HMCo #1140s Papillon

"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. ?.)

"... There were other new competitors entering the racing scene at Quissett in the early 1970s. William Cooper arrived in Quissett in 1944 on a schooner and developed an instant bond to the place. He later married Judith Eldred, daughter of Charlie Eldred, whose father had inherited the boatyard from his father Captain Charles. Working for a time at the boatyard Bill developed a deep affection for the 12 1/2 and all things Herreshoff. In 1972 one of the boats he had admired and taken care of in his youth, CUTLASS, came up for sale. Though not a member of the club nor a racer he bought the boat, a simple act that would change the life of his youngest son Douglas permanently. After crewing for Sheila Burke, a sailing instructor and successful Quissett racer in her youth, one season in CUTLASS Douglas was keen to compete himself. The Club wanted to keep the boat in competition so Douglas, great grandson of a founding member, was allowed to join on his own at 16 years of age. This was an unprecedented bending of the membership rules spearheaded by Cynthia Coffin. Not having grown up in the club he never attended any formal sailing class but acquired his skills from his father, Sheila Burke, and on his own. In 1974 the third regatta of the new H Class was at Quissett and that year a junior championship was also held on Friday. Douglas Cooper in his famously fast CUTLASS was the winner of the juniors. ...
CUTLASS is still owned by Douglas Cooper who is currently doing a total restoration of the boat. She is known not only for her speed but her Keith green topside paint, a color that can only be described as unique. CUTLASS has been in Quissett since she was new (1930) and hopefully has many years of sailing and racing ahead of her. ..." (Source: Cooper, Douglas E. and Carol R. Suitor. "One Hundred Years of the Herreshoff 12 1/2 at Quissett." In: Herreshoff Marine Museum (publ.). Proceedings. The 6th Classic Yacht Symposium. May 2- 3, 2014. Bristol, RI, 2014, p. 10, 12.)

"... By the mid-1930s a number of sailors who were members of both Quissett and Woods Hole yacht clubs raced regularly in both clubs’ races. The 12 1/2s, or Buzzards Bay knockabouts, as they were called in Woods Hole, Seal [#1007s], Tunch [#?s, probably owned by Du Bois in 1935, still extant under this name in 2014], Viking [#1237s] and Coot [#893s?] sailed to Quissett. Conversely the Quissett 12 1/2s Cutlass [#1140s] and Shrimp [#749s] and the Quissett S boats sailed to Woods Hole. ..." (Source: Quissett Yacht Club (publ.). Glorious Good Times. The First Hundred Years of the Quissett Yacht Club. Quissett, 2012, p. 44.)

• 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: Papillon
Type: J & M
Length: 12'6"
Owner: Endicott, H. Wendell

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

Name: Papillon
Type: 12 1/2-footer
Owner: H. Wendell Endicott
Row No.: 966

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: Apr.
Day: 12
Year: 1930
E/P/S: S
No.: 1140
Name: Papillon
OA: 15
LW: 12.5
D: 2 1/2
Rig: J& M
K: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 1100.00
Notes Constr. Record: BB 121/2 ftr. Paid 6/27/30. Taken by Capt. Martin (?) in tow 6/25/30. June 1.
Notes Bray: 1134 class (so annotated in name field)
Last Name: Endicott
First Name: H. Wendell

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.: 1140
Contract Date: 1930-04-12
Org. Name: Papillon
Org. Owner: H. Wendell Endicott
Org. Rig: J&M
Home Port: Quisset
Prior Owners: Keith - - -
Current Name: Cutlass
Current Owner: Judith E. Cooper
Sheer-strake: Oak
Note: This boat has been in Quisset for the last 45-55 years.

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.)

"Built in 74 days (contract to delivered; equivalent to $15/day, 21 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.