HMCo #442s Houri

"[1894-04-18] Wed 18: ... Have order for #442 [Houri], 21' fin keeler, from Mr. Duncan.
[1894-04-27] Fri 27: ... Set up frames for #442 [Houri]. ...
[1894-04-28] Sat 28: ... Began planking #442 [Houri]. ...
[1894-05-03] Thu 3: ... Finished planking #442 [Houri].
[1894-05-10] Thu 10: ... W. B. Duncan [owner of #442s Houri] here. ...
[1894-05-28] Mon 28: Fine. Cloudy in evening. Launched #442 [Houri].
[1894-05-29] Tue 29: Rain [in] a.m. with T[hunder]&L[ightning], clearing in p.m. Trial of #442 [Houri].
[1894-05-30] Wed 30: Very fine. Off in Houri (#442).
[1894-05-31] Thu 31: NE rain storm. Houri [#442s] & Acis [#441s] towed to N.Y. by Viva [#102p ex-Gov. Hamilton]. ...
[1894-08-11] Sat 11: ... 4 21 footers here to overhaul [probably #442s Houri, #443s Adelaide, #444s Vaquero I and #445s Dorothy].
[1894-08-15] Wed 15: Fine & sultry. ... 4 21 footers left for Newport [probably #442s Houri, #443s Adelaide, #444s Vaquero I and #445s Dorothy].
[1894-08-20] Mon 20: Sultry a.m. Thunder shower in early a.m. Fresh. Went to Newport in Alerion [#446s] to see 21 ft race.
[1894-08-21] Tue 21: Fine & cool. Strong NNE [wind]. Went to Newport in Alerion [#446s] to see 21 ft race." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1894. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"In this spring (1894), we built the twenty-one foot Larchmont Class of fin keel, jib and mainsail craft, and Wilson and Silsby of Boston were making our sails and had for about all craft since the advent of GLORIANA. It appeared very uncertain about obtaining good setting sails. Asa Hathaway [Noted sailmaker and foreman of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company's sail loft] came to us the year before to make the awnings and other canvas work for our steamers. I got interested, the previous winter, in trying to find out how to make good setting sails and made many experiments on sail cloth. I soon discovered that due to the principle of weaving, the 'take up' on the warp was much more on the filling or weft, and that, quite naturally, sailcloth would stretch much more lengthwise than crosswise. As a sail is stretched much the hardest in [the] direction of the unsupported side, the leach, it appeared the filling should be done in that direction. I talked it well over with John and we decided to try it on some sails. The first one was made for one of the Larchmont Class [HOURI] by consent of her owner, W. Butler Duncan. I had not an opportunity of trying it, as I was leaving for the VIGILANT trip abroad. I, having sold ALERION #1, was having ALERION #2 built while away, and I decided to try our own made 'cross-cut' sails on her. I could see, at once, the wonderful advantage in yacht sails by having them cut that way." (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. 62.)

"Oct 29 1935 {1935/10/29} N. G. HERRESHOFF 6 WALLEY STREET BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND Dear Francis, ... I was quite surprised as well as pleased at your long letter to Uffa - and of what you had said of my active life and perhaps more than I deserve. ... [p2] 2 I will offer a few comments - On p.2 My outstanding achievements, ... #5 cross cut sails This I consider one of the most important, and revolutionized the making of yachts the world over - insuring very much better 'set' of sails, Our first made, as experiment was in spring of 1894, and one of the Larchmont Class of `21 fin keelers - going to Butler Duncan. ... Your affect - Father - " (Source: Mystic Seaport Museum, L. Francis Herreshoff Collection, Box 17, Folder 11: Letter from N. G. Herreshoff to L. F. Herreshoff.)

"The crosscut sail had been invented by Captain Nat about 1893 and, I believe, the first one used was on one of the Larchmont one-design fin keelers built by the Herreshoffs for Mr. W. B. Duncan." (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. 117.)

"... BRISTOL, R.I., May 23 [1894]. --- The Herreshoff shops have started up, after quite a shutdown, and a good force of men is busy in finishing the three twenty-one-footers so far ordered for the Larchmont's new class. Mr. C. Oliver Iselin's boat [Adelaide #443s] is about ready for a trial. She is a fin keel of 21 feet water line, 31 feet over all, 6 1/2 feet beam, and 5 feet draft, with Tobin bronze fin and balance rudder. She will carry the full 600 feet of sail allowed by the class rules and will have about 2,500 pounds of lead on her fin. She is lightly yet strongly built, with oak frames and single planking of white cedar. She has an open cockpit. Her topsides are white, deck bright, and bottom green. The other boats are for F. W. Butler Duncan, Jr. [#442s Houri], and Herman B. Duryea [#444s Vaquero I], and are like Mr. Iselin's. They are well along. ..." (Source: Anon. "The Twenty-One-Footers. Herreshoff Shops Opened to Complete the New Yachts for Larchmont." New York Times, May 24, 1894, p. 3.)

"The Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., launched the first 21 ft yacht built by them for the Larchmont Yacht Club, on Monday [May 28, 1894] last, leaving one more in process of construction. The boat was built for W. Butler Duncan and is a fin keeler, constructed of yellow pine, is a substantial looking little craft and has a racy look from stem to stern. The fin is of Tobin bronze metal, with a bulb of lead attached to the lowest point. Her name is the Honira [sic, i.e. #442s Houri].
In a short time the second one [#443s Adelaide] now building for C. Oliver Islin, will be launched and the others will follow. All these boats will measure 21 ft water line, 31 ft over all and will carry a mainsail, jib, and spinaker. ...
The Viva [#102p ex-Gov. Hamilton] took in tow the Honira [sic, i.e. #442s Houri], the new boat built for Mr. Duncan of New York, and also the racing boat Acis [#441s], built for Mr. Francke, who will sail in the Far Rockaway Regatta the coming season." (Source: Anon. "Yachts and Yachting." Bristol Phoenix, June 2, 1894, p. 2.)

"NEW-LONDON, Conn., June 1 [1894]. --- The trim little steam yacht Avis, with John B. Herreshoff and family on board, came in here this forenoon about 10 o clock with a fresh breeze against her and a strong tide running. She ran up near the steamer Chelsea's pier, but before she came to an anchor a Block Island catboat in charge of Manuel Allen, her owner, ran across the bow of the Avis and lost her sheet as a result. The Avis's bowsprit ran through it and tore it the entire length from gaff to boom. Skipper Allen said he did not notice that the yacht was under steam.
The Avis is on her way to New-York with William Butler Duncan's new sloop Houri [#442s], just built by the Herreshoff Company, and the catboat Acis [#441s], built for Lewis C. Francke of New-York. The Houri was launched Monday [May 28, 1894]. She has already demonstrated her speed to Mr. Duncan's satisfaction, having outsailed everything she encountered in her trial run at Bristol, and at Fall River Wednesday, while a regatta was in progress, she ran away from the fastest craft entered in the contests. The Houri measures 31 feet over all, is 20 feet 7 inches on the water line, and has a sail area of 600 square feet. She is a typical Herreshoff boat, with long overhanging stern and high bow. She is fitted with ballast, fin painted white, and looks every inch a racer. ... Both boats will be delivered to their owners to-morrow, for the Avis left here before sundown on her way to New-York. [Note: The article apparently confuses the names of steamyacht and catboat. The catboat's name was Acis or Avis, while J. B. Herreshoff used the steamyacht Eugenia I #178p during the summer of 1894.]" (Source: Anon. "The Houri A Fast One. Outsailed Every Yacht She Encountered at Bristol and Fall River. " New York Times, June 2, 1894, p. 3.)

"... Commodore Pryer of the Corinthian-Mosquito fleet offered a handsome silver cup for the 21-footers to race for yesterday, and, incidentally, to give the New-Rochellites a chance to see a good race between this new racing class. The yachtsmen who own these boats appreciated Commodore Pryer's offer so much that eight started in the contest for the cup, and of this number two made their first appearance in a race. ... The cup was won by W. Butler Duncan, Jr.'s, Houri. The Vaquero [#444s], handled by Herman Duryea, gave the Houri a hard race, but was beaten by 23 seconds. ..." (Source: Anon. "Houri Won The Pryer Cup. Beat The Vaquero Twenty-Three Seconds Yesterday. " New York Times, July 15, 1894, p. 3.)

"E. Burton Hart, Jr., of the Indian Harbor and Huguenot Yacht Clubs, bought the fast 21-foot Herreshoff boat Houri from W. Butler Duncan yesterday. He will refit her and race her all through the coming season." (Source: Anon. "E. B. Hart, Jr. , Buys the Houri." New York World, March 30, 1895, p. 5.)

"... In the Larchmont Yacht Club 21-foot one-design class the racing was particularly interesting, as all four boats took part in about 12 races. This class was built by Herreshoff several years ago, and has raced consistently each season since. Dorothy [#445s] won the class honors for the past season with 6 firsts, 3 seconds, and 1 third, and was disabled twice. Vaquero II [sic, i.e. Vaquero I #444s] took second place with 3 firsts, 4 seconds and 4 thirds. Houri [#442s] beat Adelaide [#443s] for third place, having 3 firsts, 2 seconds and 3 thirds. ..." (Source: Granberry, G. P. "Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound." Rudder, May 1905, p. 343.)

"The 'Newport thirties' mentioned under one-design classes, were originally started as a restricted class, but the Herreshoff boats which were all alike proved so much superior to the others that the latter soon dropped out and it became to all intents and purposes simply a one-design class; the same thing applies to the 'Larchmont twenty-ones,' originally a very large class built a few years before the thirties, and four Herreshoff members of which are still racing, but for about the last ten years as one-design boats." (Source: Hoyt, C. Sherman. "The Professional and the Amateur in Yacht Racing." Outing Magazine, September 1907, p. 755.)

"... One of the oldest of the one-design classes, the Larchmont 21-footers of 1894, open fin-keel sloops, had four survivors; Dorothy, Houri, Vaquera and Follette; this class has shown a wonderful vitality, the hulls lasting well and retaining their popularity. ..." (Source: Anon. [Title?] Power Boating, vol. 3, 1907, [p. 33?].)

"The fin keelers reached their zenith in the so-called Newport thirties. Members of the fashionable Newport colony had a one design class of these boats built from mahogany, thirty feet long on the waterline, in 1896 by the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. and for many years after this class gave excellent racing. The Vaquero III [#468s] owned and sailed by Herman Duryea was the champion in this class.
The year before, in 1895 [sic, i.e. 1894], members of the Larchmont Yacht Club had a class of 21 footers, that were the prototype of [the Newport 30] class, built by the Herreshoffs.
These boats were 21 feet long on the water, 30 feet on deck, 6ft 6ins wide and drew 5ft 3 inches [and] were named Vaquero [#444s], Celia [#447s], Houri [#442s] and Adelaide [#443s]." (Source: Davis, Charles G. "Recollections of Boats and Boatbuilders about New York. 1884 to 1914." Handwritten manuscript in the Collection of Mystic Seaport Museum. No date (1920s), p. 40.)

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"[Item Description:] Printed class rule titled 'Rules to Govern the Special 21 Foot Class' defining max LWL (21ft), max LOA (31ft, 3/4 of which must be decked), length of cockpit, crew (max 3), ballast, centerboard (if used), sail area between 600 and 500sqft, jib and mainsail and spinnaker allowed, sail area to be measured as follows, no time allowance given to any boat, Rules of the Road to govern all races. Undated (this is believed to be the rules under which the Larchmont 21s #445s, #442s, #443s, #444s, #447s were designed and built in 1894)." (Source: Larchmont Yacht Club. Correspondence (printed leaflet) to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE15_03110. Folder [no #]. No date (1894 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled sailplan of a fin keel boat, titled in lower right corner "#442 [HOURI] #443 [ADELAIDE]. Not used'. Note the two different keels, the construction plan shows the shallower one to have been for #443s ADELAIDE. Undated, the Larchmont One-Design class was designed in April 1894." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Penciled Sailplan. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0454. WRDT08, Folder 36, formerly MRDE09. No date (1894-04 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] [Telegram from Newport:] Please have my jib cut so as to equal present jib with reef in and sent here at once with boom [apparently for #442s HOURI]." (Source: Duncan, W. Butler, Jr. Telegram to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_01060. Correspondence, Folder 1_14, formerly 238. 1894-08-19.)
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"[Item Description:] Yachting editor The World and editor of new yachting weekly 'Burgee & Pennant': has excellent photo of #446s ALERION II by Child; will publish in 'Burgee & Pennant; please send a description of her and of her excellect suit of [crosscut] sails; story of [Larchmont] 21-footers and fine picture of #444s VAQUERO & #442s HOURI in the paper; could someone please write #437s VIGILANT in England article; is it true you have order from [James Gordon] Bennett for a 85-ft sloop [#189401es]; #168p VAMOOSE race challenge; #142p NOW THEN" (Source: Summers, James. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_01320. Correspondence, Folder 1_14, formerly 237. 1894-09-07.)
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"[Item Description:] Handwritten (in ink) regatta report with tabulated data showing regatta performances for HOURI [#442s], VAQUERO [#444s], ADELAIDE [#443s], DOROTHY [#445s], CELIA [#447s], MAYSIE, BLONDE & B., MINNETONKA, FLIRT, HOODOO, and SKIMMAUG at the following races: June 9. Larchmont, June 16. Knickerbocker, June 30. New Rochelle June 25. S.C.Y.C. June 23. Douglaston, July 13. Larchmont July 7. Country Club July 4. Larchmont, July 14. Mosquito, July 21. Indian Harb[or], July 28. Larchmont, Aug. 4. Larchmont, Aug. 18. Newport ([Trophy donated by] Belmont), Aug. 20. Newport ([Trophy donated by] Belmont), Aug. 21. Newport Sub[cription]s.), Aug. 22. Newport ([Trophy donated by] Duryea), Aug. 23. Newport (Sub[cription]s.), Aug. 27. Newport ([Trophy donated by] Ellis), Aug. 28. Newport (Sub[cription]s.), Aug. 11. Sea Cliff, Aug. 25. Indian H[arbor], Aug. 4. Indian H[arbor], Sep. 1. Larchmont, Sep. 3. Indian H[arbor], Sep. 8. Larchmont, Sep. 11. Larchmont, Sep. 15. Larchmont, Sep. 22. Larchmont. Created by W. Butler Duncan, owner of HOURI, as per newspaper clipping 'What The 21-Footers Did' from the New York Sun of October 1, 1894." (Source: Duncan, W. Butler (creator). Regatta Report. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_04480. Folder [no #]. No date (after 1894-09-22 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] feedback on Larchmont 21-foot class, #442s HOURI et al" (Source: Duncan, W. Butler, Jr. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_00910. Correspondence, Folder 1_14, formerly 239. 1894-09-26.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Newspaper clipping beginning with:] What The 21-Footers Did.
A. Full Record of Their Performances and Their Position In Each Race.
The little 21-foot racing fleet, with limited sail area and restricted dimensions, which were introduced to the yachting public this summer through the Larchmont Yacht Club, in spite of a rather inauspicious beginning, have proved by far the most interesting class of the year. At first a number of these tiny racers were conspicuous more for the easy manner in which they fell apart than for their racing capabilities. Later on some of the other designers discovered that piano wire, paper muslin, and broken twine were hardly the proper material to rig a racing boat with, even if it was light, and from that time on there was some great racing in this class, in fact the best racing of the year.
The Herreshoff boats, five in number, as usual covered themselves with glory, finishing one, two, three, four, and six out of eleven starters.
A full list of the 21-footers, with their owners and designers, follows:
Boat. Owner. Designer.
HOURI [#442s], W. Butler Duncan.Jr., Herreshoff.
VAQUERO [#444s], Herman Duryea, Herreshoff.
ADELAIDE [#443s], William Douglas, Herreshoff.
DOROTHY [#445s], H. P. Whitney, Herreshoff.
CELIA [#447s], C. A. Gould, Herreshoff.
MAYSIE, William Osborn, Jr., Gardner.
BLONDE & BBRUNETTE, Herbert Seeley, Gardner.
MINNETONKA, George Work, Dyer.
FLIRT, W. Gould Brokaw, Gardner.
ROODOO, Howard P. Adams, Whitebouse & Chesborough.
SKIMMUNG, Thomas Clapham, Clapham. [Followed by detailed race report and tabulated results data.]" (Source: New York Sun (creator). Newspaper Clipping. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_03980. Folder [no #]. 1894-10-01.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #442s Houri even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Houri (HMCo-made index card)
• Houri (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: Houri
Type: J & M
Length: 21'
Owner: Duncan, W. B., Jr.

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

• Houri
• 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: Houri
Type: 20' 5" fin keel sloop
Owner: Butler Duncan
Year: 1894
Row No.: 285

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: Apr
Day: 1
Year: 1894
E/P/S: S
No.: 0442
Name: Houri
LW: 21'
B: 6' 2"
D: 5' 4"
Rig: J & M
K: FK
Ballast: Lead
Amount: $1300.00
Notes Constr. Record: 4 boats on moulds #442
Last Name: Duncan
First Name: W. B.

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.

"LOA 31ft." (Source: Anon. "The Twenty-One-Footers. Herreshoff Shops Opened to Complete the New Yachts for Larchmont." New York Times, May 24, 1894, p. 3.)

"Plan 75-37 shows that the Larchmont 21s carried two different sail plans, one with 500 square feet, the other with 600 square feet." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 16, 2013.)

"Houri carried the first cross-cut sails ever made. But note that the book 'A Hundred Years of Sail' by Beken carries as its first photo a curious image of the famous cutter Bloodhound carrying cross-cut sails. The photo is said to have been taken in 1880, but is of very high quality which suggests it was taken much later when photo technology was more advanced. The exact date this photo was taken should be researched." (Source: van der Linde, March 4, 2015.)

"Built in 57 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $23/day, 71 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"[Sail area 600sq ft.]" (Source: Anon. "The Houri A Fast One." New York Times, June 2, 1894, p. 3.=

"Displacement 4052lbs calculated as the average of three figures for displacement in NGH design booklet dated April 19, 1904: 4020lbs (obtained by formula), 4186lbs (by tabular weight study) and 3950lbs (by model weighing)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 16, 2021.)

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