HMCo #574s Arethusa

"[1902-04-11] Fri 11: Overcast [with] l[igh]t NW [wind]. ... Set up ... #574, 21' wl [Arethusa].
[1902-05-29] Thu 29: Cold weather. Strong W [wind] ch[anging to] N. Strong SW in evening. Launched & rigged ... #574 [Arethusa, a] 21 footer.
[1902-05-30] Fri 30: Gale from SW with rain early. 5 [Buzzards Bay] 30 footers and 2 21 footers [probably #573s Terrapin and #574s Arethusa ] started for Buzzards Bay, all stopping at Newport." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1902. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"... Another new racer, but smaller than Terrapin [#573s]; is the Arethusa, for C. H. Baker, of Boston. Arethusa is going to Massachusetts waters to race. With a 21-foot waterline, she bears some resemblance to the lines of the Terrapin, although the beam is very much smaller and the ends are not as slender as in the Terrapin. Arethusa was rigged Thursday last [May 29, 1902]. ..." (Source: Anon. "Herreshoff Builds Three Crack Yachts. Bristol Expert Devises a Speedy Looking Knockabout for Harold Vanderbilt, and Arethusa and Catspaw for Other Inside Sailors." New York Sunday Telegraph, June 1, 1902, p. B1.)

"The 21-footer Arethuse [sic, i.e. Arethusa] is hauled out at the Herreshoff pier, near the shops, for repairs." (Source: Anon. "Yachting Notes." Bristol Phoenix, June 13, 1902, p. 3.)

"The 21 footer Arethusa, owned by C. M. Baker, is expected to arrive here soon to have some lead removed from her keel. She will be hauled out at Herreshoffs." (Source: Anon. "News and Notes of Local Interest." Bristol Phoenix, August 1, 1902, p. 2.)

"... The Hollis Burgess Yacht Agency had sold the Herreshoff 21-footer Arethusa for Addison G. Hanan of New York to David E. Burr of Boston ..." (Source: Anon. "Notes From The Week's Log." Boston Globe, November 26, 1916, p. 57.)

"... 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.)

"My friend Arnold Hall used to own Arethusa and we sailed in company with him occasionally back around 1960. Last I saw her (c1970), she'd been abandoned in a boatyard in Mystic. She'd been marconi-ized and I think the tall mast went into the Winter Harbor 21 sloop Zephyr when it was converted from gaff to marconi. ... I find it unusual that Arethusa's fin doesn't make a fair transition with the hull, but shows a knuckle. I wonder why this is? You don't see this on other HMCo boats, which are faired from the sheer to the bottom of the ballast keel." (Source: Bray, Maynard. Email to Claas van der Linde, September 22, 2009.)

"[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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"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled 'No. 548 [#548s RADIANT]. 21ft c.b. for Buzzards Bay. Oct[ober] 26, 1900. Also #582s [ELECTRA II]. M[ar]ch 3, 1902'. With calculations and note 'No. 548. ... 4060lbs lead. Out for [centerboard] slot 1060. [Result] 3000[lbs]'. With note 'No. 574 [#574s ARETHUSA]. Keel for Buzzards Bay Class. Use mould for #548 with slot filled and about 1200[?] cuin[?] removed from bottom'. With further calculations and note '#582. Lead required 6500 lbs = 9.5cuft. Cut for c.b. slot = 1.16[cuft]. [Result] 10.36 = 17750cuin] and concluding with '5900lbs at 24.525 frame space'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_08930. Folder [no #]. 1900-10-26.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #574s Arethusa even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Arethusa (HMCo-made index card)
• Arethusa (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: Arethusa
Type: J & M
Length: 21'
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.

• Arethusa
• 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: Arethusa
Type: 21' sloop
Owner: C. M. Baker
Year: 1902
Row No.: 44

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: Sept. [sic, i.e. no month]
Year: 1901
E/P/S: S
No.: 0574
Name: Arethusa
LW: 21'
B: 10' 9"
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: $2500.00
Notes Constr. Record: Purchased by Mr. Chetwode? in May 1931. Moulds 547, Lead 548. Ran down to Dorchester 1935 ?.
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.

"[Sail number C-1 (Twenty-One Foot Restricted Class).]" (Source: Beverly Yacht Club. 1902 Yearbook. Boston, 1902, p. 61.)

"Figures for LOA and draft were taken from the 1917 Lloyd's list. Likewise, the beam of 10' 9' given by the HMCo Construction record was adjusted to the 1917 Lloyd's register's 8', because it seems impossibly high and is not even remotely similar to the 8' beam of #547s Onagh, which was built from the same model as Arethusa." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. December 10, 2010.)

"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.)

"The figures for beam (10ft 9in) and draft (7ft 3in) on the HMCo-made vessel index card appear to be wrong." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 31, 2015.)

"Arethusa.
Meas[ured] Aug[ust] 7, [19]02.
L.O.A. 32ft - 6in.
F.O.H. [forward overhang] 5ft - 7 1/2in.
Aft.O.H. 5ft - 1 1/4in.
L.W.L. 21ft - 9 1/4in.
aaP.[sic]
...
[With sketched measurements showing her waterline 1 3/4in too deep in the water forward and 3/8in out of the water aft on August 7, 1902.]
...
About 590lbs per inch immersion.
13/16in too deep.
13/16 of 590 = 470lbs.
...
Pattern for lead same as that used on #548 made over to fit keel of this boat. Base line for lead 2 1/2in above that for boat. Lead moved one frame space forward of position on #548.
5 3/4in cut from bottom of load pattern. 22in of oak deadwood under lead.
...
Note: Keel changed as dotted. July 1902. Lead pattern same as on #461, 'Cock Robin', rudder cut over to fit.
Dead wood made to fit rudder and as shown. Base line of lead 3ft - 6 in below base line of boat. Intersection of [center symbol] of rudder and outside of keel to be in same place as before. Lead keel straps, 1 3/8in x 1/8in, 6 each side. Use same bolts as far as possible." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Various notes on construction plan HH.5.05502 (076-041) 21' w.l. Racing Yacht (1902-03-22). Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"Built in 48 days (setup to launch; equivalent to $52/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.