HMCo #967s Stella II

"... in some ways the most interesting product of 1919 was the one-design class of 'S' boats, which came out early that spring.
While there were few of them built the first year, perhaps twenty, the company continued building them off and on for the next eight or nine years so that eventually there were perhaps a hundred and fifty or more of them, and besides being good little cruisers they have furnished active racing up to the present time in widely separated districts. If I remember right these little yachts cost less than two thousand dollars the first few years, so they have been a good investment for some owners for they were built well enough to last for years if handled carefully. Perhaps the 'S' boats would even have been more popular if they had been a little better looking but that defect should not be wholly blamed on Captain Nat for it was the request of the original sponsors of the class that they have short overhangs and full bows and sterns. This feature has made them rather queer-looking Universal Rule boats, and consequently they are not particularly fast for their rating. But there have been few all-around better boats for afternoon sailing, cruising, and racing, and perhaps also the last one-design class that was somewhat comfortable." (Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. The Wizard of Bristol. The Life and Achievements of Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, together with An Account of Some of the Yachts he Designed. New York, 1953, p. 306.)

"The S boat fleet will split up between New Bedford, Marblehead and Bar Harbor, two of the boats for the latter port being owned by women. Misses Mildred McCormack and Phoebe McAyers are partners in one [#959s Periwinkle] and Mrs. Ann Archbold has the other [#980s Vixen II]. The remaining Bar Harbor S's are for John C. O'Brien [#964s Bridget], W.P. Scott [#960s Artemis], John S. Rogers [#956s Firefly] and Robert B. Bowler [#958s Beze B]. The two destined for Marblehead are for Herbert M. Sears [#967s Stella II] and Henry M. Faxon [#971s Rocket], while the lone boat [#970s Naut] going to New Bedford is for Joseph M. Read." (Source: Davis, Jeff. "Yachting Gossip." Providence Journal, April 25, 1926, p. ?.)

"Although the Herreshoff one-design 'S' knockabouts have been raced off Marblehead for half a dozen seasons, no new racers have been built for the class since the second year until this winter. Last Autumn after the close of racing the Stella [#832s] and Swallow [#845s] changed hands and replacements were ordered from Herreshoffs by ex-Commodore Herbert M. Sears whose new racer will be known as Stella II [#967s], and by Henry M. Faxon [#971s Rocket] of the Eastern Yacht Club." Boston Globe, May 2, 1926, p. A71.)

"... William H. Potter Jr, who purchased just before the close of the 1927 season from Herbert M. Sears the Herreshoff 'S' knockabout Stella II [#967s], has renamed the racer Teal, and the Nixie II [#837s ex-Doodah] of the class, now owned by Francis H. Cummings, has been changed in name to Sea Dog. ..." (Source: Anon. "Yachts and Yachtsmen." Boston Globe, May 20, 1928, p. 23.)

"The Herreshoff knockabout Teal, champion of the class for the last two seasons, makes a striking appearance this season, to say the least, with her bright blue hull and green mast. Now owned by Ellen E. O'Donnell she has been changed in name to Mischief and the color scheme last year on Miss O'Donnel's 'T' [Triangle Class] Vagabond has been carried along to her new racer." (Source: Anon. "Marblehead Racing Season Opens New Sunday." Boston Globe, June 5, 1932, p. A44.)

"Though war was looming, the sailing season of 1940 was an active one [in Quissett]. In the regular schedule there were a dozen S boats on the starting line while the 12 1/2 class had increased to about 18. The S boat class had reached its zenith with biweekly races, the midweek race run by the Woods Hole Yacht Club. Jack Mayberry, a fierce competitor from the Moors, skippered his father’s Vixen II [#980s] with his brother George and crew Dick Shriner. Barbara Gifford was sailing her Penzance from Great Harbor and the Janneys had the new Herreshoff S boat Wawis [#1414s]. The Bradleys, sailing out of Little Harbor, appeared on the course in their blue Mischief [#967s]." (Source: Quissett Yacht Club (publ.). Glorious Good Times. The First Hundred Years of the Quissett Yacht Club. Quissett, 2012, p. 55.)

• Benfield, James W. "Reviving the 'S' Class." Yachting, May 1945, p. 56-57, 104. (3,516 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. How the Western Long Island Sound S-class fleet was built with a deliberate strategy.
• Upham, Kenneth B. History and Register of the S-Boat. Privately printed, no place, 1994. (13,553 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. The definitive source of info on the S-class, but unfortunately current only up to its date of publication in 1994. History of the class and its various fleets, technical comments, detailed vessel-by-vessel provenance, owner and name indices.
• Bray, Maynard and Claas van der Linde. "The Origins of the S-Boat. A Remarkable Herreshoff One-Design." Wooden Boat #267, March/April 2019, p. 74-79. (1,201 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. A short history of how the S-Class came about, including new insights from recent research of original Herreshoff documents. With photos and reproductions of the original construction and sail plans.
• Silken, Alan (text). Silken, Cory (photos). "Setting Sail in America. The Remarkable Story of Herreshoff S Class Sailboats." Seapoint Books, Brooklin, ME.
  Appreciation of the S-Class, history of the design and local fleets, portraits of surviving S-boats and a catalogue of all S-boats
• Silken, Alan (text). Silken, Cory (photos). "A Century of S-Boats. The Enduring Appeal of a Classic Herreshoff One-Design." Wooden Boat #267, March/April 2019, p. 80-85. (1,510 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Appreciation of the S-Class and a history of the fleets in Narragansett Bay, Quisset and Long Island and a summary of the leading S-boat restorers.
• van der Linde, Claas. [No title. Note about S-Class Weight Discrepancies.] March 11, 2022. (11 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Claas van der Linde. Note about discrepancies in published and unpublished sources of displacement of S-class boats and why 6030lbs is currently assumed to be the correct weight.
• Bray, Maynard. "Restoring the Herreshoff S-boat Mischief." OffCenterHarbor.com, January 20, 2012. (987 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray / OffCenterHarbor.com. Restoration report. Photos.
• Bray, Maynard. "Restoring the S-Boat Mischief, 2nd Episode." OffCenterHarbor.com, February 12, 2012. (2,134 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray / OffCenterHarbor.com. Restoration report. Photos.
• Bray, Maynard. "A Sail in the S-boat Mischief." OffCenterHarbor.com, April 22, 2012. (946 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray / OffCenterHarbor.com. Account of a short test sail on Eggemoggin Reach, just after her restoration. Photos.
• Bradley, Ben. "The Long Affair: David Bradley and his S-Boat Mischief. A Guest Blog by Ben Bradley." OffCenterHarbor.com, December 26, 2013. (409 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Ben Bradley / OffCenterHarbor.com. Reminiscences.
• Lange, Jens. "For Sale. Herreshoff S-boat Mischief." October 10, 2015. http://www.herreshoff-s-wlis.org/files/HMCo_S-Boat_MISCHIEF_for_sale.pdf, retrieved March 5, 2016. (1,510 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Jens Lange. For sale ad. Boat description. Short history. Photos.

• Stella II (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: Stella II
Type: J & M S
Length: 20'6"
Owner: Sears, Herbert M.

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

• Stella II
• Mischief ex-Stella II
• Teal ex-Stella II
• 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: Stella II
Type: "S" boat
Owner: Henry [sic, i.e. Herbert] M. Sears
Row No.: 860

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: Oct. 19 [sic, i.e. Oct.]
Day: 19
Year: 1925
E/P/S: S
No.: 0967
Name: Stella II
OA: 27' 6"
LW: 20' 6"
B: 7' 0"
D: 4' 9"
Rig: J & M
K: y
Notes Constr. Record: Marblehead Class
Last Name: Sears
First Name: Herbert M.

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 number 7." (Source: Upham, Kenneth B. History and Register of the S-Boat. No place, 1994, p. 81.)

"[Copyright-restricted content.]" (Source: van der Linde, Claas. Private Research Note. March 5, 2016.)

"[Copyright-restricted content.]" (Source: van der Linde, Claas. Private Research Note. February 17, 2024.)

"Sail area approximately 425 square feet, measured." (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.)

"See note about about weight discrepancies in published and unpublished sources under 'Further Reading' heading." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 11, 2022.)

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