HMCo #445s Dorothy

"[1894-05-18] Fri 18: Have order for 4th 21-footer [#445s Dorothy] from H. Whitney.
[1894-06-14] Thu 14: ... Turned over #445 [Dorothy]. ...
[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.)

"... Dorothy Ran on Execution Reef.
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. These were H. P. Whitney's Dorothy [#445s] and Charles A. Gould's Celia [#447s]. Both of these boats are Herreshoff creations. The Dorothy is a mahogany boat, and is as pretty as her name suggests her to be. ... H. P. Whitney had come on from Newport to sail the Dorothy in this race, but, by the crack amateurs on the other boats, he quickly put his boat out of the race by running her on Execution Reef. Mr. C. A. Gould's steamer Neaera pulled her off, apparently uninjured. ... " (Source: Anon. "Houri Won The Pryer Cup. Beat The Vaquero Twenty-Three Seconds Yesterday." New York Times, July 15, 1894, p. 3.)

"NEWPORT, R. I., Aug. 16 [1894]. --- The twenty-one-footers are nearly all ready for the Corinthian Yacht Club's race, which is scheduled tor Saturday. The prize is a silver cup valued at $300, and the race is being managed by Mr. August Belmont. Four of the boats have been at the Herreshoff yards at Bristol for more than a week, having some slight changes made and being thoroughly overhauled.
... The Dorothy [#445s], owned by H. F. Whitney, came down from Bristol to-day. She has been smoothed and varnished, and has had her sails overhauled. W. Butler Duncan, Jr.'s. Houri [#442s] and Herman Duryea's Vaquero [#444s] are still on the ways, being made ready tor the race. Their sails were bagged very much, and they have been recut. ..." (Source: Anon. "Twenty-One-Footers To Race. Four Have Been Overhauled at Herreshoff's for Tomorrow's Event. " New York Times, August 17, 1894, p. 6.)

"... 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.)

"N/A"

"[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:] 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 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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"[Item Description:] had a letter from Van Wickle that he would not build this year but probably join the class [#189702es Unbuilt 46ft Class of 1898] another year, another black eye, things don't look promising, I know that Whitney has about made up his mind to build if a third man would come in, if [E.D.] Morgan had only stuck, the whole thing would have gone through, I am more than disappointed on your account, by the way that mainsail on #445s DOROTHY is the best sail I ever saw on a small boat, I thought those sails would be too heavy when were ordered but they stand beautifully and the boat goes like great guns, poor old Van Wickle disappointed as he put the matches on" (Source: Duryea, Herrman B. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_19390. Correspondence, Folder 52, formerly 48, 49. No date (1897-10-01 as per stamp on envelope near by).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #445s Dorothy even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Dorothy (HMCo-made index card)
• Dorothy (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: Dorothy
Type: J & M
Length: 21'
Owner: Whitney, H. P.

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

• Dorothy
• 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: Dorothy
Type: 21' J & M
Owner: Harry Payne Whitney
Row No.: 168

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: May
Day: 18
Year: 1894
E/P/S: S
No.: 0445
Name: Dorothy
LW: 21'
B: 6' 2"
D: 5' 4"
Rig: J & M
K: FK
Ballast: Lead
Amount: $1300.00
Last Name: Whitney
First Name: H. P.

Source: Vermilya, Peter and Maynard Bray. "Transcription of the HMCo. Construction Record." Unpublished database, ca. 2000.

Note: The transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Peter Vermilya and Maynard Bray was performed independently (and earlier) than that by Claas van der Linde. A comparison of the two transcriptions can be particularly useful in those many cases where the handwriting in the Construction Record is difficult to decipher.

"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.)

"[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.