East Coast Boats Collections
1914 Herreshoff 12 1/2
Designed by Nathaniel G. Herreshoff as a boy’s training boat for the waters in Buzzard’s Bay. The boat was built for yachtsman that wanted a boat for their children that was easy to handle. Over 3000 have been built over the years and are still being made in fiberglass versions today. Called the 12 1/2 for the length of the waterline of the boat.
Beetle Cat
The Beetle Cat Boat is a twelve-foot, gaff-rigged wooden catboat designed by John Beetle in 1921 and originally built by the Beetle family of New Bedford, MA, famous for their whaleboats. Beetle, Inc. is now the sole builder of Beetle Cat boats in Wareham, MA.
Cape Cod Catboat
The Cape Cod Catboat is one of a very few that is closely associated
with a specific geographic area. Developed for the fishing and lobstering
conditions along the Massachusetts cape, the catboat was
the boat of choice of fisherman in the region because of it’s ability
to work in shallow waters with strong tides. Today, the Cape Cod
catboat is more of a racing and cruising yacht. “If there is truly and
American vessel--mind you I don’t say rig--that deserves being described
as the National type, it is the catboat.”
Thomas Fleming Day, The Rudder 1896
Downeast 36 Lobster Boat
The Maine lobsterboat is known and admired all over the world. Designed by Royal Lowell, this 36ft. lobsterboat with her fine lines is his most sought after wooden design. Her clean lines and simplistic design appeal to even the novice builders. It’s been said of the boat that not only is she beautiful and sleek, but many that have built this design said that it was the dream of their life to build her. Royal Lowell was the grandson of the legendary William Frost of Beals Island.
Marshall 18 Sanderling
The Sanderling is a common sense daysailer/weekender offering the spaciousness and comfort found only in larger boats. Easy to single hand, or to sail with the kids, she is a safe and stiff boat. Her size, positive flotation, and stability even allow for short offshore passages. Nevertheless, her racing record is astonishing, with many boats competing in established fleets in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Long Island Sound, Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere.
Skipjack Minnie V
The Minnie V. was built in 1906 in Wenonah, which is on Deale Island, located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The builder was John B. Vetra, and he named the boat after his wife, Minnie. The V, therefore, stands for her last name, Vetra. The Minnie V. has had many different owners, and has spent 87 years in the oyster dredging business. Now owned by Living Classrooms and used as an educational vessel teaching students and as a tourist attraction in Baltimore, MD.
