HMCo #811s Eel

"[1916-01-07] Fri 7: Have note that class of 16 footers for Seawanhaka Club has materialized.
[1916-01-16] Sun 16: Fair & cold [in] AM, moderating in PM. The young people off skating. I work on drawings of 788 class most of [the] day. SW wind in PM.
[1916-05-20] Sat 20: ... Finished carpenter work on 20th 16 footer [apparently #811s Eel]. ...
[1916-05-25] Thu 25: Champlin launch towed 2nd lot of 16 footers up Sound, leaving at noon. ... Very fine & warm. 75deg." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1916. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"Jan[uary] 1916. Fish.
No 788 & Class [#788s, #789s, #790s, #791s, #792s, #793s, #794s, #795s, #796s, #797s, #798s, #799s, #800s, #801s, #802s, #803s, #805s, #807s, #808s, #811s, #812s, #814s, #816s].
Keel sailing knockabout boats using same model as for 744 [#744s] class.
In making moulds use scale of 1" per ft (1/12).
For fore & aft measurements use scale 13" long for on foot (= 0.0769).
By common rule: Frame spaces = 9 3/4".
Timbers = 7/8" sq[uare].
Planking = 9/16 sq[uare].
Deduct in making moulds 1 7/16".
Deck = 1/2" + canvas.
Sheer heights are to top of deck.
Keel 1 5/16" (7/8" below rabbate).
Transom 1 1/8" thick.
Stem sided as per figures (1 3/8").
Sheer strake (moulded) 7/8".
[New page] #788 & Class. Lead.
Top of lead to follow under side of main keel from 1 1/2" aft of # 8 frame to 1 1/2" aft of # 14 frame, then in a diagonal straight line cutting # 18 frame, continuing to back of sternpost.
For increased depth see # s 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 & 18. Also 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 & 24 for back of rudder." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. Penciled notes in Offset Booklet HH.6.146-6.] January 1916. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"The following winter [1915-1916] proved a busy [one] and I had to carry on the work alone. Of the sailing craft, the eighty feet waterline steel schooner MARIETTE, the New York Yacht Club Forty Foot Class of eleven, the sixteen foot "Fish Class" of twenty-two [twenty-three boats built for the 1916 sailing season, plus three boats for the 1917 season, making a total of twenty-six], the Buzzards Bay Fifteen Foot Class of six, and several others were 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. 73.)

"Twenty one-design yachts for members of the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht-Club are now receiving their finishing touches in the yards of the Herreshoff Company at Bristol, R. I. and will be added to the fleet of the club at their Oyster Bay anchorage about the middle of next month. These new craft are the latest design by Mr. Herreshoff for the so-called knockabout type. While the design in construction was to secure seaworthiness and safety rather than extreme racing speed ----- a sort of kindergarten racer for the younger of the amateur helmsmen --- Mr. Herreshoff has assured the members of the club that the form under water is one which will give such an amount of speed with small sail area as to furnish the liveliest kind of sport with absolute safety to the skippers, as the crafts are unsinkable, even if filled with water.
The new class will make its first appearance on May 30 [1916]. All the craft have been named for some one of the fish tribe, that owned by Albert Strauss, which has been christened Manatee, after the Florida amphibian. The complete list of owners and names of the craft are:
Commodore, Howard C. Smith's Bluefish [#790s], ex-Commodore Daniel Bacon's Volador [#792s], W. H. Appleton's Pompano [#797s], Dr. L. F. Bishop's Tarpon [#801s], Charles R. Crane's Bonita [#805s], R. T. Crane, Jr.'s Porpoise [#798s], Henry R. Hayes's Periwinkle [#802s], De Forest Hicks's Barracuda [#803s], J. P. Morgan's Shark [#791s], W. Emlen Roosevelt's Snapper [#795s], Samuel T. Shaw's Grunt [#799s], H. L. Smith's Skate [#808s], Cecil P. Stewart's Eel [#811s], W. A. W. Stewart's Shrimp [#796s], Albert Strauss's Manatee [#788s], H. S. Shonnard's Cod [#789s], Francis M. Weld's Anchovy [#794s], Alexander M. White's Whitebait [#793s], A. R. Whitney, Jr.'s Sabalo [#800s], and Bertram G. Work's Sardine[#807s].
The boats measure 16 feet on the water line and 21 over all, and have a beam of 7 feet and a draught of 3 feet 3 inches. They carry 202 square feet of sail and are ballasted with 1,200 pounds of lead, all on the outside. Spinnakers of the usual proportions will be carried. The craft cost $875 each, and were assigned by lot to the twenty owners, who took the output from the design and then selected the names for their craft." (Source: Anon. "New One-Design Yachts. Score of Novel Boats in Seawanhaka-Corinthian Fleet." New York Times, April 29, 1916, p. 8.)

"George Nichols, of the Special Committee of the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club, has received a letter from Captain Nat. G. Herreshoff, designer and builder of the club's new one-design class, stating that all twenty boats of the class originally ordered will be fitted and ready for delivery to the club's representative on Saturday, May 20 [1916]. The club committee will arrange to have them towed to the Oyster Bay anchorage of the club and delivered to members on the evening of Friday, May 26, when the clubhouse will be formally opened for the season with a reception and dance.
This late delivery will give the owners of the new boats little time to get acquainted with their craft before the day set for their first race, May 30, but unless something goes amiss they will have their initial competitive test on that day.
Three members of the club who neglected to get their orders for the new design placed in time for delivery with the first lot, have decided to order boats with delivery about the first of July." (Source: Anon. "New Boats Ready May 20. Seawanhaka One-Design Class to Race Ten Days Later." Boston Daily Globe, May 14, 1916, p. 18.)

"Twenty of the new one-design 16-foot knockabouts, built by Herreshoff for the members of the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club, were to be delivered to their owners last Friday. These boats will be known as the 'fish' class, as each boat will be named after some fish.
The stormy weather of the past week prevented many of the racing craft at Herreshoffs being delivered to their owners, as such weather never fails to delay fitting out of old racers and the rigging of new yachts. Bristol Harbor in front of Herreshoffs boatshops seems a forest of masts, the boats extending from Lawless pier to Walkers Cove, with the majority the sloops of the 40 and 50 foot classes." (Source: Anon. "Yachts and Yachtsmen. Notes of the Week's Log." Boston Daily Globe, May 21, 1916, p. 48.)

"For the proper identification of the racing yachts of the Long Island Sound Yacht Racing Association it is necessary to know the various racing numbers used. For our readers' guidance we append the following table issued by the secretary of the association: ...
Seawanhaka Fish Class
[#788s] 1, Manatee, Albert Strauss
[#802s] 4, Periwinkle, M. G. Foster
[#790s] 5, Blue Fish, Edmund Putney
[#791s] 6, Shark, J. F. Bermingham
[#789s] 7, Cod, Chas. E. Pettinos
[#794s] 8, Anchovy, F. M. Weld
[#793s] 10, Whitebait, A. N. White
[#803s] 11, Barracuda, V. S. Merle-Smith
[#792s] 12, Veladore, George Nichols
[#795s] 14, Snapped, W. E. Roosevelt
[#796s] 15, Shrimp, F. D. M. Strachan
[#797s] 16, Pompano, Chas. G. West
[#800s] 17, Sabalo, Dr. U F. Bishop
[#807s] 18, Sea Robin, H. W. DeForest
[#811s] 20, Eel, Wm. Loeb, Jr.
[#814s???] 21, Fly, Arthur Iselin
[#816s] 22, Sculpin, Nelson Burr
[#819s] 24, Minnow, T. S. Williams
[#820s] 26, Cockle, S. R. Outerbridge and R. Harvey
[#821s] 27, Tuna, J. H. Ottley
[#???s] 28, [No Name] C. O'D. Iselin." (Source: Anon. "Long Island Sound Racing Numbers." The Rudder, July 1923, p. 66.)

"The season of 1916 was active indeed, marked by the appearance of a great small racing class, the Herreshoff Fish Boats, and a Cruising Race Week in company with other clubs but sponsored by Seawanhaka. An enterprising Race Committee published a little booklet of the racing results, which gives us an unusually clear record.
First mention of the Fish Class appears in the minutes of an October 1914 Trustees Meeting. From among several designs submitted, they chose a Herreshoff model to cost about $1000, similar to a boat HerreshofT had built for former Commodore Benedict. Due to financial depression the next year, Seawanhaka members did not order any boats and the cheap Nut Class boats may have been substitutes. However, in the winter of 1915-16 a class of 18 Herreshoff Fish Boats were built for Club racing. A Special Fish Class Committee, which consisted of William H. Appleton, Secretary, Daniel Bacon, Henry R. Hayes, George Nichols and Franklin Remington, published an excellent circular describing them. They were 21 feet overall, 16 waterline, 7 beam, and 3 feet 3 inches draft, with 262 feet of sail area in a gaff mainsail and club jib. There was also a proportionate spinnaker. They were short-ended, able little vessels, with all their 1200 pounds of ballast outside, a large open cockpit, and a watertight bulkhead forward of the mast. As the committee pointed out, they were ideal for teaching children to sail, pleasure sailing, and Saturday racing. They were very popular elsewhere, especially at Mattapoisett in Buzzards Bay, where the smaller but very similar Herreshoff 12-footers have raced in large classes for many years at various clubs. W. Butler Duncan is said to have owned an earlier model, which influenced the selection of the class, and David Duncan raced Nahma in it. The names of original boats and their owners follow:
SEAWANHAKA CORINTHIAN SIXTEENS (FISH CLASS )
Shark [#791s] --- J. P. Morgan
Pompano [#797s] --- W. H. Appleton
Skate [#808s] --- H. L. Smith and John Good
Grunt [#799s] --- Samuel T. Shaw
Manatee [#788s] --- Albert Strauss
Periwinkle [#802s] --- Henry R. Hayes
Bluefish [#790s] --- Howard C. Smith
Cod [#789s] --- H. S. Shonnard
Anchovy [#794] --- F. M. Weld
Whitebait [#793s] --- Alexander M. White
Barracuda [#803s] --- De Forest Hicks
Volodor [#792s] --- Daniel Bacon
Snapper [#795s] --- W. Emlen Roosevelt
Shrimp [#796s] --- W. A. W. Stewart
Sabalo [#800s] --- A. R. Whitney, Jr.
Sardine [#807s] --- Bertram G. Work
Eel [#811s] --- Cecil O. Stewart
Nahma [#812s] --- David Duncan
During the 1916 season the Fish Class Periwinkle (H. R. Hayes) won the First Series prize and the Leland Cup, which was successfully defended against Appleton's Pompano. Samuel T. Shaw's Grunt won the Second and Third Series and a Maxwell Cup. The Ladies' Race was won by Miss Nourse in Barracuda. Nearly every Saturday there were large racing classes of over twelve boats, and the Fishes may be called a success from the beginning. The Club charged Fish owners only $20 to haul, store and put the yachts back into the water in the spring, together with their moorings. A new cradle cost $13 and a HerreshofT winter cover $23. The boats themselves cost $925." (Source: Parkinson, John, Jr. The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club. The Early Twentieth Century. 1897-1940. New York, 1965, p. 105-106.)

"The first 16 footers were designed and built by N. G. Herreshoff in 1916 for the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club of Oyster Bay, Long Island. These boats were known as the Fish class. A total of twenty three boats were built for the 1916 sailing season, seventy five years ago this year. The first nineteen boats were delivered in January of 1916 at a cost of $875. The second group of four were delivered April 11, 1916, the last three of which were at a cost of $925. Three additional boats were delivered for the 1917 season, bringing the fleet to a total of twenty six. All of the Seawanhaka fleet carried fish names, a gaff rig and were trimmed with oak, but were built without the characteristic Herreshoff moulded sheer strake. A half round oak rub rail was used on these boats, likely as a cost savings measure. The top strake was white cedar, the same as the normal planking. The transoms, rub rail, coamings, and toe rail were all oak. The Seawanhaka sail numbers appear to have been consecutive, but not in the sequence of the hull number assignments from the Herreshoff yard. The sail numbers were preceded by the letters 'SC'.
The Fish boat was designed at the request of the Seawanhaka selection committee 'to be a safe and seaworthy boat in varying weather conditions, ideal for teaching children to sail, for pleasure sailing and Saturday racing.' The design developed by Nat Herreshoff was an enlarged version of the 1914 Herreshoff 12 footers with a small cuddy cabin forward of a very large cockpit. The longitudinal scaling ratio was thirteen to ten and the transverse was twelve to ten. An additional 3 1/2 inches was added to the bow after scaling accounting for the proportionately longer overhang. Communications from the committee indicate that the decision to purchase the fleet was delayed a year, but then went forward based on a price of $875." (Source: Meyer, Richard. "Herreshoff 16 Foot Class History." (History written on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Fish Class.) Norwell, Massachusetts, January, 1991. In: http://www.herreshoffregistry.org/doc/Fish_History_Meyer.pdf, retrieved August 19, 2010.)

"In 1926 the Seawanahaka [Fish Class] fleet began to shift to Mattapoisett Ma. About eleven boats in total were owned at Mattapoisett between 1926 and 1938. The names of the eleven were: Cockle [#820s], Eel [#811s], Morrhue, Nautilus, Pompano [#797s], Sculpin [#816s], Shark [not #791s], Skate [#808s], Tarpon [#942s], Wahoo, and Xiphias [#826s]. Although many of the names appear to be the same as those listed in the Herreshoff shop records, it is known that some, such as Shark, were given these names upon arrival in Mattapoisett. Many of the boats were converted to marconi rig for the 1930 season. Three boats which were not converted were Skate, Tarpon, and Xiphias. By 1938, many of the Mattapoisett fleet had been sold and migrated away. About four boats appeared in Padanaram between 1930 and 1963. Their names were Harbinger, Hope, Xiphias [#826s] (later called Green Duck), and a fourth as yet unidentified.
The hurricane of Sept. 21, 1938 effectively ended the Fish boat activity in Mattapoisett. All of the remaining four boats are thought to have been wrecked. It is not known if any of the wrecked boats may have been repaired. The Padanaram Harbinger was totally destroyed in a boat yard fire and not repaired. The information pertaining to Mattapoisett was graciously provided by Edward Wood, Jr., author of The Early Days Of Sailing In Mattapoisett, and former Fish sailor. The Fish activities in Padanaram have become known through the help of Norman Fortier, marine photographer, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the New Bedford Yacht Club, and Llewellyn Howland Jr. Llewellyn is a former Fish sailor, having owned Harbinger from 1933 until about 1937." (History written on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Fish Class.) Norwell, Massachusetts, January, 1991. In: http://www.herreshoffregistry.org/doc/Fish_History_Meyer.pdf, retrieved August 19, 2010.)

"N/A"

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #811s Eel even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Eel (HMCo-made index card)
• Eel (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: Eel
Type: J & M
Length: 16'
Owner: Stewart, C. P.

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

• Eel
• 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: Eel
Type: 16' J & M
Owner: C. P. Stewart
Row No.: 184

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
Year: 1916
E/P/S: S
No.: 0811
Name: Eel
LW: 16'
B: 7' 1"
D: 3' 1"
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 875.00
Last Name: Stewart
First Name: C. 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.

"Sail. no. 20 in 1923 as per a Long Island Sound Yacht Racing Association sail number summary in The Rudder, July 1923, p. 66." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. October 18, 2015.)

"Built in 34 days (contract to delivered; equivalent to $26/day, 88 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Sail area actual 271.2. By NYYC rule 285.7." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "Fish Class. 788 Class." Design and construction notes, dated Jan. 1916.) Also: "262 feet of sail area in a gaff mainsail and club jib" (Source: Parkinson, John, Jr. The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club. The Early Twentieth Century. 1897-1940. New York, 1965, p. 105-106.)

"Displ. 46.5 cuft. = 2975lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "Fish Class. 788 Class." Design and construction notes, dated Jan. 1916.)

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