HMCo #1225s Crusader

"[1932-09-23] Fri 23: [Thermometer] 75 - 62 - 72 [degrees]. L[igh]t r[ain] last night. Fair & part[ly] cloudy [with] l[igh]t variable [wind]. ... Sidney [is] trying c.b. 23 footer [#1225s Crusader, the only boat built to this design].
[1932-10-01] Sat 1: [Thermometer] 58 - 46 - 58 [degrees]. L[igh]t r[ain] last night. Overcast till mid p.m. Calm [in] a.m. L[igh]t S [wind] in evening. ... The shop launched new 23 ft c.b. J[ib] & M]ainsail boat]. [This would be #1225s Crusader, and must be her second launching as Sidney had tried her out a few days earlier.]
[1932-10-02] Sun 2: [Thermometer] 68 - 58 - 63 [degrees]. Very fine with mod[erate] SW to S [wind] & clear. Sidney tried out the new c.b. 23 ft [#1225s Crusader] in a fresh breeze.
[1932-10-08] Sat 8: [Thermometer] 67 - 52 - 62 [degrees]. Very fine & clear. L[igh]t to mod[erate] WSW to SSW [wind]. Sidney & Nick Potter trying keel & c.b. [#1225s Crusader] 23 ft boats in p.m. with keel [boat] best in light going. ...
[1932-10-09] Sun 9: [Thermometer] 70 - 59 - 63 [degrees]. Very fine & mild. L[igh]t SW to S [wind] all day. Clear sky. Sidney & Nick Potter out trying keel & c.b. [#1225s Crusader] 23 footers. Little chance [for comparison] in light breeze.
[1932-10-16] Sun 16: [Thermometer] 64 - 52 - 62 [degrees]. Overcast & mild with l[igh]t to mod[erate] S [wind]. Sidney [is] out trying the c.b. 23 ft [#1225s Crusader].
[1932-10-23] Sun 23: [Thermometer] 63 - 51 - 56 [degrees]. Very fine & clear. Moderate W to NW [wind]. ... Sidney & others out trying the 23-footers [#1225s Crusader and ???]." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1930, 1932. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"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.)

"FISHERS ISLAND 23 FTR. with Centerboard. Used only for development and demonstration by the Company. In excellent condition. Sail area, 350 sq. ft.; o.a.l.. 34'/ beam, 7' 9"/ draft with board up, 3'. Hull is oak frame, mahogany planked, fastened with Everdur. Centerboard encased in welded bronze trunk. Will sleep two on short cruises. Brand new mainsail and jib. $2700. Sail-away Bristol." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. [Advertisement.] Yachting, April 1937, p. 109.)

"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.)

"John Hutchison of Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, is restoring the Sidney Herreshoff-designed Fishers Island 23 CRUSADER, working by himself. 'Although I've built a Haven 12 1/2 and Coquina, this is a monumental project for me, and I can only hope that the final product will live up to the high standards set by Herreshoff,' he writes. The 34' LOA yacht was launched in 1932. As the only keel-centerboard version of the class, she has a beam of 7 '9", which is 9" wider than her sisters, and draws 2'11".
Hutchison missed purchasing the boat after seeing it in 'Save a Classic' in WB No. 196 but later convinced her new owner that he could take the project to completion. 'We brought her home to Saxonburg in the spring of 2008, built a temporary shelter, and began work. She had been out of the water since 1992 and was severely hogged. Nearly every frame was snapped, and the timber keel was badly split, but the hardware and rig, ballast, deadwood, stem, and transom were good. After producing section molds from the drawings available, I brought the boat back into shape and began a complete reconstruction. I steam-bent a new white oak keel from dried stock cut from my own trees. The boat is now completely reframed in oak and replanked in yellow cedar. The original mahogany sheerstrakes will be reinstalled soon, and interior work will follow.'
Hutchison plans to install a 48-volt electric auxiliary, to be concealed under the cockpit sole. 'I hope to complete the boat in a year (or so), as I am singlehanding the project,' he writes. 'Andy Giblin of MP&G in Mystic, Connecticut, has generously provided advice as needed, and Dennis Wolfe designed the electric drive. Classic sails will be made by Dave Beirig of Erie, Pennsylvania. CRUSADER will travel a bit on her new trailer when complete but will have a seasonal berth on northern Lake Champlain. I am enjoying every countless hour I spend on CRUSADER." (Source: Anon. "Currents." Woodenboat May/June 2011, p. 16.)

"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:] Advertisement leaflet titled 'Herreshoff 23-Foot L.W.L. Knockabout' with a photo that is believed to show #1225s CRUSADER (a centerboad FI23) and text that describes keel FI23s. Two copies as per Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Catalog description." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Advertisement Leaflet. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.063. Box HAFH.6.2B, Folder Knockabout 23 Foot. No date (1932 or later).)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections and displacement and stability calculations titled '#1225 [#1225s CRUSADER]'. On recto of stationery with gothic font 'Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, R.I.' letterhead (which appears to be the type that had probably been used in the 1890s and 1900s)." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.037. Pantograph Hull Sections. Box HAFH.6.1B, Folder Hull No. 1225s. 1932-08-23.)
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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:] Offset booklets for FI-23 #1212s class, #742s KATOURA Jr., Fish Class #788s, Bulls Eye #744s Class, #1225s CRUSADER. (RESTRICTED ACCESS - see curator)." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.147. Documents. Box HAFH.6.5B, Folder Cape Cod Shipbuilding. No date.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #1225s Crusader 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.
• Bray, Maynard. "Save a Classic: Crusader. A Centerboard Fishers Island 23." Wooden Boat #196, May/June 2007, p. 152. (154 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text).

• Crusader (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Crusader (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: 1932
E/P/S: S
No.: 1225
Name: Crusader
OA: 34
LW: 23
D: 2' 11"
Rig: J & M
K: y
CB: y
Ballast: Lead
Notes Constr. Record: Centerboard, 23 footer. Sold to Barden, 1938.
Last Name: Coakley

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:] Estimates with sketch (8/23/1932) [which calculate the designed weight without crew as 5,430lbs as compared to a measured weight of 5459lbs as per construction plan 75-68 of 5459]. In: Technical and Business Records pertaining to the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Series VI, Folder HH.6.37 (Hull No. 1225), 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.)

[Note that, unlike other H-23s, Crusader not only has a centerboard but also 9in more width." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 26, 2011.)

"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.)

"[Copyright-restricted content.]" (Source: van der Linde, Claas. Private Research Note. December 22, 2022.)

"Actual weights: Hull + Lead 5165 lbs A. Lead 2777 lbs). Mast 98.5. Mast Fittings 14.0. Boom 24.0. Boom Crotch 3.5. Jib Boom 7.0. Spinn. Boom. 4.0. Spreaders 3.0. Sails & Covers 46.0. Anchor 26.0. Equipment 55.8. Standing Rigging 12.0. Sum (Rig & Equipment) 293.8 B. Total (A + B) 5459 lbs." (Source: Anon (Herreshoff Manufacturing Company: A. S. deW. Herreshoff?). Construction plan 75-068, HH.5.5457, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass.)

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