HMCo #1086s Shrimpo

"[Item Transcription:] [Typewritten on 'Herreshfoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, Rhode Island' stationery:] Replying to your valued inquiry of Saturday we beg to say that we have just one Buzzards Bay 12 1/2-Footer available for immediate delivery. This is a new boat which we have just, completed and will sell at our regular price of Eleven Hundred Dollars completely outfitted and in the water ready to sail at our Yard, or loaded on truck for delivery overland.
As we advised you formerly, the price of these little boats was established on the basis of selling direct to the owners without reference to a brokerage fee. However, if you should secure the signature on a contract for one of these boats and forward it to us together with the payments we shall be glad to allow you Fifty Dollars per boat to recompense you for your time and expenses. We are enclosing our regular contract in duplicate which will show your customer how these boats are built and equipped and we hope you will be able to sell this one.
As this is the only boat we have, and we have had two or three inquiries within the last few days, you will appreciate that we have to make this offer subject to prior sale.
If this should be sold before your client makes his decision, we shall of course be very glad to build him another boat. This boat can be delivered with either the Buzzards Bay (gaff) rig or the Larchmont (marconi) rig.
We do not at present know of any second hand boats available. The class is very closely held and we think it rather doubtful if there are any being offered at a price which would make them more desirable than a new boat.
Assuring you of our best co-operation, we are
Very truly yours, ... [Incl. contract form. Six 12 1/2-footers were built in 1928. Five of these had been sold and delivered by the time this letter was written, suggesting the sixth one, #1086s SHRIMPO, to have been the boat referred to in the letter.] " (Source: Brightman, Thomas P. (Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.). Letter to Howard & Munro. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.047. Box HAFH.6.2B, Folder Buzzards Bay 12 1/2 Footer. 1928-09-17.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #1086s Shrimpo even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• 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.

Name: Shrimpo
Type: Leg-O-Mutton
Length: 12'6"
Owner: Gardner, G. Peabody, Jr.

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

Name: Shrimpo
Type: 12 1/2-footer
Owner: Geo. P. Gardiner, Jr.
Row No.: 1001

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: Jun [sic, i.e. no month]
Day: 29 [sic, i.e. no day]
Year: 1928
E/P/S: S
No.: 1086
Name: Shrimpo
OA: 15'
LW: 12 1/2'
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 1100.00
Notes Constr. Record: Leg-o-mutton rig. Delivered Bristol, R.I.
Last Name: Gardiner

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.

Hull No.: 1086
Contract Date: 1928-06-29
Org. Name: Shrimpo
Org. Owner: George P. Gardiner, Jr.
Org. Rig: Leg O' Mutton
Current Rig: gaff
Mast Partner: hinged
Home Port: Seattle, WA
Prior Owners: Dave Lesser - 1983 - 1999 - - ; Douglas Smith - ? - 1983 - Houston, TX -
Current Name: Shrimpo
Current Owner: The Center For Wooden Boats
Owner Since: 1999
Sheer-strake: Oak
Restored By: Center For Wooden Boats
Note: This boat was donated to The Center For Wooden Boats in 1999 by Dave Lesser. Dave bought her in 1984 and sailed her for a couple of years before being transferred to Germany. She sat in storage for 10 years and dried out so badly that she needed a major rebuild. She is slowly being restored by The Center For Wooden Boats.

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.)

"The (company-internal) order to build the entire #1081 class of twelve boats (of which this boat was the 6th) was issued on January 2, 1928." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. June 23, 2014.)

"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.