HMCo #1107s [12 1/2 for Dorothy C. Rogers]

"Ten of the Herreshoff 12 1/2-foot sailing sloops were delivered to their owners around Buzzards bay during the past week. Ten more of these smart little boats are ready for delivery at Fishers Island and East Hampton. ..." (Source: Anon. "Yacht Club Notes." Providence Journal Bulletin, June 19, 1930, p. ?.)

"HERRESHOFF 12 1/2. #1107. Oak. Restored and maintained in absolutely mint condition by Riverside Boat Yard (WoodenBoat No. 40). Good sails, flat spinnaker. Unusual Herreshoff jam cleats, oars, oarlocks, 2 anchors/rodes. Full-length mooring cover requiring no ugly deck hardware. Very rigid custom trailer. $11,500. 207-743-6280." (Source: Anon. [Classified Ad.] Wooden Boat #81, March / April 1988, p. 157.)

"The Milanese lawyer [Giuseppe Giordano], who already owns Bona Fide [designed by Charles Sibbick in 1899] and Cerida, has recently bought the 1929 Herreshoff 12 1/2 (or H Class) called 'Juanita'. She is 12 1/2ft (3.84m) on the waterline and 15ft 9in (4.84m) overall and rigged as a gaff sloop. The class was designed in 1914 as a 'boat for yachtsman that wanted a boat for their children that was easy to handle' and their success is easy to measure by more than 3000 [sic] boats that have been built to this design.
After some restoration work in Sanremo by Kiwi shipwright Rik Warner, 'Juanita' is hoping to make an appearance at Monaco, and maybe in Cannes. [Juanita was previously owned by Ugo Barravalle of Turin.]" (Source: http://classicyachtinfo.com/2013/09/13/3-regattas-3-boats/, retrieved April 4, 2015.)

• 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.
• Bray, Maynard. "Looking Good Again. A Refinishing Story." Wooden Boat #40, May/June 1981, p. 56-66. (1,181 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text). How to scrape, sand, varnish and paint a 12 1/2. Step by step photos as done by Paul Bryant.

Type: J & M
Length: 12'6"
Owner: Rogers, Dorothy C.

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

Name: ---
Type: 12 1/2-footer
Owner: Dorothy C. Rogers
Row No.: 896

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: Sep
Day: 1
Year: 1929
E/P/S: S
No.: 1107
OA: 15'
LW: 12 1/2'
D: 2 1/2'
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 1100.00
Notes Constr. Record: B.B. 12 1/2 footer. Barden order. Taken 5/29/30 June 1, 1930.
Last Name: Rogers
First Name: DorothyC.

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.: 1107
Contract Date: 1929-09-04
Org. Owner: Dorothy C. Rogers
Org. Rig: J&M
Current Rig: Gaff
Mast Partner: hinged
Home Port: Turin, Italy
Prior Owners: Mr. Beetle - ???? - 1972 - Kittery, ME - ; H.W. Detert - 1972 - 1990 - Newcastle, Me - Whitecap; John Good - 1990 - 1995 - New York, NY -
Current Name: Juanita
Current Owner: Ugo Baravalle
Owner Since: 1995
Sheer-strake: Oak
Restored By: CNI
Note: This boat was featured in a Wooden Boat article on maintenance in the early 80's. Bill Detert owned it for about 15 ' 18 years. He sailed it in Newcastle, ME. He acquired it from a Mr. Beetle through Dion's Boat Yard in Kittery, and sold it for use on the Hudson. It is now in Turin, Italy.

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.)

"From the late 1920s until the close of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company Frederick B. Barden was by far its most important customer for 12 1/2 footers. His first order came in 1926, a year before Barden's Boatyard on Sippican Harbor in the town of Marion, Mass., was officially established. From then until 1943 he would order or broker a total of more than seventy-five 12 1/2 footers (plus #1225s Crusader in 1938 and one Marlin Cruiser in 1939), usually delivering them by truck from Bristol. During the same time span the HMCo built 280 12 1/2 footers. Barden thus took up more than a quarter of the company's production of 12 1/2 footers during these years. Barden is believed to have operated a rental fleet of boats for some time, but most of the boats he ordered were for brokerage and many are believed to have been sold to members of the nearby Beverly Yacht Club and the Buzzards Yacht Club. Barden's Boat Yard was still in existence in 2015, but apparently had no information available about these early boats." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 10, 2015.)

"Built in 270 days (contract to delivered; equivalent to $4/day, 6 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"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.)

"Displacement to waterline 24.6 cuft. = 1575 lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. [Design notes.] October 27, 1914.)

"Displacement 24.6 cu.ft. [= 1575 lbs] from untitled two-page rating-rule-related table handwritten (in ink) by N. G. Herreshoff with multiple dimensions for the most important Herreshoff-designed yachts. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. MRDE15, Folder [no #]. Undated (the most recent boat dates 1914/1915 and the table was probably prepared in preparation for NGH's sail area rating rule of 1914/1915)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 16, 2020.)

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