HMCo #627s Ibis

"[1904-12-16] Fri 16: Began planking #627 [Ibis].
[1904-12-20] Tue 20: Turned over #627 [Ibis] at 5PM. Planking was done in 27-3/4 hours.
[1905-01-09] Mon 9: Fair & SW [wind]. Turned over #641 [Alice II] 43’ wl German boat and took #627 [Ibis] to lower cove lot.
[1905-01-21] Sat 21: ... Mr. C. O'D Iselin [owner of #627s Ibis] here in PM.
[1905-05-08] Mon 8: ... [Launched #627s Ibis as per drawing 35-33.]" (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1904 to 1905. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"Herreshoff Manufacturing Company
Bristol, R.I. October 8, 1904
Mr. N. D. Lawton
40 Wall Street, New York
My dear Mr. Lawton,
I have studied over your proposition for a restricted or one design class, and keeping well in mind your P. 1, I have worked out what seems to me the largest desirable boat to be easily handled with one paid hand. The w.l. and rating are larger than you have specified, but I think not too large to make a good wholesome boat. The w.l. of 30' is sufficient to make her come within the limits of the New York Yacht Club [for representation in the club]. The items of size are as follows. Length o.a. 40ft 8in. Length of w.l. 30ft. Mean length of quarter beam 28ft 5in. Approx. displacement 245 cu.ft. and with sail area 1000 sq.ft. rating w'ld be 26ft.
Mimosa III [#610s] has rating of about 28' and sail area of over 1100 sqft. also[?] obtain a boat of not more than 25 rating and keep her in good proposition the w.l. should be about 28 1/2 and sail 925.
I believe the larger boat as above would be more satisfactory. The inclosed b[lue] p[rint] [plan 'Design for 26' rating one design class, 40ft-8in o.a., 30ft w.l., 8ft-8in beam, 6' draft', M.I.T. no. HH.5.02172, dated October 7, 1904] will give you idea of room.
If this proposition is carried through, I would like very much to design the boats, and have them built at our shops, and if you can let me know which size seems most satisfactory and in what manner they would be built --- if single or double planked and if of yellow pine of mahogany, also about finish inside, if about like Bobtail [#579s] or more complete as like the Buzzards Bay Class --- we would be pleased to give you bids.
I understand there is a movement on foot to to[sic] modify the N.Y.Y. Club measurement rules and bring the rules of other clubs to be uniform with it. The plan is an excellent one and I hope will be carried though, but I hope the modifications will be well considered before being adapted, as I think they are not quite correct.
Yours sincerely,
Nath'l G. Herreshoff." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. [Letter to N. D. Lawton.] New York Yacht Club Archive. October 8, 1904.)

"Bristol, R.I.
October 11, 1904
N. D. Lawton, Esq.
40 Wall St, New York
Dear Mr. Lawton,
Yours of yesterday is at hand, and I have discussed the building of a class of boats with my brother and he has written you, which I inclose with this.
Double planking, in my mind is the best, that is double to below the turn of the builge[sic]. On the flat of the floor single planking seems to be just as good. As the boats are a size the younger generation would cruise in a good deal it appeared to us best to have them rather completely fitted inside to make them comfortable cruisers, and in as nice shape as the Buzzards Bay Class. Of course in racing together they will be on even footing but with boats rigged for light weather they would be at a disadvantage when the winds are light.
Regarding racing rules I think it of great importance to have a limit of sail area in proportion to the principle[sic] hull factor. --- A rig that is most suitable for cruising along our coast in summer weather and not for racing in any particular location where the winds are light. If all boats were so restricted how much better racing would be! I think the riggs[sic] should be about like the [New York] 70s, Altair [#539s] and the Mimosa III [#610s], larger than the imported cutters, but less than the present limit in the NYYC rule. I would make it at 1.25L = sqrt(S) for vessels carrying topsails and 1.15L or possibly 1.12L = sqrt(S) in the smaller craft that are rigged without topsails.
This part[?] formula applied the [sic, i.e. to] the design now in consideration, it about 1050 [sqft] using 1.15 and 1000 using 1.12.
Very sincerely yours,
Nath'l G. Herreshoff. (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. [Letter to N. D. Lawton.] New York Yacht Club Archive. October 11, 1904.)

"Bristol, R.I.
Oct. 12th 1904
Dear Butler
... About the onedesign. I know the beam is not large, but it was my intention to give the boats a good strong construction and beside a good lot of ballast, and get easy lines by having a liberal waterline length. A type more like Ingomar [#590s], that would stand up well in a breeze and yet move easily in light weather. They would not sail on their ear but have stability and good controll[sic], so you might sail her home in a three reef breeze without bothering to tie down.
I agree with you about the cockpit, an open low down one would be pleasanter for me, but there is no doubt but what the high one is the safer, and I take it they will be used more by the younger generation, who will of course cruise in them a good deal, and for their use the high cockpit is best. However I see no reason why part of the boats could have high and part low cockpits, and draw in to lots. If the class materializes I would like very much to design them and feel that I could get a satisfactory boat. I am not sure if I have been suggesting too large a boat or not, if I am please let me know, and keep me posted any way.
Yours sincerely
Nath'l G. Herreshoff ... " (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. [Letter to Butler Duncan.] New York Yacht Club Archive. October 12, 1904.)

"Bristol, R.I.
Oct 19, 1904
My dear Mr. Lawton,
Referring to yours of 14th I think it would be best for you to determine just about what size and type of boats you want and the manner in which they are to be built, and then we would like to bid on the job. I know no reason why we cannot do a good class of work as cheaply as anyone who makes a living profit from it. As to cheaper work, or only partly finishing the boats, leaving it for someone else to furnish and complete I think we would not care to undertake it.
Yours sincerely,
Nath'l G. Herreshoff." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. [Letter to N. D. Lawton.] New York Yacht Club Archive. October 19, 1904.)

"Bristol, R.I.
Oct 19 1904
Dear Butler,
The head room under cabin top would be about 5ft 2in. I think under skylight of ordinary proportions not over 6in more.
To get standing room under skylights the house and skylight would have to be rather high for good looks.
Although looking clumsy, I think that is a matter of fashion rather than good taste. Please understand I have not been cutting off the ends, but lengthing[sic] the water line to get the surface a little more vertical and freer[?] from thumps from the sea. It may not add anything to the speed and costs nothing at all in the N.Y.Y.C. measurement rule, but will add a great deal to the seagoing qualities and to my eye makes a much better looking boat, and I believe most everyone will look at it that way after a fair trial under our rules.
I would not expect these boats to sail with the Alert [#581s], as Alert has a much larger rig and will sail away in light weather. In fresh breezes I think they should come with there time allowance. Under NYYC rules Alert would measure about 30ft racing length to about 26 for the proposed ones.
Yours sincerely
Nath'l G. Herreshoff" (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. [Letter to Butler Duncan.] New York Yacht Club Archive. October 19, 1904.)

"... N.Y.Y.C. 30 [Name], 626+ [Building Number], 26.4 [Rating], 30 [Waterline], 29 [L = length at 1/4 beam as for Universal Rule], 8.7 [B = breadth of waterline as for Universal Rule], 6.29 [d = draft of water as for Universal Rule], 276 [D = displacement in cubic foot as for Universal Rule (= 17,632 lbs or 7.9 long tons)], 1085 [Sail Area], 1530 [Sail limit Present rule], -445 [Diff.], 1132 [Sail limit Proposed rule], 47 [Diff.], quite able [Notes] ..." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "Formula for Obtaining the Limit of Sail-Area in Yachts when Measured by the Universal Rule Formula." Bristol, R.I., July 13, 1907 with later additions. Original handwritten (in ink) document with penciled additions. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE06_00080.)

"Coconut Grove, Fla - March 26 1931 {1931/03/26} Dear Francis ... I think the Newport 30s got thru their racing before the N.Y.Y.C 30s were built. I cannot recollect of their sailing togather. My impression is the Newports' might have been a little faster to windward & reaching in moderate to fresh breezes, and possibly in strong winds, for they soon found reefed boats were beaten by those with all sail, even in 2 or 3 reef breezes. ... I have not their dimensions with me, but as well as I can recollect, ... The NYYCs were; as designed, 43' 5" o.a. [over all] 30' w.l. [waterline] 8' 8" beam, 6' 3 1/2" draft. Wgt hull all above lead 5800 lbs. Rig 900. - Equipment & furnishings & c - 1850. Outside lead 9100. Total 17650. = 276 cu. [p2] The Newports had about 1000 sqft sail and the N.Y.Y.Cs 1085. ... Your affect - Father." (Source: Mystic Seaport Museum, L. Francis Herreshoff Collection, Box 17, Folder 7: Letter from N. G. Herreshoff to L. F. Herreshoff.)

"In 1905, thirty-four sailing yachts were built, including the Twenty Rater SONYA, and the New York Yacht Club Class of Thirty Footers (18 boats)." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "Some of the Boats I Have Sailed In." Written 1934. In: Pinheiro, Carlton J. (ed.). Recollections and Other Writings by Nathanael G. Herreshoff. Bristol, 1998, p. 70-71.)

"In mentioning the smaller yachts of that time I must not fail to speak of the N.Y.Y.C. thirty-footers which came out in 1905: they were the fourth class of one-design thirty-footers Captain Nat designed, the other classes being the Newport Thirties, 1896; Buzzards Bay Thirties, 1902; Bar Harbor Thirties, 1903. The N.Y.Y.C. Thirties, I believe, were the first one-design class built by any one under the Universal Rule, and they were safe, sane, able craft making comfortable cruisers for their size, and a few of them accompanied the N.Y.Y.C. on its cruises during the next several years. Their principal dimensions were L.O.A., forty-three feet six inches; L.W.L., thirty feet; beam, eight feet ten inches; draft, six feet three inches. They had about one thousand square feet of sail area, and cost $4,000 complete with eighty-eight separate items of equipment, which seems amazingly cheap today, but these Thirties were probably the first boats built with a carefully planned system of quantity production. There were eighteen of them and they were built in what was called the middle shop of the Herreshoff Company, which was a new shop then, and that winter was given over entirely to building these Thirties. There were generally three of them side by side in this production row, the first one upside down over her molds being planked; the next one turned right side up having her deck laid and interior built; while the last one had been set on her lead and was being finished off and painted. After they really got in production these boats shifted along in this production line at the rate of one a week, or in other words one was completed each week and was taken away to the storage yard on a special wide-wheeled low gear hauled by four horses. Of course most all the parts of these boats were prefabricated, and there was a pattern for each plank and other principal parts which were gotten out about eighteen at a time. These Thirties were double planked with cypress inner planking and yellow pine outer planking set in shellac which seems to be a very good combination; while cypress is not often used for inner planking on account of its weight, it is a wonderful wood to resist rot.
When these Thirties were rigged I happened to be working with the rigging gang and remember well that we rigged one in seven minutes, which was done as follows. As the Thirty came down the track in her cradle to be launched we had her mast, with all its rigging attached and stopped down, hanging from a derrick right over where she would be as she floated off the cradle. Her boom, sheets, and other parts were on a scow alongside. When the Thirty moved under the derrick her mast was lowered in place and about six men leaped aboard, each knowing exactly what to do as we had previously rigged several just like her. Every part fitted perfectly, and after the pins of the turnbuckles were in place we rove off her sheets and halyards as if we were setting a spinnaker in a race. Those were the days when men knew how to do things and did them.
The New York Yacht Club Thirties had a remarkable queue of owners, many of whom had had much larger yachts. ...
It would be hard to get together at any time a class of better sailor men and they raced the Thirties very hard and had few protests. Soon after they came out it was found that it never paid to reef in a race, and the Thirties were certainly great sail luggers; they often carried full sail in winds of forty-five miles per hour.
This class is said to have raced more than any other. As they raced very actively the first ten years and fairly regularly the first thirty years, this statement is probably true. They are now forty-five years old and appear structurally sound with the topsides nearly as smooth as when new. These boats no doubt have given more fun for the money than any boats ever built for their annual expense has been small as they have required almost no repairs or alterations.
The Thirties were almost exactly alike when new and it was told that the one that came in last at the end of the first year came in at the head of the class some subsequent year. Many different ones have won the season's championship in their turn. Many one-design classes have come and gone since the New York Yacht Club Thirties were built, but none of them has begun to hold its popularity over as great a term of years. These New York Thirties are a monument to Captain Nat's genius in construction, and it is very likely that if any of their parts had been either larger or smaller, or of different material, they would not have stood so many years of hard driving." (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. 272-274.)

"The first one-design class built under the rule was the New York Yacht Club's Thirties. The Thirty is what they were rated, not their waterline length. Their general dimensions were LOA 43'6"; LWL about 29'; beam 8'10"; draft 6'3". Some people, and Lloyds Register, have thought these boats were 30' WL, but that is not so. They were called 30-footers because their rating was 30'. They cost $4,000.00, and I assume that several of them sold for higher figures during their long life. One of the reasons the Thirties were so cheap was that there were eighteen of them built at once. They were built in a carefully planned system of quantity production with four of them in the production line. After production settled down these boats took one month to produce, and were turned out at the rate of one a week. They even had a pattern for each plank, and, as the Herreshoff Company made all of the hardware and sails, there was no holdup in waiting for parts made by others. The builders also had the advantage of having built five or six other one-design classes. Although the Thirties were built cheaply they must have been built well for it is said some of them raced more races than any type of boat ever built, and I am told some of them are quite sound now at the age of fifty-seven years. They have probably given more pleasure and sport for the money than any yachts.
It was found in their first year of racing that it never paid to reef in a race, and these little ships carried whole sail in heavy squalls and raced during storms. The Thirties went on many New York Yacht Club runs in their early years. They were very small vessels compared to the fleets before 1917. They were very much alike in dimension and speed, perhaps more so than any class ever built, and if I remember a-right after all these years, one of the best helmsmen on the Sound bought the one which came in last in their first year's racing and brought her in first at the end of the next year. This is not so strange for, although few people seem to realize it, slight variation in size and shape have much less influence on the speed of a vessel than such things as the condition of the yacht and her sails, while helmsmanship and tactics used in the race are of much greater importance. Thus in one-design classes the same few yachts win day after day with tiresome monotony, and the indifferent or second-class sailors should never compete in one-design classes but should always race in open classes where occasionally they have a chance to win if they have a yacht that is either generally superior or a one-weather boat that has an advantage under certain conditions." (Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. An Introduction to Yachting. New York, 1963, p. 165.)

"Herreshoff Manufacturing Company
Bristol, R.I.
Oct. 11, 1904
Mr. N. D. Lawton, Esq.
40 Wall St,
New York, N.Y.
Dear Sir:-
Referring to the correspondence with our Mr. N. G. Herreshoff and blue print submitted you, we would be pleased to design and build for you and your associates, eight or more fast cruising sloop yachts, each having the following general dimensions:-
Length over all 40ft 8in.
Length on water line 30ft.
Beam 8ft 8in.
Draft 6ft.
To be constructed throughout in the very best manner and of the best materials of their respective kinds. The outboard planking to be double. Main deck to be left bright or covered with canvass as may be preferred.
Deck house to be of mahogany. Inside finish to be in white with mahogany trimmings.
To have water closet, basin, stove, cushions, mattresses, pillows, bed clothing and a moderate quantity of dishes.
Yacht to be rigged complete, having hollow mast, gaff and boom. Each yacht to have a Mainsail, # 1 Jib, # 2 Jib, Balloon Jib and Spinnaker.
All painting and varnishing to be done in the most thorough manner. Bottom to have the Herreshoff Anti-Fouling paint. To be painted white above water line and to have a gilt name on stern. The boats to be steered by a tiller. Each boat to have one anchor with suitable cable, deck lines, 2 fenders and 4 life preservers. Also running and anchor lights and spirit compass with light.
If ordered soon we can build a lot of eight boats for the sum of Thirty-five Thousand Two Hundred ($35,200.00) dollars. First payment to be Eighty-eight Hundred ($8800.00) dollars, payable upon the signing of the contract. Second payment to be Eighty-eight Hundred ($8800.00) dollars, payable when the first four boats are completed. Third payment to be Eighty-eight Hundred ($8800.00) dollars, payable when the second four boats are completed. The fourth and final payment to be Eleven Hundred ($1100.00) dollars on each boat, when it is delivered alongside of our dock at Bristol, R. I.
Yours respectfully,
Herreshoff Mfg CO.
John B. Herreshoff. Prest.
[Signed for JBH:] N.B.S. [Newell B. Sheldon].
[With hand-scribbled calculation in lower left corner: 8 / $35200.00 - $4400.00.]" (Source: Herreshoff, John B. [Letter to N. D. Lawton.] New York Yacht Club Archive. October 11, 1904.)

"Bristol, R. I., Nov. 5. 1904. ... The Herreshoffs are preparing to build new boats in the 30-foot classes." (Source: Anon. "X.P.D.N.C. Is A Flyer." Boston Herald, November 6, 1904, p. ?.)

"[License issued to vessel under 20 tons. Pos. 118:]
Ibis, sloop yacht, of Bristol.
Built at Bristol, 1905.
8 tons; 34 ft. x 9 ft. x 5.3 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
No specifications shown.
Lic[ensed] ([as] yacht) May 8, 1905. Owner: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol. Master: N. G. Herreshoff, Bristol. ([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. Ibis.)

"The following sales have been made through the office of Stanley M. Seaman: ... The New York Y. C. 30-footer Nirvana ex Ibis, sold for Arthur G. Hill to John A. Ten Eyck, of Bridgeport. Conn." (Source: Anon. "Yachts Change Hands." Forest and Stream, October 18, 1913, p. 499.)

"An unusual demand for pleasure boats of every size and type is evidenced by the number of transfers recently recently effected through the office of Stanley M Seaman, 220 Broadway, New York City. ... NIRVANA, 30-footer, [was sold] from John A. Ten Eyck III. to E. H. Prentice, New York City ... " (Source: Anon. [Title?] Power Boating, 1915, vol 13-14, [p. 101?].)

"Butler Whiting is handling the 30 footer Silhouette, which was formerly the Ibis, and is picking up firsts or seconds each time the yacht starts. Whiting is one of the best sailors on the Sound. [Silhoette's owner in 1915 was consistently listed as E. H. Prentice, indicating that Whiting must have been her skipper.]" (Source: Anon. "Yachting Flotsam and Jetsam." New York Sun, July 18, 1915, p. 13.)

"Essex, May 15 [1921]. The Herreschoff [sic] built New York thirty-footer, 'Silhouette' now at the Dauntless shipyards has been sold to Captain W. A. Walters, of City Island. She will be thoroughly overhauled and painted, and Captain Walters intends to enter her for some class races this coming season. ..." (Source: Anon. "Essex Preparing For Yachting Season." Hartford Daily Courant, May 16, 1921, p. 4.)

"... The roster of the yachts which will race this year, as compiled by Frank Bowne Jones, Vice President of the association [Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound], is headed by six of the New York Yacht Club fifty-footers, all of which were in seclusion last year, and from these all the way down through the list come classes which have provided able competition in these events in the past.
The list of the boats by classes, with sailing number and owner's name, follows : ... New York 30-Footers, D. R. Richardson, Secretary --- 1, Alera [#626s], F. W. Belknap; 2, Silhouette [ex Ibis #627s], R. H. Amberg; 4, Houqua [ex Maid of Meudon #629s], W. G. Low Jr.; 5, Lena [ex Pintail #630s], O. Reid; 7, Alice [ex Tabasco #632s], G. Davis; 9, Amorita [ex Adelaide II #635s], F. B. Bragdon; 11, Oriole [#637s], S. C. Pirie; 12, Rowdy [ex Neola ll #638s], H. L. Curry; 13, Minx [#648s], W. H. Hoffman; 15, Banzai [#640s], E. Lang; 16, Nautilus [#642s], M. E. Hatfield; 18, Adois [sic, i.e. Adios ex Anemone II #647s], F. L. Richards; 19, Mizpah [ex Cara Mia #639s], D. R. Richardson. ..." (Source: Anon. "N. Y. Fifty-Footers Head Yachting Roster." New York Times, May 24, 1921, p. 23.)

"HAVING passed through their twentieth racing season, it may be said that the New York Yacht Club Thirty-footers offer the finest example in American racing annals of what it means to have a good class hold together. Leaving the building ways at the famed Herreshoff yards at Bristol in the spring of 1905, eighteen of these fine racing sloops took a lively part in the sport of that season. Now, a score of years later, we find that sixteen of the 'Thirties' were in commission during the past season and that many of them took part in the racing and cruising throughout the season on Long Island Sound. Considering the age of the class, this is truly a remarkable showing. ...
A roster of the original owners of the Thirties contains names that have loomed large at times in American yachting. ... Ibis, No. 2 (now Silhouette) [was initially owned by] by C. O'Donnell Iselin ...
... In gathering data for a record of this truly remarkable yacht racing class the writer received valuable assistance from W. P. Stephens, recorder of the Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound, and Harry L. Maxwell. The following complete list of the Thirties and their many owners was compiled from the records of Mr. Stephens: ...
2. Ibis. Built for C. O'Donnell Iselin. 1908, J. P. Morgan, Jr. --- 1910, Howard W. Maxwell --- 1913, W. H. Busk --- 1914, John A. Ten Eyck, 3d (Nirvana) --- 1916, E. H. Prentice (Silhouette) --- 1917, Charles Hollingshead --- 1917, H. Francis Duryea --- 1918, C. Rexford Croul --- 1921, R. H. Amberg." (Source: Lawrence, Seabury. "The New York Thirties. An Interesting Sketch of America's Most Famous One-Design Class." Yachting, January 1925, p. 28-30.)

"The New York Yacht Club thirty-footer Silhouette, formerly the property of R. H. Amberg, has been renamed the Liza D. and is owned by Commander Dallett, Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club." (Source: Anon. "Notes of Yachts and Yachtsmen." New York Times, May 29, 1928, p. 21.)

"N. Y. Y. C. 30-FT. CLASS Secretary S. C. Pirie
[#626s], NY-1, Alera, Howard P. Whitney, Jr.
[#627s], NY-2, Liza, D John Dallett
[#628s], NY-3, Atair, Charles T. Stork
[#629s], NY-4, Interlude, Melville R. Smith
[#630s], NY-5, Lena, Ogden Reid
[#632s], NY-7, Alice, Gherardi Davis
[#633s], NY-8, Mermaid, Leo Friede
[#635s], NY-9, Amorita, Howard C. Brokaw
[#636s], NY-10, Linnet, Charles H. Talcott
[#637s], NY-11, Oriole, S. C. Pirie
[#648s], NY-13, Phantom, A. H. Renshaw
[#640s], NY-15, Banzai, Edmond Lang
[#642s], NY-16, Taurus, W. L. Inslee
[#643s], NY-17, Phyrne, J. P. Morgan" (Source: Anon. "Racing Numbers Long Island Sound Yacht Racing Association." Rudder, August 1928, p. 102.)

"The following is a complete list of the Thirties, with record of their various changes of names and of owners: ...
2. Ibis. Built for C. O'Donnell Iselin. 1908, J. P. Morgan, Jr. --- 1910, Howard W. Maxwell --- 1913, W. H. Busk --- 1914, John A. Ten Eyck, 3d (Nirvana) --- 1916, E. H. Prentice (Silhouette) --- 1917, Charles Hollingshead --- 1917, H. Francis Duryea --- 1918, C. Rexford Croul --- 1921, R. H. Amberg. 1927, sold to John Dallett and sent to Porto Rico on the deck of one of the Red D (Dallett) Line of steamers. 1927, name of yacht (Silhouette). ..." (Source: Schoettle, Edwin J. "The New York Thirties." In: Sailing Craft, New York, 1928, p. 579-588.)

"... Some [owners] liked the Thirties so well they came back into the class after dropping out. ... J. P. Morgan first had No. 2 [#627s Ibis], later had No. 17 [#643s Phryne], sold her, and bought her back again. ...
To attempt a complete history of these amazing old yachts would be a prohibitive and probably a thankless undertaking. But here are a few details from their life stories: ...
No. 2. As Ibis she was built for C. O'Donnel Iselin. Her second owner, in 1908, was J. P. Morgan. In 1927 then called Silhouette, she was shipped to Puerto Rico, but she found her way back to the Sound and is now Huntress, owned by Barbara and Morton Engel, of Larchmont, N.Y. ..." (Source: Taylor, William H. "The Thirties Are Fifty. A Salute To The First Class Of One-Design Racing Yachts To Reach The Half Century Mark." Yachting Magazine, March 1955, p. 55-57, 120-122.)

"... Long Island is home to a floating museum dedicated to salvaging a small part of the boating history of this country. Full Sea, the hobby, or obsession, of founder David Kiremidjian, of Manhasset, is a non-profit museum which has acquired by donation a fleet of 18 wooden sailing vessels which date from around 1880 to the 1960s and which has as its purpose the preservation of the tradition of old wooden sailboats. ...
Full Sea's collection began when Kiremidjian approached che owner of a 44-foot so-called New York 30, one of 13 identical boats built in 1905 by the famed maritime engineer Nathanael Herreshoff for the New York Yacht Club. The owner, who had recently invested a small fortune restoring the boat, was pleased to donate the vessel to the museum in exchange for a guarantee that it would receive tender loving care and be preserved for future generations to admire. ... [Though not identified by name, this is a reference to #627s Ibis.]" (Source: Famighetti, Jeri. "Full Sea: LI's Floating Museum." Glen-Cove Record Pilot. November 28, 1981.)

"A three-year-old organization called Full Sea, based in Sea Cliff, Long Island, is dedicated to saving and restoring classic wooden sailboats. Headed by David Kiremidjian, a forty-four-year-old associate professor of comparative literature at Brooklyn College, the group has already acquired seventeen boats. The collection ranges from a 1880 Crosby catboat to the queen of the fleet, a 52-foot Burgess-designed and built P Class sloop named Chips.
In various stages of restoration and repair are two NY 30s, Ibis [#627s] and Phantom (ex-Minx) [#648s], a 47-foot Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 30, Arria [#566s], built in 1902, and a 50-foot Herreshoff Bar Harbor 30, Scud [#603s], built in 1903. ..." (Source: Shope, Roger H. "Long Island Group Collecting Museum Fleet of Yachts." Sail, September 1982, p. ?)

"The 'Ibis' was built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. in Bristol, Rhode Island in the early spring of 1905, hull number two of eighteen boats commissioned by the New York Yacht Club to be built as ocean racers with a thirty-foot water line.
When the boat was originally designed she was to be 27 1/2' on the water line and 36' overall. The racing rules at that time restricted boats of less than thirty feet from participating in races. When Mr. Hereshoff was informed of this he said there would be no trouble. He just extended the construction stations until he had a thirty foot waterline and a forty-four foot overall with an 8 1/2' beam. This is why the New York thirties are so long and narrow.
The wood they used then was not what is used now. Cypress and pine was soaked for four years in the salt marshes. Then it was hauled up on land and let dry there another four or five years until the wood was well seasoned.
The original owner of the 'Ibis' was C. O'Donnell Iselin, of the New York Yacht Club. He sailed the boat for two years and in 1908 she was sold to J. P. Morgan. He owned the boat for several years, after which she was sold again and changed hands several times until the twenties. Some time in the twenties she was named 'Silhouette,' under which name she raced frequently and became well known. Cornelius (Corny) Shields once crewed on this boat. These thirties are the world's most raced ocean-class sail boats.
In 1927 she was set on the deck of a Red D freighter and was sent to Puerto Rico, at which time John Dallett, the owner of the steamship company, and of the boat; sailed her back to New York from Puerto Rico.
In the mid-thirties the 'Ibis', then called the 'Ione' (goddess of wind), was kept at the City Island Yacht Club.
In the Hurricane of 1938 the 'Ibis' was driven onto the beach at Throg's Neck, was salvaged and purchased by the Eddie Quest and John Rodstrom who installed the first engine in her and rebuilt the cabin with a doghouse, and changed the rig from a gaff-rigged sloop to a marconi yawl. In 1945 the boat was sold to a John Hurley of New Jersey, at which time I became acquainted with the vessel.
She changed hands the next several years and in 1952 was owned by Morton Engle under the name of 'Huntress.' It is said that she sank in ninety feet of water off Hen and Chickens Island in Long Island Sound during Hurricane Carol. She was towed out and put up for auction to Jack Pomeroy who stripped the ballast lead, the mast, and all usable equipment to refurbish a sixty-foot ketch called 'Alice.'
For four years the hull lay in Jake's Boat Yard at Mamaroneck until it was bought by one John Caulfield.
John launched the hull and brought her down to the New York Yacht Club marina in Pelham Manor, but he was required to anchor her behind Hunter's Island. It was there that I first saw the boat in this condition, not realizing that it was the same magnificent boat I knew thirteen years earlier. We contacted John Caulfield and purchased the boat for one hundred dollars.
In 1953 we installed 28 sister frames on the starboard side. We started buying lead and gathering gear to put this boat in sailing condition, purchased 1800 pounds of lead and installed it as inside ballast. We rebuilt the engine and used the 'Ibis' as a power boat for the next few years. During this time we gathered more lead, masts and miscellaneous paraphernalia that we thought would be necessary to rig the boat. In September 1965 we poured and installed the lead keel. We rebuilt and extended the spar which was to become 'Ibis' mainmast. In October 1965 we stepped the mast and sailed her for the first time in twelve years.
In 1966 she was chartered and did work for the Seven Seas Sailing Club; she still does on occasion. In 1971 the forward section was completely sistered with new chain plate bolts, new chain plate frames and new floor timbers.
In 1969-7[0?] we replaced the horn timber and all the floors from the fore fwd section to the engine board, redecked over the existing deck with 1/4'' plywood and fiberglased the entire deck. The 'Ibis' is now a completed yacht and will sail, keep up with or pass some of the most modern fiberglas boats designed today." (Source: Anon. (William A. Wolf?). "The Ibis." http://www.ny30.org/pdfs/theIbis.pdf, accessed December 29, 2010, originally written ca. 1972.)

"WoodenBoat:
While at the Seattle Wooden Boat Show, I picked up the July/August [1980] issue of WoodenBoat and to my indescribable delight, I found the article concerning the N. Y. 30s.
Because I have a special interest in a particular N. Y. 30, I have been doing research on my own in Seattle and can provide a missing bit of history of the No. 2 N. Y. 30 HUNTRESS, otherwise known as IBIS. I will refer to her as HUNTRESS, as that is the only name I've ever known her by.
In Mr. Kiremidjian's wonderful article, he describes what became of HUNTRESS after she sank and was subsequently salvaged by Jack Pomeroy. He states that what remained of her after salvage was laid up in a yard in Mamaroneck for four years. She was there, all right, but she didn't just lay! There were two owners in that space of time whose names should be inserted in the record as owners and caretakers: Mr. Joe Dell and Mr. Edward T. Jacobson.
Joe Dell bought the derelict racer after she was salvaged. Joe and my father were business friends and, as I understand, occasionally talked boats. When Joe got behind on the storage payments and his business transfer out West came through, my father lucked into possession of HUNTRESS. No money was exchanged for her; Dad just paid off the yard owner for the title to the boat.
Now my father was the proud owner of a magnificent, but tired, racing boat. He spent every free weekend doing all the things that could be done with time, labor, and little money.
The HUNTRESS had been stripped of everything useful, including 8,000 lbs of expensive ballast. It was plainly and, I'm sure, painfully evident that he would probably not be able to get her to race or even to sail again. But it was a pleasure and a privilege for Dad to own her and he lovingly did all he could to preserve the old lady. He refinished the brightwork, patched a hole in the hull, and painted her. Here a slight correction needs to be made in Mr. Kiremidjian's article. It was my father, not John Caulfield, who painted her gray. Dad bought the paint from a surplus store in five gallon buckets to protect the aging hull. The paint, a Navy gray, was bought partly because it was inexpensive, but Dad said he also liked the color and that it didn't look too bad on the boat.
And here's one more correction, but kind of an ironic one. When it became a choice to come up with the thousands needed to put her back in the water, or just let her sit, Dad decided to let her seek her destiny in the hands of someone else. She was indeed sold to John Caulfield, as the article states, but not for $400. Dad received the staggering sum of $250 for her, lock, stock, and barrel.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Wolf on behalf of my father and myself, for restoring HUNTRESS. My father was delighted to hear that she even still existed, let alone in sailing form. The story had been circulated that she had sunk again shortly after Dad sold her. I'm sure that if Mr. Wolf was short-handed some weekend, my father would love to take a spin, for old times' sake!
Dwight E. Jacobson, Seattle, WA." (Source: Jacobson, Dwight E. [Letter on New York 30 Huntress.] Wooden Boat #38, January/February 1981, p. 10.)

"In 1980 WoodenBoat published a testimonial to the Herreshoff New York Thirties on their 75th anniversary, and at that time we figured at least two-thirds of the original 18-boat fleet were still in existence. Not all were in sailing condition, however, and most of them needed a good bit of work. Now, nearly four years later, we are happy to report that several Thirties have a new lease on life. CARA MIA (No. 14) [#639s] was very thoroughly restored with nearly all new frames, part of a new keel, new bottom planking, plus a good bit more. The next winter, Paul Stubing, whose Mystic, Connecticut , shop did the work on CARA MIA, went on to do the same thing to No. 18, now called AQUILLA [#647s]. There is rumor that Paul might be getting even another boat of the class for major work soon, although he won't say which one. In Boothbay Harbor, Maine, at the shop of David Nutt , restoration of LINNET (No. 10) is taking place. In Pennsylvania, AMORITA (No. 9) [#635s] was recently rebuilt by Jed Pearsall; the boat is now in Noank, Connecticut, still owned by the Pearsalls. That's four boats. IBIS (No. 2) [#627s] is a fifth one, which, although not as thoroughly gone over as the others, is certainly looking a lot better than in recent times. She belongs to Full Sea, Inc., a Long Island-based organization that was set up a few years ago to accept old yachts as donations, then find ways to lengthen their useful lives. IBIS was one of the yachts donated." (Source: Anon. "On The Waterfront." Wooden Boat #56, January / February 1984, p. 18-19.)

"I first met Willie Wolf --- Captain Willie Wolf --- sometime in 1976. Ibis was hauled for her yearly week of maintenance at a yard in the South Bronx not far from his home on East Tremont Avenue. And she was for sale. Willie was bent deep in the amidships bilge, extracting the floor-to-frame bolts. They were finheads, and had given up. An unlit half-smoked cigar in his mouth, he seemed unmoved by this latest trivial instance of the slow steady corrosive cumulative annihilation of time. The task was the worse for the circumstance that the bolts, some 7/16" in diameter, were no longer straight: the part within the frame end had been hauled north by the strain from the rig, the part within the floor hauled south by the immense leverage of the 4-1/2 ton lead ballast. The section between the two had simply stretched and bent slightly, so the axis of the bolt was no longer single and continuous but now double and parallel, one maybe a quarter inch from the other. The holes in the oak timbers had to have enlarged somewhat at the juncture, so he knew it would also be necessary to drill for a larger fastener. I learned a few years later what his favorite endearment for the boat was, especially when heeled down in 20 knots, and speculated whether or not at that moment also he was calling the boat his sweet bitch.
Nearly twenty years before, Willie had had the hulk of the Ibis dragged off the mudflats of New Rochelle, a few miles east of City Island, just off the facility of the New York AC. The Thirty had been wrecked in the hurricane of 1938, and salvaged by John Rodstrom and Eddie Quest. They installed her first engine, gave her a doghouse in place of the original rectangular trunk cabin, and changed the rig from the original gaff sloop to Marconi yawl. In 1945 she went to John Hurley of New Jersey, and in 1952, now Huntress, to Morton Engel, who raced her successfully for two years. Then she sank in 90 feet of water during Hurricane Carol, was again salvaged and auctioned to Jack Pomeroy, who needed her main spar, ballast, and gear for a 60' Alden ketch he was fitting out. The hulk was then laid up in Mamoroneck, and four years later acquired by John Caulfield, a college student, for $400. Caulfield floated the hull, was refused a mooring at the NYAC, and anchored it over the mudflats. Capt. Wolf, otherwise employed by the Sanitation Department of the City of New York, knew quality when he saw it, bought the derelict from Caulfield for $100 and moored her off the Throggs neck Bridge for the winter. Knew quality twice, uncannily enough, for after he had researched just which boat this was, he recalled a bright morning years before, when, at age 16 in 1946, working as a camp counselor just east of Sag Harbor, he saw 'the most beautifullest boat' anchored south of the Cedar Point lighthouse. Ibis was then under the ownership of Hurley. Willie rowed out and spent some hours with him, and here he now was, the owner himself.
It took him some seven years to rebuild the boat and fit her out once again, but as a familiar in the life of City Island in the late nineteen-fifties, he knew wood boats well and was in the best place to pick up good stuff cheap. Broken frames were sistered, not removed whole and replaced. Much of the hull was refastened and the horn timber replaced. The tired tongue-and-groove decking was overlaid with quarter-inch plywood and glassed. There is a letter from L. Francis Herreshoff advising him to have the new keel cast at a foundry --- piecemeal would result in seams and gaps --- but Willie managed a continuous pour in his backyard anyway. Decent gear was assembled; another marconi yawl rig scavenged up from the luxurious plenty left behind from the last wood boat building decade at a legendary place where taste flowed towards funding the newer designs, as it usually does, while the older boats were fast becoming invisible. Yacht club money, notably New York Yacht Club money, was not yet flowing towards historic preservation. Willie never offered an estimate of what it cost him (in cash outlay) to go from derelict to well-found, but it was not much. Afloat again and sailing out of City Island, Ibis became a talisman of the many Thirties that had once raced in these waters, an object of intense pride to the whole family. But by 1980, with his seven kids grown, and the boat still up for sale, Willie donated her to Full Sea, the restoration group I had conjured up and was operating out of Long Island. Three years later he skippered her back to Sea Cliff from a rendezvous in Oyster Bay with two other newly restored Thirties (Cara Mia (then Lightning) and Anemone (then Aquila)). He was enthusiastic about the new gaff rig and replica trunk cabin complete with varnished coachroof, but you could tell he felt it wasn't the same boat. ..." (Source: Kiremidjian, David. "The Thirties Are Twice Fifty." Typescript, n. p., 2004, p. 1-2.)

"By the time the eighteen New York 30s were ordered by New York Yacht Club members in the fall of 1904, the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. was well equipped to build them, having already delivered about a dozen each of the somewhat similar Buzzards Bay 30s and the Bar Harbor 31s. Still, it seems remarkable that all eighteen New York 30s could be built in such a short time and on such short notice. The first boat, in fact, was tried out only six weeks after the contract was executed, and all eighteen were ready in time for their first race at the end of May 1905.
The popularity and longevity of the New York 30s is astonishing. Naturally, racing was most active before World War I, when the boats were still quite new and were similarly rigged. Fifty-one races, for example, were held in the first season. However, the class was still active in 1930, its twenty-fifth year, and many were still racing when their Golden Jubilee was celebrated in 1955.
When WoodenBoat magazine honored the New York 30s on the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the class (1980), some two-thirds of the fleet ... could still be accounted for! It is a record unsurpassed, and substantiates why the New York 30s are considered by many to be the all-time favorite of the racer/cruiser one-designs.
Created under the aegis of the Universal Rule that calls for measuring waterline length at some distance (one-fourth of the boat's beam) out from the centerline, the New York 30s were leaner lined than their predecessors, especially forward. This made them more seakindly (the hulls pounded less when sailing to windward) and generally more desirable. For eighty-five years now, New York 30s have been raced and sailed in all kinds of weather, and, with their original gaff-sloop rigs, enjoyed a reputation for never having to be reefed, no matter how hard it blew. In her seventy-third year, Cockatoo II (New York 30 #5, ex-Pintail), was daringly sailed --- singlehanded, in fact, by her owner Lloyd Bergeson --- across the Atlantic to Norway. Had Cockatoo II not had the bad luck to fall off a wave and take a fatal blow to her hull on the return trip, she'd still be with us.
NGH was right when, after completion of the New York 30 half model in the fall of 1904, he wrote, 'I am well pleased with it. It has been more pleasure to work on, as I have not had the restraint of getting the biggest boat possible for the waterline length.... They have a good lot of ballast and, I believe, will be mighty good boats.' " (Source: Bray, Maynard and Carlton Pinheiro. Herreshoff of Bristol. Brooklin, Maine, 1989, p. 77.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections with pinpricks and displacement curves titled 'N.Y.Y.C. 30ft w.l. class. Nos. 625 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 30 - 1 - 2 [sic, i.e. #626s, #627s, #628s, #629s, #630s, #631s, #632s, #633s and eventually also #635s, #636s, #637s, #638s, #639s, #640s, #642s, #643s, #647s and #648s] Nov[ember 20, 1904'. With calculations relating to rating and quarter beam length, sail area ('S = 1105[sqft] = limit for S with 27 rating'), displacement total (275 1/2cuft = 17650lbs, displacement variations (325.4[cuft = 20825lbs] at 3in deep or 31.55[ft] w.l. and 229.8[cuft = 14707lbs] at 3in light or 28.40[ft] w.l.) , and wetted surface (309sqft). On verso (with 'Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Established 1861. Incorporated 1879' letterhead) another set of (probably earlier) penciled hull sections with calculations arriving at a total of 286cuft = 18300lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_01820. Folder [no #]. 1904-11-20.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled '626 Class 30ft. [New York 30 class: #626s, #627s, #628s, #629s, #630s, #631s, #632s, #633s and eventually also #635s, #636s, #637s, #638s, #639s, #640s, #642s, #643s, #647s and #648s]. Scale 1/4 & 1/6. Nov[ember] 27, 94[sic, i.e. 1904]'. With calculations and note 'Required 9100lbs with c.g. at .573 of w.l.' and concluding with note 'Final result ... = 9130lbs with c.g. .573 of w.l.'. Calculations show three trials to arrive at final result." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_08030. Folder [no #]. 1904-11-27.)
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"[Item Description:] Printed list titled 'List of Equipment. New York Yacht Club One Design Thirty Foot Class Built By Herreshoff Manufacturing Company' [NY-30 Class: #626s ALERA, #627s IBIS, #628s ATAIR, #629s MAID OF MEUDON, #630s PINTAIL, #631s DAHINDA, #632s TABASCO, #633s CARLITA, #635s ADELAIDE II, #636s LINNET, #637s ORIOLE, #638s NEOLA II, #639s CARA MIA, #640s BANZAI, #642s NAUTILUS, #643s PHRYNE, #647s ANEMONE, #648s MINX]." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.072. Equipment List. Box HAFH.6.2B, Folder One Design 30 Foot. No date (1905 or later).)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections and calculations titled 'N.Y.Y.C. 30ft [#626s, #627s, #628s, #629s, #630s, #631s, #632s, #633s, #635s, #636s, #637s, #638s, #639s, #640s, #642s, #643s, #647s, #648s]. Measured June 22 [1908] for measurements sent by [N.Y.Y.C. measurer] W[illiam] Hallock of 'DAHINDA' [#631s] June 17 vis. o.a. 43.5 / 1[?]7.03 / 96.10 / wl. 30.37'. No year, but June 17, 1908 Hallock date is confirmed by an entry NGH made in his NY30 design notebook." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0395. WRDT04, Folder 34, formerly MRDE08. 1908-06-22.)
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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:] Penciled pantograph hull sections with pinpricks and radials titled 'NYYC 30 [#626s, #627s, #628s, #629s, #630s, #631s, #632s, #633s, #635s, #636s, #637s, #638s, #639s, #640s, #642s, #643s, #647s, #648s] for model for N.Y.Y.C. Apr[il] 1958, scale 3/8in = 1ft'. With no further notes or calculations. (NYYC has two New York 30 half-models made by ASdeWH, one from 1905, the other inscribed on its back with 'this model by A. Sidney DeW. Herreshoff. June 1958')." (Source: Herreshoff, A. Sidney deW. (?) (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_06570. Folder [no #]. 1958-04.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #627s Ibis even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Perry, Lawrence. "The New York Yacht Club One-Design 30-Footers." Yachting Magazine, February 1908, p. 71-74. (649 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: No. Class appreciation including a good overview of NY30 design precedents, the boats and their races. Photos by James Burton, James Huntington and others.
• Lawrence, Seabury. "The New York Thirties: An Interesting Sketch of America's Most Famous One-Design Class." Yachting Magazine, January 1925, p. 28-30. (599 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: No. Twentieth anniversary class appreciation.
• Davis, Gherardi. "A History of the The New York Yacht Club Thirty Foot Class." Manuscript, New York Yacht Club, ca. 1926. (285 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. The best history of the NY30 class with detailed description of the interchange between N. G. Herreshoff and the New York Yacht Club as the boats were built. Written by then owner of Alice ex #632s Tabasco.
• Schoettle, Edwin J. "The New York Thirties." In: Schoettle, Edwin J. Sailing Craft, New York, 1928, p. 579-588. (1,734 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: No known copyright restrictions. Class description and history.
• Taylor, William H. "New York Y. C. Thirty-Foot Class to Celebrate its Silver Jubilee. Twenty-Five Years of Active Racing Mark the 'Thirties' as One of the Best Classes Ever Built." Yachting, May 1929, p. 61-62, 112, 114. (2,169 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Tweny-fifth anniversary class appreciation.
• Slaughter, Sam C. "Class Will Tell. The New York Yacht Club 'Thirties' Celebrate Another Anniversary." Yachting, Vol. 66, November 1939, p. 43-45, 107-108. (2,665 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. NY30 history and whereabouts summary, written by then owner of #626s Alera on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the class.
• Taylor, William H. "The Thirties Are Fifty. A Salute to the First Class of One-Design Racing Yachts to Reach the Half Century Mark." Yachting Magazine, March 1955, p. 55-57, 120-122. (749 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Fiftieth anniversary class appreciation.
• Bray, Maynard. "The New York Thirties." Kiremidjian, David. "Then, But Mostly Now Also." Taylor, William H. "At 25, One of the Best Classes Ever Built." (Reprinted excerpts.) Taylor, William H. "A Salute to the First One-Design Yachts to Reach the Half-Century Mark." (Reprinted excerpts.) Davis, Gherardi. "How It All Began: An Extraordinary Chronology." (Reprinted excerpts.) Wooden Boat #35, July/August 1980, p. 20-34. (1,423 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. New York 30 class portrait written on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the class. Plans, photos, history, partial reprints of older class appreciations.
• Taylor, Roger C. "Fourth Book of Good Boats." Camden, Maine, 1984, p. 201-207. (717 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. New York 30 class portrait. History, plans, photos, sailing characteristics with special emphasis on #630s Cockatoo ex-Pintail. Partial reprint of Taylor, Roger C. Recollections under Sail. Wooden Boat #35, July/August 1980, p. 27-29.
• Kiremidjian, David. "The Thirties Are Twice Fifty." Typescript, n. p., 2004. (118 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: David Kiremidjian. New York 30 class portrait with special emphasis on post-WW II vessel histories.
• Doyle, Bill. "New York 30 Class. 100 Years Young." In: Restoration Quarterly. International Yacht Restoration School: Newport, Fall 2005, p. 6, 8, 11. (213 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Short class history, NY30 whereabouts summary.
• Erwin, Daniel. "The New York 30s. A Century of One-Design Sailing." Wooden Boat #184, May/June 2005, p. 76. (5,324 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. New York 30 class portrait written on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the class. Detailed vessel-by-vessel biographies.

• Ibis (HMCo-made index card)
• Ibis (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: Ibis
Type: J & M
Length: 30'
Owner: Iselin, L.

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

• Ibis
• Nirvana ex-Ibis
• Silhouette ex-Ibis
• 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: Ibis
Type: 30' sloop
Owner: O'Donnell Iselin
Year: 1905
Row No.: 290

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.

Year: 1904
E/P/S: S
No.: 0627
Name: Ibis
LW: 30'
B: 8' 9"
D: 6' 3.5"
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: 4200.00
Last Name: Iselin
First Name: L.

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.

"Sail no. 2." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

"For more information about the New York 30 class, see ny30.herreshoff.info and the NY-30 Class Website." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. June 21, 2016.)

"Ibis was owned by Terry McClinch's Boothbay Harbor Shipyard which in January 2018 was sold with all its assets, including Ibis, to Andy Tyska, president of Rhode Island-based Bristol Marine." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 30, 2018.)

"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 55 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $76/day, 322 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Sail area 1085 sqft 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.)

"[Sail area 1085 sq.ft.]" (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "Formula for Obtaining the Limit of Sail-Area in Yachts when Measured by the Universal Rule Formula." Bristol, R.I., July 13, 1907 with later additions. Original handwritten (in ink) document with penciled additions. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE06_00080.)

"Displacement 276.5 cu.ft. [= 17,696 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.)

"[Displacement (276 cubic feet = 17,664 lbs).]" (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "Formula for Obtaining the Limit of Sail-Area in Yachts when Measured by the Universal Rule Formula." Bristol, R.I., July 13, 1907 with later additions. Original handwritten (in ink) document with penciled additions. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE06_00080.)

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