HMCo #972s Felix

"[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.)

"Sales of the week: ... the Seawanhaka Fish class sloop Felix was sold by J. B Smull of Cold Spring Harbor to H. T. Cavanaugh." (Source: Ramsay, Jack. "Sails, Spars and Gadgets." Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 26, 1937, p. 21.)

"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.)

"... About 40 Fish Class sloops were built at the Herreshoff Company between 1916 and 1925. In 1925, a fleet of 7 boats, all named after popular cartoon characters, was delivered to members of the newly organized Warwick Country Club at Warwick Neck, RI. These boats carried the increasingly popular marconi rig. The Warwick Neck Class was sold to a group in Cold Spring Harbor, NY when their owners moved up to the Burgess designed Atlantic sloops." (Source: Herreshoff Marine Museum Chronicle, Fall 1989, p. 3.)

"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.)

• Felix and other Warwick Neck 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: Felix
Type: J & M
Length: 16'
Owner: Huntoon, William C. and John C. Washburn

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

• Felix
• 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: Felix
Type: 16' J & M
Owner: Wm. C. Huntoon & John C. Washburn
Row No.: 223

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: Nov.
Day: 09
Year: 1925
E/P/S: S
No.: 0972
Name: Felix
OA: 16'
Rig: J & M
K: y
Amount: 1900.00
Notes Constr. Record: Warwick Neck Class.
Last Name: Wm. c. Huntoon, Jr. & J.C.B. Washburn

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.