HMCo #1146s Enterprise

"[1929-10-04] ... The keel for [the] Vanderbilt - Burgess design Cup Defender [#1146s Enterprise] is being cast today. ...
[1930-04-14] Mon 14: ... Had telegram that Enterprise [#1146s] was launched at 8 a.m. ...
[1930-05-25] Sun 25: [... Had a call from Geo N[ichols], Clinton Crane [designer of #1147s Weetamoe recently launched at HMCo] & S[tarling] Burgess [designer of #1146s Enterprise recently launched at HMCo]. ...
[1930-05-29] Thu 29: [Thermometer] 49 - 59 - 55 [degrees]. Overcast & cool. A little sunshine in p.m. and went out in Magistrate [#301p] to see trials of Weetamoe [#1147s] with Vanitie in which W[eetamoe] proved much faster to windward. Enterprise [#1146s] with Vanderbilt fleet arrived in p.m.
[1930-06-02] Mon 2: ... Very fine & clear. L[igh]t to calm [in] a.m. Fresh SSW [wind in] p.m. A duralumin mast was shipped in Enterprise [#1146s] today.
[1930-06-03] Tue 3: ... Enterprise [#1146s] & flotilla left in forenoon. Weetamoe [#1147s] hauled out in p.m.
[1930-06-06] Fri 6: ... Enterprise [#1146s] here to take out light Duralumin mast. ...
[1930-06-07] Sat 7: ... Enterprise [#1146s] [was] towed away [now] having [a] lighter wooden mast.
[1930-06-11] Wed 11: ... Wireless news that in 1st meeting of Cup Defender NYYC race, Enterprise [#1146s] [was] 1st, Vanitie 2nd, Whirlwind 3rd, Weetamoe [#1147s] 4th.
[1930-06-16] Mon 16: ... Weetamoe [#1147s] won again today in l[igh]t to moderate [wind]. Enterprise [#1146s] 2nd, Whirlwind 3rd.
[1930-06-20] Fri 20: ... Enterprise [#1146s] & Resolute [#725s] arrived in forenoon & Weetamoe [#1147s] in early p.m. ...
[1930-06-21] Sat 21: ... Both Enterprise [#1146s] & Weetamoe [#1147s] haul out to polish bottoms.
[1930-06-22] Sun 22: ... Enterprise & Weetamoe [#1147s] launched early. ... Then off in Enterprise [#1146s] for [a] short sail. ...
[1930-06-24] Tue 24: ... [The] 2nd EYC Race at Newport [was] won by Enterprise [#1146s]. ...
[1930-06-25] Wed 25: ... Enterprise [#1146s] wins again today in mod[erate] windward & leeward [course]. Weetamoe - Yankee - Vanity [sic, i.e. Vanitie] & Whirlwind in [that] order. Weetamoe [#1147s] here in p.m. to change mast.
[1930-06-26] Thu 26: ... Weetamoe [#1147s] hauled out and Resolute & Enterprise [#1146s] arrived.
[1930-07-07] Mon 7: ... Weetamoe [#1147s] beat Whirlwind & Yankee beat Enterprise [#1146s] today.
[1930-07-08] Tue 8: ... Weetamoe [#1147s] beat Enterprise [#1146s] & Whirlwind beat Yankee.
[1930-07-09] Wed 9: ... Weetamoe [#1147s] beat Yankee & Enterprise [#1146s] beat Whirlwind on [a] windward & leeward [course]. Weetamoe has 3 wins and the others 1 each.
[1930-07-10] Thu 10: ... Weetamoe [#1147s] beat Whirlwind & Enterprise [#1146s] beat Yankee on triangle [course].
[1930-07-12] Sat 12: ... Enterprise [#1146s] arrived in evening to haul out.
[1930-07-18] Fri 18: ... Weetamoe [#1147s], Enterprise [#1146s] & Resolute [#725s] arrived at close of observation races off Newport. ...
[1930-07-29] Tue 29: ... Weetamoe [#1147s] and Enterprise [#1146s] hauled out at midnight to polish [their bottoms]. ...
[1930-08-21] Thu 21: ... Enterprise [#1146s] beat Weetamoe [#1147s] both yesterday and today.
[1930-08-23] Sat 23: ... Enterprise [#1146s] & Weetamoe [#1147s] [are] here as [wind is] too strong to race.
[1930-08-27] Wed 27: ... Trial races postponed. The committee at meeting in evening named Enterprise [#1146s] as Cup Defender.
[1930-09-04] Thu 4: ... Harold Vanderbilt sailed up in Enterprise [#1146s] and very kindly took me for [a] short sail. Weetamoe's [#1147s] tender & crew left.
[1930-09-09] Tue 9: ... Enterprise [#1146s] here to haul out for last time before the Cup races.
[1930-09-11] Thu 11: ... Enterprise [#1146s] launched and left for Newport in [the] forenoon.
[1930-09-13] Sat 13: [Thermometer] 68 - 70 - 63 [degrees]. Overcast all day and l[igh]t fog. L[igh]t N to NE [wind]. Went to Newport with Ann & Agnes and out in Corsair to see [the] 1st Cup race. Start [was] delayed by fog & calm till 12-55. Race sailed in 4 h[ours] 5 m[inutes] & won by Enterprise [#1146s].
[1930-09-15] Mon 15: [Thermometer] 69 - 74 - 71 [degrees]. Fog with l[ight] S [wind in] a.m. Part[ly] clear [in] p.m. with l[igh]t SSW [wind]. 2nd race for [America's] Cup [was] won by Enterprise [#1146s] by over 5 m[inutes].
[1930-09-17] Wed 17: [Thermometer] 70 - 78 - 72 [degrees]. Fog early but some haze all day. Very warm. Ann, Agnes & I went to Newport and out in Corsair to see [the] race. Shamrock broke [her] halyards while losing fast after 3/4 h[our of] sailing to windward in [a] nice breeze. So [the] race goes to Enterprise [#1146s]. Quite a sea & Ann [was sea]sick.
[1930-09-18] Thu 18: [Thermometer] 64 - 73 - 67 [degrees]. Very fine. L[igh]t to fresh NW & W [wind]. Agnes & I went out in Corsair to see [the] 4th race which was won by Enterprise [#1146s] by 5 m[inutes] 43 s[econds], thus keeping the America's Cup, and all is well.
[1930-09-19] Fri 19: ... Resolute [#725s] arrived to lay up in forenoon and Enterprise [#1146s] in [the] afternoon. Had a pleasant call from Harold Vanderbilt in [the] p.m." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1929 to 1930. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"August 31 1935
Dear Mr. Stephens -
... I now understand the breakers are at work scrapping ENTERPRISE? ...
Very truly yours,
Nathanael Greene Herreshoff
Sept. 15 1935." (Source: P. 67-80, letter 13. From N. G. Herreshoff to W. P. Stephens, dated August 31, 1935 to September 15, 1935. In: Herreshoff, Nathanael Greene and William Picard Stephens. "Their Last Letters 1930-1938." Annotated by John W. Streeter. Bristol, R. I., ca. 1999.)

"In 1930 the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company also built the cup defender 'Enterprise,' designed by Starling Burgess and managed by Harold Vanderbilt, as well as the cup candidate 'Weetamoe,' designed by Clinton Crane and managed by George Nichols. While these yachts were not closely connected with Captain Nat, still they used many features of construction he had developed and were equipped almost entirely with winches, steering gears, and deck fittings he had designed for former cup boats. 'Enterprise' was Starling Burgess' second metal yacht, and the personnel of the drafting department of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company was of great assistance to him." (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. 311.)

"ENTERPRISE
April 14 of this year marked the fiftieth anniversary of the launching of the Cup defender ENTERPRISE from the south shop of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company.
She was designed by W. Starling Burgess for a syndicate headed by Harold S. Vanderbilt. Burgess was the son of Edward Burgess, the designer of three America's Cup defenders in the 1880's.
ENTERPRISE was the first of three J boats that defended the America's Cup. Her dimensions were length overall 120 ft. 9 inches; waterline length 80 feet; beam 22 ft. 1 inch; draft 14 ft. 6 inches; sail area 7583 square feet and height of mast from deck to hoist 152 feet 6 inches. The ENTERPRISE was built in Bristol under conditions of great secrecy. With numerous winches and considerable gear both above and below deck, she was very much a racing machine. Probably her most famous innovation was the "Park Avenue" boom, a wide-topped V-shaped spar which allowed control of the curve of the mainsail foot. She also had the first duraluminum mast in history. Mr. Vanderbilt, Mr. Burgess and members of her organization worked continually during the season making changes and adjustments until she won the America's Cup in the late summer of 1930." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. III. "Enterprise" In: Herreshoff Marine Museum Chonicle, Spring 1980, p. 1.)

"BRISTOL, R. I., March 20 [1930]. --- Construction of Enterprise, the nearest completed of the America's Cup defense yachts, has reached a stage of painting, and she could be launched in ten days if necessary. Another two weeks probably will pass, however, before the ways are greased, her christening cradle is set about her, the chock that is set to hold her is knocked away with a sledge hammer and she takes her first dip into Narragansett Bay from the covered shed at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company.
A first coat of white paint has been applied to the topsides of the yacht over her bronze plates. She will be white above the waterline and bronze below. To those who saw the solid bronze hull set up on the staging holding it, the smearing of paint on the gold-like creation seemed almost an offense.
But the bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, turns green on the surface very quickly above the water, and rapidly smudges and fouls. The paint, the smoothest that can be obtained, applied in thin coats over the polished metallic plane, leaves a surface of the least resistance and enables the yacht to slip through the water.
To Finish Hull After Painting.
When the painting is completed the hull will be finished in its entirety, with winches installed for sail handling, as well as flooring inside the hull, where the crew will work putting light sails in stops ready for setting. All the deck fittings also will be in place.
When Charles G. Nystrom, general manager of the Herreshoff plant, gives the word and Enterprise is dipped into the bay, she will be taken in tow and brought around Point Judith and through Long Island Sound to City Island, where she will be rigged. Her mast, spars and sails are there ready for her. ... The wheel of Enterprise, only two feet in diameter between the ends of the spokes, is ready for varnishing. ..." (Source: Robbins, James. "Yacht Enterprise Gets First Paint. Nearest Finished of America's Cup Defenders Expected to Be Launched in 2 Weeks. Hull White Above Bronze. " New York Times, March 21, 1930, p. 36.)

"BRISTOL, R. I., April 7 [1930]. --- One-half an hour before the moon flood of the tide next Monday morning the Enterprise, first of the four America's Cup yachts to be built, will be launched. Her launching hour was definitely set this afternoon when Harold S. Vanderbilt, one of the syndicate members that ordered her, and who will be her skipper, inspected her at the yard of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. ...
Every Angle Is Examined.
Just who will wield the bottle and carry the roses for the Enterprise next Monday has not been decided, Mr. Vanderbilt admitted. ...
Mr. Vanderbilt, tanned with Winters southland sun and looking as fit as a mariner hereabouts by mid-July, came directly here from Palm Beach to look at the craft he will point for the international races.
Ducking his more than six feet of stature under the staging in the building sheds, he minutely examined every angle and surface of the yacht. With him were W. Starling Burgess, her designer, and Charles G. Nystrom and C. P. Brightman of the building firm. He saw a beautiful, golden-bronze creation, fashioned with well-turned bilges, an easy run, fine ends and polished underbody ---altogether presenting a pleasing profile.
The Enterprise is completed so far as her hull and its fittings go. As soon as she is launched, she will be towed to City Island by Mr. Vanderbilt's motor yacht.
Longest Mast Ever Built.
Her mast, spars and sails are awaiting her there, and she will be rigged at once. Her mast, which is 168 feet and the longest one ever built for a sailing vessel of any sort, will be stepped as soon as she arrives at the western end of Long Island Sound.
Three masts have been made for the yacht, two built up of wood glued together and one of duralumin, of which dirigibles are ribbed. The heavier of the two wooden ones will be installed first.
Mr. Burgess, whose father turned out the boats that successfully defended the America's cup prior to the advent of Nat Herreshoff, has put his all in the enterprise, which is his first chance at the cup. With Mrs. Burgess, he has practically lived the building of the boat. They have occupied what used to be known as the Tea House at the Herreshoff yard, and only moved out this afternoon after the final inspection and pronouncement that all was ready but the tide that comes its own way and waits for no man.
Mr. Burgess will move on to City Island for the rigging process, which he said might be completed in ten days, at the end of which time the yacht will be under sail for tests in the Sound. ... " (Source: Robbins, James. "Morning Launching For The Enterprise. First of America's Cup Yachts to Be Built to Slide Off the Ways at 8 A. M. Monday. Vanderbilt Inspects Boat." New York Times, April 8, 1930, p. 37.)

"BRISTOL, R. I., April 14 [1930]. --- Enterprise, the first completed of the four America's Cup defense yachts, was successfully launched and christened this morning at the Herreshoff shipyards. She was taken under tow at once by Harold S. Vanderbilt's twin-motor vacht Vara [#385p], which headed for City Island, where the boat's mast will be stepped tomorrow morning and the work of rigging her will begin at once.
While Enterprise, in her initial sea bath, received perhaps more wetting, Governor Norman X. Case of Rhode Island received most of the christening. Mrs. Winthrop W. Aldrich, wife of one of the syndicate owners of the yacht, was chosen sponsor. She was most anxious that there should be no slip between the cup and the bottle.
In addition to the huge bunch of gladioli that was handed to her there was an offering of something sewed inside cheese cloth, with a light cotton rope attached to it. She received instructions to break the something over the bow of the yacht as the craft started to move. What was inside the cloth was not revealed. It was admitted that it was not ginger ale.
Mrs. Aldrich mounted an improvised platform at the shore end of the building shed where the bow end of the yacht was, the craft being poised to sit gracefully in the ocean tub rather than go in head first.
Not a Difficult Process. Christening a boat probably is much easier than pouring tea, or even baking a cake, but Mrs. Aldrich did not think so. Perhaps she was imbued with the importance of this launching, the send-off of a yacht that may be the choice to meet Sir Thomas Lipton's latest Shamrock in the international races. At any rate she decided to take no
chances.
'Where shall I stand?' she inquired.
'Close to the end of the boat,' she was instructed.
'When do I hit it?' she asked.
'When she moves.'
'When do I know she is moving?'
So Governor Case moved forward, always gallant. He told what any politician knows about launchings and Mrs. Aldrich assumed one of those 'You may fire when you are ready' attitudes. A workman volunteered assistance. He would wave his hand.
Enterprise moved a foot. Mrs. Aldrich stood, still poised.
'Fire,' some one called. There was not a move on her part. The yacht started again.
'Hurry,' some one else called.
Just then Mrs. Aldrich swung, and she swung from her pump tops. There was a crash of glass. Enterprise had been christened, right on her nose, but the bulk of the bottle and what was in it caught the Governor full in the stomach. He began to brush off foaming liquid from his official coat, but, still gallant, he pronounced the christening well done and congratulated the sponsor.
Afterward there was a perceptible aroma about the Governor of something fermented, akin to cider, but richer. No one even mentioned champagne in this Volsteadian land.
So Enterprise, stripling of a vessel and strange moving ship without spar or sail, went into the element she was made for. She went overboard with an attractive grace, without splash and jump as if the water felt cold to her, but that was because she was paid out into the bay with a cable instead of being knocked loose from launching ways and left free to do a slide down them.
There were wheels under the building cradle in which she was built and these wheels were on a track. A long steel cable was fastened to the cradle and wound around a drum. As it was unwound she was slacked off into the water slowly and surely. There was not as much splash as a sunning turtle makes slipping off a log.
Mr. Vanderbilt on Deck.
On her deck were Mr. Vanderbilt, Mr. Aldrich, W. Starling Burgess, her designer, and Captain George Monsell, the professional skipper, besides a handful of the crew. They stood up chatting, and could have drunk the christening fluid at any stage of the journey without spilling a drop.
Thirty yards out from the building shed the yacht settled to her line of floatation and lifted clear of the cradle about her. When she was on her own bottom a long new hawser was passed to her from the Vara [#385p] and she went off on the tow down Narragansett Bay, around Point Judith and through Long Island Sound.
Her bronze underbody was still showing about a foot above the water, this to allow for the weight of the rigging. Floating, she seemed a high-sided boat. Her topsides are painted white over the bronze, and she is almost flat on deck, with a slight rise at the bow.
She can be distinguished from the other defense boats by her horizontal seams. A double row of pipe rails painted light brown had been fastened around the deck to keep the crew on board when she is heeled under a breeze.
The launching, set for the slack water of the full-moon flood of tide, did not loom propitiously as a murky coastal fog set in with the rain during the night. And as the last arrangements were being made, bay and land were hidden in a thick gray obscurity. Just as the building shed doors were opened, though, the morning sun cut a slant through the inky atmosphere, and as the yacht reached the water she was greeted by a burst of sunshine.
It was so different a launching of a Cup boat from the Herreshoff shops than the old ones, when the Herreshoff brothers ran them, as to seem strange. There were no curtains around the boat's hull to hide her lines. There used to be a covering up of Cup yachts. Enterprise wore no skirts.
In broad daylight more than 300 invited guests and townspeople, beside the workmen, cheered the boat to success, while cameras clicked from appointed vantage places. ..." (Source: Robbins, James. "Enterprise Slides Gently Into Water. Mrs. Aldrich Christens First of America's Cup Defense Boats to Be Launched. Craft Taken Under Tow. H. S. Vanderbilt's Vara Hauling Her From Bristol to City Island for Mast and Rigging." New York Times, April 15, 1930, p. 39.)

"In spite of the exigencies of the times, hammers are clattering, saws are buzzing and brushes are busy at the Herreshoff Yard at Bristol, Rhode Island, getting old and new yachts and equipment in ship-shape for the coming boating season. ...
Up on land where they will remain this season are the 'Enterprise' [#1146s], successful Defender of the America's Cup in 1930 against 'Shamrock V', 'Resolute' [#725s], successful Defender 1914-1920 against 'Shamrock IV', 'Yankee', a Contender in 1930. All the 'M' boats whose rigs were so widely altered during 1931, will likewise see no action during the coming Summer. ..." (Source: Anon. "Herreshoff Shops Hum with Boating Season Activities. Vanitie and Weetamoe Being Prepared For Class J Races." Bristol Phoenix, May 17, 1932, p. 1.)

"PROVIDENCE, R. I., July 26 [1935]. ---The hull of the former America's Cup defender Enterprise [#1146s], stored at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company's yard at Bristol since the Fall of 1930, was sold today to Louis Lubchansky, a New London dealer in metals. The purchase price was said to have been $5,000.
The hull has been on the market, offered at the junk value of the lead and bronze, for several months and an offer of $5,000 was refused some time ago. It is assumed that the new owner intends to cut Enterprise to salvage the material. Whether it will be done at the Herreshoff plant or the hull towed to New London before being demolished could not be ascertained.
Sold to Vanderbilt.
Both Enterprise and Rainbow [#1233s], successful defender last year against T. O. M. Sopwith's Endeavour, were purchased recently from the New York Yacht Club syndicates which owned them by Harold S. Vanderbilt, it also was learned yesterday.
The purchase price of Enterprise is a pittance in comparison with the sum which was spent five years ago in her construction and fitting out. She cost $150,000 to build; her sails were $200,000, and her upkeep during her one Summer afloat more than $250,000.
But the famous yacht had outlived her usefulness. A change in the America's Cup racing rules in 1931 rendered her of no value for further cup class racing, as she was too small to be fitted out with the cabin arrangement provided for in the new rules. This eliminated Enterprise from further racing, and her very construction as racing yacht made her practically worthless for sport. ...
Enterprise was stripped of many of her sails and fittings last year, and with the permission of her syndicate, they were used on Rainbow. Mr. Vanderbilt is retaining these sails and fittings. ...
Mr. Vanderbilt was a shareholder in the Enterprise syndicate, the managing owner of which was Winthrop W. Aldrich, and was managing owner of the Rainbow syndicate." (Source: Anon. Anon. Enterprise's Hull Is Sold For $5,000. Former America's Cup Yacht, Which Cost $150,000 to Build, Will Be Junked." New York Times, Jul 27, 1935, p. 11.)

"1935. ... Harold S Vanderbilt bought the 1930 America's Cup defender Enterprise but later sold her hull for $5000 to be cut up for her metal. Vanderbilt gave her duralumin mast, said to have cost $40,000 to build, to the State Police to use as part of the radio equipment at the barracks at Scituate. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 72.)

"ENTERPRISE, A J-CLASS SLOOP OF 1930
120' 9" x 22' 1'
In spite of 1930 being the first full year of the Great Depression, the America's Cup challenge stimulated the creation of four new contenders, and of these Enterprise got the nod, after trials against Weetamoe, Whirlwind, and Yankee, and became the successful defender against the last of Sir Thomas Lip ton's Shamrocks. By his own admission, Burgess kept to a conservative hull shape and one that proved to be too small for best performance under the rule. What boosted her showing dramatically was the revolutionary riveted aluminum (called duralumin back then) mast, designed by Starling's brother Charles, with which she was fitted mid-season. Superb management by principal owner Harold Vanderbilt contributed to Enterprise's success as well. He and Burgess had honed their respective skills in the M-class sloop Prestige and stood poised to design and campaign the larger but similar Enterprise. She sailed for only that one season of 1930, however. After being stored ashore for five years, Enterprise was broken up at the Herreshoff yard where she was built." (Source: Bray, Anne and Maynard. Boat Plans at Mystic Seaport. Mystic, CT, 2000, p. 12.)

"[Item Description:] Penciled sketch titled 'Suggested Main Halyard Winch for Cup defenders of 1930 [#1146s ENTERPRISE and #1147s WEETAMOE]'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Penciled Sketcch. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE11_00250. Folder [no #]. 1930.)
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"[Item Description:] Tentative block list for America's Cup defense sloop from Merriman Brothers [filed with Hart Nautical Collections note: Documents were removed from Drawer 150 near HH.5.12353 [Folder "Plans Relating to Hulls #1146 & #1233 [ENTERPRISE & RAINBOW]", Plan "100 gal. Drinking Water Tank".]." (Source: Merriman Brothers inc (creator). Block List. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.030. Box HAFH.6.1B, Folder Hull No. 1146s. 1930-01-06.)
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"[Item Description:] Invitation to launching of J-Class Cup Defender #1146s ENTERPRISE, April 14, 1930. (Given by Mrs. James Husband.)" (Source: Haffenreffer, R.F. (Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.) (creator). Invitation. Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection Acc. 89.155. HMM Library Rare Books Room (Box 2), Folder [no #]. 1930-04-14.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [On board] 'WINCHESTER CASTLE' Southampton to Durban
Dear Mr. Herrishoff[sic]
for the love of 'WESTWARD' [#692s] would you allow me to trouble you again as I do want to keep her in the racing.
I would like to know what is necessary to do to her to get the best out of this new J class rule.
No doubt you will have seen in the pamphlet issued by the Y.R.A. the following[:]
'We recommend that the Y.R.A. should rate old yachts over 46 feet LWL (i.e. yachts built before 1st Jan 1930) by the New York Yacht Club Rule, as modified by the Committee, but with all the penalties & limits cancelled.
This rules of the penalties are deleted can be expressed by the following formula[:]
Rating. A percentage of the square root of the sail area. The percentage used shall be found as follows
Percentage = (0.9 * LWL) / (LWL + 2.5)
Time allowance to be upon rating, and the international scale of tie allowance to be used.
Rig allowance as in the N.Y.Y.C. Rule.
Just how to take advantage of this rule to its full extent is too much for me & I may say or experts on this side are never ready to help 'WESTWARD' but rather hinder.
Now Sir will you advise me as to the following[:]
1st How much could I shorten the main boom & bowsprit
2nd What length of topmast am I permitted above mainmast under gaff rig also foremast
3rd What draft of water & can I with advantage put more ballast outside.
It is the BRITANNIA I want to beat & she has all her lead outside.
My idea is to shorten main boom by 15 feet. This will take off according to my measurements 750 sqr feet & 15 feet off bowsprit would reduce big jib by 300 sq feet, 'all approximately'. I would start the latter with 10 feet however till I get her ballance[sic].
I do not want a Bermudian mainsail it it can be avoided.
I will never give up racing 'WESTWARD' until I am pushed out & they cannot do that unless BRITANNIA drops out.
I very likely will however get a J class boat & I would like to know if there is a likelihood of one of the four [America's Cup] Challengers being for sale. What would be the figure[?]
It is wonderful how all the new Defenders follow the lines of 'WESTWARD'.
I was hoping the designers of these boats would have thought out their own design so as to have given Sit Thomas a chance to lift the Cup.
I thank you for past kindness & I only wish you would come to S[outh] Africa for a Winter as it would give me pleasure to put my house at your disposal.
I will hold over the making of our new mainsail till I hear from you.
I expect to leave Durban for England & the South of France the first week in Feb. so please write me. [Incl NGH draft reply from Coconut Grove dated December 13, 1930:] Your valued and very interesting letter of 11th ult has been forwarded to me here where I am passing the winter.
Although several years retired I still have an intense interest in yacht racing and particularly following up the racing of those of my design of which WESTWARD is foremost of my passing fleet. Your comment on the Cup defenders of the past season is interesting. ENTERPRISE [#1146s] [designed by Starling Burgess] particularly is very much like WESTWARD in model.
The great improvement in racing speed of today is plainly due to the more efficient driving power of sails for their measured area [next 13 words crossed out] and is a great deal due to experiments in aeronautics for developing aeroplanes and I feel quite confident WESTWARD would be faster for her rating if her rig was changed to make it more up to date.
I have some of the original notes of WESTWARD's design with me, but unfortunately not the sail plan and I will have to send to the H.M.Co. for a copy.
I have not the International Rules later than 1926 so am quite at sea to make any definate recommendations. In a general way to improve racing speed I would recommend to increase the draft up to the limit allowed by putting inside lead on bottom of keel. Make the length of masts as high as possible under the rules and fit for a Bermudian mainsail, for I am positive it will be faster for its measurement than the old gaff rig.
Shorten main boom and bowsprit about equal amounts to keep balance. This is quite tentative and I w[ou]ld not dare to give definate amounts until I know the exact rules of measurement.
If there are changes from original rig please advise me. Also inform me about sail carrying ability as compared to your competitors, and if WESTWARD is correctly balanced on helm. It is always best to carry a little weather helm when close hauled --- not exceeding 5deg or 5deg of rudder angle.
For the sails between masts the staysail rig has shown better racing speed in our waters but I am not convinced it is really faster if the gaff foresail is correctly proportioned and used and either the working main topmast staysail or fore gaff topsail is properly proportioned and used. [Next sentence crossed out:] There is apparently not much improvement made in sails under fore triangle excepting to get the sails as upright as possible.
[The following paragraph crossed out:] Referring again to draft. I think our present ruling is at fault, and a keel yacht the size of WESTWARD should be allowed near 20ft draft to obtain best racing speed and that lesser draft should be compensated for, possibly by deducting the deficiency from L.w.l. Your suggestion of shortening main boom & bowsprit 15ft at first thought seems large, but I would prefer not making a definate statement until I have correct ruling and make a rough sail plan.
I shall be at this address until after May 1, then an Bristol, RI, and I will be glad to give you what information I can if it will be of use to you." (Source: Davis, Thomas B.F. (incl NGH reply). Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_32210. Subject Files, Folder 34, formerly 17-20. 1930-10-11.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Carbon copy of a typed letter:] Thanks for yours of yesterday returning the print. I neglected to tell you in my previous letter that of course Sidney had said that a fifteen degree Universal Joint will not do [in what will become #193007es TERN (Aux. Weekend Cruiser)]. He said be much preferred to scheme some way so that no Universal Joint would be required, because he does not like them for continuous full power operation, and they are pretty apt to be dirty and leak oil. If it is in any way possible to get along without either Universal joint or chain I should much prefer to do so, and I am inclined to think that we can eventually get around using either one. I have mo doubts about the practicability of the chain enclosed in an oil casing, and it would have the advantage of allowing us to experiment with various engine-propeller ratios.
I don't believe that Jeff Davis, reporter for the Providence Journal and a good friend of ours, sent anything to the Detroit paper. The last time I saw him he said he had heard nothing from them on the subject and therefore assumed that they were not interested.
General Luke Callan here in Bristol had a high potentate of the Lions or some other organization here several days ago, whom he introduced to us as the Commodore of the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club at Detroit. His name is Marsh, and Mr. Haffenreffer showed him all over the Yard and showed him one of the Fishers Island Thirty-One Footers just planked up but not turned over. Commodore Marsh was kind enough to say that if any of us ever came to Detroit he would be very glad to introduce us at the Club, and Mr. Haffenreffer told him of you and said that he would ask you to call on him some day. The Commodore laughingly proclaimed that he was Commodore of the Rocking Chair fleet, and as he appears to be about sixty years old and not of the type to climb around on a small boat, I imagine he would not personally be interested in small boats. However, it might interest you to call on him some day after he gets back.
We have ENTERPRISE [#1146s], WEETAMOE [#1147s] and YANKEE here, and also the SHAMROCK which we are fitting with her short rig to go back to England. Everybody stayed until after the races and now everybody wants to get hauled out and stored away at the same time and it is rather a jam.
With best wishes, I am
Sincerely yours ..." (Source: Brightman, Thomas (Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.). Letter to Herreshoff, Alexander Griswold. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.091. Box HAFH.6.2B, Folder Weekend Auxiliary Cruiser. 1930-26-23.)
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"[Item Description:] Upon Mr. Herreshoff's request beg to reply that we can sell you YANKEE or WHIRLWIND and probably ENTERPRISE [#1146s] but would recommend the designing and construction of boat more suitable for racing your waters. Please advise your further wishes when we may be of service to you." (Source: Nystrom, Charles G. (Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.). Letter to Davis, Thomas B.F. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_32470. Subject Files, Folder 34, formerly 17-20. 1931-02-24.)
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"[Item Description:] List of fittings and running rigging [filed with Hart Nautical Collections note: Documents were removed from Drawer 150 near HH.5.12353 [Folder "Plans Relating to Hulls #1146 & #1233 [ENTERPRISE & RAINBOW]", Plan "100 gal. Drinking Water Tank", suggesting this could relate to either #1146s ENTERPRISE from 1930 or #1233s RAINBOW from 1934 (both designed by W.S. Burgess). Undated, but frequent references to used gear from ENTERPRISE suggest this document to relate to RAINBOW rather than ENTERPRISE.]." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.030. List of Fittings. Box HAFH.6.1B, Folder Hull No. 1146s. No date (1934 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] Handwritten notebook titled on outer cover 'Droughting Room. Blue Prints Record' providing a list of drawings with information in columns titled 'Issued To', 'For Job', 'Date', 'Date Returned', '[Date] Destroyed', and 'Remarks'. Vessels mentioned are #1266s BELISARIUS, #1267 FROSTFISH, #395p Owner Launch for St.Y. VIKING, #1265s NITRAMON, #1204s SILVERHEELS, #1233s RAINBOW, #1276s PRIM, #1275s MITENA, #907s PLEASURE, #931s NASSAU, #711s VENTURA, #900s IRIS, #982s WATER LILY, #891s WILDFIRE, #1147s WEETAMOE, #954s MARY ROSE, #880s JOSEPHINE, #788s MANATEE, #1146s ENTERPRISE, #1212s TRONDA, #1282s 12 1/2 for H. V. Reed, #1302s Amphicraft for N. F. Ayer, #1304s Amphicraft for Charles A. Welch, #1286s 12 1/2 for Mr. Maitland Alexander, #1311s Amphicraft for Dr. Seth M. Milliken, #1313s Dinghy for #663s RAMALLAH ex-ISTALENA, #1314s HMCo Yard Skiff, #408s PELICAN, #1315s BRENDA, #396p Power Tender for FONTINALIS, #397p Power Tender for FONTINALIS, #329p CAROLA, #1318s Sailing Dinghy for Henry S. Morgan; #1316s NOVA, #1319s Tech Dinghy, #1317s MANDOO II, #405p Surfboat, #1379s Fish Class for H. M. Lautmann (MERRY HELL), #1385s TINKER TOO, and #1384s AVANTI. 23 pages were used. Undated, the dates range from October 1934 to September 1936." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Notebook. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.106. Box HAFH.6.3B, Folder Blue Print Record Book. No date (1934-10 to 1936-09).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #1146s Enterprise even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Chevalier, Francois and Jacques Taglang. America's Cup Yacht Designs 1851-1986. Paris, 1987.
  Vessel biographies, large-scale sail and lines plans.
• Chevalier, Francois and Jacques Taglang. J Class. London, 2002.
  Vessel biographies, large-scale sail and lines plans.

• Enterprise (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Enterprise (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: Enterprise
Type: Sloop J Class
Length: 76'
Owner: Vanderbilt-Aldrich Syndicate

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

• Enterprise
• 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: Enterprise
Type: 80' sloop
Owner: Winthrop Aldrich, et al.
Year: 1920
Row No.: 203

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: Aug.
Day: 01
Year: 1929
E/P/S: S
No.: 1146
Name: Enterprise
OA: 120' 9"
LW: 80'
B: 22' 1"
D: 14' 6"
Rig: Sloop
K: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: C.P.
Notes Constr. Record: 76 Rating Americas Ci[ Defemse Candidate Apr. 15, 1930.
Last Name: Vanderbilt-Aldrich Syndicate

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.

"[See also:] List of fittings for Enterprise - Tentative block list for America's Cup defense sloop from Merriman Brothers (1/6/1930). In: Technical and Business Records pertaining to the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Series VI, Folder HH.6.30 (Hull No. 1146), Box HAFH.6.1B." (Source: Hasselbalch, Kurt and Frances Overcash and Angela Reddin: Guide to The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 1997, p. 63-79.)

"See also: Burgess-Donaldson Collection, Coll. 11, Daniel S. Gregory Ships Plans Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc. 11.114. ENTERPRISE; J boat. Designer, Burgess & Morgan, Ltd.; Design #47; Builder, Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.; 1930." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. August 13, 2010.)

"Built in 256 days (contract to launch; equivalent to 1099 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

Sail area from Herreshoff, Nathanael G. III. "Enterprise" In: Herreshoff Marine Museum Chonicle, Spring 1980, p. 1.

"[Displacement (127.6 tons).]" (Source: Chevalier, Francois and Jacques Taglang, J Class, London, 2002, p.436.)

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