HMCo #493s Jilt

"Feb[ruary] 1898.
493 [#493s Jilt] & 494 [#494s Sintram]
Sheerline to be raised 3/4 above figures for sheer in book.
Timbers (not less than 1 sq[uare] inch section).
Sided 15/16" moulded 1 1/8" except nos. 19-20-21-22-23-24 to be moulded 1 1/16" at head and increasing 1/8" per foot for full length.
Planking 3/4" finished.
Deck 3/4 finished.
1 5/8" thick keel 1 3/8" above rabbet.
...
#417 [Drusilla] beam mold for top deck
floor 8 feet." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.109.] Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"...The first of the 21ft. raceabouts is afloat and ready for business. She is the Jilt, built by the Herreshoffs for W. O. Gay, and she is now at her owner's moorings at Cohasset, having been sailed around the Cape by Mr. Gay, assisted by his man. The trip was not exactly a pleasure trip, and yet it was not devoid of pleasant features, and was made in very good time, considering the weather. The little yacht left the Herreshoff Works at Bristol at 5 o'clock a week ago Saturday [May 7, 1898?] afternoon, and reached Lawley's yard in this city at 2 o'clock the following Monday afternoon. Much of the time was spent in beating up the back of the Cape against a strong northerly wind, but this with its hard work was compensated for later by the fine run across the bay from Race Point. The run of Saturday afternoon and evening was a fine one, but midnight in Vineyard Sound brought a heavy squall, which necessitated three reefs, and made wet sailing at that. The sail over the shoals Sunday morning was a beautiful one, but the beat up the Cape later was a long, tedious and tiresome one. Monday morning at 5 o'clock the Jilt was off Race Point, and from there it was plain sailing. The wind was moderate to light, but allowed of sheets being eased, so that the yacht came along very fast, reaching Lawley's at 2 P. M. There she was cleaned and put in shape, and was then sailed to Cohasset. She will be in Marblehead waters to-day, weather permitting, looking for trouble. Jilt is quite a different boat from her owner's last year's Fly, from Herreshoff's hands, being about 30 instead of nearly 34ft. over all, and having 5 instead of 6ft. draft. With her 600ft. of sail, instead of the 500 allowed under last year's rule, she is, of course, not so stiff, but will undoubtedly be much faster in average racing weather. Speaking of his boat, Mr. Gay said: 'Of her actual speed I cannot judge, since we have sailed against nothing of our size, but she is a vastly different boat from Fly. All I can say of her now is that she is splendidly balanced, easily handled, and apparently powerful enough for our racing weather in Massachusetts Bay. I am perfectly satisfied with her behavior thus far, and am anxious for some racing. The class ought to give some good sport this season.'' --- Boston Globe." (Source: Anon. "Yachting News Notes." Forest and Stream, May 14, 1898, p. 395.)

"The following description of the new additions to the Boston raceabout fleet is from the Boston Globe:
The three Herreshoff boats in the 21ft. raceabout class are for W. O. Gay [#493s Jilt], ex-Com. William P. Fowle [#494s Sintram], of the Corinthian, and S. V. R. Thayer [#495s Typhoon], who last year raced the Herreshoff 30-footer Asahi [#463s] in the Y. R. A. races. The first two boats are keels, and the third is a centerboard. The arrival of Jilt, Mr. Gay's boat, has already, been told in these columns. Mr. Fowle's boat, Sintram, is now at Marblehead, and Mr. Thayer's boat is nearly ready for delivery. With three new Herreshoffers in the fleet the Boston-designed boats will be given a hustle." (Source: Anon. "The New Raceabouts." Forest and Stream, June 11, 1898, p. 471.)

"The Jilt, the first of the 21-foot raceabouts built by the Herreshoffs for Mr. W. O. Gay, of Cohasset, Mass., is described as a speedy and seaworthy craft, having behaved well in a stormy trip round Cape Cod. She is 30 feet over all, draws 5 feet and carries 600 feet of sail." (Source: Anon. "Clubs and Craft." Outing, August 1898, p. 528.)

"A most interesting fleet is that of the 21-foot race-abouts. There are a dozen new boats, and already the racing has shown that no one boat is to have a walkover, but that championship honors will be won only by the hardest kind of work. Herreshoff boats were last year beaten by Boston-designed boats, so this year the Bristol designer has made a special effort to recover the laurels won for him by Cock Robin, champion in 1896. Sintram, Jilt and Typhoon are his contributions this year, Sintram is owned by Ex-Com. William P. Fowle of the Corinthian club, and is a keel boat with all the characteristics of a fin-keel. She is as close to the minimum allowed water-line beam of the class --- 7 feet --- as she can be built, and is of 5 feet draught instead of 6, as were last year's boats. The Jilt, W. O. Gay, is much like the Sintram [#494s], but the Typhoon [#495s], built for S. V. R. Thayer, and sailed by Capt. 'Nate' Watson, is a centerboard of 7 feet 9 inches waterline beam; 3 feet 6 inches draught; and carrying 3,000 pounds of lead instead of 3,500 as by the keel boats. These are class restrictions, and all the boats are built as closely to them as possible. It promises to be an interesting contest between the keel and centerboard types as well as between individual boats." (Source: Robinson, W. W. "Racing Fleet of 1898, Yacht Racing Association of Massachusetts." Rudder, August 1898, p. 272.)

"... Jilt [#493s], W. O. Gay's Herreshoff design, which headed the record list last season, will again be raced, and her owner expects a fair share of wins even with a second-year boat. Typhoon [#495s], third on the list, has been sold by B. V. R. Thayer to 'Reggie' Boardman, and will be raced. Hazard [#480s], sold by H. M. Sears to Carl Hodges, will also be in the field, and should prove no mean antagonist in the latter's hands. ..." (Source: Anon. "Yachts and Yachtsmen. Continued Popularity of 21-Foot Raceabouts. Fleet of at Least a Dozen, New and Old, Assured for Season's Racing." Boston Globe, February 12, 1899, p. 15.)

"On Sunday, the brand-new Gardiner’s Bay Marching and Chowder Society sponsored its first open day sailing race. Twenty-nine yachts, from 18 to 50 feet in length, were entered. ...
... Lincoln and Jewett’s 35-foot Herreshoff gaff-rigged cutter Jilt placed third. ..." (Source: Anon. "Yachts Race on Gardiner’s Bay." East Hampton Star, August 3, 1967, p 4.)

"... In the early 60s, Barbara Little and I were given a sail in the 1898 Herreshoff Raceabout Jilt. Sporting 600 square feet of sail and an almost modern keel, the tender hull zipped around like a Ferrari. Barbara was so impressed that she named her Cape Cod Knockabout Jilt. The Herreshoff Raceabouts were all exquisitely built with double-planked hulls. " (Source: Littell, Browne. "Early Days of Racing in Woods Hole." In: Woods Hole Historical Collection (Publisher). Spritsail, Volume 10, Number 2, Summer 1996, p. 22. http://www.woodsholemuseum.org/woodspages/sprtsl/v10n2-EarlyRace.pdf, retrieved February 10, 2011.)

"... JILT is referred to in Clinton Crane’s Yachting Memories (Van Nostrand 1952) as "Billy Gay's unbeaten JILT". JILT was later sold to the famous artist Charles Dana Gibson, creator of "the Gibson Girl", who had Bristol roots. He sailed her in the 1900s during summer vacations in Maine. In 1961 Duncan Spencer found JILT in a field in Maine with a rotted deck and cuddy. He refit the hull and returned her to service with a plywood deck and larger deckhouse. The boat again fell on hard times and suffered hull deformation from poppets set on uneven ground without keel blocks. That is how she arrived at the museum when donated by R. Daniel Prentiss in 1991. ..." (Source: Palmieri, John. "Curator’s Log January 2013. The Herreshoff Marine Museum Boat Collection. The Fin-Keelers: There is Work to be Done." http://www.herreshoff.org/news/newsletter_archives.html, retrieved November 19, 2013.)

"This early fin-keeler was developed by N.G. Herreshoff in 1898 for W.O. Gay and is referred to in Clinton Crane's Yachting Memories as 'Billy Gay's unbeaten JILT'. She was designed with a large gaff-rigged sail plan utilizing a small bow sprit. Her boom extended six feet beyond her transom. JILT is a surprisingly innovative and scientifically technical yacht for her time. This yacht is built of double-planked white cedar above the waterline and single planked yellow pine below. The decks are of cedar. The deep fin-keel with a modified bulb is evident below her canoe-shaped hull. The bulb is finished with a vertical fin behind the mass of lead to add low weight. The rudder is hung at the waterline aft, completely self supported. JILT was sold to the famous artist Charles Dana Gibson, creator of 'the Gibson Girl.' Gibson, who had Bristol roots, used this yacht during his summer vacations in Maine early in this century.
LOA 31ft 0in. LWL 21ft 0in. B 7ft 3in. D 5ft 0in.
#493. 1898
[Acc. no. 91.493]." (Source: Herreshoff Marine Museum. "JILT One-Rater." [Plaque on display at the museum.] Bristol, RI, no date [ca. 2013].)

"Common lore suggests that N.G. Herreshoff designed only from models and never from lines plans, and that he only trusted his instincts when he carved his models. But this is not quite the case. As his son L. Francis wrote he was very much a numbers-driven designer, perhaps and probably more so than any of his contemporaries. And unlike what L. Francis reported he was not always very quick in carving his models. Surviving documents show that for N.G. Herreshoff the design of a yacht was a very deliberate iterative and analytical process that often took place over the course of several days and involved extensive number crunching using his slide rule and logarithmic tables.
Take the case of #493s Jilt, a 21ft waterline fin keeler from 1898 that today is in the collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum. The contract to build her was recorded on January 27, 1898. By February 4, 1898 NGH had carved a model (which has also survived and can be seen today in the Model Room of the Herreshoff Museum). In most every case he then mounted a pantograph to his offset measuring machine (see below) and carefully took off evenly spaced transverse half-sections of the model. By recording these to a sheet of paper he thus created what is, in effect, a partial lines plan.
Next, using a planimeter, he determined the sectional areas that, when multiplied by their spacing, yielded the underwater volume and thus the displacement. He also carefully calculated the center of gravity and often also the wetted surface, prismatic coefficient and the design's rating. In many cases he would also draw a displacement curve, sometimes overlaying and comparing it with those of previous designs.
For use in sea water, multiplying displacement in cubic feet by 64 results in a design's weight in lbs and this weight he often double-checked by creating an itemized table of weights with estimated weights at the minimum for the hull itself, rudder, keel plate or centerboard, rig, equipment and lead ballast. For large and important designs these weight studies could involve literally hundreds of items, all recorded with their respective weights and center of gravities. Ideally these two weights, one determined from hull displacement and the other from adding up the weights of the individual parts of the boat, should be the same and, looking at NGH's notes, usually they were very close.
After analyzing the results of his calculations N.G. Herreshoff often altered his model, usually by delicately shaving off a little more wood and thus reducing its displacement and making it lighter. With the help of planimeter and trapezoidal rule, and through a series of trials (carefully numbered and recorded) he gradually shaved away the wood to achieve his desired displacement and center of buoyancy. Today, it is fascinating to look at his penciled pantograph sections (which he carefully collected and kept to himself and apparently never showed to anyone) and analyse just where he took off something and altered a model's lines.
In the case of Jilt he did this over the course of one week and penciled sections and calculations from February 4, 1898 (preliminary and 2nd trial showing a weight of 5590lbs), sometime between February 4 and February 10 (3rd and 4th trials showing a weight of 5618lbs), February 10 (5th trial, 5510lbs) and February 11 (6th trial, 5525lbs) have survived.
Jilt and her many design trials may be an extreme case, but two or three iterations were quite common. Nor was it uncommon for NGH to carve more than one model. Quite a few times did he make a preliminary model to be followed by a final one. In some cases he even made and measured three models and at least once he made a detailed study of four models, named A, B, C, and D, with each model going through its own series of design iterations!
Having arrived at a model's final shape NGH would then mount it on the cast-iron bedplate of his offset machine --- an instrument he had developed for his own use in [???] that consisted of ... and that appears to be unique in yacht design history. [Is that true?] He used its smooth metal feeler to once again trace the model’s sections and directly read their coordinates from carefully calibrated dials on the machine. The scales on the dials were such that the numbers read from them gave the boat’s full-scale measurements (offsets) in feet, inches, and eighths of inches. The resulting offsets were then given to HMCo’s mold loftsman who used them to draw out each station full-size on the lofting floor to create the boat's molds.
He also determined the new design's scantlings. Again, he did so by employing a very engineering-oriented and numbers-driven method that was uniquely his. We don't know yet when he started doing so, but by the mid-1910s (at the latest) he used a formalized method to determine frame spacing and dimensions for all parts of the boat, including keel, stem piece, transom, frames, floor timbers, clamps, deck beams, plankshear, deck planks, ceiling, cabin floor, lead bolts and straps, diagonal and body straps, rudder stock and fastenings. The method, titled "Rules for the Construction, the Scantlings, and the Other Proportions of Wooden Yachts" was published by the New York Yacht Club in 1928 with NGH's blessings. It has allowed the construction of many boats which, against all odds, have survived to this very day and which are lighter than if they had been built to other scantlings rules, such as Lloyd's Rules.
To summarize, N.G. Herreshoff's approach to yacht designing with hand-carved models and no lines plans may appear to outsiders very much as "old-school" but it was, and still is, decidedly "new school": An analytical iterative approach which combined real 3D-modeling with precise science-based mathematical procedures to design what for decades were the world's fastest and lightest racing yachts." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. "N. G. Herreshoff: A Decidedly Modern Old-School Designer." Unfinished draft to document NGH's design methods. April 2, 2020.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections titled '#461. 21ft. Final. Dec[ember] 6 [18]95. COCK ROBIN'. With calculations arriving at a total displacement of 6150lbs. With three displacement curves, one marked '#492 & 493 [sic, i.e. probably #493s JILT and #494s SINTRAM]' and '48.5cuft' and a note 'Total disp. 6260lbs. Disp. body part 5130[lbs]'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_06210. Folder [no #]. 1895-12-06.)
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"[Item Description:] Printed but untitled rules for what is apparently the 21ft Raceabout Class. Marked in pencil at top 'Re'd of Mr. Gay [apparently William O. Gay, owner of #485s FLY and the soon-to-be-built #493s JILT] Jan 11th 1898'. Including definition, length LWL (not to exceed 21 feet), beam LWL (at least 7ft for keel boats, at least 7ft 9in for centerboard boats), freeboard and house, ballast and draft, scantlings, sails (not to exceed 600 sqft of which 480 sqft in mainsail), equipment, crew (not to exceed 3), other boats accepted (all boats now complying with the present rule of the Beverly YC as well as all boats built on the lines and specifications of W. B. Stearns as accepted by the Seawanhaka YC and carrying not more than 550 sqft of sail)" (Source: Gay, W. O. (sender). Correspondence (measurement rule) to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_71170. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 1), Folder B1F06, formerly MRDE15. 1898-01-11.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections titled '2nd trial. #493 [JILT]. 1898'. With calculations arriving at a displacement for the body part of 77.95cuft = 5010lbs plus an estimated 500lbs for the keel part for a total displacement of 5510lbs. Also an itemized weight estimate arriving at a total weight of 5590lbs. On verso another set of penciled pantograph hull sections titled '#493. Preliminary. Feb[ruary] 4 [18]98'. With displacement calculations." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_05260. Folder [no #]. 1898-02-04.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections and pantograph lead sections titled '4th trial. Final [crossed out]. #493 [JILT]. 21ft Knockabout. 1898'. With calculations arriving at a displacement for the body part of 80.0cuft = 5140lbs and for the keel part of 7.42cuft = 478lbs. On verso another set of penciled pantograph hull sections and pantograph lead sections titled '3rd [trial] #493' with calculations arriving at a displacement for the body part of 4950lbs. Dated only 1898, a fifth trial is dated February 10, 1898." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_05200. Folder [no #]. 1898-02-10 or slightly earlier.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections amd pantograph lead sections titled '5th trial #493. Feb[ruary] 10 [18]98. Keel moved aft 1 1/2in. JILT [#493s] & SINTRAM [#494s]. (See 6th trial for body part.)'. With calculations arriving at a displacement for the body part of 78.4cuft = 5045lbs plus an estimated 465lbs for the keel part [for a total displacement of 5510lbs]." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_05340. Folder [no #]. 1898-02-10.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections titled '6th trial #493. Feb[ruary] 11 [18]98. (Changed slightly from # 5.) JILT [#493s] & SINTRAM [#494s]'. With calculations arriving at a displacement for the body part of 78.7cuft = 5060lbs plus an estimated 465lbs for the keel part for a total displacement of 5525lbs. On verso another set of crossed out penciled pantograph sections of the same design, with slightly slacker bilges and a bulb ballast keel added and a note 'see other side'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_05300. Folder [no #]. 1898-02-11.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled 'Lead for #493 [JILT] & #494 [SINTRAM]. M[ar]ch 5 [18]98'. With calculations arriving at 9020.0cuin = 3700lbs lead and 'Note. With top of lead 1-11-6 sp[?] W[ei]g[h]t should be very nearly 3500lbs' and another note '.855in more[??] on top of #494 lead'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_09460. Folder [no #]. 1898-03-05.)
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"[Item Description:] The committees of the Knockabout Association and Beverly Yacht Club met the other day to discuss the question of restrictions for the year 1899. The following scheme is proposed, and will be brought before the two clubs for consideration, viz., that ballast, free-board and beam shall all be on the sliding scale, viz., for every inch additional beam above 7 ft, there shall be deducted 55 5-9 pounds of lead; for every 8 in. increase in beam, the free-board shall be reduced 1-2 in. The minimum amount of ballast however shall be 2500 pounds, this rule to apply to both centre-boards and keels. The reduction of the ballast will figure on the same principle that we have now, viz., 3000 pounds for a centreboard of 7 ft., 9 in beam as against 8500 for a keel boat of 7 ft. beam. We meet Wednesday at three o'clock. If not too much trouble would you give us your valued opinion on the subject? We already have a set of rules which you drew up, and which Mr. Emmons has presented at the meeting, and which will of course receive careful consideration. All the other present restrictions of the class will be adhered to in case the above should be adopted. [The author was the owner of the knockabout #493s JILT.]" (Source: Gay, William O. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_76140. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 2), Folder B2F18, formerly MRDE15. 1898-10-10.)
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"[Item Description:] Ink on paper spar plan / sail plan with measurements titled "Spar Measurements of [#493s] JILT. Feb. 1899' with penciled note 'New sails made (mainsail & jib) without allowance for stretch Mch 9, [18]99'. Skribbled sketch of a sailboat on verso." (Source: Gay, William O. (?) (creator). Spar Plan. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0635. WRDT08, Folder 47. 1899-02.)
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"[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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"[Item Transcription:] I can't tell you how glad I am that COLUMBIA [#499s] won. I felt sure she would and bet on her. I should liked to have seen that last race. It must have been wind, and too[sic] beat them in what they supposed to be their own weather was good too. I do hope she will go across the pond, but we do not want to give them points to use against us. However they do not stand much chance of beating us.
I sent you yesterday two photos, one of JILT [#493s] and one of ONWARD [#487s]. I don't know which[?] you have any or not but they are thought to be very good of the boats. The JILT is still as good as any of her class. She did little racing this summer. She could beat them in all in a strong breeze but in light wind and smooth sea the 'PIRATE' could beat her. Please remember me to Mr John [JBH] and accept my best regards for your self.
Yours truly
Willard B. Jackson
P.S. Hope you will see Mama as she is in Bristol." (Source: Jackson, Willard B. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_53050. Subject Files, Folder 46, formerly 60. 1899-10-27.)
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"N/A"

"[Item Transcription:] [Penciled paper:] French Rule - T + ((L-P/4)*P*S) / (1000 * sq-rt(M))
T = tonnage
L = Length w.l. in meters without crew but all sails * sailing equipment
P = Perimeter in meters
S = Sail area as per Y.R.A. but in sq meters
M = Area of ox = in sq meters
Examples
JILT [#493s] [Numbers]
SWANHILD II [#517s] [Numbers]
Newport 30 footers [Numbers]
DEFENDER [#452s] @ 1/3 division [Numbers]" (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Measurement Rule. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_72840. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 2), Folder B2F05, formerly MRDE15. 1900-09-02.)
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"[Item Description:] Handwritten (in ink) rating rule-related table on two pages with dimensions LOA, LWL, overhang fore & aft, mean length, freeboard fore & center & aft, breadth deck & w.l., draft, cube-root (displacement), 1st mast mean length, 1st to 2nd mast, J, P1, H1, B1, G1, V1, T1, P2, P2a, H2, B2, Q2, Y2,T2, sail area, sqrt(SA), sqrt(SA - NYYC Rule) for #605s RELIANCE, #499s COLUMBIA, #725s RESOLUTE, #529s MINEOLA, #663s ISTALENA, #666s AVENGER, New York 50s (#711s, #712s, #713s, #714s, #715s, #716s, #717s, #720s, #721s), #411s GLORIANA, #685s ADVENTURESS, #617s COCK ROBIN II, #586s NELLIE, #709s JOYANT, #708s CORINTHIAN, #670s SENECA, Bar Harbor 31s (#592s, #593s, #594s, #595s, #596s, #597s, #598s, #599s, #600s, #601s, #602s, #603s, #604s), New York 30s (#626s, #627s, #628s, #629s, #630s, #631s, #632s, #633s, #635s, #636s, #637s, #638s, #639s, #640s, #642s, #643s, #647s, #648s), Newport 29s (#727s, #728s, #737s), #691s MORE JOY, #446s ALERION II, Buzzards Bay 550s (#733s, #734s, #736s, #738s, #741s), #617s COCK ROBIN II, #493s JILT, #732s SADIE, #460s KILDEE, Buzzards Bay 15s (#503s Class), Buzzards Bay 12 1/2s (#744s Class), #703s FLYING CLOUD, #669s ELEANOR, #722s KATOURA, #692s WESTWARD, #657s QUEEN, #719s VAGRANT II, #698s VAGRANT, #663s ISTALENA, and #743s HASWELL. With penciled note 'Measurements in ft & inches. Results in ft & decimals'. Undated (the youngest boat on this list is from 1914/1915 and this was probably prepared in preparation for NGH's sail area rating rule of 1914/1915)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Handwritten Table. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE15_00100. Folder [no #]. No date (1914 / 1915 ?).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #493s Jilt even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Spencer, Duncan. "The Heart of an Old Machine." Sailing World, April 1989, p. 16-19. (3,268 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Vessel portrait, restoration report, sailing experience.

• Jilt (HMCo-made index card)
• Jilt (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: Jilt
Type: J & M
Length: 21'
Owner: Gay, Wm. O.

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

• Jilt
• 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: Jilt
Type: 21' sloop
Owner: W. O. Gay
Year: 1899
Row No.: 321

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: Jan
Day: 27
Year: 1898
E/P/S: S
No.: 0493
Name: Jilt
LW: 21'
B: 7' 3"
D: 5'
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead (o)
Amount: 2000.00
Last Name: Gay
First Name: W. /O.

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 in 100 days (contract to delivered; equivalent to $20/day, 56 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Sail area 653.5 sqft from untitled two-page rating-rule-related table handwritten (in ink) by N. G. Herreshoff with multiple dimensions for the most important Herreshoff-designed yachts. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. MRDE15, Folder [no #]. Undated (the most recent boat dates 1914/1915 and the table was probably prepared in preparation for NGH's sail area rating rule of 1914/1915)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 16, 2020.)

"Displacement 86.3 cu.ft. [= 5523 lbs] from untitled two-page rating-rule-related table handwritten (in ink) by N. G. Herreshoff with multiple dimensions for the most important Herreshoff-designed yachts. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. MRDE15, Folder [no #]. Undated (the most recent boat dates 1914/1915 and the table was probably prepared in preparation for NGH's sail area rating rule of 1914/1915)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 16, 2020.)

"Donated by R. Daniel Prentiss 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.