N.G. Herreshoff PLEASURE


Sail Number:

Vessel Type: Centerboard Knockabout Sloop

Ex; Mumsey [Mumsy] (1930s-1970s

PLEASURE Specifications:

LOA: 30’0″ / 9.14m – LWL: 24’0″ / 7.31m – Beam: 8’5″ / 2.58m – Draft: 31” / 0.76m – Hull Number: HMCo. #907 – Designer: N.G. Herreshoff – Original Owner: N.G. Herreshoff – Current Owner: – Year Launched: January 24, 1924 – Built By: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Bristol, R.I. – Hull Material: Wood – Gross Displacement: 7000 lbs – Ballast: – Sail Area: 460sq ft (42.7sq m) – Centerboard: yes – Rig: Marconi sloop (1925), yawl (1926-1928) – Propulsion: Gasoline, Evinrude, 4 h.p. ; [2 cyc. 2 cyl. 2 5/8in x 2 1/2in, rated 4HP at 1000 r.p.m.]


 

Historical:

In N.G. Herreshoff’s words – “In 1924 when at 76 years and passing winters in southern Florida, I designed and had built a small cruiser to use in Biscayne Bay and about the Keys. This boat, Pleasure, was 30′ o.a., 24′ w.l., 8’5″ beam, 31” draft, ballasted by lead, which was part of keel & centerboard logs and some stowed inside. Rig: jib and leg-o-mutton mainsail with no bowsprit, of about 445 sq. ft. She appeared to be a good sailer and a real “ghoster” in light airs, and was easily the fastest boat about Biscayne Bay. My ordinary sailing was generally alone, and cruising with my wife only, and the boat had a comfortable cabin for it. I was sometimes bothered at moorings or to reef if overtaken by strong wind. With this rig, the boat appeared to do her best windward work, tacking in about 7 points.”

“The second year, I changed the rig to yawl by cutting off the boom and aft part of the mainsail and adding a mizzen mast with sail [having] 1/2 hoist & boom as [the] cut-down mainsail. The total sail area very little increased by the change. Not having a standard to go by, I could not gauge the speed efficiency of the boat, but the loss was small and not apparent in sailing alone.”

 

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: (1924) N.G. Herreshoff
Owner/Guardian: Yaro family
Owner/Guardian: (1997) Herreshoff Maritime Museum, donation Yaro family.

 

Courtesy the MIT Museum

 

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