HMCo #515s Blazing Star

"[1899-04-28] Fri 28: Very fine. White frost early. Min [temperature] 40deg. Begin setting up #515, 25 footer [Blazing Star].
[1899-05-05] Fri 5: Very fine [with] fresh S [wind]. Begin planking #515 [Blazing Star].
[1899-05-12] Fri 12: Very fine. NW [wind] & clear. Mr. Baker here & ordered 10ft rowboat [possibly for #515s Blazing Star, owned by Charles M. Baker].
[1899-05-17] Wed 17: Very fine. ... Turned over #515 [Blazing Star].
[1899-06-29] Thu 29: Very fine. L[igh]t NW [wind] & clear. H[eav]y rain & NE [wind] last night with T[hunder] & L[ightning]. ... Delivered #515 [Blazing Star]. ..." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1899. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"Nos. 514 [#514s May Queen] & 515 [#515s Blazing Star].
In making moulds increase all measurements by 1/6, i.e. use scale having one foot = 14 common inches.
Deduct for planking 1" [measured by] common rule.
Deduct for timbers 1 1/2" [measured by] common rule.
Sheer line to be raised 1/2" all over.
Cut off bottom of lead 3/4" parallel width.
Raise bottom of keel at head of sternpost 15/16".
Keel 2 1/4" thick 3/*" below rabbet.
[Use] 14 5/32" rule for lead.
Note: Deck is to be lengthened 5 1/2" on sheerline forward. This will affect frames # 1, 2, 3, & 4 only. Bear in mind that following frame stations of 486 [#486s Edith] & 514 [#514s May Queen] coincide, 9 of 486 with 10 of 514, 23 of 486 with 25 of 514, 37 of 486 with 40 of 514.
The heights at 'outside' will be approximately
# 1 6.7.4
# 2 5.0.3
# 3 no change.
...
For stern see [offset] book of # 486 [Edith] and use 14" rule for approximate stern pattern." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.116.] Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"Two very successful twenty-five foot waterline knockabouts, BLAZING STAR and MAY QUEEN, were built, and the keel yawl PETREL, beside[s] several others." (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. 67.)

"... The Wittemore and the Baker 25-footers [#514s May Queen and #515s Blazing Star] are well along. ..." (Source: Robinson, W. E. "Yachts and Yachtsmen." Boston Globe, April 23, 1899, p. 27.)

"... Sec Emmons of the Beverly club will name his Herreshoff 21-footer the Cyrilla [ #502s]. Mr Baker's 25-footer will be the Blazing Star [#515s], and Mr Whittemore's will be the May Queen [#514s]. These Herreshoff boats, together with the 10 one-design 15-footers for the club, will be towed to Buzzard's bay and delivered to their owners there. ... ..." (Source: Anon. "Yachts and Yachtsmen." Boston Globe, May 28, 1899, p. 29.)

"... John McCurdy ended his long ownership of Linnet [#636s] this past year, having sold her to Loren Arford up in Maine, where the boat is receiving some much needed rebuilding. John is still sailing his Blazing Star [#515s], an 1899 Herreshoff 30' on the water, out of Chester, Nova Scotia. ..." (Source: Kiremidjian, David. "NYYC Thirty News." Full Sea Inc. Newsletter 1982, p. 3.)

"42ft 6' HERRESHOFF SLOOP. Hull #516 [sic, i.e. #515s]. A 25' DAYSAILER for Buzzards Bay. Built 1899, all original equipment but needs replanking. One of the most elegant boats you will ever see. Very, very fast. Has original spinnaker. A true thoroughbred. John McCurdy, Box 800, Chester, NSB0J 1J0. 514-843-8866, 514-937-8326, 902 275-4744." (Source: Anon. [Classified Ad.] Wooden Boat #48, September / October 1982, p. 153.)

"... Like A. C. Harrison, [Charles] Baker [a resident of Chapoquoit and member of the Woods Hole Yacht Club] was a prolific patron of Herreshoff. In 1895 he bought Edith [#456s] which had a 17' waterline, then in 1897 another Edith [#486s], a 21 footer. Also in 1897 he bought Alpha [#488s], a catboat that was a sister to Omega [#489s] owned by Mr. King, the developer of Chapoquoit. Baker bought Blazing Star [#515s], a 25 footer, in 1899, followed by three more 21 footers: Radiant [#548s] in 1900, Arethusa [#574s] in 1901, and Illusion [#611s] in 1903. ..." (Source: 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.)

"Blazing Star (ex-Barracouta)
HERRESHOFF BUZZARDS BAY 25 CLASS HULL #515 41' 6" x 10' 6" 1899
By the time C. M. Baker ordered this boat, N. G. Herreshoff had spent a decade producing custom sailboat designs. He arrived at his hull shapes by modeling rather than by drawing lines on paper, and many times he would modify one of his existing models into what may have appeared to be a new design. He did this for Blazing Star and her sister May Queen by remeasuring an existing half model to an altered scale (about 14/12 of that used originally for Mr. Baker's earlier sloop Edith, HMCo. Hull #486). These two new boats, according to the drawings, were called Buzzards Bay 25s, although there is a later Herreshoff design also known by that class name.
The records indicate that Blazing Star spent most of her days in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (as Barracouta). She may have been the very first yacht in Canadian registry, having shown up at St. Andrews in 1911. She remained in Canada for 70 years, and was sailing out of Chester, Nova Scotia, when Mystic Seaport acquired her in 1985.
STATUS: Original, fair condition.
DONOR: John B. McCurdy
FURTHER READING:
See applicable portions of list for
1963.595, Nettle.
ACCESSION NO. 1985.23." (Source: Bray, Maynard with Benjamin A. G. Fuller and Peter T. Vermilya. Mystic Seaport Watercraft. Mystic, Connecticut, 2001, p. 75.)

"[Item Description:] Printed leaflet titled 'Beverly Yacht Club. Cruising Class (25 Footers)' and providing regulations, dimensions, and scantlings for this class. Undated, annotated in pencil by NGH with 'Re[ceive]d fr[o]m C. M. Baker. Jan 28 '98'. [Charles M. Baker was the owner of the Beverly YC 21ft raceabout #486s EDITH (1897) and would subsequently contract for the BYC 25ft raceabout #515s BLAZING STAR (1899) and the Beverly YC 21ft raceabouts #548s RADIANT (1901), #574s ARETHUSA (1902), and #611s ILLUSION (1903).]" (Source: Beverly YC (creator). Leaflet. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_76170. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 2), Folder B2F18, formerly MRDE15. No date (ca1898-01-28).)
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"[Item Description:] Printed leaflet titled 'Beverly Yacht Club. Cruising Class (21 Footers)' and providing regulations, dimensions, and scantlings for this class. Undated, annotated in pencil by NGH with 'Re[ceive]d fr[o]m C. M. Baker. Jan 28 '98'. [Charles M. Baker was the owner of the Beverly YC 21ft raceabout #486s EDITH (1897) and would subsequently contract for the BYC 25ft raceabout #515s BLAZING STAR (1899) and the Beverly YC 21ft raceabouts #548s RADIANT (1901), #574s ARETHUSA (1902), and #611s ILLUSION (1903).]" (Source: Beverly YC (creator). Leaflet. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_76180. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 2), Folder B2F18, formerly MRDE15. No date (ca1898-01-28).)
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"[Item Transcription:] Typewritten (carbon copy) table titled 'Memorandum' with penciled additions listing boats built 1898/1899 with columns labeled 'No.', 'W.L.', 'Rig', 'To deliver', followed in some cases by penciled data for Boat Name and Actual Delivery Date. Relevant contents:
#515s BLAZING STAR [W.L.:] 25ft [Rig:] J.&.M. C.B. [To deliver:] About June 10 [1899]. [Note:] Cabin. Restricted class." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.. (creator) and Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Memorandum. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_01300. Folder [no #]. No date (1898-04 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled preliminary midship section sketch titled #514s [MAY QUEEN], #515s [BLAZING STAR]'. With note '900sqft sail' and 'Can use [#486s] EDITH 2nd model at scale of 14/12 per[?] frame[?] & length. Ballast about 4750lbs' and further note 'W'ld make. Deck 39ft 9in. (41). w.l. 24ft 7in. (25). Beam 10ft 6in. (10.6). Beam w.l. 9ft 5in. (9.3). Draft 4ft 1 (4.0).' With scantlings. On verso more penciled midship section sketches. Undated, MAY QUEEN and BLAZING STAR were contracted for in January 1899." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Penciled Sketch. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE03_02610. Folder [no #]. No date (1899-01 ?).)
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"N/A"

"[Item Transcription:] [Signed handwritten (in ink) letter:] The new rig for the small boat [#488s ALPHA???] arrived in good order and worked first rate. We had to put on two mahogany blocks to raise the traveller above the tiller. I never enjoyed sailing a boat so much as this one and all the people at our place are pleased with her. She is a wonder. If it were only possible to make something in the 21 foot class that would act as this little boat does! But I am afraid the restrictions interfere.
[p. 2] I enclose a memo of our restricted classes as they stand today.
I think that a boat than can go well in a strong wind and a heavy short sea will win the most races in Buzzards Bay. We finished up the whole season as follows:
QUAKERESS, CYRILLA [#502s], AMANITA. EDITH [#486s], with the KESTREL, BOHEMIAN & SYLVIA next in what order I have forgotten.
Yours truly ...
[P.S.] A friend of mine wanted to know if the BLAZING STAR [#515s] could be changed to suit him and I referred him to you." (Source: Baker, Charles M. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_00160. Correspondence, Folder 1_14, formerly (84). 1900-09-11.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #515s Blazing Star even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Blazing Star (HMCo-made index card)
• Barracouta ex-Blazing Star (HMCo-made index card)
• Barracouta ex-Blazing Star (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: Blazing Star
Type: Knockabout
Length: 25'
Owner: Baker, C. M.

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

• Blazing Star
• 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: Blazing Star
Type: 25' J & M
Owner: C. M. Baker
Row No.: 85

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.

Year: 1899
E/P/S: S
No.: 0515
Name: Blazing Star
LW: 25'
B: 10' 6"
D: 4'
Rig: Knockabout
CB: y
Ballast: Lead [sic, i.e. Lead outside]
Amount: 3300.00
Notes Constr. Record: New Moulds. Model 486. Name changed 1904 Barracuda & shipped to Bermuda
Last Name: Baker
First Name: C. M.

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.

"Charles M. Baker of Brookline was a Boston banker who in 1894/1895 had bought from Chapoquoit's developer Franklin King several lots in Chapoquoit on one of which he eventually built a large summer home complete with boathouse. For more information 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." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 13, 2011.)

"Built in 62 days (setup to delivered; equivalent to $53/day, 158 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

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