Description
The Herreshoff 12½ (often written H-12½ or simply “Doughdish” when fiberglass) is a timeless 15 ft 10 in LOA (12 ft 6 in LWL) daysailer designed in 1914 by Nathanael G. Herreshoff, the “Wizard of Bristol,” as a safe, stable, and beautiful trainer for his own children at the family summer home in Buzzards Bay. With its full keel drawing 2 ft 6 in, graceful overhanging spoon bow and counter stern, 5 ft 10 in beam, and 1,500–1,800 lbs. displacement (about 700 lbs. lead ballast), the boat is extraordinarily seaworthy and well-mannered for its size, sailing upright in a breeze and ghosting beautifully in light air under its 140 sq ft gaff rig (main plus small jib). Below the seats is a tiny cuddy for storage or a child’s nap, but the boat is purely a daysailer with a huge, comfortable cockpit that can carry six adults in reasonable comfort. Originally built in wood (thousands by 1930s), the design was faithfully reproduced in fiberglass starting in 1960 by Cape Cod Shipbuilding and later by Doughdish, Inc.; today most of the 4,000+ boats on the water are glass, yet they retain the identical lines, feel, and bronze hardware of the 1914 originals. Still actively raced in one-design fleets from New England to the Great Lakes, the Herreshoff 12½ is widely regarded as one of the prettiest and most beloved small keelboats ever drawn.
