HMCo #1224s Altair

"... At present there are ten 23-footers [apparently #1213s Fairway, #1214s Katy-did, #1215s Gamecock, #1216s Mariette, #1217s Padick, #1218s Ariel, #1219s Norn, #1222s Tigress, #1223s Buza, and #1224s Altair (#1212s Tronda having been finished already)] of one design being built at the local plant and a gasoline speed boat [#394p] which is to be used as a tender for the yacht Katoura [#391p], is being built for Alfred Loomis of New York City. ..." (Source: Anon. "Herreshoffs Now Working On Full Week Schedule." Bristol Phoenix, February 23, 1932, p. 1.)

"Announcement was made Wednesday [March 30, 1932] by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company that six [probably #1212s Tronda, #1213s Fairway, #1214s Katy-did, #1215s Gamecock, #1216s Mariette, and #1217s Padick] of the twelve Fishers Island 23 footers have been completed and that work is fast progressing on the remaining the six [probably #1218s Ariel, #1219s Norn, #1222s Tigress, #1223s Buza, #1224s Altair, and #1225s Crusader]. ..." (Source: Anon. "Six 23 Footers Completed By Herreshoff Company." Bristol Phoenix, April 1, 1932, p. 1.)

"... Nine of the new Herreshoff Twenty-Three Foot Knockabouts [apparently #1212s Tronda, #1213s Fairway, #1214s Katy-did, #1215s Gamecock, #1216s Mariette, #1217s Padick, #1219s Norn, #1218s Ariel and #1222s Tigress] have been finished --- owners of five have already taken delivery and have had their initial race to their home port at Fishers Island. The remaining four completed boats three of which will go to Fishers Island and one [#1218s Ariel] to Marblehead will be delivered the latter part of May. These new Herreshoff creations are 23 ft on the waterline and 34 ft OA and are extremely modern in hull design and sailplan and their owners report that they have proven very fast, dry and stiff. ...
In the small boat shed along with several Frostbite Dinghies [#1221s Tender for #1226s Yawlcat and #1220s Kid-Pleurisy], half a dozen Buzzard's Bay 12 1/2 Footers [of the #1197 class], two S boats [#1130s Aeolus and #1180s Penguin] and the last three of the dozen new Herreshoff 23 foot Class boats [probably #1223s Buza, #1224s Altair and the centerboard FI-23 #1225s Crusader] is a new all-teak Starboard launch-tender [#394p] for Mr. Alfred Loomis' 95 power yacht 'Katoura' [#391p] which is being commissioned for Summer service. ..." (Source: Anon. "Herreshoff Shops Hum with Boating Season Activities." Bristol Phoenix, May 17, 1932, p. 1.)

"The Herreshoff 23
In 1931, Fishers sailors were attracted to a new class that looked very different from the FIS-31 and almost all other American keel boats of the time, with their large sail plans, powerful lines, and wide after decks. So fine and graceful as to be dainty, the new boat was known as the Fishers Island 23 almost everywhere except, ironically, at Fishers Island itself, where sailors called it the Herreshoff 23 and H-23. In the spring of 1932, club members sailed the initial six H-23s down from Bristol to West Harbor.
For her design, Sidney Herreshoff borrowed the Scandinavian Square Meter concept of a long, narrow, relatively light-displacement boat with a small sail plan. Besides their sleek beauty, the H-23s were distinguished by their rainbow colors. At a time when most boats were painted white, black, or dark blue, the H-23s were boats of many hues. The class attracted the club's best sailors, including seven commodores. Though its ranks were depleted by the 1938 hurricane, the H-23 remained the yacht club's primary adult racing class into the late 1940s." (Source: Rousmaniere, John. Sailing at Fishers. Mystic, CT, 2004, p. 58.)

"Sidney Herreshoff designed the Fishers Island 23-foot class in 1931 based somewhat upon the design of Silver Heels [#1204s]. The underwater shape is somewhat reminiscent of an S-boat. The design was first advertised (Yachting, January 1932) simply as a 23-foot LWL sloop, but after the first boat [#1212s] was built and sailed and accepted as a class at Fishers Island, New York, the boats were called Fishers Island 23s. As such, they gradually became Depression-era replacements for the Fishers Island 31s...
As time went on, additional boats [to the 1932's eight-boat fleet] were built for use in other areas; in all, there were thirteen with the original full-keeled configuration. A fourteenth [#1225s Crusader] was fitted with a centerboard to draw only 3 feet of water. Ultimately, the class name for both versions of the Fishers Island 23 was shortened to H-23...
... the H-23s, departed from long-standing Herreshoff tradition in having single-thickness planking of hard mahogany instead of the double planking that NGH had usually specified for his corresponding designs. After a few seasons, the normal shrinking and swelling cycles of this nearly incompressible planking so stressed the frames that they frequently broke. To make matters worse (and, ironically, to make the appearance better), no caulking was used; the planking was beautifully fitted, wood to wood, at the seams. Thus, even resiliency at the seams was sacrificed. As might be expected, frame breakage plagued ... the H-23s throughout their lives. Tightly fitted single planking was common in boats of Northern European waters, where the ... design concept originated and where, because the climate is more stable than New England's, the boats so built survive better. The Herreshoff Mfg. Co.'s adoption of this European method perhaps saved some time in building, but, in retrospect, was clearly a mistake. ..." (Source: Bray, Maynard and Carlton Pinheiro. Herreshoff of Bristol. Brooklin, Maine, 1989, p. 179, 181.)

"[Item Description:] Four-page advertisement brochure including contract form for the 'Herreshoff Bristol Sloop 23-Footer. Two copies, one with handwritten notes 'All Centerboards' and 'Build 15 Units'. [In the end, a total of 16 H-23s were built: One centerboarder, #1225s CRUSADER, and 15 keel boats, #1212s Tronda, #1213s Fairway, #1214s Katy-did, #1215s Gamecock, #1216s Mariette, #1217s Padick, #1218s Ariel, #1219s Norn, #1222s Tigress, #1223s Buza, #1224s Altair, #1243s Quinta, #1265s Nitramon, #1274s Chance, and #1505s Contest.]" (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.046. Advertisement Brochure. Box HAFH.6.1B, Folder Bristol Sloop 23-Footer. No date (ca1932).)
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"[Item Description:] Blue print. Block and rigging list for Fishers Island 23 class (#1212s Tronda, #1213s Fairway, #1214s Katy-did, #1215s Gamecock, #1216s Mariette, #1217s Padick, #1218s Ariel, #1219s Norn, #1222s Tigress, #1223s Buza, #1224s Altair, #1225s Crusader, #1243s Quinta, #1265s Nitramon, #1274s Chance, #1505s Contest). Plan 91-189. Undated (Dec 1932 as per MIT plan index card.)" (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Blueprint. Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection Acc. 91.40. HMM Library Rare Books Room (Various), Folder [no #]. No date (1932-12).)
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"[Item Description:] Printed text on 'Fishers Island Yacht Club' stationary titled 'H 23 Class Regulations'. With typed note in upper margin 'Brought from Fishers Island July 8, 1934. Brightman'. [These regulations would have applied to #1212s, #1213s, #1214s, #1215s, #1216s, #1217s, #1219s, #1218s, #1222s, #1223s, #1224s, and #1243s.]" (Source: Fishers Island Yacht Club (creator). Regulations. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.137. Box HAFH.6.4B, Folder Rules and Regulations. No date (1934-07-08 or earlier).)
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"[Item Description:] Spreadsheet listing original contracts (from 1923 to 1940) by HMCo in the collection of HMM (apparently from the gift of Everett Pearson). Listed boats are: #380p, #381p, #388p, #389p, #391p, #392p, #393p, #395p, #886s, #933s, #934s, #954s, #955s, #962s, #983s, #999s, #1002s, #1017s, #1054s, #1055s, #1057s, #1074s, #1078s, #1122s, #1125s, #1130s, #1131s, #1147s, #1152s, #1153s, #1154s, #1156s, #1157s, #1164s, #1170s, #1173s, #1174s, #1175s, #1175s, #1176s, #1177s, #1179s, #1180s, #1191s, #1192s, #1193s, #1195s, #1196s, #1198s, #1199s, #1200s, #1201s, #1202s, #1203s, #1206s, #1207s, #1208s, #1209s, #1210s, #1211s, #1212s, #1213s, #1214s, #1215s, #1216s, #1217s, #1218s, #1219s, #1220s, #1222s, #1224s, #1236s, #1226s, #1227s, #1228s, #1230s, #1232s, #1234s, #1237s, #1238s, #1240s, #1241s, #1243s, #1244s, #1245s, #1246s, #1247s, #1248s, #1249s, #1250s, #1251s, #1252s, #1253s, #1254s, #1255s, #1256s, #1257s, #1258s, #1259s, #1260s, #1261s, #1262s, #1263s, #1264s, #1265s, #1274s, #1275s, #1277s, #1279s, #1280s, #1281s, #1282s, #1283s, #1284s, #1285s, #1286s, #1287s, #1302s, #1303s, #1315s, #1508s." (Source: Rickson, Norene (creator). Table. Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection Item LIB_4220. HMM Library Rare Books Room (HMCo Contracts), Folder [no #]. No date (2010s ?).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #1224s Altair even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Anon. "Another New Herreshoff One-Design Class." Yachting, December 1931, p. 73. (653 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Fishers Island 23 class description.
• Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. "Herreshoff Announces a New One-Design Class." In: Yachting, January 1932, p. ?. (373 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: No known copyright restrictions. HMCo advertisement for the Fishers Island 23 class.
• Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. [Contract for #1224s Altair, Fishers Island 23.] Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection. Bristol, RI, October 11, 1932. (698 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Herreshoff Marine Museum. Original building/sales contract. Vessel description, scantlings, payment terms, delivery date.

• Tigress and other FI23 class (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Altair (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.

Month: Oct.
Day: 03
Year: 1932
E/P/S: S
No.: 1224
Name: Altair
OA: 34
LW: 23
B: 7
D: 4 1/2
Rig: J & M
K: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 2887.27
Last Name: Brown
First Name: Donaldson

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.

"Dates of contract '11th day of October 1932' and delivery 'on or about June 15, 1933' from original contract in collection of Herreshoff Marine Museum." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 15, 2015.)

"Built in 247 days (contract to delivered; equivalent to $12/day, 20 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Sail area 122sq ft jib plus 250sq ft mainsail = 372sq ft total from HH.5.08083.1 (096-121B): Sail Plans: Data Relating to Herreshoff Class Boats Given to NAYRU (1938-01-13) in Hart Nautical Collections at M.I.T." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 10, 2015.)

"Weights: Hull + fittings 4755. Lead 2585. Mast 98.5. Mast Fittings 14.0. Boom 24.0. Boom crotch 3.5. Jib boom 7.0. Spi. boom 4.0. Spreaders 3.0. Sails + covers 46.0. Anchor 26.0. Equipment 55.75. Standing rigging 12.00. [Total] 5048.75 [lbs]." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Notes on Construction Plan 075-066 (HH.5.05455). Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"[Broken up in the mid-1990's in Manasquan, NJ.]" (Source: Nagy, Steve. http://www.herreshoffregistry.org/detail.php?hull=1224, retrieved November 6, 2010.)

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