FELICITY

Felicity is a Herreshoff Fish Class sloop, built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in Bristol, Rhode Island, almost certainly in 1926 (there is no plaque). There was a boat called Felix delivered that year, seems as likely a possibility as any...  The boats built in the teens were gaff-rigged, and lacked the molded sheer strakes.  Beyond that I don't know.

The Fish is just under 21 feet long overall, 16 feet on the waterline, displacement about 3300 lbs and draft 3' 1".  I bought Felicity in Woods Hole (on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts) in 1980. I have done lots of work to her, much of it on my own, but my friend Bill Rogers did the big job, replacing her sheer strakes and deck (hence the two different looking cabins -- the new one is finished bright and without portlights). The Fish originally had a shorter, lower cabin and a larger cockpit, making her pretty strictly a daysailer. Several Fish have had the cabins enlarged for overnighting, and Herreshoff built a few later boats (called Marlins) with larger cabins, and even (shudder) inboard auxiliary power.
Comments or questions welcome -- send email to me at jim @ whmsi.com. Back to Jim's home page
 
 

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Felicity in about 1984, in Woods Hole passage, playing an evening sou'wester against a foul east tide. That's Nonamessett Island, first of the Elizabeth Islands, in the right background, and Martha's Vineyard in the distance on the left.

The Herreshoff Marine Museum is a great resource for anyone interested in these boats.  The Herreshoff Registry has great information online.   

The MIT Museum and Mystic Seaport have lots of information, too.

more Felicity      back to Jim's home page

revised 20sep2010