cara mia yacht

Welcome to the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonn�, a A Documentation of all Vessels and Models Designed or Built by N. G. Herreshoff or the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company

Sorry, this page uses frames, but your browser doesn't support them. This website has been optimized for modern browsers including newer versions of Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer.

Herreshoff Refit Underway at G&B

After winning the 2014 North American Panerai Classic Yacht Challenge for Best Overall “Vintage Division” the 1905 Herreshoff NY 30 CARA MIA’s owner Alfred Slanetz has commissioned Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railroad (G&B) in Vineyard Haven, MA to undertake a thorough refit this Winter season.

Reprinted from G&B – “We enjoy the opportunity for a fun winter project such as this. “Cara Mia” will receive some deck repairs and re-canvasing, and we will address some mast partner issues. After removing the house, coamings, and deck hardware, the lack of deck camber became very apparent. The ends of the boat were close to the correct camber, but the mid- 2/3rds were as much as an 1-1/4″ low. Camber template across the cockpit area side deck.”

“The decision was made to remove the fir deck and replace all the deck beams reproducing the correct camber from the original Nathanael Herreshoff drawing. Having this sort access allows us to more easily replace the stem and breasthook, transom, and lodging knees which all have had several repairs affixed through the years and are currently soft. The vertical grain fir deck will be re-used as it was replaced earlier and is good condition. The stem and all deck beams are shaped and ready for installation. The transom has been removed and the new one is being laminated into shape.”

“The existing stem had been repaired a number of times with a lot of fasteners, and was rotting from the top down. The breast hook situated behind the stem will be replaced as well.”

Historical:

Eighteen Herreshoff New York 30s were designed and built by the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. in the winter of 1905 for members of the NY Yacht Club. As testament to the longevity of this design, today twelve of the original eighteen boats are still being raced, sailed, restored and enjoyed by there owners.

2015 Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta – Race Day 2
2015 Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta – Final Results
Vanishing Sail – A Caribbean Tradition on the Verge of Extinction
Deadly Storm Hits Regatta on Dauphin Island, Alabama

Universal Rule revival: meet the Q-Class Jour de Fete

The Q-Class yacht Jour de Fete is part of the fledgling Universal-Rule revival that is slowly building up critical mass in the Med

Story from March 2016 issue (CB333). To buy a copy or subscribe, click here .

B runo Troublé, of America’s Cup and Louis Vuitton fame, has a new project. He is promoting a renaissance of some of the smaller classes of the Universal Rule, discovering and restoring boats in north America and bringing them to race in the Mediterranean. The Universal Rule, devised in the USA in the late 1890s by Nathanael Herreshoff and adopted by the New York YC in 1903, is most famously known by the J-Class, the largest of these racing classes denoted by letters of the alphabet. Jour de Fête , ex- Falcon II , is a Q-Class design, more the size of an International Rule 8-M class, designed by Frank C Paine in 1930.

Jour de Fête ’s arrival five years ago on the classic scene in the Med has developed into many wins and some fine match racing with a Johan Anker designed Q boat, Leonore , ex- Cotton Blossom , introduced by another America’s Cup legend and friend of Bruno’s, Dennis Conner. A larger P boat, Olympian , was brought to the Med in 2014 by Bruno with great racing success and another, Chips , is being restored at the moment. Perhaps five P boats still exist, and they are fast coming out of obscurity to be given a well-deserved new racing life.

There are probably six Q boats still surviving out of an initial 20 before World War I and perhaps over 40 built after that, by such fine designers such as L Francis Herreshoff, John Alden and Sherman Hoyt besides those already mentioned. These boats are turning heads and are winning prize after prize.

The Q-Class was the first to use the Universal Rule, with Starling Burgess’ new design of Orestes in 1904, 36ft (10.97m) overall and 25ft on the waterline, with a sail area of 770sq ft. The new rule was much needed, promoting displacement and penalising sail area. At a stroke it moderated the dangerous extremes in shape and scantlings that were becoming prevalent under the earlier Seawanhaka Rule. The new system provided more balanced, seaworthy boats, much as the International or Metre Rule did a few years later in 1907 in Britain and Europe.

In the first version of the Universal Rule, there were no scantling rules, so boats were lighter than those built under the International Rule. This partly explains why fewer of the Universal Rule have survived, and when they have, they need a more comprehensive rebuild. But then they are light, fast, responsive and a joy to sail. “They are rocket ships with 10 knots of wind and flat seas,” comments Bruno. However, by the time Jour de Fête was built, the Universal Rule had adopted Lloyd’s specifications, so the boats were stronger.

The Universal Rule boats were also designed for a different environment in New England – racing in sheltered inshore bays where waves and tides are small and summer winds light. Sailing in the Solent or Scotland means being often subject to a weight and strength of wind that requires strong boats and less sail – not that sailors there were any more averse to piling on sail.

The Universal Rule evolved into 10 classes, from the 88ft (26.8m) I-Class, the J-Class, down to a 17ft (5.18m) waterline for the S-Class, 20ft (6.1m) for the R-Class, 25ft (7.62m) for the Q-Class, 31ft (9.44m) for the P-Class. Over the years and thanks to several rule changes, the boats were designed longer: the 1930 Jour de Fête has the longest waterline of the Qs at 32ft (9.75m). She’s 52ft (15.8m) LOA and less beamy than earlier Q boats.

The Q boats were raced both in Long Island Sound near New York, Sherman Hoyt’s Capsicum winning many races there, and in Marblehead and other bays of Massachusetts. By 1913 the larger P-Class was the choice of the top skippers and owners. After WWI, however, things changed. The Ps were deemed too expensive to maintain and crew, and at that time all boats were moving quickly away from gaff rigs to the new bermudan (Marconi) rig. The R-Class, about the size of the earlier Q boats, began to dominate and some of the P boats were sold to racing clubs in the Great Lakes and Canada. One of the designers in the Marblehead area of P and R-Class boats was Frank C Paine and his first R-Class Gypsy was seen to win many races. By 1928 the larger Q-Class began to re-emerge and many of these were designed by Paine in his office established in 1921, Burgess & Paine. They also hired a young draftsman by the name of L Francis Herreshoff. Starling Burgess designed the Q boats Hawk, Hayseed VIII and Falcon I before the office was dissolved in 1926, and Paine designed Hornet , his first Q-Class. This beat the reigning Q-Class champion of the time, Johan Anker’s 1925 Sally XIII . All three designers went on to design further Q boats, interpreting the rule in their different ways. L Francis Herreshoff’s 1928 Nor’easter V was very successful in light airs once her rig was tuned, as was Paine’s Robin of that year. She is still in existence, awaiting restoration. A year later Paine designed Cara Mia , the third of his four Q boats, the last being Falcon II in 1930, now Jour de F ê te .

Frank C Paine was the son of General Charles J Paine, who in the late 1800s had asked Starling Burgess’ father Edward to design Puritan, Mayflower and Volunteer as America’s Cup defenders. Frank had an introduction into the top echelon of the Massachusetts racing world and he quickly showed talent and an ability to innovate. His designs ranged from the J boat Yankee , the Bermuda Race winner Highland Light , the fishing schooner Gertrude Thebaud as well as racing yachts designed to both the Universal Rule and the International, Metre Rule.

The Hart Nautical Library at MIT has 21 of Paine’s half models and about 2,300 of his plans. Just launched this June in the Netherlands at Holland Jachtbouw is his J-Class boat Topaz , sail number J8, designed in 1935 but never built. Topaz is 88ft on the waterline, the longest J-Class ever built, and with the lowest wetted surface and highest keel aspect ratio.

Many of Paine’s designs were built at the renowned Lawley & Son yard, where he was company president for many years. George Lawley & Son, who built Jour de Fête , was the major boatbuilding yard in New England other than the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, which did not build boats by other designers. Lawleys built about 6,000 boats between the 1860s and the 1940s, with three generations of the family involved, Fred Lawley attending MIT to study naval architecture in the late 1890s and designing boats such as Seminole , which still races today.

By the time Falcon II/Jour de Fête was built, the International Rule was superseding the Universal Rule as the favourite for interclub racing in America, particularly in Long Island Sound. In 1929 there were 14 Q boats racing in Marblehead, the peak year for the class. Shortly after that the Qs were competing with the similar-sized 8-Ms, and eventually shared starts and courses.

The Eights began to take over and most of the Q boats, except for Robin, moved west, bought by owners racing in the Great Lakes. Questa is still sailing on Flathead Lake, Montana, along with Herreshoff’s Nor’easter V . The history of Falcon II goes quiet at this point, until she was discovered in poor shape near Milwaukee and was bought in 2003 by Konrad Ulbrich, moving her east to his farm in Camden, Maine.

New beginnings

Konrad, or Koni as he was known, already had an R-Class boat that he sailed in the Eggemoggin Reach Classics Race with his Boston-based daughter Wilhelmina, or Willy. They had sailed well enough that their handicap was probably going to be increased, and the thought of a new classic to restore and sail was tempting, one that he could race but also cruise a bit in Penobscot Bay. He knew that a Frank Paine boat was bound to be fast, which was important: Koni had been on the crew of American Eagle in 1964 in the America’s Cup races, and had sailed on the 73ft (22.25m) S&S yawl Bolero . His good friend Knight Coolidge tempted him to go ahead and added his help to the project. Koni bought the boat for a fraction of the asking price.

Koni had projects tucked away in corners of barns and fields and relished the challenge, and his daughters Willy and Cecile were pleased to be involved as far as they could. It was a major job. There were 88 ribs to replace, deadwood, every bolt in the chainplates, keelbolts, all the planking beneath the waterline.

The boat was riding 9in below her waterline when last measured. Part of this was the outsized 20in bulwarks around her decks, added to increase her freeboard to the height specified by rules in the Great Lakes. Part of it too, they later realised, is that the measurement was taken in the Great Lakes where the fresh water is less buoyant than salt water.

They also had to work through inconsistencies in Paine’s drawings and undocumented alterations in the intervening years. She had done well in races on the Great Lakes under the ownership of David Pappas, but they were not sure how she would sail after their work, or whether they would cure the weather helm they had heard about. “You gotta be a fantastic screwball to do this,” Koni commented.

France, St Tropez © Kathy Mansfield les Voiles de St Tropez 2015 Jour de Fete

Various people put their effort into the restoration: Dave Stimson replaced the frames, deadwood and keel timber, George Emery worked with Koni to design stronger metal floors and worked on the rudder and engine, Scotty Rome made custom bronze hardware. A telescoping ventilator designed by Paine at Lawleys was added. A rig was designed by Walter Wales – Koni wanted a larger foresail and later discussed it with Olin Stephens, who had agreed with him, but suggested the mainsail should be smaller so a permanent backstay could be installed: she needed more than just the running backstays. John Anderson joined in time to replace all the underwater planking, and remained with the project until the end. The coachroof is new and everything below was John’s work too, painted white with much mahogany trim in classic New England style. A pine deck was laid and John made all the spars. He has since restored the Q boat designed by Starling Burgess, Falcon I .

And sadly there was an end, and not the one expected. The boat was launched and motored around the harbour to test the engine, but Koni did not live to sail the boat he had worked so hard on. It was a poignant loss. There was a beginning too, however. Koni’s daughter Willy had been committed to the project from the start and she now left her career in Boston to help her mother run the family farm in Warren. She was also starting a relationship with her father’s new boatbuilder. Now they are married with two children, Willy running the farm and John building boats in the workshop. This is where the 1913 Burgess P-Class Chips is being restored, set for launch in 2017, and the Q boat Robin awaits restoration there too.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

Panerai British Classic Week 2015 Copyright Ingrid Abery 2015. copyright Ingrid Abery Photography. All rights reserved Copyright, Design & Patent Act 1988. www.ingridabery.com ingrid@ingridabery.com +44(0)7768 698 316

Bruno Troublé had been sailing his own boat in Maine when he moored alongside Falcon II , then called Hayday . “I loved her,” Bruno says. The boat was raced successfully in the 2007 Eggemoggin Reach Race and then sold to Tom Hill, who raced her in Newport. Finally Bruno managed to convince his close friend Pascal Oddo, a French businessman, to buy her. Pascal had owned a motorboat until Bruno had introduced him to racing sailing boats.

What does a former motorboater make of classic sailing? Pascal Oddo is no ordinary motorboater and his “Minister of Sea Affairs”, Bruno Troublé is no ordinary sailor, but Pascal’s comments still ring true. He had turned first to a modern 86ft (26.2m) Philip Briand-designed superyacht and he enjoyed racing on various boats at St Tropez. “But at a certain level, if you race with a modern boat, you have only employees on board,” Pascal notes. “I realised that classic boats are a fantastic area for racing and sailing: competitive but not as specialised, it’s something you can do with your friends and your family. The boats are so beautiful and it’s very nice to sail on an historic boat that has a story. It’s another kind of ambience.”

“When we got her, we adjusted the rig and the sailplan for racing,” Bruno says. “In the Med, the CIM rules don’t measure the foot of the jib, and these boats never sailed with the big genoa overlaps like the 8-Ms did. So we put in a big overlap and this helped make her faster, particularly in light winds.” Bruno used other workings of the rules to his advantage: “CIM doesn’t measure the sail area, it measures the distance, for example the exact length of the boom and the distance from the lowest part of the mast to the block at the top. Therefore the sail has now been cut to end right at the end of the boom. There is no point having the mainsail end 30cm short!”

The boat has more than repaid everyone’s hopes. There’s no sign of weather helm, for a start. “I’ve been sailing all my life on the best boats and these Q boats are a dream to sail,” says Bruno. “Theyare true racing boats, you ease an inch on the main and it changes the boat completely. Adjusting the runners makes a difference. They’re extremely sensitive and subtle.”

Brest Festival 2024: Keeping the Tradition Alive

Maine Boatyards: North American Classic Boat Projects

Classic Boat Awards Nominations: Last Chance to Submit for 2025

Classic Boat is the magazine for the world’s most beautiful boats. Packed with stunning images, we have the inside stories of the great classic yachts and motorboats afloat today, as well as fascinating tales from yesteryear and the latest from the wooden boat building scene around the world.