News
HMM News
January 19, 2023
60th Anniversary of WEATHERLY’s AC Win over Gretel in 1962
January 18, 2023
A rare glimpse of the Herreshoff family’s summer cruises aboard the steam yacht ROAMER
December 22, 2022
A selection of Vintage Holiday Cards
December 20, 2022
Herreshoff Marine Museum Receives “Save America’s Treasures” Grant to Complete Restoration of the General Burnside Building
The Current
April 23, 2020WoodenBoat Live: A Conversation with Evelyn AnselA previously recorded live discussion between WoodenBoat Senior Editor Matt Murphy and HMM Curatorial Associate Evelyn Ansel about the Lima Project, maritime museums, and growing up around boatbuilders.This interview was recorded Wednesday, April 22, 3:30 PM EST as a Facebook Live Event; original WoodenBoat event description as […]
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Lecture: “WEE WINN and the Herreshoff’s Bulb Fin Keelers” by Sandy Lee
February 16, 2023 6:00 pm
WEE WINN is remembered with as great fondness by British yachtsmen and historians as it does for us. Built in 1892, the first year of Herreshoff Manufacturing Company sailboat production, for Miss Winnifred Sutton who took British Half Rater Class honors against all comers winning 21 of 22 races. WEE WINN sailed for many years until condemned to a bonfire but was saved and ultimately sent to the Museum.
Sandy’s team of Museum volunteers restored WEE WINN for display in the Museum. It and JILT are the only examples of Herreshoff’s bulb fin keel design in the Museum’s collection, though more than half the sailboats that left Herreshoff in those early years of sailboat production were fin keel! This type has wonderful stories to tell and were critical to Herreshoff achieving global fame!
Sandy’s presentation will discuss WEE WINN’s restoration as well as the evolution and history of Herreshoff fin keel boats, to include early women pioneers who won acclaim in these and other Herreshoff yachts.
This is the second of Sandy’s presentations covering the three projects his team accomplished. These presentations in chronological order tell story of developments and innovations that ultimately enabled Capt. Nat’s apex predator RELIANCE in 1903. The first lecture last December told the story of the Steam Era and critical foundations of Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. This talk covers the 1890’s, the decade of most intense level of innovation as the Company transitioned from steam to sail. The third presentation in April will discuss RELIANCE, of which the team has been building a 37’ tall exact scale model. Their research and building of this model uncovered unique insights into Herreshoff’s innovation practices, and design, engineering and manufacturing processes and RELIANCE’s roots which reached back to steam and earliest days of Herreshoff sail.
In-Person Reception begins at 6 pm
Lecture begins at 7 pm, Eastern
Register: https://buff.ly/3RwwuRR
Virtual Tickets: Members: $10, Non-Members: $15
In-Person Tickets: Members: $15, Non-Members: $20
Valentine's Day is right around the corner! ❤️ Gift your loved one tickets to a night they will never forget. Discounted Tickets to the Frostbite Bash are on Sale NOW! The early bird discount expires February 15th. Don't Wait! Visit FrostbiteBash.com for tickets! (Link in Bio!)
The Pella Frostbite Bash at the Herreshoff Marine Museum
Saturday, March 25th, 2023 | 6pm - 11pm
Amazing Food | Open Bar | Live Music | Silent Auction & Raffles
Early Bird Tickets: $65 (Now through February 15)
General Tickets: $90 (February 16 through March 25)
#FrostbiteFancy #FrostbiteBash #Fundraiser #BristolRI #RIMonthly #NewportRI #DiscoverRI #RhodeIslandEvents #RIWeddingVenue #ValentinesDayGift #401Love #Herreshoff #VisitBristol
Presented by @PellaWindows
Sponsored by @CruiseAmerican, @BankNewport, @TheBay_Mag, @BristolMarine, @GooseneckVineyards, @GowrieGroup, @MottAndChace, @NewportCraft, @North_Sails, @Pure_Insurance, @MorinsCatering, @TitosVodka, @WhalersBrewing
Construction began on the fishing steamer SEVEN BROTHERS (HMCo. #3) on this day in 1870. SEVEN BROTHERS was built for the seven Church brothers of Sakonnet, RI, who were in the fish fertilizer business. Bray and Pinheiro described the steamer in Herreshoff of Bristol:
"The vessel's function was to tow the net-carrying, open seine boats to and from the fishing grounds, and then, after assisting in encircling, pursing up, and loading a school of ever-plentiful menhaden, to bring them to the fish plant. SEVEN BROTHERS was the first of her type. Her layout, with machinery aft, pilothouse forward, and fish-hold between, became standard for these so-called 'pogy boats' for years afterwards, even though the boats grew considerably larger. J.B.H.'s shop built the engine, a simple, single-cylinder unit with 11-inch bore and 12-inch stroke, as well as the hull. Both engine and hull were designed by N.G.H."
📸 SEVEN BROTHERS at the dock at Common Fence Point on the Sakonnet River with seine boats in the foreground; HMM
#Seiner #SevenBrothers #HMCo #SteamEngine #Herreshoff #CommercialFishing #Menhaden #Pogies #FishFertilizer #1879
The raceabout JILT (HMCO. #493) was contracted on January 27, 1898 - 125 years ago today! Rudder magazine reported on the 21 foot class - of which JILT was a member - in August of 1898:
"A most interesting fleet is that of the 21-foot race-abouts. There are a dozen new boats, and already the racing has shown that no one boat is to have a walkover, but that championship honors will be won only by the hardest kind of work. Herreshoff boats were last year beaten by Boston-designed boats, so this year the Bristol designer has made a special effort to recover the laurels won for him by Cock Robin, champion in 1896. Sintram, Jilt and Typhoon are his contributions this year, Sintram is owned by Ex-Com. William P. Fowle of the Corinthian club, and is a keel boat with all the characteristics of a fin-keel. She is as close to the minimum allowed water-line beam of the class --- 7 feet --- as she can be built, and is of 5 feet draught instead of 6, as were last year's boats. The Jilt, W. O. Gay, is much like the Sintram [HMCo. #494], but the Typhoon [HMCo. #495], built for S. V. R. Thayer, and sailed by Capt. 'Nate' Watson, is a centerboard of 7 feet 9 inches waterline beam; 3 feet 6 inches draught; and carrying 3,000 pounds of lead instead of 3,500 as by the keel boats. These are class restrictions, and all the boats are built as closely to them as possible. It promises to be an interesting contest between the keel and centerboard types as well as between individual boats..."
JILT, SINTRAM and SWANHILD II were all built to the same half model - pretty radical looking for 1893, no?
📸 two views of the model, currently on display in the N.G.H. Model Room at HMM
#HMCo #Herreshoff #21Footer #RaceAbout #WizardOfBristol #RudderMagazine #FinKeel #CenterBoard
Happy launch day to PLEASURE (HMCo. #907)! This 30' auxiliary daysailer hit the water on this day in 1925. This was one of Captain Nat's last personal boats, and is now in the collection at HMM and can be viewed on display in the Hall of Boats. Learn more at https://herreshoff.org/hall_of_boats/
📸 HMM Archive
#HallOfBoats #HMCo #Herreshoff #CaptainNat #WizardOfBristol #CoconutGroveFL #Sloop #Yawl #MarineRailway #WoodenBoats #ClassicYachts #Cruiser #DaySailer
The high speed steam yacht STILETTO (HMCo. #118) was completed on this day 138 years ago. L. Francis Herreshoff wrote of the famous STILETTO in his biography of Captain Nat, "Wizard of Bristol":
"'Stiletto' was made famous because of her race with the Hudson River steamboat, 'Mary Powell.' The 'Mary Powell' was the fastest American steamboat, and perhaps the fastest vessel in the world, for a few years around 1880. Her speed was around twenty-five miles per hour and, although there had been other steamers that were said to have been as fast, the 'Mary' had beaten them when they were alongside...
On the tenth of June, in 1885, 'Stiletto' had her famous race with 'Mary Powell.' At first she ran alongside of her for a few miles but when Captain Nat gave the jingle, the bell signal for full speed, 'Stiletto' ran ahead, crossed 'Mary's' bow, slowed down, let 'Mary' pass her, crossed 'Mary's' stern, went ahead again and, after a run of thirty miles, was five minutes ahead of 'Mary.' This race was headline material for the papers of the time.
... After about two years, or in 1887, 'Stiletto' was sold to the U.S. Navy for a torpedo boat and as such ran in naval service for over twenty years."
📸 the first photo was taken on June 11, 1885 - the day after the infamous race; HMM photo archive. Swipe to see the STILETTO story featured on the front page of the New York Times that same day...
#SteamYacht #SteamBoat #HighSpeedSteamer #HMCo #Herreshoff #WizardOfBristol #FrontPageNews #MaryPowell #PassengerSteamer #TorpedoBoat #GildedAgeYachts
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