1930 Herreshoff 12 ½ sailboat CHESTNUT
Lent by Elizabeth Kahane, Newport RI
Popular small sailboat designed in 1914.
Carvel Cedar Planked (smooth-sided), white oak trim.
Originally named the “Buzzards Bay Boys Boat.”
Considered one of the best-designed sailboats ever.
The Herreshoff 12 ½ sailboat, designed by Nathaniel G Herreshoff is perhaps the most enduring sailboat design in history and is still manufactured today in both wood and fiberglass. For over 30 years, the boats were crafted from cedar planking and ribs, arranged end to end over a hull frame fixture with the boat set upside down, and then removed from its mold frames when inverted. The result was a smooth stout hull with graceful lines that can withstand the forces of waves while supporting the side-to-side loads of the boat’s gaff-rigged 140 square-foot sails. The name 12 ½ refers to the length of the boat in feet at the waterline, while the overall length of the boat is 15’ 8”.
The design was commissioned as a youth sailing boat that could be handled by sailors young and old in the windy and wavy conditions found in nearby Buzzards Bay. The first 364 boats were built in Bristol, RI at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company up until 1943 when the boat company closed. Production of the 12 1/2 continued on through the 1940s at the Quincy Adams Yacht Yard through 1947 using mahogany planking, and finally by the Cape Cod Shipbuilding Company into the 50s, all licensed by Herreshoff with Herreshoff builder plates. Later in the 1970s as fiberglass boats became increasingly popular, several boat builders created molded fiberglass versions of the traditional hull design, and the boat was re-introduced as the Doughdish class, with examples keeping the same lines and weights as their wooden counterparts. Modern versions of wood 12 1/2 are still in production by Artisan Boatworks in Maine and also by Ballentine's Boat Shop in Cataumet, MA.
“Chestnut” hull # 1158, the boat on display, is lovingly cared for and sailed in local waters in Narragansett Bay and has enjoyed a restoration by the International Yacht Restoration School (IRYS) here in Newport. While the H 12 ½ Class boats can be sailed with either a Marconi (triangular) shaped main sail or a Gaff Rig (4 cornered with a top “gaff” spar for support), Chestnut utilizes the more traditional Gaff Rig with wooden mast and spars throughout. The smaller front jib sail also features a short wooden boom designed to help the sail pass through the wind when the boat is changing direction. Below the hull is a full-length lead keel that keeps the boat stable and allows the crew to sit comfortably inboard when the wind and waves pipe up. A wood coaming at the front of the cockpit keeps much of the spray out of the boat deflecting the water overboard. With a weight of nearly 1500 lbs, and a displacement rather than planing hull shape, the vessel is not necessarily designed for speed, but the popularity of the boat and strict adherence to its original specifications allows for active one-design racing of 12 ½ boats worldwide.
Specifications:
Gaff-rigged
Length Overall: 15’8”
Length at water line: 12’6”
Draft: 2.6’
Beam: 5’10”
Weight: 1500 lbs with full keel