HMCo #1391s [Amphicraft]
Particulars
Name: [Amphicraft]Type: Amphicraft
Designed by: ASdeWH
Contract: 1943 ?
Construction: Wood
LOA: 13' 1" (3.99m)
LWL: 12' 7" (3.84m)
Beam: 4' 9" (1.45m)
Rig: Wishbone
Sail Area: 72sq ft (6.7sq m)
Displ.: 216 lbs (98 kg)
Centerboard: yes
Ballast: None
Amount: N/A
Note: Particulars are primarily but not exclusively from the HMCo Construction Record. Supplementary information not from the Construction Record appears elsewhere in this record with a complete citation.
Model
Model number: 415Model location: H.M.M. Model Room West Wall Left
Vessels from this model:
17 built, modeled by ASdeWH
Original text on model:
"13' AMPHICRAFT March 1935 scale 1" = 1' A. Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff" (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)
Model Description:
"13'1" loa Amphicraft, an all-purpose standardized boat of 1935. One of these boats, complete with its custom trailer, is on display in the Hall of Boats." (Source: Bray, Maynard. 2004.)
Note: Vessels that appear in the records as not built, a cancelled contract, a study model, or as a model sailboat are listed but not counted in the list of vessels built from a model.
Offsets
Offset booklet number(s): HH.4.203
Offset booklet contents:
#1276, 15' Lake George-class sailboat, 16' or 13 1/2' sailboat, 9' dinghy for plastic construction.
Offset Booklet(s) in Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Restricted access --- see curator.)
Drawings
Explore all drawings relating to this boat.List of drawings:
Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
HMCo #1391s [Amphicraft] are listed in bold.
Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
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Dwg 028-081 A (N/A): Amphicraft Sail Plan (ca. 1935)
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Dwg 028-081 (HH.5.02083); Construction Dwg > 13' Open Sailboat to Carry on Trailer [Amphicraft Const./Sail/Spars] (1935-02-16)
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Dwg 128-143 (HH.5.10271): Sails > Loose Footed Mainsail for 13 ft. Open Sail Boat (1935-02-18)
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Dwg 060-095 (HH.5.04316): Centerboard Fittings (1935-02-26)
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Dwg 060-095 (HH.5.04316.1): Centerboard Fittings (1935-02-26)
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Dwg 037-090 (HH.5.02831): 13' Amphicraft Trailer (1935-06-13)
Note: The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection is copyrighted by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass. Permission to incorporate information from it in the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné is gratefully acknowledged. The use of this information is permitted solely for research purposes. No part of it is to be published in any form whatsoever.
Documents
Other Contemporary Text Source(s)
"... 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.)
Maynard Bray
"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.)
Supplement
From the 2000 (ca.) Transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Vermilya/Bray
Year: 1943
E/P/S: S
No.: 1391
Rig: Amphi
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.
Research Note(s)
"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.)
"Weight Hull 174lbs. Complete with Equipment 216lbs." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Note on plan HH.5.02083 (028-081) 13' Open Sailboat to Carry on Trailer [Amphicraft const./sail/spars] (1935-02-16). 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.
Note
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