HMCo #595s Joker

"[1902-12-08] Mon 8: Mr. Sears here in PM to inspect his boat [#594 Zara for Joshua M. Sears or #595s Joker for Herbert M. Sears, both Bar Harbor 31s]. ...
[1902-12-24] Wed 24: Fine & cool [with] NE [wind &] cloudy and threatening in evening. Turned over #595 [Joker]. ...
[1903-01-14] Wed 14: Fresh W [wind] & cold. Took #595 [Joker] to cove lot. ..." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1902 to 1903. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"Nos. 592 to 604 inclusive [#592s, #593s, #594s, #595s, #596s, #597s, #598s, #599s, #600s, #601s, #602s, #603s, #604s].
Bar Harbor Class.
Frame spaces 12 1/2".
Planking 1 1/8".
Timbers moulded 1 1/2" at head increasing 1/8 per foot.
Sided 1 7/8".
Keel steamed or bent 2 7/8" think[?]." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.139.] No date [ca. October 1902]. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"A contract for sixteen [sic, i.e. thirteen] sloop yachts of the thirty foot class was received this week by the Herreshoffs. The boats are to be of one design and are to be drawn by lot next spring. It is to be known as the Bar Harbor class and the yachts will be constructed in the building now in process of construction on the east side of Hope street, opposite the construction shops." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, October 3, 1902, p. 2.)

"BAR HARBOR, Sept 20 [1902]. --- ... Prospects for the yachting fraternity next season are excellent. There is to be a single-design class built which will be uniform in every particular, the various members to draw for their boats. Those who will build are V. Everett Macy, A. J. Cassatt, W. G. Ladd, H. L. Eno, Edgar Scott, Edward Morrell, R. Horace Gallatin, H. M. Sears, W. C. Allison, J. M. Sears, Antonio Y. Stewart, and T. G. Condon." (Source: Anon. "Bar Harbor Happenings." New York Times, September 21, 1902.)

"Work has begun on the first of the new class of 30-footers known as the Bar Harbor class. These boats are to be built in the new shop constructed this fall directly opposite the old construction shop. There are to be fourteen [sic, i.e. 13] of these boats built from the same mould, and will be drawn by lot in the spring." (Source: Anon. "Yachting." New York Tribune, November 16, 1902, p. 10.)

"Joker, sloop, of Bristol.
Built at Bristol, RI, by Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.
10.46 gross tons, 8.71 net tons; 36.4 ft. x 10.4 ft. x 5 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
One deck, one mast, overhanging head, overhanging stern.
Surveyed and measured, March 28, 1903." (Source: U.S. Customs Department, Bristol, R.I. Custom House Record Book, 1870s to 1904 (Collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum), s.v. Joker.)

"Mr. H. M. Sears of Boston has sold his 31-footer Joker, of the Bar Harbor one-design class, to Mr. George Dominick of New York, through the Crowninshield agency. The boat will be kept at Greenwich, and raced on Long Island sound." (Source: Anon. "Recent Yacht Transfers." Boston Sunday Globe, April 16, 1905, p?.)

"[License issued to vessel under 20 tons. Pos. 130:]
Joker, sloop, of Bristol.
Built at Bristol, 1903.
8.71 tons; 36.4 ft. x 10.4 ft. x 5 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
No specifications shown.
Lic[ensed] ([as] yacht) May 2, 1903. Owner: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol. Master: N. G. Herreshoff.
Surrendered [license] Apr. 25, 1905 at New York, N.Y. ([Record at:] C[ustom] H[ouse, Providence])." (Source: Survey of Federal Archives, Work Projects Administration. Ships Documents of Rhode Island. Bristol. Ship Registers and Enrollments of the Port of Bristol - Warren Rhode Island, 1941, s.v. Joker.)

"The following sales and charters are reported through the office of Stanley M. Seaman: ... The 31-foot W. L. Bar Harbor sloop Joker, chartered for G. W. Granbery to Kurt M. Lundberg, of the New York Y. C." (Source: Anon. "Yachts Change Hands." Forest and Stream, August 23, 1913, p. 242.)

"One of few of the original Bar Harbor 31-footers that is not owned by Massachusetts yachtsmen or enrolled in the class of the Bar Harbor 31-Foot Association recently changed hands when T. J. McCahill sold the Joker to Ashton C. Clarkson." (Source: Anon. "Notes from the Week's Log." Boston Globe, December 12, 1915, p. 52.)

"... one day at the end of August [1917] ... I found my way to Ulmer Park Basin on Gravesend Bay in answer to an advertisement of an auction sale of yachts. This basin ... has just been taken over by the Government, presumably as a station for the smaller craft of the coast defense fleet, and all yachts were ordered out by September 1st. ...
The buying of seaworthy and still serviceable yachts for the removing of their lead keels has developed into an established business within the past dozen years... Well underway before the outbreak of the war, this unwholesome development of yachting has grown rapidly with the great increase in the price of metals, lead, copper and brass, and as conditions are at the present time there is no saying where it will end. The leader in the business is C. D. Vail, of Wreck Lead, Pong Island, who has owned more yachts than any other man in the history of the sport.
As soon as a yacht is purchased by Mr. Vail, her sails, spars, rigging, ground tackle, and usually the plumbing as well, are removed, with cushions, bedding and such other fittings as may be included in the inventory. These are disposed of as occasion serves and the hull is towed to a convenient yard, where it is hauled out, the keel is cut with an acetylene torch into pieces of manageable size, the keel bolts backed out, and the holes in the wood keel plugged, after which operations the hull is launched and tied up ready for sale. A few years ago much of this work was done at the old yard of the Marine Construction and Dry Dock Company, at Mariners Harbor, Staten Island, but at the present time most of it is done at the Ulmer Park Basin. As Mr. Vail has a contract with the Government for furnishing many tons of lead, the supply of the bare hulls greatly exceeds the very limited demand, the modern type of racing yacht being of very little use for conversion to fishing or other practical purposes. It was planned to sell a number of hulls at auction, but the taking over of the Basin made this necessary on very short notice, and as the sale was inadequately advertised the attendance was limited largely to a small assemblage of fishermen and a few yacht skippers and others attracted out of curiosity. ...
Gamecock [#583s], 46 feet 6 inches over all, one of the Herreshoff Buzzards Bay Class of fifteen yachts built in 1902, was started at $100 and knocked down for $150. Eleanora, formerly Effort I [#552s], another Herreshoff boat, 58 feet over all, built in 1901, found no bidders, but toward the end of the sale she was put up again and withdrawn after one bid of $100. ... One of the old Herreshoff fin-keel thirties, offered under the name of Iowa, brought no bids, and the same fate befell ... the Herreshoff Joker, of the 31-foot Bar Harbor Class, built in 1903. ... On the whole it was a melancholy proceeding, conducing to serious meditation on the future of yachting under canvas." (Source: Stephens. W. P. "A Bargain Sale of Yachts." Rudder, October 1917, p. 658-659.

"48ft 10in N. G. Herreshoff Bar Harbor-31 double headsail marconi sloop (ex-JOKER) built 1903. Significant upgrading of hull and deck late '70s; double-planked Oregon pine over cypress, bronze fastened; Graymarine 30-hp gas rebuilt '77; sleeps 6. Actively cruised and raced, in fine condition. RI. $33,500. [With photo.]" (Source: William Cannell Yacht Brokerage. [Classified Ad.] Wooden Boat #57, March / April 1984, p. 143.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections titled 'Bar Harbor class [#592s, #593s, #594s, #595s, #596s, #597s, #598s, #599s, #600s, #601s, #602s, #603s, #604s]. 2nd model [Model 713]. 1st trial. Sc[ale] 3/4. Sept[ember] 25 1903 []sic, i.e. 1902'. With calculations arriving at a displacement of 337.5cuft [= 21600lbs]." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_03990. Folder [no #]. 1902-09-25.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections with radials titled 'Bar Harbor Class. # 592 to 604 inclusive [#592s, #593s, #594s, #595s, #596s, #597s, #598s, #599s, #600s, #601s, #602s, #603s, #604s]. From finished model. Oct[ober] 2, 1902. Scale 1/16. W.l. 30ft 9in'. With tabulated calculations distinguishing between 'displacement body part' and 'displacement total' and arriving at a total displacement of 330.5cuft = 21160lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_04130. Folder [no #]. 1902-10-02.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled 'Nos. 592 to 604 inclusive [#592s, #593s, #594s, #595s, #596s, #597s, #598s, #599s, #600s, #601s, #602s, #603s, #604s]. Oct[ober] 7, 1902. 1/8 size'. With calculations (marked 'By planimeter') and note 'Required lead casting of 10000lbs with c.g. [at] 55.4[%] of w.l. = 17.05ft aft ...'. With note 'Dec[ember] 11, 1902. #592. With all w[ei]g[h]ts represented proved too deep in water and 1045lbs removed, was then 30ft 10 3/4in w.l. Have decided to take a piece of equal thickness off top of lead = 2 3/8in' and calculations to derive this amount." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_09280. Folder [no #]. 1902-10-07.)
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"[Item Description:] HMCo Plan HH.5.02171 (029): Blueprint general arrangement plan with plan view and inboard profile titled 'Preliminary Plan of Bar Harbor Cruising Class [#592s, #593s, #594s, #595s, #596s, #597s, #598s, #599s, #600s, #601s, #602s, #603s, #604s]. Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Bristol, R.I. Scale 1/4in = 1ft. Oct[ober] 9, 1902'." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Blueprint. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0028. WRDT08, Folder 3, formerly MRDE08. 1902-10-09.)
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"[Item Description:] Handwritten (in ink) rating rule-related table on two pages with dimensions LOA, LWL, overhang fore & aft, mean length, freeboard fore & center & aft, breadth deck & w.l., draft, cube-root (displacement), 1st mast mean length, 1st to 2nd mast, J, P1, H1, B1, G1, V1, T1, P2, P2a, H2, B2, Q2, Y2,T2, sail area, sqrt(SA), sqrt(SA - NYYC Rule) for #605s RELIANCE, #499s COLUMBIA, #725s RESOLUTE, #529s MINEOLA, #663s ISTALENA, #666s AVENGER, New York 50s (#711s, #712s, #713s, #714s, #715s, #716s, #717s, #720s, #721s), #411s GLORIANA, #685s ADVENTURESS, #617s COCK ROBIN II, #586s NELLIE, #709s JOYANT, #708s CORINTHIAN, #670s SENECA, Bar Harbor 31s (#592s, #593s, #594s, #595s, #596s, #597s, #598s, #599s, #600s, #601s, #602s, #603s, #604s), New York 30s (#626s, #627s, #628s, #629s, #630s, #631s, #632s, #633s, #635s, #636s, #637s, #638s, #639s, #640s, #642s, #643s, #647s, #648s), Newport 29s (#727s, #728s, #737s), #691s MORE JOY, #446s ALERION II, Buzzards Bay 550s (#733s, #734s, #736s, #738s, #741s), #617s COCK ROBIN II, #493s JILT, #732s SADIE, #460s KILDEE, Buzzards Bay 15s (#503s Class), Buzzards Bay 12 1/2s (#744s Class), #703s FLYING CLOUD, #669s ELEANOR, #722s KATOURA, #692s WESTWARD, #657s QUEEN, #719s VAGRANT II, #698s VAGRANT, #663s ISTALENA, and #743s HASWELL. With penciled note 'Measurements in ft & inches. Results in ft & decimals'. Undated (the youngest boat on this list is from 1914/1915 and this was probably prepared in preparation for NGH's sail area rating rule of 1914/1915)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Handwritten Table. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE15_00100. Folder [no #]. No date (1914 / 1915 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] Brokerage listing (File No. 264) for #595s RELIANCE ex-JOKER. Dimensions, particulars (Rig: Marconi Rigged Cutter, Location: Brooklyn, N.Y., Price: $12,500). Remark 'One of the Bar Harbor 31 Footers. The boat has been rebuilt and looks just like a new boat. New lead keel 1927'." (Source: Belknap & Paine, Yacht Brokers (creator). Broker Listing. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.111. Box HAFH.6.3B, Folder Brokers Listings. No date (mid-1930s ?).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #595s Joker even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Bray, Maynard. "Two Views of the Herreshoff Bar Harbor 31s." Day, Fritz and Frances. "Desperate Lark." Bray, Maynard. "Holding the Shape the Herreshoff Way." Wooden Boat #45, March/April 1982, p. 68-74. (520 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text). Bar Harbor 31 class portrait with special emphasis on #602s Desperate Lark ex Cricket and detailed description of why Herreshoff boats have been able to hold their shape better over time than many other yachts.

• Joker (HMCo-made index card)
• Joker (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Reliance ex-Joker (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.

Type: J & M
Length: 30'9"
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.

• Joker
• Reliance ex-Joker
• 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: Joker
Type: 31' cutter
Owner: Henry M. Sears
Year: 1903
Row No.: 323

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: Oct. [sic, i.e. no month]
Year: 1902
E/P/S: S
No.: 0595
Name: Joker
LW: 30' 9"
B: 10' 4"
D: 7' 3"
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: $4960.00
Notes Constr. Record: Bar Harbor class, double head rig.
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.

"LOA 48ft 9in from pencilled note on construction plan 76-46." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 25, 2013.)

"Joker's lead keel was removed in 1917 and sold for scrap in the war effort as per an article by W. P. Stephens in Rudder, October 1917, p. 658-659. The June 25, 1917 addendum of the 1917 Lloyd's Register even lists Joker as having been broken up. However, later issues of Lloyd's Register of American Yachts confirm that Joker received a new lead keel in 1927." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 26, 2013.)

"Acquired as a derelict on November 28, 2016 by Alec Brainerd of Artisan Boatworks from Tom Lunde who had owned her since May 17, 2001. Stored since 1990 waiting for restoration at Seal Cove Boatyard in Harborside, ME. Moved from Seal Cove Boat Yard to Artisan Boatworks in Rockport, ME on October 13, 2017." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. October 13, 2017.)

"Launch date signifies the date vessel was taken on low gear to cove for winter storage." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 4, 2011.)

"Built in 103 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $48/day, 205 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Sail area 1492 sqft from rating rule-related table handwritten (in ink) by N. G. Herreshoff on two pages with multiple dimensions for the most important Herreshoff-designed yachts in the Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. MRDE15, Folder [no #]. Undated (the youngest boat on this list is from 1914/1915 and this was probably prepared in preparation for NGH's sail area rating rule of 1914/1915)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 16, 2020.)

"Displacement 330.5 cu.ft. [= 21,152 lbs] from untitled two-page rating-rule-related table handwritten (in ink) by N. G. Herreshoff with multiple dimensions for the most important Herreshoff-designed yachts. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. MRDE15, Folder [no #]. Undated (the most recent boat dates 1914/1915 and the table was probably prepared in preparation for NGH's sail area rating rule of 1914/1915)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 16, 2020.)

"Designed disp. on 30ft-9in W.L., 21415 lbs." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Penciled note on construction plan 76-46.)

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