HMCo #497s Gadfly

S00497_Gadfly_HMM95197H.jpg

Particulars

Construction_Record_Title.jpgName: Gadfly
Type: Beverly YC Raceabout Open Class
Designed by: NGH
Contract: 1898-6-14
Delivered: 1898-7-16
Construction: Wood
LOA: 31' (9.45m)
LWL: 21' 0" (6.40m)
Beam: 8' 8.75" (2.66m)
Draft: 4' 0" (1.22m)
Rig: Gaff Sloop
Sail Area: 600sq ft (55.7sq m)
Displ.: 5,493 lbs (2,491 kg)
Keel: yes
Centerboard: yes
Ballast: Lead outside
Built for: Harrison, A. C.
Amount: $2,100.00
Note(s) in HMCo Construction Record: Moulds of #495.
Last year in existence: 1938 (aged 40)
Final disposition: Lost in the 1938 hurricane.

Note: Particulars are primarily but not exclusively from the HMCo Construction Record. Supplementary information not from the Construction Record appears elsewhere in this record with a complete citation.

Model

Model #302Model number: 302
Model location: H.M.M. Model Room South Wall Right

Vessels from this model:
2 built, modeled by NGH
#495s Typhoon (1898)
#497s Gadfly (1898)

Original text on model:
"No. 495 March 18, 1896 TYPHOON scale 1" also No 497 GADFLY" (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)

Model Description:
"21' lwl Typhoon and Gadfly, keel / centerboard cabin sloops of 1898." (Source: Bray, Maynard. 2004.)

Note: Vessels that appear in the records as not built, a cancelled contract, a study model, or as a model sailboat are listed but not counted in the list of vessels built from a model.

Offsets

Offset booklet number(s): HH.4.110

Offset booklet contents:
#495 [21' w.l. sloop Typhoon].

Offset Booklet(s) in Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Restricted access --- see curator.)
Note: "Reference to offset booklet HH.4.110 was added by CvdL because this boat was built from the same construction plan as $495s Typhoon that was specifically mentioned in it." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 24, 2021.)

Drawings

Main drawing Dwg 075-050 (HH.5.05470) Explore all drawings relating to this boat.

List of drawings:
   Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
   HMCo #497s Gadfly are listed in bold.
   Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
  1. Dwg 080-062 (HH.5.05974): Spars for #493, #494, #495, #497, #501, #536, #548, #547, #549, #574 (1898-03-23)
  2. Dwg 127-057 (HH.5.09925): Sails > Jib and Mainsail (1898-03-25)
  3. Dwg 078-044 (HH.5.05760): [Bowsprit End] (1898-03-26)
  4. Dwg 075-050 (HH.5.05470): Construction Dwg > Sailing Yachts (1898-04-11)
  5. Dwg 064-031 (HH.5.04507): Rudder for # 495, 497 and 502 (1898-04-12)
  6. Dwg 130-136 (HH.5.10446): Sails > # 495 - 497 Gadfly (1898-04-12)
  7. Dwg 076-050 (HH.5.05509): Construction Dwg > 21' W.L. Racing Craft for Buzzard's Bay (1903-10-19)
  8. Dwg 068-072 (HH.5.04878): Steering Wheel and Details for # 256 (1906-09-10)
  9. Dwg 128-079 (HH.5.10204): Sails > Gadfly Balloon Jib (ca. 1924)
  10. Dwg 128-081 (HH.5.10206): Sails > Sails for New Rig on Gadfly (No. 497) (1924-11-16)
  11. Dwg 128-080 (HH.5.10205): Sails > Gadfly "Genoa Jib" (1930-01-13)
  12. Dwg 130-136 A (HH.5.10447): Sails > Gadfly's Sail Plan 497 (1930-02-08)
Source: Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Together with: Hasselbalch, Kurt with Frances Overcash and Angela Reddin. Guide to The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 1997. Together with: Numerous additions and corrections by Claas van der Linde.
Note: The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection is copyrighted by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass. Permission to incorporate information from it in the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné is gratefully acknowledged. The use of this information is permitted solely for research purposes. No part of it is to be published in any form whatsoever.

Documents

Nathanael G. Herreshoff

"[1898-06-15] Wed 15: ... Had order yesterday for 21' knockabout (#496) [sic, i.e. #497s Gadfly] and 13' spritsail (#497) [sic, i.e. #498s Wiz].
[1925-06-04] Thu 4: [Thermometer] 83 [degrees]. Very hot. L[igh]t SW to W [wind]. Took sail in 'Gadfly' [#497s] built in 1896-7, now belonging to Mary LeClair. Has been rerigged and sails very fast, easily beating a new S class boat.
[1926-09-11] Sat 11: Fine & nearly calm. Race at Washington Park won by Miss Le Clair's 'Gadfly' [#497s]. Sidney sailing.
[1927-07-09] Sat 9: Fair. Nearly calm [in] a.m., l[igh]t SSW [wind in] a.m. ... After dinner, Ann, Agnes & I went up Prov[idence] R[iver] in Pleasure [#907s] to see R.I.Y.C. race, in which [#497s] Gadfly won easily, sailed by Sidney. Clarence & Reba arrived in evening.
[1927-07-16] Sat 16: Moderate SSW [wind in] a.m. Strong [wind] in p.m. Warm & damp. Took sail in Pleasure [#907s] in p.m., with Agnes, to see race of Barrington Y.C., single reef. Interesting brush with [#497s] Gadfly on wind in which Pleasure was a little the best. Gadfly won race & sailed by Sidney. We [arrived] home about 5-30 just before rain. ...
[1927-07-23] Sat 23: Continuous fog & rain with very damp. Almost constant since July 10. ... Yacht race in Harbor [in] p.m., strong SSW [wind] & rain. [#497s] Gadfly won." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1898 to 1927. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection [1898]. Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff [1925-1927].)

"In 1898, there were many [orders] for the smaller classes, but none over thirty feet waterline. Perhaps the most notable was the centerboard twenty-one feet knockabout GADFLY that has won many races in our bay and [is] still going." (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. 68.)

Other Contemporary Text Source(s)

"Thursday afternoon [June 16, 1898] a new steam launch [#195p Launch for St. Y. Dorothy or #196p Tender for U.S.S. Albatross?] was put overboard from the Herreshoff boat shops. The craft is 30 feet in length. A new racing knockabout was begun there Tuesday [June 14, 1898]. It is to be of 25-foot waterline length. [Though not identified, this can only be a reference to #497s Gadfly. Gadfly was only 21-foot LWL, but she was contracted for on June 14, 1898 and was the only boat of the knockabout / raceabout type that was built for the season of 1899.]" (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, June 17, 1898, p. 2.)

"The new 21-footer knockabout boat Gadfly, built by Herreshoffs for a lady resident of Cape Cod, was towed to its destination, Saturday [July 16, 1898], by the steam yacht Eugenia [#182p]." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, July 19, 1898, p. 2.)

"The following transfers of yachts are reported through B. B. Crowninshield: ... The 21-foot raceabout Gadfly, E. H. Trumbull, sold to F. E. Tupper, Quincy. Mass." (Source: Anon. "Yachts Change Hands." Forest and Stream, May 29, 1909 p. 864.)

"... Through the John G. Alden Agency Russel D. Fessenden has purchased from F. E. Tupper of Quincy the 21-foot water line Herreshoff raceabout Gadfly ..." (Source: Anon. "Yachting Notes." Boston Herald, April 24, 1910, p. 11.)

"The Hollis Burgess yacht agency has sold the ... Herreshoff 21-foot raceabout Gadfly, owned by Russell G. Fessenden, of Boston, to a member of the South Boston Y. C." (Source: Anon. "Yachts Change Hands." Forest and Stream, October 18, 1913, p. 499.)

"The Hollis Burgess Yacht Agency, of Boston, has sold ... the Herreshoff 21-foot waterline sloop Gadfly owned by S. L. Gookin of South Boston to Frank Hail Brown of Providence, R. I.; ..." (Source: Anon. "Some Recent Yacht Sales." Yachting, May 1917, p. 283.)

Other Modern Text Source(s)

"1924. ... Mary LeClair had bought the sloop Gadfly ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 24.)

"Mary Leclair's Class B Sloop, Gadfly.
Persuading N. G. Herreshoff to sell the 28-year-old boat which had not been in the water for several years, Mary reconditioned her, and with a new Herreshoff designed rig, won her full share of firsts in Class B racing. [Photo caption.]" (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 20.)

"1934. ... Ernest Saywell bought the sloop Gadfly. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 67.)

"... A.C. Harrison and his brother had two more Herreshoff 21 footers. After Gadfly [#497s] came Quakeress [#501s], built in 1899 as one of two versions of the same model. The other was Cyrilla [#502s], built for noted sailor Bob Emmons who had a big summer place on upper Buzzards Bay. There were two different rudder configurations: the rudder on Quakeress was attached to the keel. Edward Wood in his book Sailing Days at Mattapoisett, 1870-1900, said that Quakeress won her class of eight at the Beverly regatta in 1899. The Harrisons' last 21 footer was Quakeress III [#676s] built in 1907 to a different rule, possibly the Beverly 21 ft. Restricted Class. ..." In: Woods Hole Historical Collection (Publisher). Spritsail, Volume 10, Number 2, Summer 1996, p. 23. http://www.woodsholemuseum.org/woodspages/sprtsl/v10n2-EarlyRace.pdf, retrieved February 10, 2011.)

Archival Documents

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections, pantograph lead sections and displacement curves titled '3rd trial. No. 495. M[ar]ch 15 [18]98. Final. TYPHOON [#495s]. GADFLY [#497s]'. With calculations arriving at a displacement for the body part of 81.18cuft = 5165lbs plus 465lbs for the keel part for a total of 5630[lbs]." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_05240. Folder [no #]. 1898-03-15.)
① ②

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #497s Gadfly even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.


Images

Registers

1914 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts (#1101)
Name: Gadfly
Owner: Sylvester L. Gookin; Port: Boston
Building Material Wood; Type & Rig K-cb [Keel-Centerboard], TC [Trunk Cabin], Slp
LOA 32-0; LWL 21-0; Extr. Beam 8-10; Draught 3-5
Sailmaker C&P [Cousens & Pratt Boston]; Sails made in [19]13; Sail Area 550
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer N. G. Herreshoff; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1899

1917 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts (#1111)
Name: Gadfly
Owner: Frank Hail Brown; Port: Providence, R.I.
Building Material Wood; Type & Rig K-cb [Keel-Centerboard], TC [Trunk Cabin], Slp
LOA 32-0; LWL 21-0; Extr. Beam 8-10; Draught 3-5
Sailmaker C&P [Cousens & Pratt Boston]; Sails made in [19]16; Sail Area 600
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer N. G. Herreshoff; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1899

1920 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts (#1077)
Name: Gadfly
Owner: Frank Hail Brown; Port: Providence, R.I.
Building Material Wood; Type & Rig K-cb [Keel-Centerboard], TC [Trunk Cabin], Slp
LOA 32-0; LWL 21-0; Extr. Beam 8-10; Draught 3-6
Sailmaker C&P [Cousens & Pratt Boston]; Sails made in [19]16; Sail Area 600
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer N. G. Herreshoff; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1899

1923 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts (#1054)
Name: Gadfly
Owner: Frank Hail Brown; Port: Providence, R.I.
Building Material Wood; Type & Rig K-cb [Keel-Centerboard], TC [Trunk Cabin], Slp
LOA 32-0; LWL 21-0; Extr. Beam 8-10; Draught 3-5
Sailmaker C&P [Cousens & Pratt Boston]; Sails made in [19]16; Sail Area 600
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer N. G. Herreshoff; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1899

1925 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts (#1141)
Name: Gadfly
Owner: Mary E. Le Clair; Port: Bristol, R.I.
Building Material Wood; Type & Rig K-cb [Keel-Centerboard], TC [Trunk Cabin], Slp
LOA 32-0; LWL 21-0; Extr. Beam 8-10; Draught 3-6
Sailmaker HMCo; Sails made in [19]25; Sail Area 487
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer N. G. Herreshoff; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1899

1930 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts (#1575)
Name: Gadfly
Owner: John W. Lane; Port: Touisset, Mass.
Building Material Wood; Type & Rig K-cb [Keel-Centerboard], TC [Trunk Cabin], Slp
LOA 32-0; LWL 21-0; Extr. Beam 8-10; Draught 3-5
Sailmaker H. M. Co.; Sails made in [19]25; Sail Area 487
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer N. G. Herreshoff; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1899

1935 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts (#1777)
Name: Gadfly
Owner: Joseph W. Pulver; Port: Providence, R.I.
Building Material Wood; Type & Rig K-cb [Keel-Centerboard], TC [Trunk Cabin], Slp
LOA 32-0; LWL 21-0; Extr. Beam 8-10; Draught 3-5
Sailmaker H. M. Co.; Sails made in [19]25; Sail Area 487
Builder Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; Designer N. G. Herreshoff; Built where Bristol, R.I.; Built when 1899

Source: Various Yacht Lists and Registers. For complete biographical information see the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné under Data Sources. Note that this section shows only snapshots in time and should not be considered a provenance, although it can help creating one.

Supplement

From the 1920 and earlier HMCo Index Cards at the MIT Museum
  • 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.
From the 1931 HMCo-published Owner's List

Name: Gadfly
Type: J & M
Length: 21'
Owner: Harrison, A. C.

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

From the 1930s L. Francis Herreshoff Index Cards at the Herreshoff Marine Museum
  • 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.
From the 1953 HMCo Owner's List by L. Francis Herreshoff

Name: Gadfly
Type: 21' sloop
Owner: A. C. Harrison
Year: 1899
Row No.: 241

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.

From the 2000 (ca.) Transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Vermilya/Bray

Month: June
Day: 14
Year: 1898
E/P/S: S
No.: 0497
Name: Gadfly
LW: 21'
B: 8'
D: 4'
Rig: J & M
K: y
CB: y
Ballast: Lead (o)
Amount: 2100.00
Notes Constr. Record: Moulds 495
Notes Bray: Note that 497 is listed as K & CB
Last Name: Harrison
First Name: A. C.

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.

Research Note(s)

"[Sail number 5 (Twenty-One Foot Knockabout).]" (Source: Beverly Yacht Club. 1902 Yearbook. Boston, 1899, p. 55.)

"[Sail number C-4 (Twenty-One Foot Restricted Class).]" (Source: Beverly Yacht Club. 1902 Yearbook. Boston, 1902, p. 61.)

"Gadfly received a leg-o-mutton mast from the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in January 1925 as job number 13757 according to a note on HMCo. plan 80-62." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 10, 2012.)

"Built in 32 days (contract to delivered; equivalent to $66/day, 172 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Lost in 1938 hurricane." (Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. "Gadfly." Vessel index card in the collection of the Herreshoff Museum, Bristol, R.I. No place, no date.)

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

Note

We are always interested in learning more about this vessel. If you want to discuss it or can share any additional information or images or to discuss a copyright concern, please do not hesitate to send an Email to the link below!


Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, adaptation, or distribution of any part of this document or any information contained herein by any means whatsoever is permitted without prior written permission. For the full terms of copyright for this document please click here. Last revision 2024-01-16.
© 2024,

Citation: HMCo #497s Gadfly. Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné. https://herreshoff.info/Docs/S00497_Gadfly.htm.