Mystery Boat?

[Adam]

Was driving around today and stumbled upon this down in Duxbury, MA at Long Point Marine.... I'd estimate 30' - at first I thought she was a "big" BB15 - a big open knockabout, long overhangs and familiar combing and bow. Whats interesting is the hardware seems to be Herreshoff - right down to the drilled out hollow Herrshoff cleats. Any idea what this is? Her Name is "Makani".

[Steve]

Pretty boat!.

HMCo built 5 18-footers, which for all intents and purposes were just larger 15s.  None of them have been accounted for and I haven't seen any photos.  I wonder if this could be one of them?

I think you have a mission. 

[Adam]

Yeah I'll give a ring to them tomorrow...

[Charles Barclay]

Makani is "wind" in Hawaiian.

Intriguing find.

[Adam]

Long Point has no Idea what make/build she is. One of the guy's is going to try to find out and call me back....

[Adam]

here is a Pic i forgot to post of the cute backside  .

[HerreshoffHistory]

She really looks like a Herreshoff. This is potentially a very
exciting find. On the other hand, too good to be true? Is she really
30ft overall?

Dimensions, overall, waterline, beam, frame spacing, etc. would be
very useful. In addition more photos, particularly interior shots
showing construction details. Plus photos showing the profile which
might allow to overlay plans for comparison.

The Buzzards Bay 18s were 29' LOA, 18' LWL, 8' 1" beam and had a draft
of 2' 10 1/2" plus centerboard. Only five were built.

They were contracted for in December 1903 and built in January and
February 1904, all for members of the Beverly Yacht Club.

As of now, no one seems to be aware of an original photo of one of
these boats.

See also: http://forum.woodenboat.com/archive/index.php/t-95379.html

[Adam]

My gut tells me to good to be true.... She is in very nice shape - one of these in that good a shape in a place like Duxbury would have been noticed. Then again...stranger things as they say. I will tell you I thought the keel - while the same basic shape as the BB15, et al, seems to have a far straighter leading edge as well as a bit deeper then the BB15 if scaled up. The depth made me think she would not have had a board (too deep), although the thickness made me think she had one - and yes I tried to reach up to see if there was a slot but the construction of the trailer made it impossible - and at 5' 8" i was not able to get high enough to see inside the cockpit!.

Still waiting for a call back - I'll try again today....

[Adam]

OK...here is the info... She was a one off build done quite some time ago (10+years they think) by a builder by the name of Jeff Gray (according to my search he was the main designer/builder/owner of Snug Harbor Boatworks in Duxbury - now out of business) and he built it right there at Long Point Marine. The original owners still own her. They are not sure of the design (IE - if she was a Herreshoff, Influenced by NGH, etc.).

I can't locate Him - anyone know him? I'd be curious if he used the BB15/18 as the model.

[Adam Langerman]

There is a Jeff Gray who works as a broker for Sparkman and Stephens.

[Adam]

Yeah saw that - Newport  - his pic made me think he would be too young - but ya never know. I'll ping him....

[Steve]

Nevertheless, nice sleuthing !

[rbgarr]

She's a Nat Benjamin design: http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1995/Snug-Harbor-Yachts-Daysailor-2400900/MA/United-States

[Adam]

Oh now that is very cool....thank you rbgarr....

[boat builder]

I helped build this boat with Jeff Gray at Snug Harbor Boatworks (Duxbury, MA) back in the early 90's.