HMCo #939s Sassy Sally

"[1926-07-10] Sat 10: Took a fine sail in Alerion with Ann & Agnes to Warwick to see race of 16 footers [Warwick Fish Class #939s to #941s and #972s to #977s] in Westbay. Strong S breeze and choppy." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1926. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"Many yachts are being laid up at the Herreshoff Company's yards at Walker's Cove. ... Three boats of the Warwick Class, Tomboy [#975s], Andy Gump [#976s] and Aunt Eppie [#941s] are to be hauled out, having arrived the first of the week. ... At the boatyards of Samuel C. Wardwell at the head of the harbor, many craft have been hauled out and several are at their moorings off Wardwell's shops awaiting time and the opportunity for the process of storage for the winter. Many of these beats are from up the bay and the owners have stored them for many years at this yard. Three of the Warwick Class arrived this week to be laid up, Skipper [#939s Sassy Sally, #973s Maggie or #974s Mickey], Katrinka [#940s] and Minx [#977s ex-Brownie]." (Source: Anon. "Many Yachts Being Laid Up For Winter. Herreshoff Company and S. C. Wardwell Busy Storing Boats At the Yards in This Town." Bristol Phoenix, October 5, 1928, p. 1.)

"1929. ... The class of Herreshoff 16-foot waterline knockabouts at the Warwick Country Club was sold, most of them to Cold Spring Harbor, to make way for 13 new German-built Atlantic Class sloops. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 43.)

"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. ... The next fleet of boats was a group of three built for the Warwick Country Club of Warwick Neck R.I. These boats were delivered for the 1925 sailing season. They sold for $1750. ... Six additional boats joined the WCC fleet in the 1926 season. Once again, the price increased, this time to $1900. The nine boats of the WCC fleet were marconi rigged, with moulded oak sheer strakes and were named for cartoon characters. They were trimmed with oak also." (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.)

"The Warwick Neck fleet only sailed actively for a short time before the members decided to replace the boats with the larger and faster Starling Burgess designed Atlantic class. Upon replacement, many of the marconi Warwick Country Club (WCC) boats went to Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. From that point the boats began to lose their fleet identity and become harder to trace." (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.)

• Sassy Sally and other Fish class (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: Sassy Sally
Type: J & M
Length: 16'
Owner: Bancroft, Edward R. and Francis M. Smith

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

• Sassy Sally
• 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: Sassy Sally
Type: 16' J & M
Owner: E. R. Bancroft and Francis M. Smith
Row No.: 596

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.

Year: 1925
E/P/S: S
No.: 0939
Name: Sassy Sally
LW: 16'
Rig: J & M
Amount: 1750.00
Notes Constr. Record: Marconi Rig
Last Name: Edward R. Bancroft & Francis M. Smith

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.

"Note that the construction plan at MIT bears a note 'STEM HEAD FOR 939 CLASS SEE (91-169)' showing the redesign of details to facilitate the new marconi rig of the Warwick Fish Class of 1925 and later compared to the gaff rig of the 1919 and earlier models. HMCo #939 is a reference to Sassy Sally, the first of the 1925 Fish Class boats." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. July 5, 2008.)

"As early as 1928, a Warwick Fish Class named Skipper appears in contemporary newspaper reports. This boat has survived to this day. It is believed that Skipper is the former #939s Sassy Sally, #973s Maggie or #974s Mickey, because in 1928 all other remaining Warwick Fish Class boats #940s Katrinka, #941s Aunt Eppie, #943s Raggedy Ann, #972s Felix, #975s Tomboy, #976s Andy Gump, and #977s Brownie were accounted for. In 1929 Skipper was raced in the Cold Spring Harbor fleet by Thomas Young (as per the New York Times of July 28, 1929, p. 138). From 1930 on she was sailed by Benjamin Young and Lawrence Bottomley. The Herreshoff Registry shows Skipper to have been named Marcia Too from 1946 until 2009 when she became John Dory until 2015 when she was renamed to Striper." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. June 11, 2016.)

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