HMCo #1165s Skiddoo [Skidoo]

"During these years the class that is usually spoken of as the Fishers Island thirty-one-footers was slowly developing, but as there were not many of them built at once and because there was some variation in them, I do not speak of them as a one-design class. The first of them were straight sailboats with a gaff rig but the later ones were usually auxiliary with leg-o'-mutton rig.
While these yachts were not first designed for racing they have often done well in some of the ocean races and are well-built little ships that have been particularly liked by their owners; and some were built up to about 1935." (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. 306.)

"... In the mid-thirties Concordia's brokerage business took a very rewarding spurt. This was directly due to the Herreshoff-designed class of Fishers Island Sound (F. I. S.) Thirty-one Footers. ... I had occasion to see some of the F. I. S. Thirty-ones under construction and to talk to Sidney Herreshoff, Captain Nat's oldest son, who was mainly responsible for their final form and layout. This came about partly because I had a longtime school and college friendship with Westcote Herreshoff Chesebrough, whose grandmother was Captain Nat's sister. Early on, Herry (or 'Cheese,' as many called him) had the misfortune to lose his mother and then his naval architect father, with the result that he was brought up by his Herreshoff grandmother and then a Herreshoff cousin Julia, both of whom lived in a fine old house close to the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company yard. This gave me the valuable opportunity to visit Bristol and see a bit more of the famous shipyard than would otherwise have been possible.
By the [19] thirties, the Herreshoff family no longer had any financial interest in the yard. (It had been acquired in World War I by a group of businessmen looking for wartime profits. However, the group lacked the experience and qualities that would have made such a venture viable in peacetime. Boatyards seem to take a very special type of management that often is a mystery to the conventional business brain.) As of 1924, Herreshoff Manufacturing Company went into liquidation and most of its assets were acquired at auction by the Haffenreffer brewing family. It was during the Haffenreffer period (Carl Haffenreffer in charge) that the dozen or so F. I. S. Thirty-ones were built.
The F. I. S. Thirty-ones were worthy grown-up sisters of the Newport Twenty-nine Footers and of Captain Nat's own 26-foot centerboard sloop Alerion [#718s]; something of the Herreshoff 12 1/2 and Fish Class showed in them as well. Most of all, they resembled the Newport Twenty-nine Footers, of which Horatio Hathaway's Mischief [#728s] of Padanaram was such an influential example during my upbringing. The F. I. S. Thirty-ones were just enough longer than the Newport Twenty-nines to include the luxury of a really comfortable main cabin with full headroom. Their bow and stern had slightly more overhang and their sternpost was more raked, giving the F. I. S. Thirty-one proportionately longer ends. For the most part, these refinements in model were to the good and seemed to give the boats improved possibilities for competitive racing performance.
The first F. I. S. Thirty-one [#1054s Cyrilla IV] was built in 1926, when many yacht owners still required or employed a paid hand. This was a time when good professionals were available --- and in most cases eager --- for yachting jobs. Fine schoonermen came up from Maine as the coasting trade dwindled. Able seamen from the Scandinavian countries learned that American yachting was more pleasant and profitable than North Sea fishing. Even English sailors who had been trained as professional yacht hands from boyhood found New York and New England yachting jobs attractive: good pay and working conditions; a short season; and American citizenship as perhaps the ultimate lure.
It is axiomatic that yachts are mirrors of their owners' aspirations or expectations, as well as of the economic and social climate in which the yachts and their owners live. So it is quite understandable why the F. I. S. Thirty-ones were laid out with space for a one-man crew forward, and with galley and toilet space amidships. The comfortable owner's cabin was aft, with uppers and lowers for sleeping and with suitable locker space. The enclosed engine room occupied the aft port portion of this master cabin.
With the 1929 stock market crash and all that followed, a number of Fishers Island Sound owners gave up their paid hands and F. I. S. Thirty-ones and bought smaller One Design boats. After all, they used their boats mainly for day sailing and afternoon racing, neither of which required much cabin space, never mind full-time professional help. However, the situation was different in Buzzards Bay. There yacht owners found cruising to be their most enticing weekend occupation. But there, too, the big schooners and ketches and such like that had made sense in affluent times suddenly seemed larger than necessary. So for Buzzards Bay yachtsmen, the F. I. S. Thirty-ones were an ideal compromise. In the mid-1930s I found little difficulty and much satisfaction in transferring about one-half the fleet of F. I. S. Thirty-ones from Fishers Island Sound to our home waters.
... John Parkinson, Sr., bought Praxilla [#1060s ex-Mameena], and his family, especially Jack, Jr., became very good friends and customers. Hendon Chubb bought Savage [#1153s], and I came to know and value his friendship, as I have his son Percy's. In the same way, I got to know well John Stedman, Sr. (who bought Amaranth [#1154s ex-Qutee]), and Joe Knowles (who bought Azura [#1132s]). A bit later I sold two other Thirty-ones --- one [#1132s Caprice ex-Azura] to Brooks Stevens, Jr. [born 1902, son of C. Brooks Stevens, then owner of #955s Marilee], and one [#1166s Last Straw] to Fred Levasseur [sic, i.e. Frederick Jefferson Leviseur] in Marblehead. In both these Thirty-ones we rebuilt the cabins to include a forward stateroom for two and a galley aft by the companionway. With their 31-foot waterline length, this then-new, but now conventional, cabin arrangement was really luxurious: fold-down Concordia berths and all. [Four interior photos of a re-modeled FI-31, possibly #1132s Caprice ex-Azura.]
Although there was plenty of cruising activity, the Saturday F. I. S. racing out of Padanaram was very keen for several seasons. Mr. Chubb [#1153s Savage] was no doubt the most experienced of the owners, and had as a professional Swedish-born Walter Jackson, a brother of Martin, my father's professional on Escape, who was to play such a central role in the future history of Concordia Company. Mr. Stedman's [#1154s Amaranth ex-Qutee] professional was Uku Walter, whom I had first met that rainy day at City Island when Paul Hammond and I inspected Escape; Mr. Stedman himself, a senior executive of Prudential Life, was intensely competitive. Joe Knowles [#1132s Azura] was more easygoing, as was his professional, a local man whom I remember only as 'Andy.'
Although our Thirty-one class usually consisted of only three boats, the occasional special race attracted other competition, and old Jack Parkinson sometimes sailed Praxilla [#1060s] up from the head of the Bay with an all-amateur crew to liven things up. I ended up cruising with old Jack a number of times, and even with just two of us aboard, Praxilla was a joy to handle. No less joyful were Jack's endless stories about bygone times and big yacht racing, in which he had played such a large and happy part. My one complaint about him was his ability to snore. Not even Gene Ashley could beat him in that department.
One other F. I. S. Thirty-one that came over to race with us was Skidoo [#1165s]. She was one of the newer boats and was owned by Pete Haffenreffer, an older brother of Carl. She had a taller, narrower rig than our boats did, which in theory should have made her faster. Perhaps it did make her a more efficient racing boat. However, on our triangular courses and with limited light sails, we usually beat her. For day sailing and weekend cruising an owner is apt to use working sails primarily or even exclusively, and I expect that the old rig under these circumstances kept the boats going faster on the average than the 'modern' one. The same seems to be true with the Herreshoff 12 1/2-Footers, which, on average, seem to do as well or better on most points of sailing with the original gaff rig, instead of the later marconi rig.
Newest, in a word, is not always best. ..." (Source: Howland, Waldo. A Life in Boats. The Years Before the War. Mystic, Connecticut, 1984, p. 186-193.)

"... The waves that smashed through the foundation walls of Francois DeWolf’s mansion, 'The Tides', lifted Pete Haffenreffer’s Fisher’s Island sloop, the Skidoo, over the sea wall and dropped her with her bow almost on the sidewalk, where telegraph wires against her mast stopped her from going further, leaving her virtually undamaged. ..." (Source: Bristol Phoenix, September 30, 1938. Quoted in: Simpson, Richard, V. "The Great Hurricane and Tidal Wave of 1938: Scenes of the Disaster in Rhode Island's East Bay." Roger Williams University, Bristol, 2012. http://docs.rwu.edu/hurricane_1938/1, retrieved April 12, 2014.)

"The Fishers Island Sound 31
The first keelboat class at Fishers was the graceful Herreshoff-designed and -built Fishers Island Sound 31, or FIS-31. The number refers to waterline length, considered the best indicator of a boat's speed. The class originated with a sailor at Watch Hill Yacht Club, W. Barklie Henry, which explains its name referring to local waters. In the Herreshoff yard's promotional materials, however, 'Sound' was deleted and the boats were called the 'Fishers Island One Design.' Obviously Fishers Island had a certain cachet among yachtsmen, or at least among yacht salesmen, for its name also was applied to two other boats, the Bullseye (called the 'Fishers Island Bullseye') and the Herreshoff 23 (the 'Fishers Island 23').
The FIS-31 is A. Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff's slightly larger version of one of his father's most successful pre-World War I boats, the Newport 29, one of which, the long-successful Dolphin [#727s], still sails in the Sound. Priced at $13,000 (the equivalent of about $130,000 today), the 31 was complete with everything needed to cruise, including china. By modern standards, accommodations are extremely skimpy, with only two cabins and a total of three bunks. This was a typical layout in a cruising boat of that era. The two bunks aft are for the owner's party, with their own enclosed head. Up in the bow was a tiny cabin, called the forepeak, with a single bunk and small toilet. That was the residence of the professional sailor in khaki uniform. He (it was always a he) scrubbed the decks, polished the brass, kept up the brightwork, washed the salt off all surfaces, and cooked the meals in a dark, narrow forward galley." (Source: Rousmaniere, John. Sailing at Fishers. Mystic, CT, 2004, p. 56.)

"Although the Fishers Island Yacht Club was involved with the Fishers Island 31-footers by virtue of a few of its members owning them, that class does not appear to have been Club-sponsored. One should think of the letters 'FIS' on the sails of these boats as standing for Fishers Island Sound, the body of water in which the boats usually sailed. W. Barklie Henry, of the nearby Watch Hill Yacht Club, originated the idea for such a boat and ordered the first one, Cyrilla IV [#1054s], late in 1926. Three of his friends, thinking that his idea was sound, also ordered boats for 1927 delivery. Except for two others which were built in 1929 and sold elsewhere, the four original boats had things pretty much to themselves for the first three seasons. Then, in 1930, five more boats, some owned in Fishers Island and some in Watch Hill, joined the racing. Cirrus, then Kelpie [#1157s], was the last boat of this second batch and wasn't delivered until late August. ...
The Fishers Island 31-footers, although based on the Newport 29­footers and presumed to have been basically laid down from their offsets, (a blow-up, incidentally, of those for Alerion, had some rather significant changes made from the original model. It is likely that the new profile (longer ends, deeper keel, more raking sternpost, straighter sheer) und deck line to match were established by means of a scale drawing. However, the fairing of the lines to these new end points, according to Sidney Herreshoff, was done right on the mold loft floor - full size. Sidney was a most modest man, reluctant to take complete credit for much of what he did, but he did admit (on a taped interview) that his father was in Florida for the winter while this work was going on and that he, Sidney, was in charge of executing the needed changes. I'd say he did well!" (Source: Bray, Maynard. "A Look at the Class." Woodenboat #34, May/June 1980, p. 34.)

"[Item Description:] Penciled sketch with stylized outlines for PRESTIGE [#1058s] / VALIANT, 31 footer SKIDOO [#1165s] [crossed out], 23-footers & 6 meter, NOMAD, S Boat, 12 1/2 footer, MIZA, BETTY ANN, DUFFER, WEETAMOE Tender, SHADOW [#300p] and SILVERHEELS [#1204s], marked 'Scale 1in = 20ft'. Possibly used to plan winter storage space requirements. Undated, the newest yachts mentioned are SKIDOO from 1931 and the FI-23s built in 1931/1932." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Detail Sketch. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.124. Box HAFH.6.4B, Folder Detail Sketches. No date (1931 or later).)
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"[Item Description:] Brokerage listing (File No. 1432) for Fishers Island Sound Sloop HERRESHOFF [which will later probably become #1165s Skidoo or #1166s Last Straw]. Dimensions, particulars (Year Built: 1936, Location: Herreshoff, Price: 12500). With description 'This semi-completed Fishers Island 31-Footer, will be completed as a yawl, ketch, or modern sloop, with the interior arrangement to suit the owner, for Eleven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars. It will take approximately six weeks to complete the boat from the date of receipt of the order'. Undated, 'Year Built 1936' suggests that the date must have been 1936 or later." (Source: Belknap & Paine, Yacht Brokers (creator). Broker Listing. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.111. Box HAFH.6.3B, Folder Brokers Listings. No date (1936 or later).)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Typewritten signed letter on 'Herreshoff Yachts. Design - Construction - Service' stationery:] It is difficult to describe the damage and destruction to the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company's property, caused by the recent hurricane and tidal wave.
The tidal wave was responsible for 90% of this damage, for before that swept up Bristol Harbor, the wind damage amounted only to a few shingles and some tar-and-gravel roofing. The water reached a depth of from eight to ten feet above mean high water - sufficient to float a Herreshoff Fisher's Island 31ft sloop [#1165s SKIDOO] up on to Hope Street and leave her there --- high and dry, as well as to send a 90-footer out of the shed and across the highway. The wave battered our docks and our construction buildings, wrenching and racking them and completely demolished the south end of our South construction shop.
The total estimated cost of reconditioning the mill, cabinet shops, North construction shop, and rehabilitating 55' of the South shop, replacing wharf decking, repairing damaged locker buildings, etc., etc., is about $16,000.00.
We were more fortunate, however, at our recently improved Cove property. Whereas the water was ten to twelve feet deep in spots in our storage Yachtdrome, with the exception of considerable siding and a few doors, the structures themselves were little harmed, and the estimated cost of reconditioning the entire Cove property is estimated at $6,000.00.
The Directors of the Company held a conference the morning following the disaster to consider what the proper course should be from that point.
(1) Should they suggest liquidation to the Stockholders, and go out of business?
(2) In view of the obvious demand for repairs and replacements of Herreshoff Class boats, and the elimination [p. 2] of other boat yards in this vicinity, could the Company be rehabilitated and operate profitably?
Before these problems could be intelligently discussed, we first had to take into consideration, the estimate for rehabilitation, the estimate for partial rehabilitation, the resources available to effect these repairs and to provide working capital. Members of our organization were immediately dispatched to visit all yachting centres along the affected coast, to determine and immediately report the condition of yachts and of other yacht construction and service yards. These reports revealed that yards from Norwalk, Conn, to Falmouth on the Cape were about in as bad condition as we found ourselves --- if not worse; that there had been a general destruction of most yachts, either stored or afloat, and that the outlook for new business for any yard equipped to handle it was indeed more favorable than for many years heretofore.
Competitive figures were obtained from construction firms, both from Providence and Boston, and it was evident from their estimates that the cost for partially rehabilitating our properties and making it possible therefore for us to operate would run in the neighborhood of #23,000.00.
These two conditions were weighted against our Cash resources --- which at that time amounted to approximately $25,000.00 --- with Accounts Payable of $638.00.
In view of the foregoing, and because almost immediately we began to receive inquiries for salvage work, repairs to damaged yachts stored with us, orders for new one-design boats to be delivered next Spring, etc., etc., it seemed wise for us to restore our structures and equipment in order that we might take advantage of this work. This move was given further impetus by the fact that Mr. Albert Lemos and his son, formerly proprietors of the Lemos Boat Yard at Riverside, renowned for the high quality of their workmanship, and heartily endorsed by such designers as Sparkman & Stephens, John Alden, etc., were available to join our staff, because their yard was completely wiped out.
After carefully weighing these conditions, the Management decided to proceed rapidly, and contracts were let and arrangements were made so that now our yacht storage yards at the Cove are again in operation and our construction buildings, with the exception of the South shop, will be ready for occupancy within a fortnight.
The outlook for business this winter is encouraging, and we are fortunate in having available our entire staff of old craftsmen to put to work almost immediately on the repairs, replacements, and new construction. The question now arises whether the necessary working capital should be raised by an increase of stock issue or by some other method --- as our plant at the present time is free and clear of all encumbrances, although our loss in 1937 was $15,456.18, and for the current year to August 31, the loss is $21,142.65.
[p. 3] Your Management would greatly appreciate your advice, suggestions, and reaction to the foregoing matters, and any influence that you might exert in sending work to us will be greatly appreciated, and will have an important bearing on the future of your Company.
Thanking you for your many past favors, we are
Yours very truly ..." (Source: Haffenreffer, R.F. (Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.). Letter to Morgan, Junius S. Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection Acc. 98.24. Correspondence, Folder 33, formerly 176, 182. 1938-10-12.)
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"[Item Transcription:] Penciled memorandum titled 'Job 20-P
PENGUIN [#1165s ex-SKIDOO]
Jib Arrangement 1946 Season' with notes and sketch. With further note in bottom margin 'Original list [on plan] (91-194)'." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.098. Instructions. Box HAFH.6.3B, Folder Administrative - Notes. 1946.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #1165s Skiddoo [Skidoo] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Anon. "The Fisher's Island Sound One-Design Class." Yachting, April 1928, p. 96. (686 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Fishers Island 31 class description.
• Anon. "Herreshoff Fisher's Island 31-Footers." Rudder, September 1931, p. 57. (800 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Fishers Island 31 class description.
• Bray, Maynard. "A Look at the Class." Wooden Boat #34, May/June 1980, p. 42-48. (409 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text).

• Skidoo (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Skidoo and #1166s Last Straw (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.

Year: 1930
E/P/S: S
No.: 1165
Name: Skidoo
OA: 44'
LW: 31
B: 10' 7
D: 6' 1
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead
Notes Constr. Record: Fis. Island.(maybe 121/2)

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.

"Date for setup was estimated from note in Construction Record 'Order [to build] issued 5/20/30'." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 15, 2015.)

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