HMCo #607s The Flight

"[1903-04-03] Fri 3: H[eav]y SSW [wind &] fog & rain. Set up No 607 [Flight for] Havemeyers.
[1903-04-15] Wed 15: NE gale with rain. Turned over #607 [Flight]." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1903. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"No. 607.
C[enter] b[oard] racing boat.
Frame spaces 11 1/4".
Deduct
for planking 7/8" (1/2" + 3/8")
for timbers 1 1/4"
Timbers 18 to 36 inclusive to be 1 1/4" at head and increase moulded way 3/32" per foot for full length.
Sheer height given is to upper side of deck 7/8" thick.
Keel 2 1/4" thick." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.141.] Undated, ca. March 1903. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"... A new twenty-five-foot racing sloop of the centreboard type has just been constructed at the Herreshoff shops and was launched from the Walker's Cove yard last Thursday [May 21, 1903]. The craft is wide and shallow and has a cabin open around the sides. The boat, which is named The Flight, ought to give a good account of herself. The craft has been partly rigged and will soon be given a spin." (Source: Anon. "Yachts Race To-Morrow." New York Times, May 25, 1903, p. 7.)

"Capt. N. G. Herreshoff, who spent the greater part of last week with the big [America's Cup] yachts, returned Sunday [May 24, 1903] evening on his steamer Roamer [#215p]. Yesterday he took out a new 25 footer, named Flight, built for Theodore Havemeyer, for a trial spin." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, May 26, 1903, p. 2.)

"The 30 footer Flight, owned by Theodore Havemeyer of New York, has been hauled out on the end of the north pier at Herresshoffs to have a piece of lead cut from the forward end of her keel." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, May 29, 1903, p. 2.)

"... A new racing yacht built here from the design of N. G. Herreshoff was given tests in a steady southwest breeze in the bay last Monday [May 25, 1903]. The boat is named The Flight, and is a centreboard craft with a twenty-five-foot waterline. She is sloop rigged and has a shoal draught, long overhangs, and is wide in beam --- in fact, a regular skimming dish, with a bow very much after the style of that on the Reliance. She has a pole mast. The Flight proved to be fast on all conditions of sailing, more particularly in heaving. She looks high and turns quick. The racer was taken out on the wharf Thursday to have some changes made in the ballast. She is soon to be on her way to her owner, Theodore Havemeyer, Jr., who is to use her for outside sport the present season. ..." (Source: Anon. "Repairs to Cup Yachts." New York Times, June 1, 1903, p. 5.)

"N/A"

"[Item Transcription:] [Typewritten (carbon copy) letter marked 'Copy':] 117 Wall St.,
New York.
Jan. 19, 1903.
Mr. Nath'l G. Herreshoff,
Bristol, R. I.
Dear Sir,
Yours of the 16th at hand, I am going to avail of your kind offices and have you build a boat [#607s FLIGHT]. I fear from the nature of the boat I want she will come more or less in the category of freaks, a style I know that you have little interest in, but at the same time, for use in the Great South Bay, an indispensable style to meet the competition that exists there, and probably always will exist on account of the poor depth of water.
She is to be in the 30ft class, i.e., length of water line, plus square root of sail area divided by two, and her water line will be determined when her crew of 750 pounds is aboard. She is to be essentially a light weather boat.
I enclose something taken out of the paper this morning, which will give an idea of what is going on with 25ft water line boats in the way of square feet of sail.
The draft of the boat must not exceed 3ft. All the boats that you have built for me appear to suck the bottom when under way, even at that draft. The less draft this boat has, that will enable her to carry her sail, the better. The ELECTRA [#582s] last year beat the WANDA [#490s] as she did the ARROW, on account of the heavy wind and sea. I doubt very much if the ELECTRA could beat the WANDA in ordinary weather, i.e., when the WANDA could carry her full sail, on time allowance. [p. 2]
I am sure she could not beat the ARROW, Although the ARROW does not point quite as high as the ELECTRA, of course I mean when she is carrying her full sail. The ARROW outfoots her enough to make up the difference, and off the wind she can beat the ELECTRA close to half a minute in a mile.
I should like her cabin to be open --- nothing in front whatever, and her cockpit to be down on the flooring. It may be that where the cockpit ends you may have to step down a foot to get in the cabin. These details I suppose could be referred to me later.
I should like to have her ready on the 1st of May; would take her earlier. The skippers in the Bay think that wooden blocks would be light, and run much easier in the rigging. This refers particularly to the main sheet blocks. The top of the cabin is to be covered with canvas, and to be open at the sides, the same as the ELECTRA, and the deck is to be covered with canvas. She is likewise to have a bowsprit, which you will recollect the PLEASURE [#545s] did not have.
It all comes down to what my boy answered when I spoke to him if he had anything to suggest about the detail of the boat --- 'Leave the matter entirely to Mr. Herreshoff, merely stating that she must be a boat to sail in light airs.'
Yours truly, ...
H. O. Havemeyer." (Source: Havemeyer, H.O. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_02530. Folder [no #]. 1903-01-19.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Typewritten letter on '117 Wall Street, New York' stationery:] I have your letter of Jan. 20th [1903], and am glad to learn of your interest in the new boat [#607s FLIGHT]. I thought I would call your attention again about the draft. I presume it is the model of the hull of the boat that occasions the suction, and with that much flatter than the present ELECTRA [#582s], it seems to me that the lead might be extended, so that the draft of the boat would be 3ft.
I might add that I would build her the limit. 25ft water line would entitle her to 1225 sq. feet of sail. However, you are the last man I would care to make any suggestions to.
The first ELECTRA [#530s] was all right, except that she might have been made a little stronger where she entered the water forward, so that her pounding would not raise her up.
Yours truly, ..." (Source: Havemeyer, H.O. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_02560. Folder [no #]. 1903-01-22.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections titled '1st [trial]. # [blank]. THE FLIGHT [#607s]. M[ar]ch 9 [1903]. Scale 3/4'. With calculations arriving at a total weight of 9050lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0419. WRDT04, Folder 34, formerly MRDE08. (1903)-03-09.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections titled '#607. THE FLIGHT. Mar[ch] 19, 1903. Finished model. Frame spaces 11 1/4[in]. w.l. 24ft 4 1/2[in]'. With calculations arriving at 188.5cuft = 12080lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_04000. Folder [no #]. 1903-03-19.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled 'THE FLIGHT. No. 607 [#607s]. 30ft Class Racing boat. Scale 1/8 size. March 23, 1903'. With notes and calculations, including 'No. 607. Total ballast required 5630lbs. 1/10th of which may be inside. C.g. of ballast required to be .572 of w.l. Centre board slot 8ft 6in long, 2 1/8in wide. ... c.b. slot = 2550cuin. 5630lbs = 87700cuin. [Total required lead] 16280cuin' and concluding with '13725[cuin] = 5640lbs [at] .572 ...'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_09660. Folder [no #]. 1903-03-23.)
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"[Item Description:] #607s FLIGHT you built for my son has proved able to sustain the Herreshoff reputation in the Great South Bay, sailed five races against the ARROW and beat her every one in light air, in variable light winds, and in three instances carried double reefs, in reaching and running the ARROW can do her a little, in your letter of June 25th you say you built a boat [#578s AZOR] for J. M. Forbes on the same model as the Plant boat [#586s NELLIE], which is 34-6' water line, 12' beam and 1400 square feet of sail, but of 6-4' draft, how about the overhang, do you believe that the Forbes boat is as fast, sea-worthy and as easy in the sea as the Plant boat?, what is Mr. Forbes willing to sell his boat for?" (Source: Havemeyer, H.O. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_17630. Correspondence, Folder 47. 1903-08-07.)
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"[Item Description:] my son [Horace Havemeyer (1886–1956)] has awakened some interest in Great South Bay in form of a class boat of 21 foot water line not so tender as the #607s FLIGHT and not quite so able[?] as the #582s ELECTRA, let me know what you recommend, incl. NG reply: 33 oa., 21 wl, 9-10' beam, 2' draft, 550 or 600sq ft sail" (Source: Havemeyer, H.O. (incl NGH reply). Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_17640. Correspondence, Folder 47. 1906-08-23.)
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"[Item Description:] [almost unreadable], #582s ELECTRA, #490s WANDA, incl. NGH reply: in regard of proposed new class, since advent of Universal Rule yachts have very much improved, much abler craft and pleasanter to sail, you can get this statement verified by anyone who owns a boat built under the new rule who formerly had experience in the flat ended scow formed boats, I am sure the type will sooner or later be seen in Great South Bay and if you start it it will develop and give your young people a good type of boat, [next two sentences crossed out:] I consider all the boats we have built for you excepting #545s PLEASURE and #582s ELECTRA II, freaks to beat the waterline measurement rule and WANDA is the most extreme being built to sail under the same rule in L.I. Sound, she is one of the fastest and also meanest boat I ever designed, I would like to see a better type spring up in your waters as well as elsewhere along the coast, however if you prefer the old type we can build them as well as any and I think will still be able to turn out successful ones, I cannot agree with you that WANDA, #607s FLIGHT & #530s ELECTRA I are a better type than ELECTRA II, but admit fully that comparing by waterline length when measured lying still they are much faster, they were designed to beat that way of measuring and do it successfully, they are larger boats for the waterline length and get the advantage of the size in racing but are a poor type of boat for any use but racing in your shallow water bay where moderate breezes and smooth waters prevail, ordinarily the enjoyment of yacht racing comes from sailing the yacht to wit out against your antagonist and showing greater ability in the art of sailing a yacht, there are very few who look upon it as you do and prefer a yacht that is like a race horse and of little use except for racing, when you proposed to get up a new class it seemed to me it would be better to make it a type that would be popular with the ordinary yachtsman and that in view submitted the draft of rules and restrictions that should produce a good wholesome and fast boat, probably faster than any you now have on the Bay providing they were all measured and sailed under the Universal Rule which does not use water line length as a measurement at all, I will state that I don't like the flat scow type of boats and much prefer to design and built a type of more general use, but if you desire [I] will try my hand at any type you will decide on as I have heretofore with fair success" (Source: Havemeyer, H.O. (incl NGH reply). Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_17680. Correspondence, Folder 47. 1907-09-07.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled table showing LOA, LWL, Beam, Draft, QBL, Stem, [symbol], sft[?] and Displ[acement] for KATOURA [#722s], WESTWARD [#692s], VAGRANT, QUEEN MAB [#698s], CONSTITUTION [#551s], RESOLUTE [#725s], WINSOME [#664s], 2nd IROLITA [#658s], DORIS [#625s], AVENGER [#666s], 50 Footers [#711s], ADVENTURESS [#685s], IROLITA [#591s], FLYING CLOUD [#703s], BELISARIUS [#1266s], NEITH [#665s], AZOR [#578s], NAULAKHA [#687s], SENECA [#670s], NY30s [#626s], SENTA [#688s], DOROTHY Q [#668s], FLIGHT [#607s], PLEASURE [#907s], QUAKERESS [#676s], KILDEE [#460s], and the 12 1/2ft Class [#744s]. With formulas for mean length L, Draft limit by rule and freeboard at three positions. Undated, on verso of NYYC invitation dated December 11, 1933 but listing of BELISARIUS which was built in 1934/1935 indicates that this was written at that time or later. Filed close to and possibly related to what appears to be an early version of NGH's 'Observations on the Proportions of Sailing Yachts' from July 1936." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Tabulated Dimensions. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE02_03040. Folder [no #]. No date (1936-07 ?).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #607s The Flight even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• The Flight (MIT Museum-made index card)
• The Flight (HMCo-made index card)
• The Flight (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: The Flight
Type: J & M
Length: 24'4 1/2"
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.

• The Flight
• 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: Flight
Type: 25' sloop
Owner: Horace Havemeyer
Year: 1903
Row No.: 228

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: 27
Year: 1903
E/P/S: S
No.: 0607
Name: The Flight
LW: 24' 4.5"
B: 11' 11"
D: 2' 10"
Rig: J & M
CB: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: 5250.00
Notes Constr. Record: 1907. H.H. Butts.
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.

"LOA taken from Lloyd's Register 1917." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 6, 2012.)

"Built in 114 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $46/day, 106 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"[Displacement 188.5cuft = 12080lbs.]" (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. Penciled note on pantograph hull sections taken for #607s The Flight off the original model. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)

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