HMCo #619s Wasaka

"Nos. 618 [#618s Chewink IV] - 619 [#619s Wasaka].
(Mass[achusetts] 30' Cruising Class.)
Frame spaces 10".
Keel not less than 4" deep and not less than 36sqin for 5' each side of mast, ends not less than 30sqin.
Frames minimum each 3sqin.
In making moulds deduct for timbers 1 5/8" at head, increasing 1/16" per foot, full length.
Planking 1".
Timbers sided 1 7/8".
Sheerline is to upper side of deck. Deck 7/8" covered with canvas.
Top of lead level 1.11.0 above base line." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.145.] No date (ca. February 1904). Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"In 1904, just before the New York Thirties, Captain Nat designed two Thirties for a rule then in use at Marblehead. These yachts were the 'Wasaka' and 'Chewink IV,' the latter with Mike Into, the man who invented the Into hook, as captain winning the championship in the class. These boats were quite wide and had a deep keel, and proved capable of being driven very fast in strong breezes. They were among the last boats that Captain Nat designed for the length-on-water-line and sail-area rules although he did continue to design Buzzards Bay twenty-one-footers for a few years more." (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. 274.)

"The building of new crafts and the preparation of stored boats to go overboard makes busy times these days at the Herreshoffs shops and yards. Two new 30 foot racing sloops [apparently sister ships #618s Chewink IV and #619s Wasaka] are being constructed in the south shop, and another [probably #616s Bambino] is in frame in the boat shop at the corner of Burnside and Hope streets. ..." (Source: Anon. "Busy at Herreshoff's." Bristol Phoenix, May 3, 1904, p. 3.)

"[License issued to vessel under 20 tons. Pos. 274:]
Wasaka, sloop yacht, of Bristol.
Built at Bristol, 1904.
8.85 tons; 29.4 ft. x 11.1 ft. x 4.8 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
No specifications shown.
Lic[ensed] ([as] yacht) May 26, 1904. Owner: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol. Master: N. G. Herreshoff, Bristol. ([Record at:] C[ustom] H[ouse, Providence]).
Lic[ensed] ([as] yacht) June 15, 1905. Owner: same. Master: same.
Surrendered [license] June 30, 1905 at Marblehead, Mass. ([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. Wasaka.)

"... C. E. Adams of the Corinthian and Boston yacht clubs has purchased the Herreshoff 30-footer Wasaka from S. Reed Anthony. ..." (Source: Anon. "Recent Yacht Transfers." Boston Globe, July 23, 1905, p. 140.)

"No. 39 --- For Sale --- Fast and able keel cruising sloop, 49 ft. o. a., 30 ft. 1. w. 1., 11 ft. beam, 7 ft. draught. Designed and built by Herreshoff in 1904. Strongly constructed with double cedar planking, oak frames, 9,000 tb outside lead ballast. Large water-tight cockpit, deck forming seats. Roomy cabin with four fixed berths and two wide transoms giving separate accommodations for six. Coat lockers, sideboards with drawers under at either end. Large toilet room with basin forward, roomy galley with ice-box, stoves, dish lockers, shelves, etc., forward of which is folding berth. Handsomely finished in white enamel with mahogany trimming. Canvas-covered decks; upholstery green velour; complete suit of sails practically new, including racing canvas. Completely equipped for extensive cruising, including bedding, linen, china, lights, compass, anchors, cables, light cedar tender, everything in fine shape. Is a very fast sailer and has won many notable prizes, including the Isles of Shoal 1909 Ocean Race. Location near Boston. Apply John G. Alden, Yacht Broker, 27 Kilby Street, Boston, Mass. [Though not identified by name, her winning the 1909 Isles of Shoals race identifies her as Wasaka which had won that regatta on June 20, 1909 in Class B.]" (Source: Anon. "For Sale." Rudder Magazine, March 1910, p. 222.)

"... The John G. Alden yacht agency reports the sale of the 30-footer Wasaka, by Charles E. Adams, or Boston, to H. B. Scattergood of Providence. This sloop was built for S. Reed Anthony by Herreshoff in 1904 for the Massachusetts Bay restricted 30-foot class." (Source: Anon. "Notes from the Week's Log." Boston Globe, June 18, 1911, p. 58.)

"The Hollis Burgess Yacht Agency has sold ... the Herreshoff 30-foot water line sloop Wasaka for J. J. Martin to W. L. Coursen of New York; ... the 30-foot water line yawl Quakeress [#565s], formerly of the Buzzard Bay 30-foot class, for Frederick N. Bushnell of Boston to William Y. Peters of Boston; ... " (Source: Anon. "Notes from the Week's Log." Boston Globe, March 19, 1916, p. 54.)

"With a crash that could be heard half a mile, two sloop yachts collided yesterday just before the start of the special race of the handicap class off New Rochelle. Over the side, with its gaff, boom, mainsail, and jib attached, went the mast of the Wasaka, one of the sloops owned by W. L. Coursen, and at about the same moment the lead keel of H. Wennemer's Coot, the other sloop, dropped off and sank in the Sound. The Coot capsized immediately, throwing all her crew into the water. She did not sink and all were saved in a few minutes. Both yachts were towed into the harbor. The Wasaka went to an anchorage and the Coot to the beach, where she will be hauled out and fitted with a new keel unless a diver finds the old one.
By reason of the accident the race, which was a special one for a cup offered by Captain Eckart of the New Rochelle Yacht Club, was called off.
It was while the yachts were manoeuvring for positions that the collision occurred. The Wasaka measures 47 feet over all and 29 feet at the water line. She was built by the Herreshoff's in 1904. The Coot, designed by C. D. Mower and built in 1909 by J. S. Sheppard, is 35 feet over all and has a 20-foot water line." (Source: Anon. "Big Sloops In Collision. Wasaka Loses Mast and Coot Its Lead Keel Off New Rochelle." New York Times, August 14, 1916, p. 6.)

"A BREATH of the rugged old days floated into the American Yacht Club's cruise last week, and at first it looked as though the breath itself might prove too rugged for the young lungs that turned up at Rye on Monday, the opening day. Wasaka was the breath's name. She's a thirty-seven-year-old sloop, owned by Gilbert Warner, with gaff-headed rig and body by Herreshoff, who dabbled extensively in America's Cup defence, you may recall. On the cruise's first run, to Fisher's Island, Wasaka led the whole fleet for twenty miles and at the end of all seventy-seven was still out in front of the rest of the boats in her division. On Tuesday, pushing on to Montauk, she won again in her class, which, incidentally, was an invention of the A.Y.C., established for craft with too little determinable design of their own to be handicapped under the standard cruising rules. Screwball III, another relic [designed and built by A. C. Davis in 1904], was a classmate of Wasaka's, and on Wednesday, when Wasaka was headed the wrong way at the start and failed to qualify, Screwball took over and youth was served with another beating. Thursday it was Wasaka again, and on Friday nobody in the class finished before the seven-o'clock deadline. If it hadn't been for Wasaka's one disqualification, this fugitive from a museum might well have had the most points for the week. As it was, she came fourth." (Source. Anon [Jack]. "Yacht's and Yachtsmen. Old Arsenic." The New Yorker, August 16, 1941, p. 50.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections and calculations titled 'Nos 618 & 619 [#618s CHEWINK IV and #619s WASAKA]' and annotated 'Required 7250lbs with centre 6ft aft of no. 32 frame. 7250/.411 = 17650cuin lead. With top lead level at 1.11.0 - wgt = 7280 and cg 4.3in aft no 32 frame. Note: Disp of boat has been decreased about 150lbs by reducing thickness of keel since measurements were taken off'. Undated (contracts had been recorded January 28, 1904)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0617. WRDT08, Folder 46. No date (ca 1904-02).)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections with displacement curve titled 'Mass[achusetts] 30ft Cruising Y.A. # s 618 & 619 [the latter with a question mark] [#618s CHEWINK IV and #619s WASAKA]. 1904'. With displacement calculations showing a total of 287.5cuft or 18400lbs. CHEWINK and WASAKA were both contracted for on January 28, 1904, suggesting February 1904 to be the month NGH prepared this." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_00470. Folder [no #]. 1904(-02 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] Four handwritten (in ink) pages with tabulated data listing 'Shop No', 'Name', '[Tons] Gross' and '[Tons] Net' for a total of 100 HMCo-built boats and classes. Tonnage data is usually precise to two digits behind the decimal. Random comparisons suggest source of tonnage data to be official Custom House data. Boats mentioned are: #664s, #663s, #625s, #665s, #634s, #658s, #657s, #646s, #641s, #617s, #626s Class, #624s, #621s, #616s, #619s, #590s, #591s, #586s, #592 Class, #618s, #605s, #578s, #560s Class, #580s, #553s, #551s, #552s, #546s, #541s, #545s, #538s, #534s, #533s, #532s, #529s, #534s, #530s, #531s, #435s, #437s, #452s, #499s, #429s, #426s, #424s, #481s, #422s, #417s, #414s, #451s, #215p, #213p, #222p, #235p, #230p, #229p, #236p, #224p, #244p, #247p, #249p, #231p, #232p, #228p, #252p, #250p, #251p, #248p, #168p, #164p, #118p, #142p, #174p, #173p, #194p, #189p, #193p, #183p, #178p, #179p, #181p, #182p, #175p, #163p, #148p, #149p, #172p, #155p, #170p, #186p, #188p, #206p, #207p, #205p, #208p, #209p, #210p, #211p, #212p, #216p. Undated (the latest boat listed, WINSOME, was launched in 1907)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (?) (creator). Handwritten List. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE06_00220. Folder [no #]. No date (1907 or later).)
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"[Item Transcription:] I was most pleased to receive your letter regarding my sloop ANITA [#734s] which as you know was the VITESSA owned by the late Galen Stone at Marion, Mass. About ten years ago I bought the sister boat MINK [#733s] from Mr. Emmons and in my opinion these boats are the best day sailing craft ever designed. For a combination of comfort, ability, easy handling and appearance I have never seen their equal. I would never have sold MINK if I thought I could not buy one of the others and it was years before I got VITESSA after Mr. Stone died.
Mr. Dabney kept his boat BAGATELLE [#736s] until about two years ago. She is now on Great South Bay. Another of these boats [#738s WHITE CAP, later ARIA] was around New Bedford for years. She had a new cabin house with berths, galley & w.c. and water tight cockpit put in.
There were four boats not three as you mention. I put in ANITA the mast, rigging & sails of the 6 metre LEA in same mast step as old rig. She now has about 500 sqft as against old gaff rig 550, but of course we now use a 6 metre genoa jib and somewhat larger spinnaker. She is improved with this new rig especially in light air to windward. We have beaten Class R GAMECOCK [#932s] and POLLYANNA, most of the older 6 metres and raceabout MAY QUEEN [#514s], and in very light air with spinnaker ANITA is marvelous, sailing as fast as many racing boats nearly twice her size.
We won Larchmont Y.C. race week four years out of five and in the New York A. C. Block Island Race won 2 firsts, 2 seconds, 1 third out of five sarts. The WASAKA [#619s] you mention is the same old boat. I sailed her a few times several years ago. She is quite flat and powerful but fast. The MUMSEY ex PLEASURE [#907s] was owned by George Ratsey who sold her to Harry Maxwell and she changed owners trice since. She was a sweet boat with more cabin and less cockpit than ANITA but had less stability and was not as fast. I hear that Olin Stephens will get a contract from Harold Vanderbilt to design a cup defender Class J for 1937. Many thanks for your kind letter and I hope I may soon see you or hear from you again. [Incl. penciled boat building numbers and dimensions by NGH.]" (Source: Granbery, George P. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_20760. Correspondence, Folder 59. 1936-09-04.)
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"[Item Description:] Brokerage listing (File No. 1036) for #619s WASAKA ex-WHITE CAP. Dimensions, particulars (Rig: Sloop, Location: Mianus Yacht Yard, Cos Cob, Conn, Price: 2500). With photo carrying sail no. %41. Undated, a penciled note in the upper right corner suggests 'Sept 1937' (although this may also be a reference to the date she was sold)." (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 (1937-9 ?).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #619s Wasaka even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Wasaka (HMCo-made index card)
• Wasaka (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: Wasaka
Type: J & M
Length: 30'
Owner: Anthony, S. R.

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

• Wasaka
• White Cap ex-Wasaka
• 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: Wasaka
Type: 27' 10' sloop
Owner: S. P. Anthony
Year: 1904
Row No.: 742

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: 28
Year: 1904
E/P/S: S
No.: 0619
Name: Wasaka
LW: 30'
B: 11' 9"
D: 7'
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: 4000.00
Last Name: Anthony
First Name: S. R.

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.

"Wasaka's builder's plate is in the collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum, acc. no. 1990-207-001." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 26, 2022.)

"Date this vessel was finished was estimated as May 26, 1904, the date this boat was measured by the U.S. Custom House inspector as per the 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." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 9, 2020.)

"Built in 119 days (contract to finished; equivalent to $34/day, 155 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"N/A"

"[Displacement 18,400lbs.]" (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. Penciled note on pantograph hull sections taken for #618s CHEWINK IV and #619s WASAKA 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.