Written by Bill Mayher with photographs by Benjamin Mendlowitz
My on-again, off-again romance with the Buzzards Bay 25 commenced on a breezy summer day in 1973. I was in East Blue Hill, Maine, at the time and as we were wont to do on sunny weekend mornings, my three-year-old daughter Jenny and I were rambling along the boatyard shore to see what we could see, toss a pebble or two into the drink, and lie on our stomachs on the dock staring down at minnows nosing among the pilings.
As I remember it, something made me look down the harbor. When I did, I couldn’t help noticing a sleek but ancient gaff-rigged sloop beating its way toward me against a choppy northwest breeze. With her swooped-up bow, low freeboard, and short stern, even from such a distance, it was clear this was quite a boat. Drawing closer, she grew even more intriguing. Hollow bow sections. An understated housetop suggesting good visibility from the helm and not much more than getaway accommodations below. A big, high-peaked gaff mainsail. Deep cockpit with coamings rolled-out just beyond plumb. The effect was unforgettable, all the more so because, as she gained ground tack after tack, I could see she was being handled with breathtaking ease.
Th harbor at East Blue Hill isn’t much more than a notch chopped out of a granite coast. Its western shore might be bold enough for close-in tacks, but off to the eastward things give way quickly to a rubble of ledges, with little Mink Island protruding back into a channel. Slapped down by puffs, this Buzzard Bay 25 sloop would weather-up to sail nearly parallel to the walls of the western shore for a few critical seconds before the helm went down and she tacked away again. She darted back and forth across the eye of the wind, brave as a terrier. There were running backstays to tend and scary yellow boulders looming from the depths. To beat against a northwester in that tight spot, with a chart in the lap, would have been a stunning performance by a crew of experienced sailors familiar with the waters. But on ARIA that day, only her owner, Paul Bates, was aboard-fresh in from Noank, Connecticut.
. . . sign up to the right to get immediate access to this full post,
plus you'll get 10 of our best videos for free.
Get Free Videos& Learn More Join Now!!for Full Access Members Sign In
Charles Thompson says:
Nice job Bill. I was curious about the design changes after seeing some of the different specifications of the design as re-imagined by the builders. Your article satisfied my itch completely!
Georg Hinteregger says:
What a nice surprise it was to see this article about the BB25s after recently reading about them in Maynard’s (and friends) great new book”Herreshoff, American Masterpieces”. I must have read this article in 2003 when it first appeared in WoodenBoat magazine and am again reminded about the frailty of memory. I don’t know exactly what year it was but can recall being totally enthralled when Damian McLaughlin showed up at the WB show in Mystic with his slightly stretched cold molded BB 25.
The vignette about sailing HIGH COTTON to the WB show in Southwest Harbor with Joel White is really amusing and reminds me of Bill’s writing about Joel’s natural aversion to modern navigational gizmos in Bill and Maynard’s fine tribute, “Joel White, Boatbuilder/Designer/Sailor”
after his untimely passing.
The discussion of the worrisome lack of floatation in the Herreshoff originals got me wondering if some of the newer versions have been built to be unsinkable. It is a matter of personal concern since I’m in the process of commissioning the original Joel White designed “LALA type” sloop IRIS that lacks built in floatation. Her previous owner and builder was such a confident and capable sailor that he never installed the “two inflated truck inner tubes placed under the foredeck and one under the aft deck to prevent boat from sinking in the event of…” that Joel specifies in the plans. It seems like a simple and cheap solution that leaves the boat structurally undisturbed. As I am not so advanced in my sailing skills to think a catastrophic knockdown can always be avoided I am planing on installing the tubes. I’m wondering what you and your readers think about the floatation issue.
Pablo Altieri says:
Thumbs up!
Charles Flanagan says:
Great story and a bit nostalgic as I grew up and sailed in Mount Hope Bay always longing to own an S boat like the one moored near by.
It struck me as I read “it is remarkable that 4 out of the 5 originals are still sailing”, that a similar story is the fleet of Winter Harbor 21’s designed by Starling Burgess and built in 1907 for the summer colony at Winter Harbor. All 9 of the fleet have been restored and are still racing summer weekends. Had a chance to sail Mystery (Hull #1) last summer which I had owned for several years – a beautiful experience to once again sail a well designed sailboat after motorsailors and cat boats the last few years.
Michael Naumann says:
Is the “Robert Stone” mentioned here identical with the author Robert Stone (“A flag for sunrise”)?
David Tew says:
Thanks. I saw the Mills version on the hard some time ago and wondered about the dramatic differences in her underbody. I also didn’t know of the Stone and Spader family connections.
Bruce Keefauver says:
Great intro for the new films. Have any new ones been built since this article was written and if so what modifications to the hull, construction, and rigs were made?
Bernard Gustin says:
Thank you for this wonderful, tremendously informative, update on our fleet. Bernie Gustin, owner of SAY WHEN, (Ex-TOMAHAWK) H-25 cold molded by Joel White, 1995.