HMCo #699s Bibelot

"[1910-04-19] Tue 19: Have order from H.P. Whitney for a Sonder class boat [#699s Bibelot].
[1910-05-11] Wed 11: ... I am working on model for an improved Sonder class boat [a reference to #699s Bibelot whose offset booklet is also dated May 1910].
[1911-04-14] Fri 14: ... Mr. Emmons here. Launched & rigged Bibelot." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1910 to 1911. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"No. 699 [#699s].
Frame spaces 8".
Deduct for planking 5/8".
Deduct for timbers 7/8 at head, increasing moulded way 3/32" per foot.
Sheer height given (S) is to under side of deck.
Deck 5/8".
Keel 1 1/4 above rabbate. In middle part 1 3/4 or 1 7/8 below rabbate.
Top of lead [frame] # 33 1.5.0, # 39 2.1.0." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Handwritten (in pencil and ink) note in Offset Booklet HH.4.173.] May 1910. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"N. G. Herreshoff Bristol, R. I. Oct 18, 1930 {1930/10/18} Dear Francis ... Have been trying to see Nostrum [Nystrom] all the week about the Bibelot drawings, and to-day found him and he will have photos of drawings taken and send you to forward. The drawings have become to opake [opaque] to blueprint. Hoping to see you soon Your affect Father" (Source: Mystic Seaport Museum, L. Francis Herreshoff Collection, Box 17, Folder 6: Letter from N. G. Herreshoff to L. F. Herreshoff.)

"October 10, 1930. {1930/10/10} Dear Father: Enclosed please find a letter to me from Herr Stinnes, one of the German 30-square metre owners. His yacht club has tried to preserve the sonder boat, Bibelot, which Bob Emmons left in Germany. Bibelot has been in use most every year by the junior members of the yacht club. As you can see from the letter they are anxious to re-condition her this winter and put her back to her original shape. I know you do not have the lines but if you could have a partial copy of the table of offsets made I could make up some lines from them, and if you are willing to have the blueprint of the construction plan sent me it would be greatly appreciated. If there is some little expense entailed I shall be glad to pay for this as I try to do what I can to keep up the good feeling which yachting can create between the different countries. (Enc) " (Source: Mystic Seaport Museum, L. Francis Herreshoff Collection, Box 17, Folder 6: Letter from L. F. Herreshoff to N. G. Herreshoff.)

"... Bibelot [was] designed by my father for Harry Paine Whitney, who did not interfere with the design. Bibelot was narrower and had more deadrise of section than the other Sonders [in Massachusetts Bay]. Perhaps she was longer both on waterline and on deck than was usual (which she could have been because of being narrower), but she differed from the other scow Sonders mostly in deck view, for the curve of her sides was a fair sweep from stem to stern and her stern was narrower than usual. Thus the curve along her sides, when heeled, was more appropriate to the speed than the slab sided Sonders. This time the yacht was to be well handled, for she was sailed in all her races by Bob Emmons, and not only did she win in this country but in the international races in Germany she won the Kaiser's Cup, a large and elaborate affair. Bibelot from bow to stern was as graceful as a whippet and in Germany the old timers are still talking about her." (Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. The Common Sense of Yacht Design. Vol. II. New York, 1948, p. 45.)

"Of the smaller sailboats built by the Herreshoff Company during these years were the sonder boats 'Skiddoo,' built for Herbert M. Sears; 'Alarm,' built for Max Agassiz; 'Toboggan,' built for R. W. Emmons; and 'Bibelot,' built for Harry Paine Whitney. The latter was taken to Germany and, when sailed by R. W. Emmons, won the Kaiser Wilhelm cup for sonder boats and is considered the fastest sonder ever built in any country. 'Bibelot' was left in Germany and up until about 1935 was used by the sea scouts at Kiel." (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. 271.)

"H. P. Whitney
165 Broadway New York
April 16th, 1910.
Mr. M.[sic] G. Herreshoff, Bristol, Rhode Island
My dear Mr. Herreshoff:-
I am staying in America this summer for the first time in several years, and think of getting back into the boat racing game again. My notion is, as I have written you various times in the past, to try a large schooner as an experiment, with the idea of getting you to build me one if I like it. I am now negotiating for the 'Atlantic', and in connection with such a boat I want to have a small racing boat. Can you build me a sonder klasse boat, not to go to Kiel, but to race here against the Spanish boats if successful? My idea is to have Mr. Duryea sail the boat with me, and I think it is about time that one of your boats was properly handled in these small classes, and cleaned up the whole show, which I think we could do better than some people who have had the boats.
Trusting you will see your way clear to build me the best boat of this class in the world, for I am sure you can, I am,
Very truly yours..." (Source: Whitney, Harry Payne. [Letter to N. G. Herreshoff.] Herreshoff Marine Museum Correspondence Folder 11 (new). Access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff. April 16, 1910.)

"Harry Payne Whitney has a new sonder boat for racing in that class at Marblehead and at Buzzards Bay during the Summer. The craft, which is named the Pet, was launched at the Herreshoff yards, at Bristol, R. I., last week, and on Saturday [July 16, 1910] received her first trial. Nat Herreshoff, the designer, was at the tiller, trying the little boat on various points of sailing, in all of which the Pet worked wonderfully well in speed features.
The Whitney sonder is low on the freeboard, has a good-sized cockpit, a pole-masted rig, and a small shelter in the way of a cabin in the forward end of the cockpit. The boat is finished in the natural color of mahogany, with which it is planked.
The Pet has a water-line length of 21 feet and the overhangs at each end are 5 feet. [Note: This is apparently a reference to #699s Bibelot, but note that the sonder class boat #695s Peg for Galen Stone had been launched only a few weeks earlier, on May 26, 1910.]" (Source: Anon. "Whitney Has New Sonder. Designed and Built by the Herreshoffs and Does Well in Trial Spin." New York Times, July 19, 1910, p. 5.)

"Mr. Payne Whitney's new sonderklasse boat is hauled out at the [Newport] shipyard. She is a Herreshoff craft, but, as one observer remarked, the only thing which reminds one of Herreshoff is the finish. The overall length is so great that the forestay reaches only to a point about four feet aft of the stem. The fin is carried well aft of the mast, so far that in hauling her out, a rope was put under her forward overhang to keep her bow up. The rudder is something after the old English cutter models, close to the keel and straight up and down, like a barge rudder, and only about a foot wide. There will probably be some races with these boats, as Mr. Harry Payne Whitney has one here and Mr. Max Agassiz has one coming around from Boston." (Source: Anon. "Yacht Notes." Newport Daily News, July 28, 1910, p. 8.)

"BRISTOL, R I. July 30 [1910] --- ... Harry Payne Whitney's sonder boat Pet, which was recently launched from Herreshoff's, was taken to Buzzards Bay Sunday astern of the auxiliary schooner Atlantic, which Mr Whitney has chartered for the season. ... [Note: This is apparently a reference to #699s Bibelot, but note that the sonder class boat #695s Peg for Galen Stone had been launched only a few weeks earlier, on May 26, 1910.]" (Source: Anon. "Bristol Notes." Boston Globe, July 31, 1910, p. 37.)

"The sonder boats, Bibelot [#699s] and Toboggan [#697s], owned by Harry Payne Whitney and Robert W. Emmons, have been laid up until next spring in the Herreshoff yards. The Bibelot is one of the three chosen to go to Kiel next year to race against the German sonders." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, September 16, 1910, p. 2.)

"... Robert W. Emmons 2d's sonder boat Bibelot was not shipped with the Cima and Beaver on the Amerika last Thursday, but will be sent to Kiel, Germany, on a later boat. ..." (Source: Anon. "Notes from the Week's Log." Boston Globe, May 14, 1911, p. 57.)

"... The Bibelot, the third of the American sonder class team which are to race at Kiel for the German emperor's cup, left New York last Wednesday [May 17, 1911] aboard the steamship President Lincoln.
Robert W Emmons 2d, who will sail the sonder racer Bibelot in the international races at Kiel this June, has chartered a steam yacht for use while he is on the other side. The crew of the Bibelot, besides Mr Emmons, will be John Parkinson and H H Wiggin, who raced the yacht in the trial races on Buzzards bay last September. Richard DeB Boardman, who was to race on the Bibelot, because of business found that he could not go, and H H Wiggin has taken his place. ..." (Source: Anon. "Notes from the Week's Log." Boston Globe, May 21, 1911, p. 66.)

"[Detailed account of the races in Kiel, Germany, which resulted in the three American boats winning the international match.]
... Both of the cup winners, the Bibelot of the German emperor's cup and the Beaver of the Prince Henry cup, are skippered by yachtsmen who for many seasons have been sailing small boats on the waters of Buzzards bay. It is on these waters, considered the nearest approach to the usual conditions of wind and sea at Kiel, that Robert W. Emmons 2d, helmsman of Bibelot, and George B. Dabney, helmsman of the Beaver, learned to work a small boat to weather in a strong breeze and through a nasty chop.
The sonder boats, Beaver, Bibelot and Cima, were all built last season. The Cima [designed by C. D. Mower and built at City Island] and the Beaver [designed and built by Burgess] were designed for the Marblehead class and the Bibelot for the Buzzards bay class. ...
The Bibelot, which is considered by the sonder class yachtsmen of Buzzards bay the best of the three in a hard blow and sea, was designed by Herreshoff for Harry Payne Whitney and Robert W. Emmons 2d. ..." (Source: Anon. "American Victory at Kiel. Bibelot, Beaver and Cima Win International Match." Boston Globe, July 2, 1911, p. 42.)

"Amerikanische Sonderklassenyacht Bibelot.
Der flachen Spantform des Bootes entsprechend ist seine Bauausführung gehalten. An den kräftigen Vorsteven setzt sich der Kiel an, dessen beide Teile in der Mitte zusammen stossen und durch die Unterklotzung genügende Verbindung erfahren. Mit dem breiten Kiel mittels Bolzen verbunden sind die Bodenwrangen, die bis an die Kimm reichen und an deren verjüngten Enden die eingebogenen Spanten angesetzt sind. An diesen Enden sind dieselben stärker und durch 3 Nieten mit den Bodenwrangen verbunden. Je nach Zweck und Lage sind die Wrangen verschieden dimensioniert und haben im Bereich der Flosse ihre grösste Abmessung. Nach den Enden des Schiffes hin nehmen ihre Höhen ab.
Decksbalken sind an jedem Spant angeordnet und haben ihre Auflage auf den beiden Balkwegern, die vom Steven bis Spiegel reichen. In Mitte Schiff ist unter den Decksbalken ein Unterzug angeordnet, der die senkrechten und diagonalen Stützen aufnimmt, die vom Kiel bezw. von den Bodenwrangen zum Deck reichen. Um die Kimm abzustützen, sind im Vorschiff 2 senkrechte Längsschotte eingebaut, die von den Bodenwrangen bis unter die Decksbalken reichen. Nach vorn hin erstrecken sich diese Schotte bis fast an den Steven, während sie nach hinten zu, vom vorderen Cockpitbalken ab, in einer leichten Kurve ihre Höhe reduzieren, um etwas hinter dem Cockpit zu endigen. Diese Längsschotte sind mittelst Weger an den Decksbalken einerseits und auf den Bodenwrangen anderseits befestigt. Die Weger reichen über die Längsschotten hinaus und sind mittelst Stützen abgesteift, neben denen Zugstangen angeordnet sind. Um eine Verlängerung der Wasserlinie durch Nachgeben der Einbuchtung im Steven vorzubeugen, ist im Hinterschiff an betreffender Stelle ein Drahtstropp von Bord zu Bord geführt, der auf dem Kiel durch eine Oese fährt und mittelst Wanlenspanner angeholt werden kann.
Damit der Druck des Mastes genügend verteilt wird, ist auf den Bodenwrangen eine Mastspur angeordnet, auf welcher der Mast ruht. Unter derselben befindet sich eine Platte, um welche ein Metallband herumgreift, das von Bord zu Bord fasst und den Druck auf die Weger überträgt. Um ein Zusammenziehen der Bordwände durch die Metallbänder zu verhindern, gehen von der Mastfischplatte starke Stützen nach den Balkwegern. 2 vertikale Metallstützen neben dem Mast lassen auch das kräftig gehaltene Deck an dem Mastdruck teilnehmen.
Das Boot ist über Wasser lackiert und unter Wasser mit grüner Patentfarbe gestrichen. Das Deck ist gleichfalls lackiert. Die Rundhölzer sind aus Spruceholz gearbeitet.
[Rough translation from the German: American Sonder class yacht Bibelot.
The construction of the boat is in keeping with its flat frame shape. The keel is attached to the strong stem, the two parts of which meet in the middle and are sufficiently connected by a bottom block. Connected to the wide keel by means of bolts are the floors, which reach to the turn of the bilge and at whose tapered ends the curved frames are attached. These are stronger at their ends and connected to the floors by 3 rivets. Depending on the purpose and position, the frames are of different dimensions and have their largest dimension in the area of the fin. Towards the ends of the boat their heights decrease.
Deck beams are located at each frame and have their support on the two sheer clamps, which extend from stem to transom. In the middle of the hull, under the deck beams, there is a beam that supports the vertical and diagonal supports that extend from the keel and the floors to the deck. In order to support the sheerline, two vertical longitudinal bulkheads are installed forward, which extend from the floors to below the deck beams. Towards the front, these bulkheads extend almost to the stem, while towards the rear, starting from the front cockpit beam, they reduce their height in a slight curve to end slightly behind the cockpit. These longitudinal bulkheads are attached with a stringer to the deck beams on the one hand and to the floors on the other. These stringers extend beyond the longitudinal bulkheads and are braced by means of supports, next to which tie rods are arranged. To prevent the waterline from lengthening as a result of the indentation in the stern giving way, a wire rope at the point in question in the aft section of the hull is run from side to side, which passes through an eyelet on the keel and can be tensioned with a turnbuckle.
In order to sufficiently distribute the pressure of the mast, a mast track is arranged on the floors, on which the mast rests. Underneath is a plate around which a metal band is fitted which reaches from one side of the hull to the other and transmits the pressure to the clamps. In order to prevent the metal straps from pulling the sides of the hull together, strong supports extend from the mast plate to the clamps. Two vertical metal supports next to the mast allow the strongly built deck to also take part of the mast pressure.
The boat is varnished above water and under water with green patent paint. The deck is also painted. The spars are made of spruce wood.]" (Source: Die Yacht (Germany), September 8, 1911, p. 657-658.)

"N/A"

"N/A"

"[Item Transcription:] I am staying in America this summer for the first time in several years, and think of getting back into the boat racing game again. My notion is, as I have written you various times in the past, to try a large schooner as an experiment, with the idea of getting you to build me one if I like it. I am now negotiating for the 'Atlantic', and in connection with, such a boat I want to have a small racing boat. Can you build me a sonder klasse boat, not to go to Kiel, but to race here against the Spanish boats if successful? My idea is to have Mr. Duryea sail the boat with me, and I think it is about time that one of your boats was properly handled in these small classes, and cleaned up the whole show, which I think we could do better than some people who have had the boats.
Trusting you will see your way clear to build me the best boat of this class in the world, for I am sure you can, I am, Very truly yours. [This will become #699s BIBELOT.]" (Source: Whitney, Harry Payne. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_27940. Subject Files, Folder 11. 1910-04-16.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections of a deep-keel (Sonder) boat with tumblehome titled '1st. trial. L.W.L. 18ft 9in. Scale 1in = 1ft'. With calculations showing displacement as 52.0cuft or 3325lbs and wetted surface as 127sqft. Not in NGH's handwriting, possibly by one of his sons A. Sidney or L. Francis. Compare with 2004.0001.0404 which is apparently related and compares #699s BIBELOT with this design. Undated, BIBELOT's model was carved in late April or very early May 1910." (Source: Herreshoff, A. Sidney deW. or Herreshoff, L. Francis (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0403. WRDT04, Folder 34, formerly MRDE08. No date (1910-5 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections titled 'Sections from model of experimental boat, one fourth length of a 75 ft. Cup defender (proposed by Uncle John). scale 1in = 1ft'. With table with dimensions titled 'Comparison of this model with model of BIBELOT [#699s] (figures taken from a set of sections before these, which were a little fuller at top of keel)'. With note 'If this model were increased so that w.l. + beam + draft = 32 [Sonder Rule], then w.l. ...'. With profile. Compare with 2004.0001.0403 which is apparently related. Undated, BIBELOT's model was carved in late April or very early May 1910." (Source: Herreshoff, A. Sidney deW. or Herreshoff, L. Francis (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0404. WRDT04, Folder 34, formerly MRDE08. No date (1910-5 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections titled '#699 Sonderclass [BIBELOT]. From finished model. May 3, 1910. Scale 1/12. L.w.l. 19ft 4in. Ex. breadth 7ft 5in. Draft 5ft 3in. [Sum as per Sonder rule] 32ft 0in'. With calculations arriving at a wetted surface of 181sqft and an area of w.l. plane of 121sqft." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_01010. Folder [no #]. 1910-05-03.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled 'Lead for 699 [#699s BIBELOT]. June 17, 1910. 1/4 size'. With calculations and note 'Required 1510lbs lead with c.g. at .619 of lwl. ...' and concluding with calculations and note 'Obtained. 3700cuin at 36.04 frames = 1520lbs'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_08450. Folder [no #]. 1910-06-17.)
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"[Item Description:] re #699s BIBELOT (with a few annotations by NGH), in envelope marked 'personal' by sender: mainsail set, battens, boom very light and more limber than the old one, gaff also very light and limber, would be well for us to have another gaff made, slightly heavier, and of stiffer wood, little wooden stops on gaff too small to keep gaff bridle from slipping, rigging to be shortened as turnbuckles were nearly screwed up as tight as they could go, previous rigging on both BIBELOT and #697s TOBOGGAN had been much tighter, would prefer shorter spreaders, runners are a great improvement and very convenient and will be perfect if track is lengthened six inches, we tried carrying the spinnaker around the fore-stay and found it worked perfectly, if you will remove both cleats from bottom of mast and place two cleats in cockpit and put snatch block with strap around the mast for spinnaker halyards, that will be an improvement, need a new main sheet, present peak halyard too long, cut off spinnaker pole and reduce big and small spinnaker to proper measurement of present rig, reduce present seats in cock-pit to about one-third their present size and also one-third their weight, also take out all floor boards on a line with these seats, old chain plates can be sawed off, snap hook with swivel to be spliced into end of balloon jib halyards in place of the sister hook, if you think well of Mr. [Charles] Adams' arrangement for the main sheet jib you can put the two necessary blocks on the boom, present jamb cleats are a size too large for the rope that you now have, will eventually order another suit of sails but shall wait until I see Whitney before doing so, whether to make them of No. 6 or no. 7 duck is the question, North Shore fellows use No. 7 and consider No. 6 slightly too light, No. 6 you made for TOBOGGAN and BIBELOT is excellent except that I do not think it would stand more than half a dozen races, smaller jib to use with single reef, wish you would also devise some small and very light cleats to reave the reef errings through, batten pockets in jib, do not forget to put on the pulverized cork between guard rails forward, I told Sidney that I would like to have sails taken off, want to say that I am extremely indebted to you and the boys for all the interest you have taken and I hope that the results from the same when we get to Germany next spring will be satisfactory to us all" (Source: Emmons, Robert W. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_20920. Correspondence, Folder 60. 1910-09-27.)
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"[Item Description:] re #699s BIBELOT (with a few annotations by NGH): think you had better haul BIBELOT out and lay her up for the winter; was very glad to get the opportunity to give her a good test in the hard wind of Saturday and see how the mast and rigging stood the strain, everything stood perfectly except gaff which is too light, new runner tracks also caused a little trouble, must be greased, if you look carefully you will see that track is slightly arched up in about the centre where the runners have been bringing the strain when set up, longer mainsail battens are an improvement, I would like to get a good sized amount of that braided line to lace the mast to the sail and as reef line, go over sail plan and see if No. 3 jib of old plan will make a good enough No 2 for the present plan, boat to be thoroughly washed out and cleaned of all the chips and dirt that are in her and in the spring I think we can afford to giver her one more thin coat of white paint inside around the cockpit although I do not want to put on any more paint than I can help, please thank the boys for going out with me on Saturday and tell them if they come to Boston to come and see me at 91 Beacon St., P.S.: would like to have you send me as soon as possible a sail plan of the new mainsail we now have on BIBELOT, have been talking with Charlie Adams who says you are able to get in about 8 sqft more into the sail, suggest the new gaff to have two sets of stops on it to allow bridle to be shifted when reefed, also think the boom should have one or even two more eyes screwed on so that we can shift the outboard main sheet block from one eye to the other according to the sail we carry" (Source: Emmons, Robert W. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_20980. Correspondence, Folder 60. 1910-10-03.)
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"[Item Description:] Handwritten (in ink and pencil) comparison table giving o.a.L, l.w.l, beam, beam at waterline, beam 1/10b above waterline, draft, depth at various positions, outside lead, freeboard at stem head and other positions, displacement to LWL, frame space (2.2*(D)^1/3)^.9 and other factors (I, II, III, IV), keel thick, stem sided, transverse thick, timbers, plankfloors, lead bolts, planking, diag. straps, clamps, deckbeams, deck, belt frames, rudder stock for the following boats #744 Class (Buzzards Bay Boys Boats 1914), #788 Class (Fish Class 1916), #679 DELIGHT (1908), #699 BIBELOT (1910), #828 Class S (1920), #874 CYGNET (6 meter 1922), #718 ALERION (1912 Centreboard), #932 GAME COCK (R class 1925), #727 Class (Newport 29s COMET 1914), #892 GRAYLING (Q Class 1923), #708 CORINTHIAN (P Class 1911), #773 Class (NYYC 40s 1916), #867 VENTURA (1921 Centreboard), #711 Class (NYYC 50s 1913), #625 DORIS (1905). Undated, 1925 or later given the mention of #932 GAMECOCK. Probably 1927 in preparation for NGH's Rules for Wooden Yachts." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Handwritten Table. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE02_06960. Folder [no #]. No date (1927 ??).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #699s Bibelot even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Anon. "Amerikanische Sonderklassenyacht Bibelot." Die Yacht (Germany), September 8, 1911, p. 657-658, and September 15, 1911, p. 684. (2,416 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: No. Detailed German-language description of construction method and dimensions of Bibelot. Including lines plan, dimensioned construction plan and sail plan, all measured and prepared by one of the then-leading German yacht designers, W. von Hacht (himself a prolific designer of Sonderklasse yachts).

• Bibelot (HMCo-made index card)
• Bibelot (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: Bibelot
Type: J & M
Length: 19'4"
Owner: Whitney, H. P.

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

• Bibelot
• 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: Bibelot
Type: 19' 6" sonder boat
Owner: Harry Payne Whitney
Row No.: 83

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: Apr
Day: 19
Year: 1910
E/P/S: S
No.: 0699
Name: Bibelot
LW: 19' 4"
B: 7' 5"
D: 5' 3"
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: 2400.00
Notes Constr. Record: Sonder Class.
Last Name: Whitney
First Name: H. P.

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.

"Sonderklasse Rule boats were the result of a German measurement rule that limited the sum of a boat's waterline length, beam, and draft to 32'. In addition, the sail area was fixed at 550 square feet, the displacement had to be at least 4,035 lbs, the boat was to be single-planked with a minimum plank thickness of at least 5/8", and the boat could not cost more than $2,400." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 26, 2015.)

"Built in 86 days (contract to finished; equivalent to $28/day, 49 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Sail area (550sq ft) as per Sonderklasse rule limit." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 26, 2015.)

"Displacement 1924 kg [= 4242 lbs] from Die Yacht, Issue 30, October 1910, p. 746." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. December 16, 2014.)

"Das traurige Ende der faszinierenden Yacht [Bibelot] kam im Jahr 1938, als sie von Schülern gesegelt auf der Kieler Aussenförde auf Grund geriet und sich hierbei schwere Schäden zuzog. Eine Wiederinstandsetzung erschien dem Verein als zu kostspielig. Daraufhin wurde der hölzerne Rumpf des Schiffes verbrannt, der Bleiballast für Rüstungszwecke eingeschmolzen. "[The sad end of the fascinating yacht [Bibelot] came in 1938 when sailed by pupils [of the Kiel Yacht School] she grounded in the Kiel outer fjord and was severely damaged. A repair appeared was considered too costly by the club. Thereupon the wooden hull of the craft was burned, and the lead ballast melted down for armament usage. Note: The book does not provide a specific source for this information. The author was contacted on December 17, 2014 and responded that this information probably stems either from a yearbook of the Kieler Yacht Club or from Schlenzka, Otto. 100 Jahre Kieler Yacht Club. Bielefeld, 1987.]" (Source: Kramer, Klaus. Segeln für den Kaiser. Bielefeld, 2003, p. 192.)

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