HMCo #1237s Viking

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

"... One of those who was born into a family of Woods Hole sailors was David Bradley. He grew up summering on Juniper Point at the eastern entrance to Woods Hole. In 1935, when David was 14, his father purchased a Herreshoff 12 1/2 for him that they christened VIKING. Astonishingly his father commanded young David to sail the new boat from Bristol to Woods Hole. What follows is his account of the trip written shortly afterwards entitled 'A Voyage in a Twelve Footer' originally printed in the Falmouth Enterprise:
The morning had brought no wind, and we heaved to off Bristol to eat lunch. How little those calm ham sandwiches suspected the rigorous experiences they were to go through before the day was over. Nor had we any premonition. As the afternoon breeze freshened, we started beating up the long Sakonnet fjord toward the ocean. The ponderous railroad bridge swung sluggishly on its pivot to let our little Herreshoff twelve footer through. The tide was running hard against us but we managed to work through and up to the auto bridge. With much bellowing and horn blowing, we finally convinced the bridge tenders that we wished to pass. Slowly the two sections reared back and we nosed out of the eddy to beat through. The roaring current swirled us back a couple of hundred yards, and amid a convincing display of appropriate vocabulary and hair tearing the bridgemen slacked the bridge down and traffic resumed its usual rush.
In an hour the tide turned favorable and running against the now heavy wind had kicked up quite a white-capped sea. Again the bridgemen hoisted the bridge back and we roared out into the swirling, tossing chop. It seemed an endless beat to Sakonnet Point. Five hours of chop, roll, spray, tack after tack, each one wetter than the last. Our little ship ploughed and plunged, crashed and splashed its weary way along, while puffs would lay her down and water would pour in over the gun’l. Our sou’westers kept us partly warm and dry as the bow would toss the top of each wave in our faces. I’ve never seen a boat throw so much water for its size. It seemed as though most of the ocean was flying through the air; a good part sloshed about in the bottom, soaking our food and bedding; the rest trickled down our shivering spines.
Finally the waves got the upper hand of us. Joe left off pumping out the boat and stood a watch at the lee rail to take care of his automatic stomach, and a little later the endless chop took toll of me. Some seamen! Out by Sakonnet Point the enormous ocean swells were sweeping in in their powerful, indifferent manner, dashing high in a silver wreath over the rocks and lighthouse. We would climb and climb to the top of the world of water, and then drop sickeningly over into the trough.
Out past the point we fetched a red nun where we eased our sheets and swung off for Cuttyhunk. The land slowly faded into the mist and we were alone, a chip tossed about and discarded by each roller, a plaything for the restless ocean. A tramp steamer wallowed by, the crew waving heartily as it nearly swamped us; the plaintive wail of the Hen and Chickens whistler came in an irregular throb.
Just as the sun sank into the horizon mist, looking like a misshapen tomato, we fetched Cuttyhunk, cold, miserable, empty. Running lights were lit and we ghosted along before the wind under the lea of Cuttyhunk and Nashawena in the pale afterglow. Then, blue-black night engulfed us; the wind slackened; the green starboard lamp glared into the murk, while the port cast a ruddy gleam on the lower part of the sail. Only our palely lighted boat seemed to have finite proportions; we were gliding in an infinitude of deep blue, while cottony foam-clouds boiled along under our quarter, and silent lobster-pot buoys slid by unexpectedly. Brilliant Venus was our friendly beacon.
In a couple of hours the black bulk of Weepeckets emerged from the gloom and we bore up a couple of points to starboard. At first, Woods Hole was a confusing array of lights, but soon the Hole straightened itself out and we slipped in on a slackening tide, past the green blinking spindle, past the swaying ghostly black can, past the port blinker --- home. It was about midnight. With tired eyes and aching backs, happy hearts and uneasy stomachs, we made fast our sleek little ship, furled the sails, and sloshed ashore in our bulky, dripping oilskins, homeward bound on a road that pitched and swayed far too reminiscently. (David Bradley, The Falmouth Enterprise.) ..." (Source: Cooper, Douglas E. and Carol R. Suitor. "One Hundred Years of the Herreshoff 12 1/2 at Quissett." In: Herreshoff Marine Museum (publ.). Proceedings. The 6th Classic Yacht Symposium. May 2- 3, 2014. Bristol, RI, 2014, p. 4-5.)

"The good times continued into 1938. That summer, 15-year old Eliot Porter won most of the junior Bullseye trophies in Viking ... After the boats were towed to their winter home at Mystic Shipyard, and the champions returned to theirs in New Britain, Connecticut, their proud father, Maxwell S. Porter, passed the results on to the local newspaper, which published a nice little article about them.
The bubble was burst 11 days later by a telegram from Mystic Shipyard that read: 'Your boat damaged in hurricane. Unable to determine extent up to now. Details will follow. Suggest advising your insurance agent of loss." Viking, in fact, was not insured. After Mr. Porter asked the yard for advice as to what he should do with his son's little yacht, the yard replied with a terseness that cuts to the quick of the disaster that was the 1938 hurricane. The manager promised that Mr. Porter would receive a report on the exact condition of the boat 'just as soon as we are able to locate and examine it.' Like almost every other waterfront in New England in late September 1938, Mystic Shipyard was a heap of splinters. ...
When Mystic Shipyard finally dug the remains of Eliot Porter's Viking out of the debris, the only things of value that remained nearly whole were the dented led keel and some hardware.
After selling her for $40 to a fellow who hoped to rebuild poor Viking with another rig, Mr. Porter instructed the shipyard to find a Bullseye sailor who might be in the market for a suit of championship racing sails." (Source: Rousmaniere, John. Sailing at Fishers. Mystic, CT, 2004, p. 71-72, 74.)

To the Logmaster: This is to let you know that my father, Douglas H. Borden, a member of the Narragansett Bay Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer Association, among other Bay sailing organizations now and in the past, passed away on December 8, 1990.
A lifelong sailor of inherited and acquired sailing and racing skills, as a young man he sailed the Candy boat Tafffy for many years before 'fleeting up' to the Warwick Neck Class sloop Nancy. He lost Nancy at Touisset in the 1938 Hurricane. In 1939, he bought his 12 1/2 footer in Mystic, CT, where it too had been wrecked by the hurricane. He paid as much to truck it to Touisset as he did to buy the wreck --- $40.
Over the next 2 years, he put countless hours into rebuilding the wreck. He replaced many planks, installed a new transom, new floorboards, seats, coamings, toerails and rudder. He also obtained new spars, sails and rigging. The $40 wreck was transformed into a club, association, and bay-wide champion. He could find no Herreshoff Manufacturing Company hull plate on the wreck so he selected number 31 for his sail and chose the name Kewpie for the boat.
Over the years, he raced 12 1/2s successfully in dozens of regattas and series races from Edgewood to East Greenwich; Newport to Bristol; at his home club, Coles River; and even up the Taunton River with its extremely challenging and frustrating tidal currents. He taught his family to sail well and to win races. He was an inspiration to young men at the Coles River Yacht Club who aspired to sail and race better. He was always a challenge to competing skippers anywhere he sailed, including during the period when he was skipper of Howard Sweet's S boat, Spray [#913s], on the Bay. He retired from racing about 15 years ago, although he continued to sail a few more years before he finally sold Kewpie.
Douglas H. Borden, Jr.
Alexandria, Virginia
December 18, 1990. [Note: Judging from mention of $40 sales price and Mystic, CT in both John Rousmaniere's text about #1237s Viking and in this text about Kewpie, it appears to be indeed hull no. 1237.]" (Source: Borden, Douglas H. "Tidings." Obituary Letter to Downwind, the Newsletter of the Narragansett Bay Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer Association. Published in Vol 3, # 6, July 1991, p. 3.)

"Charlie Flanagan’s 1935 Herreshoff 12 1/2 (hull No. 1237) was decaying slowly in his yard in 2007 when a tree branch fell on it. That spurred Charlie to finally start what became a 12-year restoration, and he eventually replaced every piece of wood in her. In September 2019, he proudly launched KEWPIE on the South River in Annapolis, Maryland." (Source: Jettinghoff, Robin (ed.). Launchings and Relaunchings. Woodenboat # 273, March / April 2020, p. p. 91.)

"[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 #1237s Viking even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Bray, Maynard. "Restoration of 12 1/2 Footers. Part I." Wooden Boat #56, January/February 1984, p. 93-101. (1,293 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text). Detailed Buzzards Bay 12 1/2 restoration step by step as performed by the Ballentine shop. Part I. Stem restoration, transom and frame replacement.
• Bray, Maynard. "Restoration of 12 1/2 Footers. Part II." Wooden Boat #57, March/April 1984, p. 93-100. (1,036 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text). Detailed Buzzards Bay 12 1/2 restoration step by step as performed by the Ballentine shop. Part II. Keel timber and coamings replacement.
• Bray, Maynard (with photos by Benjamin Mendlowitz). "12 1/2 Footers." Nautical Quarterly, no. 37, Spring 1987, p. 47. (608 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text), Benjamin Mendlowitz (photos). Short class portrait. Part of the larger article "Herreshoff Legacies."
• Nagy, Steve. "The Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer. Evolution Of The Class." In: Herreshoff Marine Museum (publ.). Proceedings. The 6th Classic Yacht Symposium. May 2-3, 2014. Bristol, RI, 2014, p. 1-23. (4,425 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Steve Nagy / Herreshoff Marine Museum. Short class history of the 12 1/2 as built by HMCo, Quincy Adams, Cape Cod Shipbuilding and others. Different models: Gaff, marconi, wishboom, Fishers Island. Detailed description of changes in configuration and equipment as boats were built over time. Identification guide for 12 1/2s missing their builder's plate. Photos. Original promotional material.
• Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. [Contract for #1237s Viking, 12 1/2-footer.] Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection. Bristol, RI, 1935. (357 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Herreshoff Marine Museum. Original building/sales contract. Vessel description, scantlings, payment terms, delivery date.

• Viking (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: Feb.
Year: 1935
E/P/S: S
No.: 1237
Name: Viking
OA: 15.5
LW: 12.5
D: 2 1/2
Rig: J & M
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 900.00
Notes Constr. Record: June 20/35 sailed away. Gaff rig.
Last Name: Bradley
First Name: Mrs. H. C.

Source: Vermilya, Peter and Maynard Bray. "Transcription of the HMCo. Construction Record." Unpublished database, ca. 2000.

Note: The transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Peter Vermilya and Maynard Bray was performed independently (and earlier) than that by Claas van der Linde. A comparison of the two transcriptions can be particularly useful in those many cases where the handwriting in the Construction Record is difficult to decipher.

Hull No.: 1237
Contract Date: 1935-02-01
Org. Name: Viking
Org. Owner: Mrs. H.C. Bradley
Org. Rig: Gaff

Source: Nagy, Steve. "The Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer Registry." Version 2.0. August 2007. (http://h12.orrsford.com/H12_Registry_Ver_2-0.pdf, last visit May 23, 2008.)

"Date of delivery 'on or about June 20th, 1935' from original contract in collection of Herreshoff Marine Museum was confirmed by note in Construction Record 'June 20/35 sailed away'." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 15, 2015.)

"Built in 139 days (contract to delivered; equivalent to $6/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Sail area approximately 140 square feet by rule." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Yachts by Herreshoff. The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company: Designers and Builders of Sailing and Power Craft since 1861. Bristol, Rhode Island, 1937.)

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