HMCo #550s Toby

"... Buzzards Bay 15 [Name], 503+ [Building Number], 16.8 [Rating], 15 [Waterline], 16.56 [L = length at 1/4 beam as for Universal Rule], 5.98 [B = breadth of waterline as for Universal Rule], 2.4 [d = draft of water as for Universal Rule], 38 [D = displacement in cubic foot as for Universal Rule (= 2,432 lbs or 1.1 long tons)], 352.5 [Sail Area], 500 [Sail limit Present rule], -147.5 [Diff.], 326 [Sail limit Proposed rule], 26.5 [Diff.], Requires crew to windward [Notes] ..." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "Formula for Obtaining the Limit of Sail-Area in Yachts when Measured by the Universal Rule Formula." Bristol, R.I., July 13, 1907 with later additions. Original handwritten (in ink) document with penciled additions. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE06_00080.)

"Also in 1899, the Buzzards Bay Fifteen Footers started, first with an order of seven, but augmented to seventeen. This class has been added to for thirty-one years, so there have been about eighty built." (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.)

"Nov. 8, 1900
Mr. Nath'l Herreshoff,
Bristol, R. I.
Dear Sir:
I have placed with your Company an order for the 15 foot water line boat for my boy, and I would like to have her as slick as you can turn out. I refer you to my order." (Source: Havemeyer, H.O. Letter to Nathanael G. Herreshoff. Herreshoff Marine Museum Correspondence, Folder 47 (new) Access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff. November 8, 1900.)

"May 22, 1901
Mr. Nat. Herreshoff, Bristol, R. I.
Dear Sir:
My son wishes me to write you that he has tried the 'Toby'. He was out in her last Sunday in half a gale of wind from the northeast, on the Great South Bay, with his captain and two sailors, under full sail. He said that he had the sail of his life.
He wishes me to express his appreciation to you for building him such a fine boat.
Yours truly [H.O. Havemeyer]
P.S. Please send measurements requested by the Seawanhaka Club as per card, duplicate to me." (Source: Havemeyer, H.O. Letter to Nathanael G. Herreshoff. Herreshoff Marine Museum Correspondence, Folder 47 (new). Access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff. May 22, 1901.)

"N/A"

"[Item Transcription:] Typewritten (carbon copy) table with penciled additions listing boats built 1899/1900 with columns labeled 'Design [in pencil]', 'Shop. No.', 'Length', 'Planking', 'Delivery', 'Owner' followed by penciled data for Boat Name and Actual Delivery Date. Relevant contents:
#550s [blank] (TOBY)." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.. (creator) and Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Table. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_01290. Folder [no #]. No date (1900-02).)
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"[Item Description:] have placed an order for the 15ft LWL boat [#550s TOBY] for my boy [Horace Havemeyer (1886–1956)], would like to have her as slick as you can turn her out, #530s ELECTRA raced with success in Philadelphia" (Source: Havemeyer, H.O. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_17530. Correspondence, Folder 47. 1900-11-08.)
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"[Item Description:] my son [Horace Havemeyer (1886–1956)] wishes me to write you that he has tried the [#550s] 'Toby'. He was out in her last Sunday in half a gale of wind from the northeast, on the Great South Bay, with his captain and two sailors, under full sail. He said that he had the sail of his life, he wishes me to express his appreciation to you for building him such a fine boat, PS: please send measurements requested by the Seawanhaka Club as per card, duplicate to me" (Source: Havemeyer, H.O. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_17540. Correspondence, Folder 47. 1901-05-22.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections with calculations titled 'Measurements of 15 footer TOBY #550. Calculated for Chas. G. Morgan from measurements given by him, vis. o.a. 24.75[ft], for[ward] o[ver]h[ang] 5.08[ft]. aft o[ver]h[ang] 3.85[ft], w.l. 15.82[ft]. L to this w.l. is 17.19[ft] & D = 48.0cuft [=3072lbs]. Nov[ember] 20 [19]08. Copy given C. G. Davis Oct[ober] 2 1932." On verso a penciled architectural sketch (possibly of 'THE FARM') with structures marked 'stable', 'old garage', 'clothes yard' and 'stanby[?] garage'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0388. WRDT04, Folder 34, formerly MRDE08. 1908-11-20.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #550s Toby even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Cheever, David. "The Herreshoff Fifteens." The Log of Mystic Seaport, v. 24, No. 2., Summer 1972, p. 38-44. (106 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Short class history, detailed vessel description and appreciation and a thrilling account of a typical race of Buzzards Bay 15 at the Beverly Yacht Club. Special focus on #554s Fiddler ex-Nora, now in the collection of Mystic Seaport Museum.
• Brainerd, Alec with Bernard H. Gustin and Steven K. Nagy. "The Herreshoff 15 is Alive and Well." In: Herreshoff Marine Museum (Publisher). Proceedings. The Classic Yacht Symposium 2010. Bristol, R.I. 2010. (5,834 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Alec Brainerd, Bernard H. Gustin, Steven K. Nagy / Herreshoff Marine Museum. Class history, construction and restoration comments, building and sailing a replica, detailed class register (including replicas). Photos, drawings.
• van der Linde, Claas. "Herreshoff 15-Footers: Building Dates and Model Variations." December 7, 2021. (380 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Claas van der Linde. Tabular summary of Herreshoff 15-footer construction dates and model variations. Together with information of BB15 sail numbers, boat names and boat owners from various year books of the Beverly Yacht Club.

• Toby (HMCo-made index card)
• Toby (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: Toby
Type: J & M
Length: 15'
Owner: Havemeyer, H. O.

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

Name: Toby
Type: 15' Buzzards Bay
Owner: H. O. Havemeyer
Row No.: 823

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: Nov
Day: 9
Year: 1900
E/P/S: S
No.: 0550
Name: Toby
LW: 15'
B: 6' 9"
D: 2' 2"
Rig: J & M
CB: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: 800.00
Notes Constr. Record: as 503 Lead lowered 1 1/2"
Last Name: Havemeyer
First Name: H. 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.

"Regular Buzzards Bay 15s had a 15-foot waterline, 6' 9" beam, 2' 3" draft plus a centerboard, gaff rig, and a coaming that curves around the front of the cockpit." (Source: Nagy, Steve. June 1, 2008.)

"The standard Buzzards Bay 15 had a draft of 2ft. 3in., board up. The builder's record for #550 indicates a draft of 2ft. 2in., which would indicate a shallower draft. Comments from current owner and restorer Scott Chapin, however, refer to the 1-1/2in. deeper keel, and the notes in the build record indicate that the keel was 'as 503', with the lead lowered 1in. This information is conflicting, or misleading at the very least." (Source: Nagy, Steve. Herreshoff Discussion Forum, December 11, 2008. http://www.herreshoffregistry.org/forum/index.php?topic=97.0, retrieved August 19, 2010.)

"The damaged hull was used as a form for cold-molding a new boat. Aurora contains the last remaining pieces of 550. The Chapins modified her with a full keel and extended cockpit. She was re-launched in the Spring of 1983." (Source: Nagy, Steve. http://www.herreshoffregistry.org/detail.php?hull=550, retrieved August 19, 2010.)

"The Buzzards Bay 15 construction plan HH.5.05473 (076-006) is annotated in red 'For #550 lead changed as shown by dotted red lines' and clearly shows in red a 'raised keel 1 1/2in for #550'.] (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 19, 2014.)

"[Sail area 352.5 sq.ft.]" (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "Formula for Obtaining the Limit of Sail-Area in Yachts when Measured by the Universal Rule Formula." Bristol, R.I., July 13, 1907 with later additions. Original handwritten (in ink) document with penciled additions. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE06_00080.)

"[Displacement (38 cubic feet = 2432 lbs).]" (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "Formula for Obtaining the Limit of Sail-Area in Yachts when Measured by the Universal Rule Formula." Bristol, R.I., July 13, 1907 with later additions. Original handwritten (in ink) document with penciled additions. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE06_00080.)

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