HMCo #747s Blue Fish [Bluefish]

"Oct[ober] 28 1914
No 744 & class [#744s, #745s, #746s, #747s, #748s, #749s, #750s, #751s, #752s, #753s, #754s, #755s, #756s, #757s, #758s, #759s, #760s, #761s, #762s, #765s].
Small keel sailing knockabout boats.
-> Scale of Model 1/10 size. Use 10" scale. <- (This applies to all following measurements of stem[?] & cross sections.)
Frame spaces 7 1/2" by common scale.
Timbers 13/16" sq[uare] by common scale.
Planking 7/16 cedar by common scale. (Deduct in making moulds 1 1/4".)
Deck 7/16 by common scale.
Sheer height given is top of deck.
Keel 1 1/8", 3/4" below rabbate.
Transom 5/8" by common scale.
Stem sided 1 5/8" by common scale.
Sheer strake (moulded) 7/8" by common scale.
[New page] #744 & Class. Bulls Eye [may be a later addition].
Top of lead to follow under side of main keel from 7 1/2 frame space (7 spaces + 3 3/4") to 2 1/4" aft of # 14 space. Then in straight line to a point 3/4" up from heel of sternpost.
Bottom of keel 3/4" below rabbate." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. Penciled notes in Offset Booklet HH.6.146-6.] October 28, 1914. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"[We built] also the first lot of about twenty-five [fall and winter of 1914-15] of the Buzzards Bay Twelve and One-Half Footers." (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. 72-73.)

"The Beverly Yacht Club, which is the leading racing organisation on Buzzards Bay, will have a new racing class next season. Herreshoff is to build for the members of that club a class of one design 12 foot knockabouts. These boats will be 12 feet on the water line and carry 750 pounds of lead. Twelve have been ordered." (Source: Anon. "Bits of Yachting News." New York Sun, December 27, 1914, p. 2.)

"... The work at Herreshoff's of finishing the little craft of the two one-designed classes is rapidly being brought to a close. These boats of 12 and 22 feet waterline are to be delivered to their owners by May 15 [1915]. ... [The identity of the class of 22ft LWL boats is unclear.]" (Source: Anon. "Notes from the Week's Log." Boston Globe, April 11, 1915, p. 63.)

"There were twenty boats in the first batch of 12 1/2-footers; all were built the winter of 1914-1915, and they sold for $420 each. (These early 12 1/2s were fitted with rowing thwarts, metal tiller sockets, and stretched-out coaming ogees.) The full keels drawing only 2 1/2 feet made the boats suitable for reasonably shallow water, yet easier than centerboard boats to build. The jib-and-mainsail rig, as compared, say, to a single-sail cat rig, made the boats faster for their sail area and provided young sailors with an understanding of the sloop rig that they'd need later on for their adult sailing years.
The big, open cockpits gave the 12 1/2-footers a large-boat feel and enabled several persons besides the skipper to go sailing. With the narrow side decks, swamping under a press of sail was distinctly possible, and therefore a watertight buoyancy compartment was created underneath the forward deck by means of a bulkhead just forward of the mast. (A few 12 1/2-footers were built in 1939 with wider side decks and metal buoyancy tanks under the seats; these were known as Long Island Sound Bullseyes.) The sunken afterdeck served as a seat, perching the helmsman just enough higher than the passengers (who sat on the bench seats) so that he could see ovet their heads. A small storage locker was formed under the after-deck as well.
Before 1924, all 12 1/2-footers were gaff rigged; then a Marconi option became available, and in 1935 that rig could be purchased with the new and much-promoted 'wishboom rig and sail plan,' ...
..., notice the two vertical transom stiffeners and margin pieces, necessary in these early boats to reinforce their 5/8-inch-thick transoms (7/8-inch thickness, used subsequently, would make these pieces obsolete). ..." (Source: Bray, Maynard and Carlton Pinheiro. Herreshoff of Bristol. Brooklin, Maine, 1989, p. 79-80.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] HMCo Plan 76-118. Blueprint construction plan with plan view, sections and inboard profile titled '#744 - #755 [#744s, #745s, #746s, #747s, #748s, #749s, #750s, #751s, #752s, #753s, #754s and #755s]. Buzzards Bay Boys Boats. 15ft-8in OA. 12ft-5in wl. 5ft-10in Beam. 2ft-5in Draft. ... Nov[ember] 25, 1914'. M.I.T. also has copies of this plan from the 1930s but this is the earliest version showing many differences to later boats including a thinner transom, different rudder and tiller (with jamb cleat positioned on top of it), a traveller symmetric to the centerline and different hardware patterns including different rudder hangers, different bow chocks, " (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Blueprint. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0091. WRDT08, Folder 9, formerly MRDE02. 1914-11-25.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #747s Blue Fish [Bluefish] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Bray, Maynard. "Restoration of 12 1/2 Footers. Part I." Wooden Boat #56, January/February 1984, p. 93-101. (1,293 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text). Detailed Buzzards Bay 12 1/2 restoration step by step as performed by the Ballentine shop. Part I. Stem restoration, transom and frame replacement.
• Bray, Maynard. "Restoration of 12 1/2 Footers. Part II." Wooden Boat #57, March/April 1984, p. 93-100. (1,036 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text). Detailed Buzzards Bay 12 1/2 restoration step by step as performed by the Ballentine shop. Part II. Keel timber and coamings replacement.
• Bray, Maynard (with photos by Benjamin Mendlowitz). "12 1/2 Footers." Nautical Quarterly, no. 37, Spring 1987, p. 47. (608 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text), Benjamin Mendlowitz (photos). Short class portrait. Part of the larger article "Herreshoff Legacies."
• Nagy, Steve. "The Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer. Evolution Of The Class." In: Herreshoff Marine Museum (publ.). Proceedings. The 6th Classic Yacht Symposium. May 2-3, 2014. Bristol, RI, 2014, p. 1-23. (4,425 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Steve Nagy / Herreshoff Marine Museum. Short class history of the 12 1/2 as built by HMCo, Quincy Adams, Cape Cod Shipbuilding and others. Different models: Gaff, marconi, wishboom, Fishers Island. Detailed description of changes in configuration and equipment as boats were built over time. Identification guide for 12 1/2s missing their builder's plate. Photos. Original promotional material.

• Blue Fish (HMCo-made index card)
• Blue Fish (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: Blue Fish
Type: J & M
Length: 12'6"
Owner: Jackson, James

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

Name: Blue Fish
Type: 12 1/2-footer
Owner: James Jackson
Row No.: 882

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: Nov.
Day: 14
Year: 1914
E/P/S: S
No.: 0747
Name: Blue Fish
OA: 15' 6"
LW: 12' 6"
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: $420.00
Notes Constr. Record: Buzards [sic] Bay Class
Last Name: Jackson
First Name: James

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.

Hull No.: 747
Contract Date: 1914-11-14
Org. Name: Blue Fish
Org. Owner: James Jackson
Org. Rig: J&M
Current Rig: Gaff
Home Port: Cushing, ME
Current Name: Seaweed
Current Owner: Wendy Makins
Owner Since: 1973
Sheer-strake: Oak
Restored By: George Emery
Note: Seaweed was rebuilt several years ago by George Emery of Tenants Harbor Boat Yard. During the rebuild, George was floored to find out that his grandfather, James Jackson, was the original owner. George hopes he gets the first right of refusal when the current owner decides to sell. The Makins' sail her in Maplejuice Cove in Thomaston, Maine during the summer.

Source: Nagy, Steve. "The Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer Registry." Version 2.0. August 2007. (http://h12.orrsford.com/H12_Registry_Ver_2-0.pdf, last visit May 23, 2008.)

"Sail area approximately 140 square feet by rule." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Yachts by Herreshoff. The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company: Designers and Builders of Sailing and Power Craft since 1861. Bristol, Rhode Island, 1937.)

"Displacement to waterline 24.6 cuft. = 1575 lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. [Design notes.] October 27, 1914.)

"Displacement 24.6 cu.ft. [= 1575 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.