Photo: The Day/Sean D. Elliot

Drivers on Interstate 95 in Connecticut may have been surprised recently to see the 78-foot, wooden yacht Doris traveling by trailer down the highway, on her way to restoration and a new life. The 1905 built sloop is believed to be the largest surviving wooden yacht from the famous Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island.  Doris has been stored at Crocker’s Boat Yard in New London for the past 30 years or so, was moved to the Taylor & Snediker Yacht Restoration company of Pawcatuck. The yacht was scheduled to be scrapped at the end of August 2013, but a new, currently anonymous, owner was found. New England Boating reports that “Taylor & Snediker may employ up to 9 workers to work full time for the next 5 years on Doris. When the work is completed, most of the original frames, planking and other components will have been replaced.”

Doris, ex-Astarte, ex-Huntress and ex-Vayu, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. She was designed by Nathaniel Greene Herreshoff, who designed five America’s Cup defender yachts and who also was the main architect of the America’s Cup rule change called the Universal Rule. That rule allowed for displacement as well as length and sail area to be included in a formula defining yacht eligibility, and enabled more “sea-kindly” and roomier yachts to be competitive. Doris is said to be the first boat built under the universal rule.