HMCo #875s [12 1/2 for Mrs. D. W. Straight]
Particulars
Later Name(s): Iris
Type: 12 1/2 Footer
Designed by: NGH
Contract: 1922-2-10
Construction: Wood
LWL: 12' 6" (3.81m)
Beam: 5' 10" (1.78m)
Draft: 2' 5" (0.74m)
Rig: Gaff Sloop
Sail Area: 140sq ft (13.0sq m)
Keel: yes
Ballast: Lead
Built for: Straight, Mrs. D. W.
Amount: $900.00
Current owner: Private Owner, Wickford, RI (last reported 2007 at age 85)
Note: Particulars are primarily but not exclusively from the HMCo Construction Record. Supplementary information not from the Construction Record appears elsewhere in this record with a complete citation.
Model
Model number: 716
Vessels from this model:
Original text on model:
"12 1/2' Buzzards Bay boy class 24 boats 1915 scale 1/10 size three [sic, i.e. four? #806, #813, #815, #817?] boats 1916
16' w.l. Oyster Bay "Fish Class" 23 boats 1916 scale 1/12 size sections 1/13 lengths 3 1/2 added at bow on deck" (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)
Model Description:
"12'-1/2' lwl Buzzards Bay 12 1/2-class of 1915, HMCo's most popular creation with some 360 boats produced. Also, with change in scale and proportionally longer bow, the Fish class sloops of 1916 and beyond." (Source: Bray, Maynard. 2004.)
Related model(s):
Model XA2-1_01 by NGH (1914?); sail
Note: Vessels that appear in the records as not built, a cancelled contract, a study model, or as a model sailboat are listed but not counted in the list of vessels built from a model.
Offsets
Offset booklet number(s): HH.6.146-6
Offset booklet contents:
12 1/2-footer class, Fish class (Cape Cod Shipbuilding Embargoed)
Offset Booklet(s) in Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Restricted access --- see curator.)
Drawings
List of drawings:
Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
HMCo #875s [12 1/2 for Mrs. D. W. Straight] are listed in bold.
Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
- Dwg 130-124 (HH.5.10432); Sails > # 744 Design for Buzzard's Bay Boy's Boat (1914-10-11)
- Dwg 128-142 (HH.5.10269): Sails > Sails for No. 744 Class (1914-11-20)
- Dwg 081-111 (HH.5.06203): Spars for # 744 and Class (11 Boats), 12 1/2 Footer (1914-11-21)
- Dwg 081-111 (HH.5.06203.1): Spars for # 744 and Class (11 Boats), 12 1/2 Footer (1914-11-21)
- Dwg 065-064 (HH.5.04659); Rudder Hanging for # 743, Rudder and Hanging for # 744 Class (1915-02-15)
- Dwg 074-060 (HH.5.05348); Anchor for # 744 Class Made of Manganese Bronze (1915-03-30)
- Dwg 025-159 (HH.5.01916); List for # 744 Class, 12 1/2 Footers (1926-03-22)
- Dwg 148-000 (HH.5.12238): Construction Dwg > Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer (ca. 1931)
- Dwg 076-118 (HH.5.05569); Construction Dwg > Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer, 15'-8" O.A. x 12'-5" W.L. x 5'-10" Beam x 2'-5" Draft (1931-07-06)
- Dwg 076-118 (HH.5.05569.1); Construction Dwg > Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer, 15'-8" O.A. x 12'-5" W.L. x 5'-10" Beam x 2'-5" Draft (1931-07-06)
- Dwg 128-142 [057-001] (HH.5.10270): Sails > Sails Plan 12 1/2 Footer Class (1934-06-04)
- Dwg 142-090 (HH.5.11837): Compartment Details for 12 1/2 Footers (1934-07-18)
- Dwg 130-124 (HH.5.10433); Sails > 12 1/2 Footer Class Gaff Rig Sail Plan (1938-02-19)
- Dwg 076-118 C (HH.5.06086): 12 1/2 Footer Class Gaff Rig Spar Details (1938-02-23)
- Dwg 076-118 C (HH.5.06086.1): 12 1/2 Footer Class Gaff Rig Spar Details (1938-02-23)
Note: The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection is copyrighted by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass. Permission to incorporate information from it in the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné is gratefully acknowledged. The use of this information is permitted solely for research purposes. No part of it is to be published in any form whatsoever.
Documents
Other Modern Text Source(s)
"1922. ... Herreshoff had been busy during the Winter. The 42-foot waterline auxiliary sloop Ventura [#867s], the first of the raised-deck type to be built in Rhode Island, a 6-metre sloop [#874s Cygnet], six [sic, i.e. four?] S boats [#870s Surinam, #871s Perneb, #873s Pandora, #876s and ?] and four [sic, i.e. six?] of the 12 1/2-footers [#868s, #869s Hippo, #860s, #875s, #877s, #878s] were under construction, all for out-of-State owners. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 13.)
Archival Documents
"[Item Description:] Memo of prospective receipts and expenditures between April 1st and June 1st 1922, provided no other contracts, or work is taken on'. Mentioning #867s VENTURA, #376p ESLOMA, #377p ARA, three 12 1/2 footers (#875s, #877s and #878s), five S-Class (#870s SURINAM, #871s PERNEB, #872s (Cancelled), #873s PANDORA and #876s), and #874s CYGNET." (Source: [Young, Charles Wesley (Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. Secr.)]. Correspondence (memorandum) to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_50300. Subject Files, Folder [no #]. 1922-04-01.)
1
Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #875s [12 1/2 for Mrs. D. W. Straight] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.
Further Reading
-
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.
Supplement
From the 1920 and earlier HMCo Index Cards at the MIT Museum
- 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. and permission to display is gratefully acknowledged.
From the 2000 (ca.) Transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Vermilya/Bray
Month: Feb.
Day: 10
Year: 1922
E/P/S: S
No.: 0875
LW: 12 1/2
B: 5' 10"
D: 2' 5"
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 900.00
Last Name: Straight
First Name: Mrs. D. W.
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.
From the 2007 12 1/2 Registry by Steve Nagy
Hull No.: 875
Contract Date: 1922-02-10
Org. Owner: Mrs. D.W. Straight
Org. Rig: J&M
Current Rig: Marconi
Mast Partner: One-Piece
Home Port: Wickford, RI
Prior Owners: Marvin Pelser - ???? - 9/2000 - Exeter, RI -
Current Name: Iris
Current Owner: George W. Zachorne, Jr.
Owner Since: 9/11/2000
Sheer-strake: Oak
Note: Currently owned by George W. Zachorne, Jr., to be restored and then sold to Brad Shipp of Providence, RI. George bought this boat as a wreck from Marvin Pelser, Sept. 11, 2000 and will be giving it a complete restoration.
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.)
Link to the Herreshoff Registry
The Herreshoff Registry, founded by Steve Nagy and later administered by Teeter Bibber, can be particularly useful for researching the provenance of Herreshoff-built sailing vessels. Permission to link to the Registry is gratefully acknowledged! Note: The Herreshoff Registry was offline in Spring of 2022. As a temporary measure here is a link to a backup file from January 2021. It is unclear how much the Registry has been updated since then.
Research Note(s)
"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.)
Note: Research notes contain information about a vessel that is often random and unedited but has been deemed useful for future research.
Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné.
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