HMCo #886s Alert

"[1923-05-27] Sun 27: [Thermometer] 54 [to] 67 [to] 53 [degrees]. Fine. L[igh]t N [wind in] a.m. SSW [wind in] p.m. Tried one of the new 15 footers [Watch Hill 15 #880s-#890s].
[1923-06-03] Sun 3: Fair & mild L[igh]t r[ain in] p.m. Short sail in 15 footer [Watch Hill 15 #880s-#890s] with Ann & Chs. Nystrom. ...
[1923-06-15] Fri 15: [Thermometer] 54 [to] 64 [to] 58 [degrees]. R[ain] with l[igh]t NE [wind] early. Part[ly] overcast, l[igh]t SE & S [wind in] p.m. ... Chs. Nystrom delivered 1st Watch Hill 15 footer [Watch Hill 15 #880s-#890s]." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1923. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"Also in 1899, the Buzzards Bay Fifteen Footers started, first with an order of seven, but augmented to seventeen. This class has been added to for thirty-one years, so there have been about eighty 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. 67.)

"... Summer residents at Watch Hill will race a new class of 15-footers this coming season. Herreshoff is finishing the last of a fleet of 11 boats, whose owners have homes in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and several other cities, including Pawtucket and Providence. The boats are very similar to the Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 15-footers. ..." (Source: Anon. "Notes From The Week's Log." Boston Globe, May 13, 1923, p. 65.)

"1923. ... The yards were busy. Herreshoff was building a class of 11 [#882s Shanendowa, #880s Josephine, #881s Miss Q., #883s Thistle, #884s Fantasy, #885s Viking I, #886s Alert, #887s Pixie, #888s How Come, #889s Althea, #890s Tobasco] of the 15-foot waterline combination keel and centerboard knockabouts for members of the Watch Hill Yacht Club, and putting the modern jib headed, so-called Marconi rig on them, and also had on the stocks the 98-foot steel schooner Wildfire [#891s] for Charles L. Harding of Boston, a 65-foot twin screw cruiser [#380p Esmonda] for Clarence Whitman of New York, and a class Q sloop [#892s Grayling] for J. P. Morgan. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 17.)

"Except for their sail plan, [the Watch Hill 15s] are very much like the Buzzards Bay 15s... The Marconi rig was widely accepted after about 1920 as being more aerodynamically efficient to windward than the gaff rig. It was also somewhat simpler to use, since the mainsail could be hoisted and lowered with only a single halyard. Because there was no gaff and no throat halyard, the building cost for the Watch Hill boats must have been a little less than for the standard 15-footers. In any event, the new boats were given pointed coamings as well as pointed sails, and were delivered to the Watch Hill Yacht Club for the 1923 season. There were eleven boats, all identical and all using the #503-class molds of 1899.
A good boat is a good boat no matter how old its design, and the sailors of Watch Hill understood this in 1922. They came to the same realization again in the mid-1960s when they sponsored more new boats of the same hull design, this time in fiberglass, and with even taller and more modern rigs. The class today, now made up mostly of these new boats, is still active. But going strong as well, although no longer a part of the racing fleet, are a number of the original boats. Often, wooden 15-footers have ended up in nearby Noank, Connecticut, a veritable wooden boat mecca. ..." (Source: Bray, Maynard and Carlton Pinheiro. Herreshoff of Bristol. Brooklin, Maine, 1989, p. 158.)

"[Item Description:] Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Inc. Tentative Financial Statements for the Period from January 1, 1923 to June 27, 1923. Tentative Comparative Balance sheet as at June 27, 1923 and December 31, 1922. Tentative Statement of Profit and Loss for the Period of January 1, 1923 to June 27, 1923. Including detailed profitabilty statements for several contracts including #380p ESMONDA (C. Whitman), Watch Hill 15s (#880s JOSEPHINE, #881s MISS Q., #882s SHANENDOWA, #883s THISTLE, #884s FANTASY, #885s VIKING I, #886s ALERT, #887s PIXIE, #888s HOW COME, #889s ALTHEA, and #890s TOBASCO), #891s WILDFIRE (C.L. Harding), #892s GRAYLING, 12 1/2-footers #893s COMET Jr. and #894s WREN" (Source: Lybrand, Ross Bros. & Montgomery Accountants (creator). Financial Statement. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_50550. Subject Files, Folder [no #], formerly 124?. 1923-07-02.)
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"[Item Description:] Spreadsheet listing original contracts (from 1923 to 1940) by HMCo in the collection of HMM (apparently from the gift of Everett Pearson). Listed boats are: #380p, #381p, #388p, #389p, #391p, #392p, #393p, #395p, #886s, #933s, #934s, #954s, #955s, #962s, #983s, #999s, #1002s, #1017s, #1054s, #1055s, #1057s, #1074s, #1078s, #1122s, #1125s, #1130s, #1131s, #1147s, #1152s, #1153s, #1154s, #1156s, #1157s, #1164s, #1170s, #1173s, #1174s, #1175s, #1175s, #1176s, #1177s, #1179s, #1180s, #1191s, #1192s, #1193s, #1195s, #1196s, #1198s, #1199s, #1200s, #1201s, #1202s, #1203s, #1206s, #1207s, #1208s, #1209s, #1210s, #1211s, #1212s, #1213s, #1214s, #1215s, #1216s, #1217s, #1218s, #1219s, #1220s, #1222s, #1224s, #1236s, #1226s, #1227s, #1228s, #1230s, #1232s, #1234s, #1237s, #1238s, #1240s, #1241s, #1243s, #1244s, #1245s, #1246s, #1247s, #1248s, #1249s, #1250s, #1251s, #1252s, #1253s, #1254s, #1255s, #1256s, #1257s, #1258s, #1259s, #1260s, #1261s, #1262s, #1263s, #1264s, #1265s, #1274s, #1275s, #1277s, #1279s, #1280s, #1281s, #1282s, #1283s, #1284s, #1285s, #1286s, #1287s, #1302s, #1303s, #1315s, #1508s." (Source: Rickson, Norene (creator). Table. Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection Item LIB_4220. HMM Library Rare Books Room (HMCo Contracts), Folder [no #]. No date (2010s ?).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #886s Alert even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Cheever, David. "The Herreshoff Fifteens." The Log of Mystic Seaport, v. 24, No. 2., Summer 1972, p. 38-44. (106 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Short class history, detailed vessel description and appreciation and a thrilling account of a typical race of Buzzards Bay 15 at the Beverly Yacht Club. Special focus on #554s Fiddler ex-Nora, now in the collection of Mystic Seaport Museum.
• Brainerd, Alec with Bernard H. Gustin and Steven K. Nagy. "The Herreshoff 15 is Alive and Well." In: Herreshoff Marine Museum (Publisher). Proceedings. The Classic Yacht Symposium 2010. Bristol, R.I. 2010. (5,834 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Alec Brainerd, Bernard H. Gustin, Steven K. Nagy / Herreshoff Marine Museum. Class history, construction and restoration comments, building and sailing a replica, detailed class register (including replicas). Photos, drawings.
• van der Linde, Claas. "Herreshoff 15-Footers: Building Dates and Model Variations." December 7, 2021. (380 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Claas van der Linde. Tabular summary of Herreshoff 15-footer construction dates and model variations. Together with information of BB15 sail numbers, boat names and boat owners from various year books of the Beverly Yacht Club.
• Avery, Bruce. [No title. List of Herreshoff Watch Hill 15 Footers.] Unpublished manuscript, ca. 1994. (95 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Bruce Avery. Summary accounting of the Watch Hill 15s built by HMCo and their subsequent owners, providing boat names, hull and sail numbers, original and subsequent owners and homeport in 1994. Reflecting the knowledge up to ca. 1994.
• Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. [Contract for #886s Alert, Watch Hill 15.] Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection. Bristol, RI, September 15, 1923. (733 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Herreshoff Marine Museum. Original building/sales contract. Vessel description, scantlings, payment terms, delivery date.

Name: Alert
Type: J & M
Length: 15'
Owner: Henry, W. Barklie

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

• Alert
• 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: Alert
Type: 15' J & M
Owner: W. Barklie Henry
Row No.: 18

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: Sept.
Day: 14
Year: 1922
E/P/S: S
No.: 0886
Name: Alert
LW: 15
B: 6' 9"
D: 2' 3"
Rig: J & M
CB: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 1533.00
Notes Constr. Record: 1923 delivery. Henry cancelled boat. Transferred to R. S. Aldrich.
Last Name: Henry
First Name: W. B.

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.

"Watch Hill 15s had a shallower keel [of 2 feet 3 inches], a marconi rig, a coaming that comes to a point at the front of the cockpit, and an ever-so-slightly higher freeboard compared to the regular Buzzards Bay 15s." (Source: Nagy, Steve. June 1, 2008.)

"Provenance:
R. S. Aldrich: 1923 - 1925: Watch Hill, RI: Alert: 9
Daniel F. Larkin: 1925 - 1930: Watch Hill, RI: Alert
Byrnes: 1930 - ????: Watch Hill, RI: Alert
Calvert B. Cottrell: 1937 - ????: Avondale, RI: Alert
Charles P. Cottrell: Avondale, RI: Alert
Harriet Cottrell Ellis: ???? - 1959: Alert
Harold Tucker: 1978 - 1988: Bristol, RI
Bruce Avery: 1988 - 1989: Noank, CT: Alert
David M. Pugh: 1989 - ????: Ashaway, RI: Alert" (Source: Nagy, Steve. http://www.orrsford.com/herreshoff/boat.php?hull=886, retrieved September 8, 2008.)

"The original contract in the collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum is dated 'this 15th day of September 1923'. The scan is incomplete and does not state a delivery date. Note, that this contract may be the second contract. The Construction Record states that this boat was initially ordered by W. Barklie Henry who then cancelled his order. It was then transferred to W. S. Aldrich of Providence, RI." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 15, 2015.)

"Ownership info from Steve Nagy's Herreshoff Registry." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 8, 2014.)

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