HMCo #741s Tarantula

"[1914-03-26] Thu 26: South [wind] and slightly warmer. Nelson Emmons here talking about a class for Buzzards Bay. [A reference to the the Buzzards Bay 25 foot class #733s Mink, 734s Vitessa, 736s Bagatelle, 738s White Cap and 741s Tarantula, the first four of which were contracted for two days later. H. Nelson Emmons was prominent in the Beverly Yacht Club and its Vice Commodore from 1928 to 1934. He was remotely related to Bob Emmons with whom he shared the same grandfather. Nelson Emmons had corresponded with NGH previously rearding the feasability of a new BB25 design.]
[1914-04-05] Sun 5: Not pleasant. At work on model & design for 550 sail rating class most of day [Buzzards Bay 25s]." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1914. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"Nos. 733 --- 550 Sail Rating Class of Buzzards Bay.
Frame spaces 10".
In making moulds
deduct for planking 7/18"
deduct for deck 13/16"
Timbers at head 1 13/16" sq[uare], increasing both ways 3/64" per foot.
Sheer line given is to top of deck.
Rabbate line 3/8" above bottom of keel. Keel [thickness] 1 7/8".
Stem sided 2 7/8", except increased near upper end, as per dimensions given.." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.183.] Undated, ca. March 1914. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"Marion, July 17 [1915] --- A tempest with heavy wind in parts of the bay seriously interfered with the fifth club race of the Beverly Yacht Club. The race opened with 36 entries and the start was a favorable one. Soon, however, a severe tempest came up.
The 21-footers and Herreshoff 15-footers had passed Bird Inland while the 25-footers were approaching it. The 15-footers took advantage of the short run home and gave up the race. There were 15 in this class and they arrived safely. The 21-footers continued, while the little 12-footers were hanging on in the protection of the inner course.
The 25-footers were in the path of the worst of the squall and could not weather it. The Vitessa [#734s] was dismasted while the Mink [#733s] and Tarantula [#741s] were capsized and sunk. The crews of the boats were in the water for nearly half an hour until the Forbes yacht and Robert Herrick's Gypsy came to the rescue, and there was much anxiety during this period. ... [Note: Both boats were subsequently raised and continued to race as newspaper articles show.]" (Source: Anon. "Two Yachts Go Down in a Squall. Beverly Y.C. Boats are Hard Hit. Mink and Tarantula Sink, Vitessa is Dismasted." Boston Globe, July 18, 1915, p. 10.)

"The Buzzards Bay 25s
The Beverly Yacht Club and Buzzards Bay - 1914
By David Cheever
This brief account of an outstanding effort which never fully flowered is peppered with 'ifs' and 'might have beens.' It is offered as a matter of historical record.
Herreshoff was already the outstanding designer-builder name to conjure with when our story starts in 1914. The Beverly Yacht Club started north of Boston close by Marblehead in 1872 featuring small boat racing. Its move to Buzzards Bay was clearly motivated by the fine sou'westers most summer afternoons produced. The calm and fickle breezes in Massachusetts Bay could not compare to the robust breezes south of the Cape.
By 1914 where the story begins, the Beverly Yacht Club had been through various phases which included catboats, knockabouts and sloops before waking up to the fact that the greatest good for the greatest number could be achieved by several one-design classes which thus avoided the financial pitfalls of overdesigning and overbuilding. After all, it was a rare boat that had a first class racing record after more than four or five years of stiff competition in an open class.
The famous Herreshoff 15 footer started the ball rolling in 1899 with credits to Herreshoff genius plus helpful arranging from Emmons, Parkinson and Stackpole. Tradition always had it that the 15 footers had a little of the COLUMBIA (1899/1901 America's Cup defender) in their lines and the same applied to the 18 footers. Both classes were characterized by long ends which gave them speed and bearing when heeled over in a thrash to windward. To be truthful this characteristic was not an unmixed blessing because both classes took a punishing beating in the stiff chop involved in a 'stiff sou'wester.' Crews were limited to three in these two classes.
By 1914 it became evident that long ended small yachts must have changes made because of drooping ends, or hogging, and a tendency to leak when unduly punished.
D0 VITESSA Gale Stone
D1 WHITE CAP Wm. Amory
D3 MINK Howard Stockton, Jr.
D7 BAGATELLE F.L. and G.B. Dabney
D9 TARANTULA W.H. Langshaw
Captain Nat had the answer in his plans. It involved short ends, more freeboard, plus moderate draft for Buzzards Bay conditions. Robert Emmons had been looking for the ideal adolescent adapted small racing boat, the result was the tremendously successful 12 Footers which stand as a class alone after 80 years! Its success was in the sou'wester chop, the prodding by Emmons, and the genius that was Herreshoff.
The stage was set for an enlarged one-design class which would fill the needs of mature crews. The resulting class, known as the 25' Herreshoff Special Class, measured length overall: 32 feet, waterline: 25 feet, beam: 8 feet 6 inches, draft: 3 feet without centerboard, outside fixed ballast 3,000 pounds, sail area not over 550 square feet. It is worth taking a look for a moment at the 18 footer previously referred to. They looked for all the world like an enlarged 15 footer but were 29 feet overall, 8 feet 1 inch beam, draft 3 feet without centerboard, outside fixed ballast 2,000 pounds, 470 square feet sail area.
It will be quickly noted that the 25 footer with sweet forward lines coupled with short forward overhang made for a much more seaworthy vessel than the long overhang of former one-design classes.
These boats raced for four seasons. The seasonal championships are as follows: 1914 MINK, 1915 BAGATELLE, 1916 MINK, 1917 to 1920 no racing and 1920 MINK.
The 1914 season was distinguished by a unique incident which points up the 'ifs' and 'might have beens' referred to at the beginning of article.
The date in question was August 1, 1914 and the facts were related to me by fine old Robert Stone who came to be a close friend in Dedham in the 1970s. On the day in question the judges for the race were D.P. Robinson and Howard Stockton, Jr. Their report reads 'wind - whole sail southwest, changing to a very heavy N.W. squal; then whole sail southwest.' There were four classes racing in different directions in the upper reaches of the Bay. In the 25' Herreshoff Special Class were MINK, BAGATELLE, VITESSA and WHTTECAP. These four were closely bunched and were having their hands full for they were carrying whole sail in a reef breeze. There were three in VITESSA's crew. Two of the men were members of the Stone family and the third was a professional boatman who worked for the family. Bob Stone was about 14 at the time and was left ashore because three strong men were needed. With no warning the lowering sky became black. The wind shifted almost 180 degrees and all hell broke loose. Strangely enough the Twenty Fives found themselves in the middle of a twister. The rain came in blinding sheets and sails were doused on the run. There was no time to secure the crotch, the boom cranked down over the cuddy and the gaff followed it. The crewman, knowing that there was no time to pass stops, jumped up on the gaff and boom with mainsail between and lying on his stomach wrapped his arms and legs around the mainsail trying to hold it down. Bob Stone was told that owing to the twister action the two spars were blown upwards on the mast leaving the struggling man in a perilous position. The whole episode took less time than it takes to write about it.
The rest of the crew got the spars on deck again and the crewman was unhurt. The VITESSA was half full of water and it took some time to clear her for the Twenty Fives were not made with self bailing cockpits. This was in the interest of keeping the crew weight down low and on the assumption that the new design was so stiff that the vessel wouldn't ship water and it wasn't assumed that she would be caught in a miniature hurricane! Right here it should be noted that the twister was narrow and localized. The other classes were shaken up but unharmed and only one other boat withdrew.
This mishap could not have come at a worse time for the fledging Twenty Fives: the middle of the first season of a new one design with everyone watching from the porch of the brand new Clubhouse. It involved people who were skilled, substantial members and whose judgement was looked up to. Herreshoff never built another boat for this particular class and the pendulum started to swing to self bailing cockpits. Not completely though because the noble S Class which appeared in 1919 was a deep cockpit design and one which has given great satisfaction in spite of the curved mast which made reefing a complicated safety measure.
The old Twenty Fives were going their unheralded way and even today four of the five are in existence and in good hands. The only missing boat is TARANTULA which disappeared from the Beverly Yacht Club book in the 1920s. Many of us would like to find her and hopefully in original condition!
If it weren't for the 'ifs' and 'might have beens' the class would be appealing today. Daysailing is becoming more and more popular again while short cruises are a complicated procedure." (Source: Herreshoff Marine Museum Chronicle, 1994, p. 1-2.)

"Origin of the Buzzards Bay 25. ...
o Oct. 29, 1913 H. Nelson Emmons wrote NGH a three page letter about the plans of 'the gentlemen who sail boats at Marblehead' to have designed 'an ideal boat for pleasure sailing and racing' about the size of NGH’s 1901 21-foot WL ARETHUSA (HMCo 574). Marblehead envisioned a boat of about 20 ft 6 in. WL, 35 ft. OA, 7 ft. 6 in. B, 5 ft. D, carrying 550 sq. ft. sail (550 is the sail rating of the BB25) on a displacement of 6000 lbs. Nelson thought the overhangs to be too extreme; for a new class he wanted a 'good sensible boat… not costing over $2,000… that could sail well at Marblehead, Buzzards Bay, Long Island Sound and elsewhere' to permit interclub racing. He sought Nat’s advice; 'You have such an infinitely greater knowledge of the designing of boats than anyone else, and also making rules for their design and construction, that we prefer to ask your advice on the question of a new class for Buzzards Bay before doing anything.'
o Nat’s response on Nov. 2nd was very direct, 'I don’t want to criticize the North Shore people but I cannot imagine any one preferring a boat such as you describe … excepting it is for racing under waterline measurements. It is strange they cannot realize how much better in every way a boat with more waterline and shorter over all is --- better sea boat in rough time, always pleasant to sail, easier handled, less cost, stronger and consequently longer lived.'
o He went on to describe his ideal boat and the basis for it, 'My ideal boat for Buzzards Bay must comply with about the requirements I found in my winters at Bermuda and which I made a special study … strong wind at times with rough sea, many days with light airs and smooth water --- capable of passing over many shoal places… The boat I built (ALERION III)… which proved a great success is perhaps somewhat smaller than you would prefer for the Bay.' He roughed out the type he would like to build when he had the time, a little smaller than the eventual BB25, but with the same, 'High freeboard, good flare forward and sufficient forefoot to insure going into a sea without pounding … with [a] small cabin … for 2, [and] not very expensive'.
o Nelson’s next letter of March 24, 1914 set up a meeting for two days later that resulted in the contract for the BB25. He discloses that while Nat wintered in Bermuda he had corresponded with Nat’s son, L. Francis, about the design and apprises Nat of his difficulty 'owing to hard times' of getting promises for the first five boats, emphasizing the importance to some of not exceeding a price of $2000. He asks for 5 to 7 boats to be built in three months time; 'before July 1st at the latest… Our first race is the 17th of June and we would like to have them by that date but we suppose that is asking a little too much'.
o The record of delivery dates is incomplete, but we do know from NGH’s diary that the first BB25, MINK (733), was trialed on June 14 and the third boat (736) was delivered on June 27. They were all priced at Emmons maximum of $2000. ..." (Source: Palmieri, John. "Curator’s Log. Origins of the Buzzards Bay 25." Herreshoff Marine Museum, February 2014. http://www.herreshoff.org/news/newsletter_archives.html, retrieved February 22, 2015.)

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections titled '733 Class [Buzzards Bay 25: #733s MINK, #734s VITESSA, #736s BAGATELLE, #738s WHITE CAP, #741s TARANTULA]. 550sqft Sail Rating for Buzzards Bay. From finished model [Model 715]. April 12, 1914. Length o.a. 32ft. Water line 25ft 0in. Scale 1in per ft. Model height is top top of deck'. Weight calculations show a total of 112.05cuft or 7175lbs and a wetted surface of 184.0sqft. On verso of page with gothic font 'Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, R.I.' letterhead another set of penciled pantograph hull sections titled '2nd trial. Ap[ril] 4, 1914'. Weight calculations show a total of 112.20cuft or 7190lbs and a wetted surface of 183.5sqft. " (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_00690. Folder [no #]. 1914-04-12.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled '#733 Class [Buzzards Bay 25: #733s, #734s, #736s, #738s, #741s]. Scale 1 1/2in & 3in. April 13, 1914'. With calculations and note 'Required 3000lbs lead with c.g. [at] .552 of w.l. ...' and concluding with note 'Result. 7490cuin = 3075lbs lead with c.g. at 21.635 frame space'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_08210. Folder [no #]. 1914-04-13.)
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"[Item Transcription:] Order book with carbon copy duplicates of instructions given by NGH. Relevant contents:
§80: Work Order [For] #733s, #734s, #736s, #738s, #741s. [When wanted] June. Rigging [2 pages] (1914-04-26)
§82: Work Order [For] #733s, #734s, #736s, #738s, #741s. [When wanted] June. Blocks (1914-04-27)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Order Book. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE08_04730. Folder [no #]. 1909-10 to 1914-11.)
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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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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #741s Tarantula even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Mayher, Bill. "The Buzzards Bay 25. An Evolution, of Sorts." Wooden Boat #172, May/June 2003, p. 74-81. (2,456 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Class history. Discussion of replicas and design modifications.
• McClave, Ed. "The Restorations of the Boats of the Herreshoff Buzzards Bay Twenty-Five Class." In: Herreshoff Marine Museum (publ.). Proceedings. The 6th Classic Yacht Symposium. May 2-3, 2014. Bristol, RI, 2014, p. 1-9. (1,725 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Ed McClave / Herreshoff Marine Museum. Evolution of NGH's 'hollow bow designs' (Alerion, Sadie, Newport 29s, 12 1/2, Buzzards Bay 25s, Fish Class) which were not designed with a view towards a rating rule. Important description of some fundamental differences in restoration approaches and philosophies for the four Buzzards Bay 25s restored by McClave, Philprick & Giblin.

• Tarantula (HMCo-made index card)
• Tarantula (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.

Month: July
Day: 16
Year: 1914
E/P/S: S
No.: 0741
Name: Tarantula
OA: 32'
LW: 25'
B: 8' 6"
D: 2' 4" [sic, i.e. 5']
Rig: J & M
K: y
CB: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Notes Constr. Record: Sold to W. H. Langshaw Apr. 15, 1915.
Last Name: stock

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.

"Tarantula is listed in the construction record as having had a slightly narrower beam and deeper draft than the other four BB-25s. Note, however, that there is nothing to corroborate these numbers in either the NGH design notes (as researched by Adam Langerman on May 2, 2012) nor in the BB-25 construction plan 76-115." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 28, 2014.)

"Sail area 551.5 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.)

"Sail area main 419.5sqft plus jib 121sqft = 540.5sqft total as per notes on sail plan 130-121." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 27, 2014.)

"Displacement 112 cu.ft. [= 7,168 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 7175 lb from NGH design notes quoted in Herreshoff, Halsey C. 'The 2014 CYS Commemorates the Great Herreshoff Year of 1914.' In: Herreshoff Marine Museum (publ.). Proceedings. The 6th Classic Yacht Symposium. May 2- 3, 2014. Bristol, RI, 2014, p. 9." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 29, 2014.)

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