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DORIS is a 77' 6" wooden sailing yacht designed by Nathaniel Green Herreshoff and built in 1905 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island. Built at the turn of the century, she is one of the largest all-wood sailing yachts the Herreshoffs ever built and she is the largest wooden one that survives to this day.
Prior to 1905, when Doris was built, large sailing yachts were designed under a measurement rule based solely upon length and sail area. This formula yielded boats that were either sleek and fast, but had unseaworthy characteristics, or were cumbersome vessels though safe and able passage-makers. Recognizing the need for a design formula for sailing vessels which were both swift and safe, the New York Yacht Club solicited the expertise of the world's leading yacht designers. Nathaniel Herreshoff was reknowned as the "Wizard of Bristol" a genius of design and engineering and it was he who developed this Universal Rule, initially called Herreshoff's Rule. Under the influence of the Universal Rule, which took into account the length, sail area and displacement, boats were designed with fuller hull lines and shorter overhangs making them both roomier and more sea-kindly. Smaller sail plans made them easier to handle as well. DORIS was the very first large vessel to be built under the new Universal Rule, proving to be a sensation in the yachting world when she defeated GLORIANA, an earlier Herreshoff racing design built in 1891 and reported to be the fastest sailing vessel of her day, in a series of races off Marblehead, Massachusetts. ~1
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LOA 77' 6"
LWL 56' 7"
Beam 15' 2"
Draft 9' 2"
Sail area 3,780 sq. ft.
Displacement 97,650 lbs.
HMCo. Hull No. 625
Doc. No. 201963
There are two significant features of DORIS' construction that characterize her uniqueness.
The first of these is DORIS' unusual construction with metal hanging knees replacing the usual sheer clamp through the midship portion of the hull. Herreshoff advocated this construction for large, flush-decked yachts of all- wood construction with high topsides, feeling no doubt, that the general construction provided sufficient longitudinal strength such that the sheer clamp could be omitted, and that the knees would provide better vertical support for the flush-deck construction.
The second unique construction detail is the use of what Herreshoff called belt or web frames. These are oak members bent over the ceiling, in the same plane as the normal frames. As far as is known, DORIS is the only yacht in existence having this form of construction. In her case, the belt frames bend right up around and lie under the deck beams, and metal hanging knees are omitted at those frames where belt frames are placed.
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| Doris, 1905 |
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| copyright Mystic Seaport, Rosenfeld Collection, Mystic, CT James Burton, Photographer |
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DORIS is of historical significance, if for no other reason, because she survives from an era when large wooden sailing yachts of a type no longer built today were commissioned for the private use of a single owner. When the additional facts are considered that DORIS was designed and built by America's premier naval architect, Nathanael G. Herreshoff, and is believed to be the largest Herreshoff sloop remaining** , that she was the premier example of the successful design principles of the Universal Rule, and that she was the only yacht of her design ever to be constructed, it becomes clear that DORIS is indeed a truly unique and classic vessel in the history of American yachting.
| DORIS, gaff-rigged, starboard view, port tack |
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| Photo Copyright Mystic Seaport Museum |
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