HMCo #1302s [Amphicraft for N. F. Ayer]

"... AMPHI-CRAFT. Center-board Dinghy. Sail area, 72 sq. ft.; o.a.l. 13'; beam, 4' 8''. Oak frames; mahogany or cedar planking; teak trim; teak rudder and center-board; Everdur fastenings; polished bronze fittings; spruce spars; standard equipment.
$425
Sail-away Bristol ...) (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. [Advertisement.] Yachting, March 1937, p. 96-98.)

"The Amphi-Craft was to be an all-purpose boat having wider appeal and a more affordable price than most Herreshoff Mfg. Co. boats. Although the design was aggressively advertised ..., only fifteen boats were built. They were elegant and, for what they were, rather expensive.
Two of the boats are known to have been preserved (#1276 at the Herreshoff Marine Museum and another at Mystic Seaport [#1388s]), and they show some features worth knowing about. For example, the mast is in two piece so that it will store inside the boat, the wishboom rig holds the sail in its most efficient shape, and the rudder is pivoted to kick up in shallow water.
Although the Amphi-Craft hulls were built upside down, as was the Herreshoff custom, the shop's method, used for the larger craft, of bending the frames directly over the molds gave way in these and certain other small craft to ... a jig-type setup in which the boat's frames are bent over ribbands sprung around and fastened to widely spaced molds. This system requires less lofting and allows the intact jig to be left undisturbed, boat after boat; it has long been a favored method among other builders.
Except at the bow, this boat's frames run continuously side to side across the keel and are held at each end by turnbuttons at the sheer. ...
Sidney Herreshoff designed not only the Amphi-Craft but also a special trailer to go with it. The Herreshoff Mfg. Co. built the trailer as well as the boat, using running gear purchased from the Indian Motorcycle Co. and a steam-bent, varnished oak frame complete with the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. logo hand-lettered in red paint. ..." (Source: Bray, Maynard and Carlton Pinheiro. Herreshoff of Bristol. Brooklin, Maine, 1989, p. 190.)

"[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).)
① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ ⑧ ⑨ ⑩ ⑪ ⑫ ⑬ ⑭ ⑮ ⑯ ⑰ ⑱

"[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 ?).)
① ② ③ ④

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #1302s [Amphicraft for N. F. Ayer] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. [Contract for #1302s an Amphicraft for N. F. Ayer.] Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection. Bristol, RI, May 13, 1935. (690 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Herreshoff Marine Museum. Original building/sales contract. Vessel description, scantlings, payment terms, delivery date.

• #1302s and other Amphicraft class (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: 1935
E/P/S: S
No.: 1302
Rig: Amphi-craft. Wishbone
CB: y
Amount: 560.00
Notes Constr. Record: Special job.
Last Name: Ayers
First Name: N. F.

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.

"Regular Amphicrafts had a higher sheer than the prototype #1276s Prim as per a note on plan HH.5.02083 (028-081) Sailboat to Carry on Trailer [Amphicraft const./sail/spars] (1935-02-16)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 18, 2019.)

"This Amphicraft was a special (more elaborate but heavier) version built from its own construction plan (028-082) for N. F. Ayer." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 12, 2020.)

"Plan 28-82 from which this boat was built was drawn 1935-04-13." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. October 26, 2009.)

"Dates of contract '13th day of May 1935' and delivery 'on or about May 25, 1935' from original contract in collection of Herreshoff Marine Museum." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 15, 2015.)

"Built in 12 days (contract to delivered; equivalent to $47/day, 25 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Weight 295lbs complete with rig." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Note on plan HH.5.02084 (028-082) 13ft-6in Sailing Dinghy (1935-04-13). Haffenreffer-Herreshoffer Collection. MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

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