Yacht designer Halsey Herreshoff at the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island, describing how his grandfather Nathanael Greene Herreshoff carved rather than drew the boats that he designed.  The more interesting question may not be how Captain Nat carved the models but why. Read on after the page break.

How Herreshoff Designed His Boats

The most interesting question may be not how Nat Herreshoff designed his boats, but why carve them rather than draw lines plans? Of the many things, Nathanael Herreshoff was, he was not a traditionalist. He was university trained as a mechanical engineer and his designs used the most advanced technology of their day. Indeed, many of his designs were ahead of their time and only became fully popular once materials advanced to include fiberglass and carbon fiber.

So why carve his designs?  I think the answer may be that Nat was the junior partner in the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. His older brother John Brown Herreshoff, known as J.B., founded the company and ran it for 15 years before his younger brother Nay joined the firm as partner.  The remarkable thing about J.B. was that he had been blind since the age of 15.

John Brown Herreshoff’s obituary in the New York Times of January 21, 1915 may hold the answer why Nat carved his models.  The obituary notes: “His mind grew to be capable of remarkable concentration and became wonderfully acute, and his sense of touch soon was marvelously sensitive. he learned to recognize the strength and symmetry of lines by rubbing his fingers over models and his early success is attestedby the many fast craft built in his younger days.”  The obituary goes on to say: “Although “Nat” was the designer of the Gloriana, Columbia, Vigilant, Navahoe, Colonia, Wasp, Defender and a number of other famous in American yacht racing annals, the construction of none of these ever commenced until their models had met with Jon B.’s approval.”

So, it seems that nat carved his models, not because it was a traditional way to design boats and ships, but because it was the most efficient way to communicate with his blind brother and partner, J.B. Herreshoff, who remained active in the firm until not long before his death.