HMCo #1385s Tinker Too

"... in some ways the most interesting product of 1919 was the one-design class of 'S' boats, which came out early that spring.
While there were few of them built the first year, perhaps twenty, the company continued building them off and on for the next eight or nine years so that eventually there were perhaps a hundred and fifty or more of them, and besides being good little cruisers they have furnished active racing up to the present time in widely separated districts. If I remember right these little yachts cost less than two thousand dollars the first few years, so they have been a good investment for some owners for they were built well enough to last for years if handled carefully. Perhaps the 'S' boats would even have been more popular if they had been a little better looking but that defect should not be wholly blamed on Captain Nat for it was the request of the original sponsors of the class that they have short overhangs and full bows and sterns. This feature has made them rather queer-looking Universal Rule boats, and consequently they are not particularly fast for their rating. But there have been few all-around better boats for afternoon sailing, cruising, and racing, and perhaps also the last one-design class that was somewhat comfortable." (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.)

"[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).)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Mimeographed typewritten text on 'United States Salvage Association. Inc.' stationery':] We offer for sale, in damaged condition, the sailboat
TINKER TOO [#1385s], together with equipment, located at Herreshoff's
Yard, Bristol, Rhode Island.
This vessel, when built by Herreshoff of Bristol, Rhode Island, was described as follows:
Type: Standard S Class Sailboat
Length overall: 27 1/2ft
Length, waterline: 20 1/2ft
Beam: 7ft 2in
Draft: 4ft 9in
Keel and frame: oak
Ballast: lead keel, 3350 pounds
Planking: 3/4in
Decks: weld wood construction, painted Rig: Marconi Jib and Mainsail.
The vessel will be sold 'as is, where is' together with all remaining equipment stored at the Herreshoff Yard.
Accruing to inventory supplied by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, this equipment is as follows:
'The attached list of gear belonging to the TINKER TOO was salvaged after the boat was raised. We have stored it in lookers, with the exception of the spars which are stored in our North Loft.
You will appreciate that as this gear was under water for several ways, part of the time in a heavy sea, it is considerably damaged. We have dried out life preservers and sails, etc. before storing them.
Inventory - Locker Location N. Loft B-25
1 Mast (somewhat damaged)
1 Main boom (broken)
1 Set standing rig
1 Jib halyard
1 Jib club
1 Set spreaders (damaged)
1 Cleat
1 Spinnaker pole, socket and slide
[Page 2] 1 Winch crank
1 Spanner wrench
1 Compass in box
1 Lantern
2 Running lights
1 Winch
1 Pr. pliers
1 Lead, and line
1 Spinnaker sheet
1 Coil rope
1 Anchor
2 Life vests
1 Bilge pump and hose
1 Mainsail cover
1 Jib cover
2 Curtains
1 Shackle
1 Mainsail
1 Jib
1 Spinnaker
1 Storm jib
Note: These sails are drying in the sail left and will be stored in the locker when ready.'
Bids marked TINKER TOO to be submitted by mail to the United States Salvage Association, Inc., 99 John Street, New York City, New York to be received not later than December 15th, 1938.
We reserve the right to reject any or all bids." (Source: U.S. Salvage Association inc (creator). Sale Notice. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.043. Box HAFH.6.1B, Folder Hull No. 1385s. No date (after 1938-09).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #1385s Tinker Too even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Benfield, James W. "Reviving the 'S' Class." Yachting, May 1945, p. 56-57, 104. (3,516 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. How the Western Long Island Sound S-class fleet was built with a deliberate strategy.
• Upham, Kenneth B. History and Register of the S-Boat. Privately printed, no place, 1994. (13,553 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. The definitive source of info on the S-class, but unfortunately current only up to its date of publication in 1994. History of the class and its various fleets, technical comments, detailed vessel-by-vessel provenance, owner and name indices.
• Bray, Maynard and Claas van der Linde. "The Origins of the S-Boat. A Remarkable Herreshoff One-Design." Wooden Boat #267, March/April 2019, p. 74-79. (1,201 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. A short history of how the S-Class came about, including new insights from recent research of original Herreshoff documents. With photos and reproductions of the original construction and sail plans.
• Silken, Alan (text). Silken, Cory (photos). "Setting Sail in America. The Remarkable Story of Herreshoff S Class Sailboats." Seapoint Books, Brooklin, ME.
  Appreciation of the S-Class, history of the design and local fleets, portraits of surviving S-boats and a catalogue of all S-boats
• Silken, Alan (text). Silken, Cory (photos). "A Century of S-Boats. The Enduring Appeal of a Classic Herreshoff One-Design." Wooden Boat #267, March/April 2019, p. 80-85. (1,510 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Appreciation of the S-Class and a history of the fleets in Narragansett Bay, Quisset and Long Island and a summary of the leading S-boat restorers.
• van der Linde, Claas. [No title. Note about S-Class Weight Discrepancies.] March 11, 2022. (11 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Claas van der Linde. Note about discrepancies in published and unpublished sources of displacement of S-class boats and why 6030lbs is currently assumed to be the correct weight.

• Tinker Too (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Tinker Too (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: Sep
Year: 1936
E/P/S: S
No.: 1385
Name: Tinker Too
OA: 27 1/2'
LW: 20 1/2'
Rig: "S"
Amount: 4100.00
Last Name: Wickes
First Name: Mrs. Forsyth

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.

"Sail numbers 10 and 34." (Source: Upham, Kenneth B. History and Register of the S-Boat. No place, 1994, p. 100.)

"Under restoration at IYRS in 2013/2014." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. October 21, 2013.)

"Tinker Too sank during the Hurricane of 1938, stayed underwater for several days and was subsequently raised and offered for sale as is in damaged condition at HMCo by the United States Salvage Association. A two-page sale advertisement including statement of condition and detailed inventory list is held by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Technical and Business Records pertaining to the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Series VI, Folder HH.6.43 (Hull No. 1385), Box HAFH.6.1B.)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 3, 2017.)

"Sail area approximately 425 square feet, measured." (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.)

"See note about about weight discrepancies in published and unpublished sources under 'Further Reading' heading." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 11, 2022.)

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