HMCo #1447s [12 1/2 for Mrs. H. G. Nichols]

"... The Saltonstalls were enthusiastic sailors. ... 'If we weren't racing on a race day, Father though it was some kind of a sin,' remembers Leverett's son Bill. Slowly, the family accumulated racing boats: a Knockabout, ..., and later the Herreshoff, number 8, 'Greased Lighning' ..." (Source: Richardson, Eleanor Motley 'North Haven Summers. An Oral History.', Rockland, Maine, 1992, p. 72.)

"The second summer that the Cobbs spent on the [North Haven] Casino, 1938, Cobb remembers, the new Herreshoff class of sailboats arrived. 'Ours was one of the first, the 'Elsie Q. [#1446s originally ordered by Sumner Pingree]', he says. Nancy Snow Carter [owner of #1442s] recalls that the others were owned by the Minots [#1436s and #1439s], the Saltonstalls [#1441s, #1447s, #1449s?], the Pingrees [#1446s and possibly #1448s], the Snows [#1442s], the Littles, the Pratts, the Chestons [probably #1405s Zipper], Paul Cabot [#1435s], Harry Cabot [#1435s], and Ox Kingsbury, among others.
'The 12 Herreshoffs were towed into North Haven under the aegis of Henry Minot [owner of #1436s],' writes Nancy. 'All the young new boat owners were given their boats and equipment on the Casino. I chose number 9 as it was always my lucky number. It was a great moment.'
'Pa and Dr. Pettit got the Herreshoffs here,' says Ellen Minot Little [daughter of Henry W. Minot and owner of #1436s]. 'They felt there needed to be a boat you could go sailing in. The dinghies were useless and the knockabouts were hard to sail by yourself. Our Herreshoff was named 'Bimbo'. We sailed and raced almost every day.' " (Source: Richardson, Eleanor Motley 'North Haven Summers. An Oral History.', Rockland, Maine, 1992, p. 142-143.)

• 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.

Year: 1937c
E/P/S: S
No.: 1447
LW: 12 1/2'
Amount: 900.00
Notes Constr. Record: del. Maine (Sparkman & Stephens, Boston)
Last Name: Nichols
First Name: Mrs. H. G.

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.: 1447
Contract Date: 1937-10-07
Org. Owner: Mrs. H.G. Nichols
Home Port: Searsport, ME
Prior Owners: William Saltonstall - ? - 1991 - North Haven, ME - Greased Lightning
Current Name: Greased Lightning
Current Owner: Penobscot Marine Museum
Owner Since: 1991
Note: Greased Lightning, #1447, is one of the group of boats bought by members of the North Haven Yacht Club in 1938. Sixteen were ordered at the time at $890. The numbers moved around a little with owners not necessarily getting the boats that are listed against their name on the HMC list. So #1447 ended up in the Saltonstall family, owned by Mrs. R.M. Saltonstall. Greased Lightning came to Penobscot Marine Museum in 1991, as a gift of Mrs. Emily Saltonstall Byrd and William Saltonstall who had grown up sailing the boat. Locally, they were known as Fox Eyes. She is pretty complete and in good condition having raced the year before she came to the museum. She has one of the late plates.

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.)

"Greased Lightning, #1447, is one of the group of boats bought by members of the North Haven Yacht Club in 1938. Sixteen were ordered at the time at $890. The numbers moved around a little with owners not necessarily getting the boats that are listed against their name on the HMC list. So #1447 ended up in the Saltonstall family, owned by Mrs. R.M. Saltonstall. Greased Lightning came to Penobscot Marine Museum in 1991, as a gift of Mrs. Emily Saltonstall Byrd and William Saltonstall who had grown up sailing the boat. Locally, they were known as Fox Eyes. She is pretty complete and in good condition having raced the year before she came to the museum. She has one of the late plates." (Source: Nagy, Steve. Herreshoff Registry, s. v. Greased Lightning 1447. http://www.herreshoffregistry.org/detail.php?hull=1447, retrieved May 12, 2014.)

"This boat is known to have top-mounted (as opposed to let-into-the-wood) bow chocks made by E.J. Willis as specified on its construction plan 076-118 (HH.5.06083). This drawing, dated from March 3, 1938 and labeled to be for #1432s but believed to be for the entire fleet of North Haven Fox Eyes (#1434s through #1447s) as well as for #1433s, #1459s, #1459s and possibly for some more 12 1/2s, specifically stated the use of 'Bow Chocks, Willis, Fig. J 855'. It is unclear why HMCo abandoned its previously used bow chocks (patterns 7463 and 7464). 12 1/2s launched in 1939 and later were fitted again with HMCo-designed bow chocks, of a new pattern (12428 and 12429) that was very similar to the old one. In the 1920 and 1930s E.J. Willis, founded in 1888, appears to have been a fairly large outfit, selling under their own brand all kinds of marine fittings and even rope and paint. They were based in New York City. Almost 100 years later the company was still in existence, now located in Middleville, NY, and known as a maker of bronze bells for the U.S. Navy." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 13, 2022.)

"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.