HMCo #673s Rebekah

"... Buzzards Bay 15 [Name], 503+ [Building Number], 16.8 [Rating], 15 [Waterline], 16.56 [L = length at 1/4 beam as for Universal Rule], 5.98 [B = breadth of waterline as for Universal Rule], 2.4 [d = draft of water as for Universal Rule], 38 [D = displacement in cubic foot as for Universal Rule (= 2,432 lbs or 1.1 long tons)], 352.5 [Sail Area], 500 [Sail limit Present rule], -147.5 [Diff.], 326 [Sail limit Proposed rule], 26.5 [Diff.], Requires crew to windward [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.)

"Also in 1899, the Buzzards Bay Fifteen Footers started, first with an order of seven, but augmented to seventeen. This class has been added to for thirty-one years, so there have been about eighty built." (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. 67.)

"Official Number of Racing Yachts.
Herreshoff Fifteen-Foot One Design Class
E-0 Vim [#503s]
E-1 Anita [#672s]
E-2 Peacock [#505s]
E-3 Awahnee [#673s]
E-4 Tinker [#650s]
E-5 Jub Jub [#509s]
E-6 Uarda [#511s]
E-7 Fly [#518s]
E-8 Ranzo [#519s]
E-9 Seeps [#645s]
E-10 Hyassa [#726s]
E-11
E-12 Endeavour [#693s]
E-13
E-14
E-15 Yalu [#651s]
E-16 Jack [#653s]
E-17 Jill [#654s]
E-18 White Rabbit
E-19 Flickamaroo [#785s?]
E-20
E-21
E-22
E-23 Pheasant [#704s]
E-24 Pronto [#700s]
E-25 Polly [#680s]
E-26 Maribee [#731s]
E-27 Scoot [#730s]
E-28 Noanet [#735s]
E-29 Natella [#739s]." (Source: Beverly Yacht Club. Yearbook. 1915, p. 13.)

"Awahnee is a Buzzards Bay 15 Class gaff-rigged centerboard sloop. This popular one-design class of 1899 (HMC Class #503) resulted in nearly one hundred boats including the Newport 15's, which were identical to the Buzzards Bay 15's except for having keels six inches deeper. Additionally a fleet of marconi-rigged Watch Hill 15's was built in 1922-1923.
The Buzzards Bay 15's originally sailed out of the Beverly Yacht Club in the shallow waters of the north reaches of the Buzzards Bay. (Prior to the construction of the Cape Cod Canal.) They were designed shortly after the 90 foot waterline America's Cup Defender Columbia (winner in 1899 and 1901) HMC #499 and many see a resemblance in their hull forms.
Originally built for Franklin Hobbs, Awahnee was purchased in 1915 by Chandler Hovey, a prominent Boston yachtsman who later owned the J boats Rainbow and Yankee, and the 12 meter, Easterner. David and Daniel Cheever bought Awahnee in the late 1940's, kept her in pristine condition, and sailed extensively in Buzzards Bay. In 1997 the Cheever's donated Awahnee to the museum after a sailing career of 90 years.
Acc. no. 97.1907." (Source: Herreshoff Marine Museum." Awahnee (Ex-Rebekah) Buzzards Bay 15 Class. HMC #673 - 1907." Plaque on Display with Awahnee. 2019.)

• Cheever, David. "The Herreshoff Fifteens." The Log of Mystic Seaport, v. 24, No. 2., Summer 1972, p. 38-44. (106 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Short class history, detailed vessel description and appreciation and a thrilling account of a typical race of Buzzards Bay 15 at the Beverly Yacht Club. Special focus on #554s Fiddler ex-Nora, now in the collection of Mystic Seaport Museum.
• Brainerd, Alec with Bernard H. Gustin and Steven K. Nagy. "The Herreshoff 15 is Alive and Well." In: Herreshoff Marine Museum (Publisher). Proceedings. The Classic Yacht Symposium 2010. Bristol, R.I. 2010. (5,834 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Alec Brainerd, Bernard H. Gustin, Steven K. Nagy / Herreshoff Marine Museum. Class history, construction and restoration comments, building and sailing a replica, detailed class register (including replicas). Photos, drawings.
• van der Linde, Claas. "Herreshoff 15-Footers: Building Dates and Model Variations." December 7, 2021. (380 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Claas van der Linde. Tabular summary of Herreshoff 15-footer construction dates and model variations. Together with information of BB15 sail numbers, boat names and boat owners from various year books of the Beverly Yacht Club.

• Rebekah (HMCo-made index card)
• Rebekah (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: Rebekah
Type: J & M
Length: 15'
Owner: Hobbs, F. W.

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

• Rebekah
• 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: Rebekah
Type: 15' sloop
Owner: Franklin W. Hobbs
Year: 1906
Row No.: 563

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: Mar
Day: 5
Year: 1907
E/P/S: S
No.: 0673
Name: Rebeka
LW: 15'
B: 6' 9"
D: 2' 3"
Rig: J & M
K: y
CB: y
Ballast: O. Lead
Amount: 975.00
Last Name: Hobbs
First Name: F. W.

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.

"Regular Buzzards Bay 15s had a 15-foot waterline, 6' 9" beam, 2' 3" draft plus a centerboard, gaff rig, and a coaming that curves around the front of the cockpit." (Source: Nagy, Steve. June 1, 2008.)

"Sail number E-3 (1907-1913)." (Source: Nagy, Steve. "The Herreshoff 15 Footer." http://www.herreshoffregistry.org/doc/15_Fleet_Register.pdf, retrieved April 1, 2009.)

"Donated in 1997 by Daniel & David Cheever to the Herreshoff Marine Museum." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 8, 2012.)

"[Sail area 352.5 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 (38 cubic feet = 2432 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.