HMCo #489s Omega

"Two new boats were launched this week [between May 16 and May 19, 1898] from the Herreshoff shops. One is a 21-feet water line keel knockabout, built for a yachtsman in Buzzard's Bay. Her name is Sintram [#494s], and she is a duplicate of Jilt [#493s], that was launched and taken to Cohassett, Mass., not long ago. The other boat launched was a small catboat [either #488s Alpha or #489s Omega] of 15 feet water line length, without a cabin. Her name and destination are not known." (Source: Anon. "New Boats Launched." Bristol Phoenix, May 20, 1898, p. 1.)

"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (in ink) memorandum stamped 'Feb[ruary] 25 1899:] Memo.
Sails ordered.
1898 Oct[ober] 25. Mainsail. [For yacht] CORNELIA.
1899 Jan[uary] 21. Mainsail. [For yacht] 15ft boat built for C.M. Baker [#488s ALPHA] or King [#489s OMEGA].
1899 Feb[ruar]y 3. Mainsail. Racing Staysail. Racing jib. [For yacht] DEFENDER. [#452s]
1899 Feb[ruar]y 3. Mainsail. # 1 Staysail. # 1 Jib. # 2 Jib topsail. # 3 jib topsail. Making topsail ? [For yacht] #499 [COLUMBIA]
1899 Feb[ruar]y 25. Mainsail. Jib. [For yacht] JILT [#493s]." (Source: Hereshoff, N.G. (?) (creator). Memorandum. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_01310. Folder [no #]. 1899-02-25.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #489s Omega even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Omega (HMCo-made index card)
• Omega (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: Omega
Type: Cat
Length: 14'
Owner: King, S. A.

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

• Omega
• 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: Omega
Type: 14' cat
Owner: S. A. King
Row No.: 493

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: Oct
Day: 13
Year: 1897
E/P/S: S
No.: 0489
Name: Omega
LW: 14'
B: 5' 3"
D: 9 1/2"
Rig: Cat
CB: y
Ballast: Lead (o)
Amount: 325.00
Last Name: King
First Name: S. G.

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.

"[Sail number 77 (5th Class Catboat).]" (Source: Beverly Yacht Club. 1898 Yearbook. Boston, 1898, p. 91.)

"Omega was bought for sailing at Chapoquoit / Falmouth on Buzzard's Bay by Samuel G. King, the son of Chapoquoit's developer Franklin King. Note that #488s Alpha had been contracted for by another summer resident of Chapoquoit, Charles M. Baker.
For more information on the Kings see Jenkins, Candace. The Development of Falmouth as a Summer Resort. 1850 - 1900. In: Woods Hole Historical Collection (Publisher). Spritsail, Volume 6, Number 1, Winter 1992, p. 23-24. www.woodsholemuseum.org/woodspages/sprtsl/v6n1-SummerRes.pdf, retrieved February 13, 2011. For more information on sailing at Wood's Hole see Littell, Browne. Early Days of Racing in Woods Hole. In: Woods Hole Historical Collection (Publisher). Spritsail, Volume 10, Number 2, Summer 1996, p. 23-24. http://www.woodsholemuseum.org/woodspages/sprtsl/v10n2-EarlyRace.pdf, retrieved February 10, 2011.)" (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 13, 2011.)

"Dimensions from Beverly Yacht Club Yearbook 1898." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. June 2, 2011.)

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