HMCo #621s Margaret

"The construction of another 35ft. sloop, on much the same lines as Cock Robin [#617s?], has been begun by the Herreshoffs. Like Cock Robin and Chewink IV [#618s]., the new boat is destined for the racing at Marblebead, Mass. ... Designer N. G. Herreshoff has been confined to his home in Bristol with rheumatism for the past week, but is now improving. [Note: This is apparently a reference to Margaret, which was a sister ship of Cock Robin IV but not designed for the restricted Massachusetts Bay 30ft class.]" (Source: Young, F. H. "Rhode Island Letter." Forest and Stream, June 4, 1904, p. 468.)

"[License issued to vessel under 20 tons. Pos. 162:]
Margaret, sloop yacht, of Bristol.
Built at Bristol, 1904.
13.67 tons; 45 ft. x 12.4 ft. x 6.1 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
No specifications shown.
Lic[ensed] ([as] yacht) June 20, 1904. Owner: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol. Master: N. G. Herreshoff, Bristol.
Surrendered [license] Aug. 16, 1907 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. Margaret.)

"... Providence, R. I., June 25 [1904]. .... The Herreshoff shops at Bristol are about as dull now as they were last winter, when all hands were put on short time. The completion of the sloop Margaret the past week left work in the carpenter department very slack, and a number of hands have been laid off, including some mechanics who have been employed at the Herreshoffs for a dozen years or more. Enough mechanics are retained to carry on the repairs incident, to summer work, but there is practically nothing doing in the building of new craft. Besides the laying off of some of the employees, the working week has been shortened by one day, making a week of 45 hours instead of 54 hours.
A fine new cruising and racing sloop was launched at the Herreshoff yard this week for Mr. Henry T. Sloane of the New York Y. C. She is named the Margaret, and is 39ft. on the waterline, and has moderate overhangs. She has a commodious cabin and a large cockpit. The trim is mahogany throughout. The Margaret is a keel boat, with a pole mast, and her lines are similar to those of Cock Robin [ [#617s], launched at Herreshoffs a month ago, for racing at Marblehead, Mass. On her trial spin Wednesday [June 23, 1904], Margaret proved to be a lively boat, especially fast on the wind and quick in stays. The sloop was inspected by her owner, who came on from New York with a party of friends on his auxiliary schooner Idler. ..." (Source: Young, F. H. "Rhode Island Letter." Forest and Stream, July 2, 1904, p. 14.)

"No. 7025 --- For Sale --- Herreshoff sloop, 56 ft. by 40 ft. by 12 ft. 9 in. by 8 ft. Accommodations for eight. Mahogany finished throughout. Inventory very complete. A fine combination racing-cruising boat. R. M. Haddock, 50 East 42d St., New York City. [Note: This advertisement could mean either #617s Cock Robin or #621s Zaida ex-Margaret. Given that between 1912 and 1930 Cock Robin was consistently owned by John P. Elton in Connecticut, it appears much more likely that this advertisement related to #621s Zaida ex-Margaret.]" (Source: Haddock, R. M. "For Sale." Rudder March 1923, p. 80b.)

"Designed and built by Nat Herreshoff of Bristol, RI in 1904, the Margaret is one of the last large yachts of the Edwardian era. Built for New York Yacht club member George Tuttle, and named for his wife, Herreshoff had a free hand in her design. Although by today's standards her freeboard appears low and her ends long, in model she is far less extreme than her contemporaries. Margaret was built as a family yacht and therefore not influenced by any racing rules. According to the designer's son, L. Francis, 'Margaret was to be just a good wholesome boat'; a forerunner to the new Universal Rule that would, in the years to follow, produce some of the most graceful sailboats ever designed. Herreshoff designs were six-time winners of the America's Cup.
Margaret's trunk cabin is influenced by railroad car designer George Pullman. Famous for his streetcar windows, many yachts featured his vertical window design at the end of the nineteenth century.
By 1942, Margaret's then-owners name had changed her name to Zaida. Due to a navy unprepared for WWII's submarine warfare, the U. S. drafted Zaida, along with other private yachts, into service as a submarine spotter. According to the Herreshoff Marine Museum, Zaida, with a crew of nine, had the duty of staying on station near the Nantucket Lightship, listening for the sound of submarines running diesel motors, charging batteries by night. When the crew heard the motors or smelled the fumes from exhaust, they would pass the information to the Coast Guard, who would in turn attempt to sink the sub by ship or airplane. Zaida was hit by a powerful storm in December of 1942, blowing her off station and breaking her mizzenmast. After logging 3100 miles, she was spotted by a navy blimp limping into Ocracoke Inlet, NC.
Margaret has appeared in many publications, including 'The Herreshoff's of Bristol', written by Carlton Pinhero, former curator of Herreshoff Marine Museum, and Maynard Bray, editor emeritus of 'Wooden Boat' magazine.
Margaret has been the star of many maritime events on the Atlantic coast. Carrying 2000 feet of sail, she is double-planked yellow pine over cypress with a main mast of solid heart fir. Her LOD is 58'6', LOA is 66'4', with a beam of 12'6' and a draft of 9 feet.
At the age of 104 years, Margaret is still capable of long ocean passages, has been under the care of Captain David 'Bucko' Edwards for the past 37 years.
About the Captain: Licensed for passengers on inspected steam, oil, or sail-powered vessels, retired Merchant Marine Captain David 'Bucko' Edwards has spent his adult life on the sea. From tugs to tankers to four-masted schooners, he has many a salty tale from over a half-century as a sea captain." (Source: Anon. "Yacht Margaret." http://www.norwichct350.com/MargaretShip.html, last accessed March 8, 2009.)

"Irene grounds old NC sailboat, but Captain Hopes to Race Again.
Bath, N.C. --- Tall and proud, the sailboat 'Margaret' was part of the 2006 America's Sail in Beaufort. Built in 1904, the boat has served as a private yacht and military submarine spotter.
Now, the boat is grounded, lying on its side as part of the debris left behind by Hurricane Irene. The storm broke Margaret’s anchor chain and sent her sailing onto the shore.
Captain Bucko Edwards bought the Herreshoff-built boat in 1970 and spent seven years restoring her and getting her ready to race.
'She's fast. Having been a captain all my life, I still don't understand how she does it,' Edwards said.
The 71-year-old captain says Margaret finished first in the 2006 Pepsi Sail race off Beaufort.
'We simply came around, filled our sails with air and passed everybody,' he said. 'We completely out-classed them, and everybody knew it.'
But the Margaret couldn't outrun Hurricane Irene. Edwards anchored the boat in Bath Creek, which has been known as a safe harbor from hurricanes all the way back to Blackbeard. ..." (Source: http://www.wral.com/weather/hurricanes/story/10108574/, accessed September 10, 2011.)

"With a little help from his friends, Statesville resident and U.S. Merchant Marine Capt. David 'Bucky' Edwards is back adrift his 108-year-old Herreshoff sailboat, the Margaret.
Hurricane Irene broke the 66-foot-long boat’s anchor chain on Aug. 27, carried it 350 yards and left it --- when waters that rose 13 feet with the hurricane receded --- nearly 50 feet from the shoreline at Plum Point in Bath, N.C. ...
The boat returned to water May 8. ...
The position the boat was in, coupled with a marshy landscape that made it tough for heavy equipment to reach it and shallow water in the channel, meant the freeing of the Margaret was difficult and expensive.
Edwards said the 44,000-pound boat had to be jacked up vertically and laid down on its other side initially. It had also worked itself into a 2-foot-deep hole, which had to be dug out before the boat could begin being dragged toward water. ...
The Margaret and its rescue were the subject of a PBS documentary and the recipient of the proceeds from a benefit concert in Beaufort County in October. Several families in Statesville made monetary donations. ...
Not all is perfectly well with the Margaret, however. Thieves stole several original century-old parts, including stanchions, turnbuckles and other brass material to sell as scrap metal. Edwards recently recovered the solid bronze steering wheel from a salvage yard where it was sold. He said it would be a couple months before the sailboat was back to its old form. ...
The Margaret has spent much of the last two decades anchored right beside the U.S. Highway 17 bridge in Washington, N.C., the first thing seen coming into town, but that was hardly the story during the 1970s and 80s.
Edwards bought the Margaret in 1970, sold his shipping and salvage company in Miami and moved onto the boat. During the next 20-some years, Edwards and the Margaret made their homes wherever the winds blew, from Columbia to Belize to Puerto Rico to the Bahamas, while he chartered the boat and fished for a living." (Source: Spencer, Preston. "At last, the Margaret returns to Water. Statesville Resident’s Prized Sailboat Rescued After Being Washed Ashore by Hurricane Irene." Statesville Record & Landmark, June 06, 2012. http://www2.statesville.com/news/2012/jun/06/last-margaret-returns-water-ar-2337116/, retrieved June 7, 2012.)

"... A 1903 Hershoff[sic] 50 has been sitting in a neighboring boatyard for four years with the owner [David 'Bucko' Edwards] in poor health. Before the boatyard, Margaret suffered through a hurricane when it was in Bath, N.C., so she has had a rough go of it for a while.
But all that changed when a particular gentleman picked up a Woodenboat magazine in Italy and saw Margaret featured in the Save a Classic column. Mr. [Mauro] Piani went to great lengths trying to reach the owner, flying back and forth from Italy to Beaufort, N.C., and making arrangements to ship her to Italy where Margaret will get a two-year, major restoration.
Our part in Margaret’s journey was small but tricky. We had to remove the mast and then move the boat out of the boatyard where she had settled into the soft ground and dried out for four years so she could be loaded onto a truck. The truck took her to our old stomping grounds, West Palm Beach, Fl., where she then boarded a transport ship to Italy.
The new owner didn’t want the Marconi-rigged mast because he planned to take her back to the 1903 original gaff rig with a topsail. Margaret’s new owner has a love of fast sailboats, having served on Italy’s America’s Cup team in 1987. We have a model of the Stars and Stripes, in our shop and he recognized it right away since he raced against her. ..." (Source: Moores, Jim. Moores Marine Yacht Cente Newsletter of March 2019. https://www.mooresmarine.com/blog-1/when-i-m-64-arrivederci-to-a-1903-hershoff-50-and-the-surfmen-s-life-car, retrieved March 21, 2019.)

"Margaret. From Herreshoff to the lawyer Giovanni Lombardi Stronati: Margaret’s adventure continues. She is 116 years old and deserves to be beautiful again, like and more than the first day. The lawyer Giovanni Lombardi Stronati fell in love with it from the very first moment, deciding to give it back, thanks to an impressive restoration work, that charm and authority that has always characterized it. ... [Including photos of Margaret on the hard in South Carolina, being prepared for shipping across the Atlantic, and stripped out and being prepared for restoration.]" (Source: https://www.margaretherreshoff.uk/history/#herreshoff-lombardi-stronati, retrieved October 24, 2021.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled 'No. 617 [#617s COCK ROBIN II]. 37ft wl cruiser. Scale 18th. Jan[uary] 25, [19]04'. With calculations and note 'Weight of lead required 15370lbs with c.g. at 59.5% of waterline.' and calculations to determine weight of outside and inside [trim] lead. Also calculations and note 'Dec[ember 4] 1904. No. 634 [#634s SUZETTA III]. Lead keel to be dropped 6 3/4in deeper and 3 3/8in added to top of lead. ... Calculated[?] original w[ei]g[h]t 15100[lsb]. Wgt for 634 [#634s] calculated[?] 17220[lbs]. Mean wgt of #617 & 621 [#621s MARGARET] 14790[lbs]. Calculated addition 2120[lbs]. [Sum] 16918[lbs]'. Also note 'Dec[ember] 20 1904. No 641 [#641s ALICE II] Lead keel to be same as #634 but with 9[?] added to bottom of pattern = 4220lbs. Calculated wgt for #634 17220[lbs]. [Sum] 21440[lbs]'. [Note: Unexplained discrepancy: Compare weight of lead 17220lbs for #641s ALICE II with pantograph lead sections dated February 11, 1905 which require 29000lbs.]" (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_08050. Folder [no #]. 1904-01-25.)
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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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"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Ledger of HMCo actual costs vs contract price for #617s COCK ROBIN, #621s MARGARET, #665s NEITH, #685s ADVENTURESS, #711s Class NY50 footers, 25% shop overhead, 15% profit" (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (?) (creator). Cost Accounting. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_58550. Subject Files, Folder 83, formerly 134. No date (ca1913 ?).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #621s Margaret even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Bray, Maynard. "Save A Classic: Margaret. A Classsic by Herreshoff." Wooden Boat #247, November/December 2015, p. 135. (643 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text).

• Margaret (HMCo-made index card)
• Margaret (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Zaida ex-Margaret (HMCo-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: Margaret
Type: J & M
Length: 39'
Owner: Tuttle, G. M.

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

• Margaret
• Ariadne ex-Margaret
• Zaida ex-Margaret
• 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: Margaret
Type: 39' J & M
Owner: George C. Tuttle
Year: 1904
Row No.: 405

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: Dec
Year: 1903
E/P/S: S
No.: 0621
Name: Margaret
LW: 39'
B: 12' 6"
D: 7' 11.5"
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: 11000.00
Last Name: Tuttle
First Name: G. C.

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.

"Date this vessel was finished was estimated as June 20, 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.)

"Mainsail 1250 [sqft]. S[tay]sail 325. Jib 262. [Total] 1737 [sqft].
[Mainsail with] 3 reefs 605. # 2 jib 166. [Total] 771 [sqft].
Trisail 437 [sqft]. [Sail area for sistership Margaret is assumed to be the same." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G.? Penciled note on sailplan 130-092 (HH.5.10397) "Sail Plan of the Cock Robin", dated January 1904. Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"Displacement 524 cu.ft. [= 33,536 lbs] from data for sistership #617s Cock Robin on an 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.)

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