HMCo #581s Bogey [Bogie]

"Jan[uary] 1902.
No. 579 [#579s Bobtail].
C[enter] b[oard] with outside lead.
Frame spaces 10 1/2".
Sheer height given is to under side of deck.
Planking 1"
Timbers 1 1/2" at head tapering 1/8" per foot.
Timbers sided 1 7/16".
Keel bent around 1 7/8" above rabbate 7/8" below rabbate = 2 3/4".
Centreboard slot 2 1/4".
Note: Model is measured off for 11" frame spaces, but No. 579 is shortened up to 10 1/2" frame spaces.
[Note on facing page:] #581. Frame spaces 11in." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.136.] Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"Two other fine little racers built that year were the almost sister ships 'Bobtail' and 'Alert,' both bright mahogany and very pretty excepting they had rather short sterns, as the name 'Bobtail' suggests. They both won many important races during their lives. 'Bobtail' was built for Edgar Scott, and 'Alert' for J. W. Alker. [sic, orginally called Bogey and built for Herbert M. Sears]." (Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. The Wizard of Bristol. The Life and Achievements of Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, together with An Account of Some of the Yachts he Designed. New York, 1953, p. 226-227.)

"A 21 footer named Bogey [#581s] was launched this morning from the Herreshoff's shop. The Bogey is exactly like Terrapin, built this season for Harold Vanderbilt [sic. #573s Terrapin was built from a different model]. Her owner is William Sears of Boston, who has chartered the steam yacht Augusta [#146p] for the season." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, June 20, 1902, p. 2.)

"Bristol Yachting Notes. ... A new racing sloop, 25 feet in length, was launched at the Herreshoff shops Friday [June 20, 1902], which is nearly the last of the new boats at the shops this season. Her name is Bogey. She is exactly like the Bobtail [#579s], built a month ago for a Philadelphia man. The Bogey is mahogany planked, has a short after overhang of the keel type, and sloop rig with a pole mast of the hollow variety. The boat has a comfortable cruising cabin. She is to go to Boston. ..." (Source: Anon. "Bristol Yachting Notes." New York Times, June 23, 1902, p. 6.)

"The new 21 footer Bogey, built by Herreshoff for William Sears of Boston, was given a trial trip yesterday in the harbor by Capt N. G. Herreshoff who had the assistance of his three young sons." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, June 24, 1902, p. 2.)

"The steam yacht Augusta left here Tuesday afternoon [June 24, 1902] for Boston to take William Sears and family, who have chartered the yacht for the summer and will make a trip to Bar Harbor, Me. The Augusta had in tow the new 25-footer Bogey, built at Herreshoffs for Mr. Sears and which will race at Bar Harbor with several of the new boats built at Herreshoffs this season." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, June 27, 1902, p. 2.)

"Bristol, R. I., June 28, 1902. ... The Bogey, similar in design to the Bobtail, and recently built at Herreshoff's for William Sears of Boston, was towed to Newport the first of the week by Mr. Sears' steam yacht Augusta. ..." (Source: Anon. "Harold Vanderbilt's Boat. Fine Sloop Under Way at Herreshoff's. Other Boats in the Yard." Boston Herald, June 29, 1902, p. 21.)

"Alert [Boat], J. W. Alker [Owner], Manhasset Bay Y. C. [Club Represented], N. G. Herreshoff [Designer], Herreshoff Mfg. Co. [Builder], 1902 [Year], 42.2 [O.A.], 28.3 [L.W.L.], Breadth [9.5], Draft [6.5], 29.99 [R. L'gth.] ..." (Source: Anon. "Description Of Boats That Participated In The Races For The Manhasset Bay Challenge Cup." Forest and Stream, July 11, 1903, p. 32.)

"THE most important trophy raced for on Long Island Sound by the smaller classes is the Manhasset Bay Challenge Cup for thirty-footers offered by the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club and raced for under their auspices.
The conditions of this cup allow that any number of challenges may be accepted, and in the match each of the challenging clubs and the club holding the cup may enter one representative.
Challenges were received from seven clubs, so that a fleet of eight boats competed for the cup and the races were very close and hard fought. The competitors were Oiseau. Indian Harbor Y. C.; Marion, Shelter Island Y. C.; Enpronzi, Larchmont Y. C.; Mimosa, American Y. C.; Bobtail, Bensonhurst Y. C.; Bagheera, Atlantic Y. C.; Flosshilde, New York A. C, and Alert, representing the Manhasset Bay Y. C.
Oiseau is a Herreshoff boat, owned by Mr. H. L. Maxwell, which came out in 1899. She raced very successfully on the Sound until last season, when she was taken abroad to race in the Kiel regattas under the name of Virginia II. She was successful in foreign waters, returned to this country and was bought by Mr. Maxwell. ... Bobtail is a Herreshoff boat, designed under the Long Island Sound rule of last year and built to race at Bar Harbor. She is owned by Mr. E. F. Luckenback and entered from the Bensonhurst Y. C, of Gravesend Bay. ... The Manhasset Bay representative, Alert, owned by Mr. J. W. Alker, was built last year for the Bar Harbor class, and raced there quite successfully. She is a Herreshoff boat and is a centerboard craft with outside ballast. Bobtail, the only other centerboarder, is almost a sister boat to Alert. [Alert was able to successfully defend the Manhasset Bay Challenge Cup.]" (Source: Anon. "Manhasset Bay Cup Races." Rudder, August 1903, p. 452-454.)

"Last season Alert was raced in almost all the contests where there was a class for her. As defender of the Manhasset Bay Challenge Cup, Alert was successful, winning two firsts and one second, out of the series of three races; this showing was made against a large field, there being, eight starters in these races. Alert won the championship pennant of the Y. R. A. of Long Island Sound for the 30ft. class, and at Shelter Island she not only won her class cup, but also the Maxwell Cup, which was raced for by sloops of all classes from 30 to 51ft. Alert finished the season on Sept. 19-20 by winning the Atlantic Y. C. Cup for the 36ft. class in a series of three races.
Alert was designed and built by the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. in 1902. She is 42ft. 6in. over all, 28ft. 6in. water-line, 9ft. 6in. breadth and 4ft. 2in. draft. Alert is a combination keel and centerboard boat, and she carries 1,150 sq. ft. of sail. She is owned by Mr. James W. Alker, of the Manhasset Bay Y. C, who sailed her in most of the races." (Source: Anon. "Alert." Forest and Stream, December 19, 1903, p. 495.)

"The first special event of importance on Long Island Sound this season was the series of races for the Manhasset Bay Challenge Cup, sailed for by the Y. R. A. 30-foot class. The cup, which was offered last year as a perpetual challenge trophy, is a handsomely-wrought piece of silver, valued at five hundred dollars, and the Alert [HMCo #580], owned by James W. Alker, of the Manhasset Bay Y. C, successfully defended it against six challengers from the different clubs along the Sound. ... Bobtail [HMCo #580], Nike[HMCo #512] and Alert were Herreshoff productions, and Mimosa a Crowninshield craft. Alert and Bobtail were built for the Bar Harbor thirty-foot class when the Hyslop rule was first adopted and are quite similar in design and general appearance. ... The Mimosa is owned by Commodore Trenor L. Park, of the American Y. C, and was built from a design by B. B. Crowninshield in 1902. [Mimosa won the cup, followed by Alert, Bobtail, and Nike.]" (Source: Mower, C. D. "Manhasset Bay Challenge Cup." Rudder, August 1904, p. 453-455.)

"... In contrast to the previous season, when the 30-foot class was one of the most active and interesting on the Sound, the racing in this class during the past season was extremely disappointing.
Mr. J. W. Alker's Alert, the crack Herreshoff craft, was the only boat to qualify with the required number of starts, and consequently added another championship to her credit, with a clean score of 12 firsts out of 12 starts.
She proved too fast for the others and probably this is the reason the class thinned out as it did. ..." (Source: Granberry, G. P. "Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound." Rudder, May 1905, p. 343.)

"NO. 915 --- FOR SALE --- Fast Herreshoff centerboard sloop yacht, 42 x 29 x 9.3 x 4.2. Built 1902. Oak frames, cedar and mahogany planking, copper and bronze fastened. Outside lead ballast. Good sized cabin and cockpit. Several suits of sails by Ratsey and Herreshoff in excellent condition, as is also the standing and running rigging, spars, etc. Outfit includes anchors, cables, lights, sail covers, etc. Has been well kept up. Is a good sea boat, having cruised from New York to Bar Harbor. Will be sold cheap before laying up. Located near New York. Henry J. Gielow, 50 Broadway, New York. [Though not explicitly identified, her dimensions, year of build and accompanying photo identify her as Bogey.]" (Source: Anon. "For Sale." Yachting, September 1908, p. 121.)

"[Handwritten signed letter on 'Sales Office Pennsylvania Cement Company. Manufacturers Pennsylvania Portland Cement, 26 Cortland St. crossed out and corrected to 29 Broadway' stationery:]
Dear Mr. Herreshoff,
can you tell me what Alert measures under the present rule. I am talking[?] here in hope[?] to race the wendward[?] in Larchmont Race week and may not have time to get her measured.
I think I can coin out in light weather.
Thanking you for the trouble I am, sincerely yours,
James W. Alker. [Incl. penciled calculations by NGH resulting in a rating of 30.8.] (Source: Alker, James W. Letter to N. G. Herreshoff. New York, July 8, 1910.)

"N/A"

"[Item Transcription:] The Executive Committee of the Y.R.A. of Long Island Sound [YRALIS] is now considering the adoption of the Measurement rule which will be voted upon at the meeting of the New York Yacht Club, on the 23rd. inst.
I take the liberty of asking, not only as a member of the Executive Committee, but also as the probable helmsman of the 'BOGEY' [#581s] in the races for our [Manhasset] Challenge Cup, whether you consider it advisable to apply the new rule to boats as small as the thirty foot class and if not asking too much, would like very much to get the measurements of the 'ALERION' [#446s] and 'BOGEY' under the proposed rule, as the question of recommending its application to this class will be taken up at a meeting of the Committee to be held early next week and we are endeavoring to obtain as much data as possible, bearing on this point.
The proposed rule as recommended to the New York Yacht Club, by the Committee on Measurement, only goes as low as 40 R.M.
Thanking you in advance, for any assistance you may be kind enough to give me, I am ..." (Source: MacLellan, Edward M. (Manhasset Bay YC). Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_71840. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 1), Folder B1F07, formerly MRDE15. 1902-10-15.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Typewritten signed letter on 'Manhasset Yacht Club' stationery:] ] A meeting of Yacht Racing Assn. of Long Island Sound [YRALIS] will be held on Monday, Feby. 8th., when it is intended to propose for adoption, the New York Yacht club measurement rule, amended by using the Atlantic Y.C. length and 5.5 as the factor.
In order to carry the rule through, it is essential that we should have the length under the rule of some of the smaller boats and thus demonstrate how it works out. I therefore beg to ask if you will not furnish me with the racing measurement of the following boats under the rule, also any others that you may consider will be helpful.
ALERT [#581s ex-BOGEY].
ALERION [#446s].
LEDA [#541s ex-EFFORT].
SANDPIPER [#540s]. (18 [corrected by NGH to 15] foot)[?]
I send you herewith, copy of the A.Y.C. [Atlantic Yacht Club] rule and will be grateful for your assistance in this matter. [Incl. NGH penciled figures for ALERT (30.5), ALERION (28.7), LEDA (35.7) and SANDPIPER (16.9).]." (Source: MacLellan, Edw. M. (Secr. Manhasset YC). Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_69670. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 1), Folder B1F03, formerly MRDE15. 1904-02-05.)
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"[Item Description:] wanted to visit but measles broke out in family and I became head nurse, we passed the new racing rules last night, did you notice we allow the measurer to take the designer's certificate without compelling the designer to give full lines of boat, [Long Island] Sound people have taken step in right direction [by adopting the precursor Universal Rule] but have kept the Hslop measurement for [class] L, think next fall we can get all the clubs together & agree on a definite system, Sound People have left out penalty on draft & sail area, would one of the Newport 30s measure under their rule under 30 feet?, if it does I think I will get the [#475s] ESPERANZA [owned by Havemeyer at the time] out & go for the #581s ALERT [ex-BOGEY, owned by James W. Alker at the time] & [#579s] BOBTAIL [owned by E. Luckenbach at the time] outfit, decided criticism on new [precursor Universal] Rule is that with current 80% time allowance big boats have no chance" (Source: Duncan, W. Butler, Jr. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_22110. Correspondence, Folder 65, formerly 87. 1904-03-25.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Handwritten signed letter on 'Sales Office Pennsylvania Cement Company. Manufacturers Pennsylvania Portland Cement, 26 Cortland St. New York' stationery:] I have your favor of the 12th [August 1909] and thank you for same. The measurement I wanted was that of ALERT [#581s] formerly BOGEY. I figure her rating as 28.40 and if that is correct I can easily beat the new 31 foot boats on the allowance. The new Gardner 31 footer [WINDWARD] is over and [I] raced her with ALERA [#626s] on Sunday [August 15, 1909?], she beat us 10 minutes over a 12 mile course, ALERT could beat the ALERA 5 to 8 minutes so that she would have a good show. [No evidence of this race has been found. At the time it was not the custom to race on Sundays. ALERA did race on August 14, 1909 (taking 1st at the Huguenot YC regatta, but WINDWARD did not compete in that race. The next weekend, on August 21, 1908, at the Stamford YC's annual regatta, ALERA took second in her class with an elapsed time of 2:21h over 15 nautical miles, compared to WINDWARD's 2:13h. That regatta was reported to have been WINDWARD's first regatta, suggesting the race alluded to by James Alker may have been a private race.] There is talk at Manhasset about building a one design class either in the 25 or 39 foot class or may be both, so I want to get rid of ALERT in order to go in this new class. I will let you know if anything develops in this class.
Sincerely yours ... [With penciled notes and calculations, probably by NGH:] LWL 28.33
QBL 30.21
D 257
sqrt(S) 34.7
L = (28.33 + 30.21 - 26.85)/2 = 30.01
R = 1.8 * ((30[.01] x 3[.]47)/6.19) = 30.25." (Source: Alker, James W. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_22760. Correspondence, Folder 67, formerly 135. 1909-08-16.)
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"[Item Description:] am thinking of getting another larger boat for [son] David to sail around in & have run across the [#581s] ALERT [ex-BOGEY] that you built in 1902, how would she rate?, think [Morton] Plant was right in taking [Capt] Dennis for the new schooner [#706s ELENA], she will be well sailed & with Barr on [#692s] WESTWARD we should have good racing, pity that Clark can not get a decent man to handle the [#657s] QUEEN" (Source: Duncan, W. Butler, Jr. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_42840. Correspondence, Folder 92, formerly 127. 1911-01-04.)
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"[Item Description:] [#616s] BAMBINO is too big for [son] David and so is [#581s] ALERT [ex-BOGEY], I hear E.D. Morgan will have charge of racing [#692s] WESTWARD, he & Barr make a good team, nothing doing as to any new NY65" (Source: Duncan, W. Butler, Jr. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_42850. Correspondence, Folder 92, formerly 127. 1911-01-11.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Handwritten signed letter on 'James W. Alker, 29 Broadway, New York' stationery:] I believe my father is going to have the 'ALERION' [#446s] put in commission. Can you tell me what she will rate under the present rule, with the rig he intends to use. I think if she rates in class Q she could win in a good north wester. It would be very interesting to have a boat 20 years old beat the new ones and might demonstrate that excessive displacement is not necessary.
Thanking you for your trouble,
I am sincerely yours ...
P.S. I suppose you read that 'ALERT' [#581s ex-BOGEY] won nearly everything last year in the handicap class. She was scratch boat and had to give very big time allowance.
Her owner intends to race her in class P this year and think he should win in light airs." (Source: Alker, James W. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_43740. Correspondence, Folder 95, formerly 83. 1912-05-02.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #581s Bogey [Bogie] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Bogey (HMCo-made index card)
• Alert ex-Bogey (HMCo-made index card)
• Alert ex-Bogey (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: Bogey
Type: J & M
Length: 28'4"
Owner: Sears, Herbert M

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

• Bogey
• Bogie
• Alert ex-Bogey
• Hamilta ex-Bogey
• Marelja ex-Bogey
• Marosa ex-Bogey
• Sachem II ex-Bogey
• 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: Bogey
Type: 28' 4" J & M
Owner: Henry [sic, i.e. Herbert] M. Sears
Row No.: 88

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: 25
Year: 1902
E/P/S: S
No.: 0581
Name: Bogey
LW: 28' 4"
B: 9' 8"
D: 7' [sic, i.e. 4' 3 1/2"]
Rig: J & M
CB: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: $4500.00
Notes Constr. Record: Name changed to Alert.
Last Name: Sears
First Name: H. 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.

"Built for the Bar Harbor class when the Hyslop rule was first adopted, but sailed a lot in Manhasset Bay when named Alert and owned by J. W. Alker who also owned #626s Alera." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

"Built in 146 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $31/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"1,150 sq. ft. of sail." (Source: Anon. "Alert." Forest and Stream, December 19, 1903, p. 495.)

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