozer's fleet includes the famous Herreshoff creations, Happy Princess and Merry Thought, which have won many cups on the coast from Toms River to Atlantic City. ..."
(Source: Anon. "Getting Busy on Old Barnegat." Forest and Stream, May 27, 1911, p. 20.)

"In the year 1900 two craft were introduced into [Barnegat] bay that influenced the design and construction of all catboats. Amos Lewis, of Forked River, built the Bouquet, designed by Carey Smith, and the writer imported from Long Island Sound the Scat, designed and built by Wilton Crosby, at Osterville, Mass. ... The Scat and the Bouquet were able to give time to their smaller competitors and take time from the larger ones, and at that, beat all comers. They were later eclipsed by the Merry Thought, built by Herreshoff and brought to Barnegat by John P. Crozer of Philadelphia.
During the years 1890 to 1903 the races of the fishermen catboats at Beach Haven, New Jersey, were the most important held in Barnegat waters. It was not unusual to have races with forty or more entries of sturdy craft from 30 to 35 feet long overall. The Merry Thought so outclassed all of these that in one or two seasons the oldtime rivalry and contests were a thing of the past; and to this date they have not been, and never will be restored.
...
Herreshoff, when designing Wanda [#490s] and Merry Thought [#428s], created two yachts of entirely different models. The Wanda, lightly built with short waterline and long overhangs, was more or less a racing machine, although in use today. The Merry Thought was just as heavily built as the Wanda was light in construction, and her measurements --- length overall 32', waterline 26', beam 10' 8", draft 2' 8" --- produced a powerful, fast, safe, and heavy weather boat that was as useful at sea as on Barnegat Bay. This is proven by the fact that she sailed many ocean races in strong winds and high seas. The Merry Thought being in service at the present time brings to mind that when Mr. Crozer sailed the boat away from Bristol, Mr. Herreshoff told him it would be a good boat when his grandchildren had children of their own.
It is interesting to state that when these boats were built in the '90's the average builder's price for a 30-foot catboat, completely rigged, was about $1,000 to $1,200. The Herreshoff creations cost over $5,000 each [sic; the construction record lists $2,125 for Merry Thought and $2,100 for Wanda], and for that reason their purchase was limited to men of means. These boats, which eliminated the old-fashioned plumb-stem cats, did so because of the good hull lines that cheated the waterline length, thus guaranteeing generous handicaps, and because of well cut and designed sails too expensive for the fisherman to duplicate. If deck length alone had been used their result would not have been so victorious. If half a dozen boats, well designed, could eliminate hundreds of others from races, is it any wonder that single design boats for races became the vogue in this century?" (Source: Schoettle, Edwin J. American Catboats. In: Schoettle, Edwin J. Sailing Craft. New York, 1928, p. 98, 101.)

"The first boat I ever raced, a catboat, was so far out of the running, it usually finished among the leaders of the following race.
Then I had a catboat built for me by Herreshoff. Its name was Wanda [#490s], and it became quite a famous name. This second catboat of mine was built so well that after a while I had to put a rope through the centreboard and agree to drag along a load of scrap iron before I could get anybody to race me.
As one fellow expressed it, the Wanda made junk out of hundreds of Long Island Sound catboats. The Merry Thought [#428s], built by Herreshoff for John P. Crozier, of Philadelphia, about 1900, worked the same havoc, I understand, in Barnegat Bay. Catboat racing had to be dropped from the list of events because the result was foreknown as soon as the Merry Thought reported at the starting line." (Source: Bedford, F. T. "One-Design." In: Schoettle, Edwin J. American Catboats. In: Schoettle, Edwin J. Sailing Craft. New York, 1928, p. 27.)

"Museum Acquires Merry Thought
by Michael J. Pesare
In December, 1986, MERRY THOUGHT, a racing catboat, was donated to the Herreshoff Marine Museum by Edward G. Haack and Wilma Haack-Fowler in memory of their brother, the late Dr. Walter Sigmund Haack.
MERRY THOUGHT, hull number 428, was built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in 1892 for Dr. John P. Crozer, a Philadelphian who summered in Toms River, NJ. She was designed by N.G. Herreshoff primarily for the Toms River Cup Races.
MERRY THOUGHT is a fine example of the type of craft that developed on Barnegat Bay around the turn of the century. In contrast to the typical New England catboats, she has considerably lower freeboard, lower bow, shorter waterline and underhung rudder. Her dimensions are: LOA 33', LWL 25', beam 11', and draft 2'3".
MERRY THOUGHT carried half of her ballast inside her bilge in the form of lead blocks stowed in canvas bags with handles. When racing to windward, these 40-50 lb. bags were shifted by a crew member as needed. This method of keeping the boat in trim developed from the more crude 'sand-baggers.'
Dr. Crozer took delivery of MERRY THOUGHT in the spring of 1892 with an option for two different rigs. She raced with her massive cat rig, and also had the ability to carry a lighter sparred sloop rig with lighter sails.
In September, 1893, MERRY THOUGHT captured the famous Toms River Cup in convincing fashion. This race, from the mouth of Toms River to Forked River and back, was originally conceived as a competition between local working baymen. Custom built, finely engineered yachts like MERRY THOUGHT, however, soon rendered the local working craft obsolete. MERRY THOUGHT went on to win many more races and became something of a legend in the Toms River area.
In 1943, Dr. Haack learned of the old MERRY THOUGHT and purchased her for a mere $700. She had been drying out in an old boat shed in Tuckerton, NJ, for well over a decade. After swelling up in the Tuckerton Creek for the two remaining years of World War II, MERRY THOUGHT was given an extensive restoration. By the late 1950's, MERRY THOUGHT'S original open cockpit had been replaced by a cabin house.
For over 40 years, Dr. Haack lovingly sailed and occasionally raced his boat. In 1981 MERRY THOUGHT triumphed in the annual Old Boat Regatta sponsored by the Toms River Seaport Society. She participated again in 1984.
The Herreshoff Marine Museum is privileged to have acquired MERRY THOUGHT. As she approaches her 100th year, she stands as a proud reminder of the outstanding design and construction techniques of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, and of a bygone era of American yacht racing." (Source: Herreshoff Marine Museum Chronicle, Spring 1987, p. 1.)

"MERRY THOUGHT. RACING CATBOAT.
Dr. John P. Crozer, a Philadelphian who summered at Tom's River, New Jersey ordered this racing catboat in 1892. She was designed by N. G. Herreshoff to specifically race for the Tom's River Cup, a highly coveted South Jersey prize which is still in competition and is considered to be the oldest purely American trophy in the sport of small boat racing. Unlike New England catboats, these New Jersey craft had lower freeboards, lower bows, and underhung rudders. MERRY THOUGHT was delivered with two rigs, a massive cat rig for racing, and a lighter sloop rig for cruising. She won the Tom's River Cup handily in 1893 and continued her cruising and racing career until 1984. In the 1940's she was reconditioned by Dr. Walter S. Haack. As the original cat rig had been lost, she was restored with her sloop rig. According to one history of Tom's River racing, MERRY THOUGHT's first owner was told by Nat Herreshoff that the boat would be used by many generations. This certainly has proven most prophetic as she was sailed for ninety-two years.
Donated by Edward G. Haack and Wilma Haack-Fowler in memory of their brother, Dr. Walter Sigmund Haack.
LOA 33ft 0in. LWL 25ft 0in. B 11ft 0in. D 2ft 3in. #428. 1892. [Acc. no.] 86.428." (Source: Herreshoff Marine Museum. [Plaque on display at the museum.] Bristol, RI, no date [ca. 2005].)

"JERSEY CATS. ... A date that radically altered racing on the back bays was 1893 when the Nat Herreshoff creation, 'Merry Thought,' entered the bay and started winning races. Commissioned by Philadelphia business man John P. Crozer, ‘Merry Thought' so dominated the work boat fleets that races once attracting 40 boats soon attracted none and cat boat racing in the Beach Haven area died out completely. The working boats built in the old manner cost between $1,000 and $1,500, 'Merry Thought' cost $5,000 [sic; the construction record lists $2,125]. So it has always been and will always be with racing. In design, cost, and construction 'Merry Thought' signaled the arrival of the industrial revolution in relatively small scale boat building. She had a spoon bow with its cut away forefoot, and full forward waterlines. She had an underslung rudder and was steered with a horizontal wheel, Her freeboard was rather higher than the local cats and she had no day cabin though some shelter was to be had under the fore deck. For ballast she carried lead shot in bags with leather handles. Like many of the older New York boats she could be rigged as a sloop or a cat, though she raced as a cat. All of this was the outward manifestation of a much more profound change. Boat building was no longer the province of folk science and rules of thumb, it had become a process of engineering and building to precise plans. A successful boat may still be a blend of art and science but now science would have its full share. Those who embraced this trend won races. Those who did not or could not retired. ..." (Source. Anon. "Jersey Cats." http://www.woodboatbuilder.com/pages/jerseycats.html, retrieved April 1, 2007.)

"[Item Description:] HMCo Plan N/A (096-032) [not in Hart Nautical Collections]. Ink on linen sail cutting plan titled 'New Sails For #428 [MERRY THOUGHT]'. The planhead shows this to be HMCo plan 96-32 which is not in the Hart Nautical Collection but listed in the catalog of HMCo plan index cards. Undated, even on the plan index cards, but surrounding plan dates suggest sometime between June and November 1892, i.e. before MERRY THOUGHT's initial launch." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Sail Cutting Plan. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0636 or 0645. WRDT08, Folder 47. No date (1892-06 to 1892-11 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] HMCo Plan N/A (096-034) [not in Hart Nautical Collections]. Ink on linen sail cutting plan titled 'Sail for #428 [MERRY THOUGHT]'. Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Bristol, RI Nov[ember 26, 1892'. With directions to sailmaker: 'Sail to be made in best manner of 8 ounces Forbes Duck double bighted --- Machine Made. Nettles in each reef. Fitted for 10 hoops. We will supply slides for head & foot to be put on by sailmakers'." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. (creator). Sail Cutting Plan. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0637. WRDT08, Folder 47. 1892-11-26.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Penciled list of sailing boats built by HMCo in the winter of 1892/1893:]
428 [#428s] MERRY THOUGHT. 25ft w.l. Cat. Crozer
429 [#429s] NAVAHOE. 84ft w.l. Sloop. Carroll
430 [#430s] BONNIE DOON. 30ft w.l. Sloop.
431 [#431s] MORWENA. 1 Rater. England
432 [#432s] VIOLA. 176t w.l. Cat. Boston
433 [#433s] MOJAVE. 20ft w.l. Cat. Murray
434 [#434s] KITE. 20ft w.l. J[ib] & M[ainsail]. Peet
435 [#435s] COLONIA. 85ft w.l. Sydicate
436 [#436s] BUBBLE. 1 Rater. One-Rater. Sail New Draft. Austria
437 [#437s] VIGILANT. 85ft w.l. Sydicate
438 [#438s] MENEEN. 2 1/2 Rater. Jackson." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (?) (creator). Penciled List. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE03_04410. Folder [no #]. No date (1893-07 or later).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #428s Merry Thought even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Grayson, Stan. Herreshoff Catboats. The Roots of a Boatbuilding Dynasty." Wooden Boat #289, November/December 2022, p. 58-67. (1,855 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Detailed, well-written story about Herreshoff catboats, from early boats such as Sprite and the four Julias which were all built before the founding off the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company to the numerous small catboats like Dandelion and Bluebell, many of which were delivered to Boston yachtsmen and most of which were also built before the founding of HMCo to the later, often very extreme and rule-beating catboats such as Wanda. With some minor errors, not all Julias were keelboats, Dexter Stone was from Philadelphia and not just a local yachtsman, Peri was not built for W. Starling Burgess, and Bluebell was built for Ed. Burgess with no proof that this was Edward Burgess.

• Merry Thought (HMCo-made index card)
• Merry Thought (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: Merry Thought
Type: Cat
Length: 25'
Owner: Crozer, John P.

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

• Merry Thought
• 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: Merry Thought
Type: 26' cat
Owner: John P. Crozer
Year: 1901
Row No.: 430

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: Aug
Day: 24
Year: 1892
E/P/S: S
No.: 0428
Name: Merry Thought
LW: 25' 0"
B: 11' 0"
D: 2' 3"
Rig: Cat
CB: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 2125.00
Notes Constr. Record: 1/2 ballast inside. D. 413
Last Name: Crozer
First Name: J. 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.

"Built with modifications from same construction as #413s Sayonara. LOA 31' 2" was taken from HMCo construction plan." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

"Built in 117 days (contract to finished; equivalent to $18/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Donated in 1986 by Edward Haack & Wilma Haack Fowler to the Herreshoff Marine Museum." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 8, 2012.)

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