HMCo #691s More Joy

"[1909-06-12] Sat 12: ... Set up #691 [More Joy].
[1915-04-08] Thu 8: Fair & warm W A.M. H[eavy] shower at 11. Latched up at St Georges & left [on the] 11 o'clock stage. Go to Hamilton Hotel. Take walk in p.m. to marine r[ailwa]y & see Dorothy 2 [Q-boat #668s which at the time was owned by Stuart S. W. Hamilton in Hamilton, Bermuda], More Joy [Q-boat #691s which at the time was owned by J. D. B. Talbot in Hamilton, Bermuda] & Achilles [Q-boat designed and built by Burgess & Packard in 1908 and owned by Dudley M. Trott M.D. in Hamilton, Bermuda] hauled out. With the Greenes in evening." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1915. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"No. 691 [#691s].
Class Q. Keel.
Frame spaces 10 1/2".
Siding of stem 3 1/4".
Sheer height (S) in to top of deck.
Planking 7/8 scant[?].
Timbers 1 7/8 thick, 1/2 below rabbet." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.167.] May 1909. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"Charles A. Childs, a member of the New York Yacht Club, has placed an order with Herreshoff to build a racing sloop yacht for the 25 foot class that will be faster than the Eleanor [#669s], owned by F. T. Bedford. This new yacht is to be ready for racing by the latter part of June and will race in the events on Gravesend Bay. The boat will be built of mahogany and in model will be similar to the Adventuress [#685s], built for C. C. Rumrill. No expense is to be spared to make this boat the fastest in her class. The Thompson cup is for boats of this class. This trophy is held by the Atlantic Yacht Club until it has been won three times by the same yachtsman and the series will be sailed on September 2, 3, and 5 [?]. Last year this trophy was won by the Eleanor, and until this new yacht was ordered it looked as if the Eleanor would practically have a sailover for the cup this year." (Source: Anon. "Yacht to Beat the Eleanor." New York Sun, May 5, 1909, p. 2.)

"... Charles A. Childs, one of the active skippers in Gravesend Bay, has placed an order with the Herreshoffs for a racing sloop of the 25-foot class to beat F. T. Bedford's Eleanor. The latter boat won the Thompson trophy last year in the first race during the Atlantic Yacht Club's race week. The new boat will be ready
for racing late in June [1909], and will compete during the Summer in all of the leading events in Gravesend Bay. ..." (Source: Anon. "Yachting Notes." New York Times, May 16, 1909, p. S3.)

"BRISTOL, R. I., June 26 [1909] --- The Herreshoff shops are nearly empty of new and old boats, as there is but one boat building in the shops at present, and that is for C. A. Childs of New York for the 31-foot class [#691s More Joy]. She is planked up and ready to have inside fittings attached. ..." (Source: Anon. "Bristol Notes." Boston Globe, June 27, 1909, p. 40.)

" 'More Joy,' the new 25-foot knock-about, built for Charles A. Childs of the New York yacht club, was launched from the South boat shop of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Wednesday [July 7, 1909] morning. She is deep draft and narrow beam, and her trunk cabin shows about a foot above deck. She is finished in mahogany." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity" Bristol Phoenix, July 9, 1909, p. 2.)

"BRISTOL, R I, July 17 [1909] --- ... ... Racing sloop More Joy, built for Charles A. Childs of New York by Herreshoff, having proven fast and able in a number of tests under sail here, left the harbor Monday afternoon for Gravesend bay, N Y. ..." (Source: Anon. "Bristol Notes." Boston Globe, July 18, 1909, p. 38.)

"... More Joy, a new Class Q boat, made her appearance. This boat was built by Herreshoff for Commodore W. H. Childs, who has made quite a mystery of her. The Commodore likes mysteries, and he makes odd selections for names. His first boat was Trouble. This he followed with More Trouble. Joy came next, and now he has More Joy and the Sonder boat Joyette.
More Joy is much like Naulahka [#687s] in appearance, and she did not show well in her first race, being beaten by Princess and Eleanor. Her rigging slacked up so that she could not be driven. She will do better. ..." (Source: Anon. "Larchmont Race Week." Forest and Stream, July 24, 1909, p. 142.)

"Interest was added to the seventh championship regatta of the Yacht Racing Association of Gravesend Bay yesterday by the appearance of More Joy, the new Herreshoff boat, in her home waters. The craft was defeated by Vingt-Trois by 2 minutes and 13 seconds over a 9.6 nautical mile course. The new boat defeated Soya by 1 minute and 47 seconds. Vingt-Trois's win was all the more surprising as her owner, R. A. Brown, has just purchased Manhasset, considered the fastest 20-footer in metropolitan waters, so as to have a boat that could successfully sail against More Joy.
The wind was light and from the southeast. It gave the craft a broad reacn on the port tack from the starting line off Sea Gate to a mark off Norton's Point. Then came a run across the channel to the Craven Shoal Buoys, followed by a reach to Fort Hamilton and a windward leg to Bensonhurst. ..." (Source: Anon. "Yacht More Joy Loses. Vingt-Trois Outsails New Herreshoff Racer in Gravesend Bay Regatta." New York Times, August 1, 1909, p. S3.)

"Twenty boats sailed yesterday in the annual midsummer regatta of the Bensonhurst Yacht Club. The contest, the eighth to count on the yacht racing championship of Gravesend Bay, was decided in a light breeze from the south by west that hardly sent the boats over the course. Tho winners In the different classes were More Joy In the 'Q' division; F. C. Noble's Gunda in the 'S' class; Mouse among the Gravesend Bay knockabouts; the New York Canoe Club dinghey Bull Finch and La Cubana, which won the first division of the handicap class on corrected time.
The starting line was off Bensonhurst and the first leg was a broad reach on the starboard tack to the Bensonhurst spar buoy. Here the yachts jibed booms to starboard and set ballooners for another reach to Fort Hamilton. The next leg was a beat down the channel. Then came another reach across tho channel to Sea Gate, followed by a run home." (Source: Anon. "More Joy a Winner. New Herreshoff Yacht Scores Her First Victory In Gravesend Bay." New York Times, August 8, 1909, p. S3.)

"The regatta of the Atlantic Yacht Club yesterday evoked unusual interest because of the first appearance of the Florence, the new twenty-five foot racing sloop of R. A. Brown. The craft, which was formerly called the Manhasset, raced in the Q division, and won the class from the More Joy, the new Herreshoff boat, recently brought to Gravesend Bay. The Florence defeated the More Joy by 1 minute 24 seconds in a 10.5 mile race. The latter led home the Soya, which in turn finished ahead of the Joy." (Source: Anon. "The Florence Too Fast. Atlantic Club Races. Fine Breeze Sends Yachts Over Course in Clipping Style." New York Times, August 15, 1909, p. 9.)

"The Q Class was the feature of the afternoon regatta. The contest was the eleventh to count on the yachting championship of the Lower Bay, and naturally the craft sailed championship courses within Gravesend bay. The Q division was increased by the advent of F. T. Bedford's speedy yacht, the Eleanor [#669s]. The best that the Long Island Sound craft could do was to take second place, 1 minute and 15 seconds astern of the new Herreshoff creation, the More Joy. The Q division sailed twice around a course made up of a reach on the starboard tack from the starting line to the Bensonhurst mark, a gybe and a run to Fort Hamilton, a reach down the channel to the Craven Shoal buoys, a beat to Sea Gate and a broad reach home. The More Joy led at every mark." (Source: Anon. "The More Joy Wins." New York Times, August 29, 1909, p. 10.)

"There is every indication now that the racing season on Gravesend Bay this year will be very good indeed. ... Last year Commodore W. H. Childs had More Joy built by Herreshoff. More Joy did not make a particularly good showing in her first year, but she will be in better shape next summer and will make the best of the new ones hustle to win. ..." (Source: Anon. "New Yachts for Class Q." Forest and Stream, January 8, 1910, p. 63.)

"The records of the Gravesend Bay Y. R. A. have been made up for the past season. This association is made up of the Atlantic, Brooklyn and Bensonhurst yacht clubs, the Marine & Field Club, the New York Canoe Club and the Crescent Athletic Club. Twenty open regattas were sailed during the season, and in these forty-one yachts raced very consistently. The total number of starters was 471. ... More Joy, last year's Herreshoff boat, raced only at the close of the season, but in her few races she did well." (Source: Anon. "Gravesend Bay Winners." Forest and Stream, October 8, 1910, p. 582.)

"FOR SALE --- No. 11124; Herreshoff class Q, launched 1909; 41. o.a.; 26.5 w. l., 8.1 beam; 5.1 draught; lead keel. Double planking --- mahogany, yellow pine and cedar; copper and brass screw fastenings. Ratsey sails, new 1910; tender. Very successful racing Gravesend Bay and L. I. S. Y. R. A. 1909 and 1910. Address Seaman & Huntington. 220 Broadway, New York. [Though not identified by name, her dimensions, building year and class leave More Joy as the only possible choice.]" (Source: Anon. "For Sale." Rudder, December 1910, p. 54.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled midship section sketch titled '#691 [MORE JOY]. Q class. Scale 3/4. May [19]09. With scantling calculations and a list of particulars 'Prelim[inary]. o.a. 39[ft]. w.l. 26.4 (26 4 3/4). qbl 25.0. Beam 8.5. Beam wl.l. 8.06 (8ft 3/4in). Draft 5.98 (5 11 3/4). Disp. 180 = 5645^3. S 882 = 29.7^2'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Penciled Sketch. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_01310. Folder [no #]. 1909-05.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled 'No. 691 [#691s MORE JOY] Scale 1/8 size. May [19]09'. With calculations and note 'Required 7360lbs lead with c.g. at .5525 of l.w.l. Frame spaces 10 1/2 inches ...' and concluding with note 'Result. 17800cuin on # 24.67 frame = 7320lbs with c.g. at .5525 of l.w.l.'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_08650. Folder [no #]. 1909-05.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections titled 'Finished model. No 691 [#691s MORE JOY]. Q class. Scale 1/16. May 7, 1909. Length o.a. 41ft. lwl 2.4ft. q.b.l. 24.85[ft]'. With calculations arriving at a total displacement of 181.4cuft [11609lbs] and a wetted survace of 244.8 and a sail area of 882.5[sqft]." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_01300. Folder [no #]. 1909-05-07.)
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"[Item Transcription:] Order book with carbon copy duplicates of instructions given by NGH titled 'Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Orders from N.G. Herreshoff'. Relevant contents:
§115: Work Order [For] #691s. [When wanted] Early in July. Rigging [2 pages] (1909-05-19 & 1909-05-24)
§117: Work Order [For] #691s. [When wanted] Early in July. Spars (1909-05-24)
§118: Work Order [For] #691s. [When wanted] Early in July. Blocks (1909-05-25)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Order Book. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE08_03460. Folder [no #]. 1900-02 to 1909-10.)
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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:] Artifact. Eleven wooden scales of different gradations of which 10 appear to be home-made. Two scales are stamped into the wood '1:200000 Mile' and 1:80000 Mile', respectively. Three scales have a similar rectangular notch at their end. One scale is marked '3/16 Shrink'. Another scale is marked '10 1/2 spaces. 3/4 scale [i.e. 1:16]'. Was this scale used on NGH's model measuring instrument to define a model's measuring (frame) stations? It is known that a marked wooden batten was used for doing so. (It might have been used for #691s MORE JOY, one of the few boats with 10 1/2" frame spaces AND a model scale of 1:16.)" (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. (?) (creator). Artifacts (Wooden Scales). Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDED2_00250. Folder [no #]. No date.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #691s More Joy even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Palmieri, John. "Q Class and Tondeleyo. History & Condition." Bristol Rhode Island, August 28, 2009 (Revised 3 Mar. 2010). http://www.herreshoff.org/news/index_100_2081260885.pdf, retrieved January 29, 2010. (1,116 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Herreshoff Marine Museum.
• van der Linde, Claas. [Layered Comparison of Model and Plans to Demonstrate Re-Use of Model from Sally III to More Joy.] February 16, 2022. (780 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Claas van der Linde. Layered document which allows clicking on and off overlaid transparent layers showing images of old and new plans and a model to demonstrate that the 'nick' in the model's rudderblade is not an accidental one but the result of it having been reused by NGH from an old one that had originally been made in 1896 for #482s Sally III.

• More Joy (HMCo-made index card)
• More Joy (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: More Joy
Type: J & M
Length: 26'5"
Owner: Childs, W. H.

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

• More Joy
• Sea Breeze ex-More Joy
• Tondeleyo ex-More Joy
• 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: More Joy
Type: 26' 5" sloop
Owner: William H. Childs
Year: 1909
Row No.: 451

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: May
Day: 12
Year: 1909
E/P/S: S
No.: 0691
Name: More Joy
LW: 26' 5"
B: 8' 7"
D: 5' 10.5"
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: 4000.00
Notes Constr. Record: Mew Moulds.
Last Name: Childs
First Name: W. H.

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.

"Universal Rule Class Q." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 7, 2009.)

"See also: Henry M. Devereux Collection, Coll. 120, Daniel S. Gregory Ships Plans Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc., 120.108 TONDELEYO; 40.81 ft. Q class sloop Designer, Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., re-rig, Henry M. Devereux; Design #362; Builder, Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.; 1909." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 24, 2010.)

"NGH re-used the old model for #483s Cockatoo (1897-04) and #482s Sally III (1897-05) to make a new one for More Joy. He made it much narrower and completely changed its underwater profile, but the sheer line and transom angle stayed pretty much the same. To accomodate these changes and represent a larger boat at the same time, the model's scale was changed from 1:12 to 1:16. Interestingly, one detail, which on first sight looks like an accidental nick in the model's fragile rudderblade, has stayed the same. This 'nick' is actually the sharp corner between the upper part of the old model's sternpost and its rudderblade. NGH could have filled it by glueing in a piece of wood but evidently decided it was not worth the effort. See the PDF document in More Joy's Auxiliary Documents section for more information. It allows clicking on and off overlaid transparent layers showing old and new plans and the model." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 16, 2022.)

"Built in 56 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $71/day, 207 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Sail area 874.5 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.)

"Displacement 181.4 cu.ft. [= 11,610 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.)

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