I‘m sure that N.G Herreshoff (NGH) realized he’d created something pretty special when he finished carving this half model in 1914, for it was quite unlike any he’d carved before and supremely beautiful as well. From it, the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. built around 40 Fish class sloops at 20’9″ in overall length and nearly ten times that number of the better-known 12-1/2 footers.
NGH lived to see this design flourish, but he didn’t live to know of its longevity. Now, a century later, about half the Fish boats and two thirds of the 12-1/2s stillsurvive—and replicas, variations, and derivatives are still being turned out in significant numbers.
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David and Margaret Tew says:
The $100K figure for a new build may be out of date now. Here’s the Herreshoff 20 INTENT, slightly smaller, built by a superb craftsman who doesn’t waste motion. https://classicboatshow.com/classified/20-herreshoff-design-204-2015-intent/
David and Margaret Tew says:
A video of the H-20 INTENT under sail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9kJJ4Wm7vE
Peter Strock says:
See my note of April 2020. I restored a Fish/Marlin in about 1970. Hart Museum made available all the drawings, including scantlings, yard book, and designs for fittings. I did extend the ‘cabin’ back one or two frames which made her perfect for single-handed L.Francis type cruising: “Simplicity afloat…”
We bruised serious water from Block Island to Nantucket and she never failed to bring me home. Or to put a smile on my face when she bent to the task at hand, whether shooting a mooring or dealing with a smokey So’Wester.
. A few more feet would be nice, comfortable even, but she is more than adequate for 1-2 people SIMPLE cruising. But then a cedar bucket is no longer permitted is it?
Peter Strock says:
To add to my note of 2020:
Peter Strock says:
My first boat was a Marlin: “cruising version” of a Fish. Bought at auction on the hard at Aucoot Cove in Narragansett Bay. Currently in Woods Hole owned by Jim Newman. Fish plans are available from Hart Museum at MIT, although they make it hard to get a set.
Leigh Besson says:
Do you know of a source for plans for a half model? Thank you, Leigh
John Holscher says:
Anyone familiar with the Golden Era Petrel? A fiberglass boat allegedly based on the fish class.
I’ve seen a couple for sale for a lot less than $100K.
Charles Zimmermann says:
The first batch of Model T Fords were sold in 1909 for $825 each. See http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_T_Ford . If we adjust the Fish price for overall inflation then a new Fish should cost around $25,000 which would be real “value for money” in my opinion. However if you look at market prices for Folkboats by searching Yachtworld you can get a good used boat for $20,000. So $100,000 looks very expensive. Could the Fish be produced at lower cost by a company such as Cabo Rico? See http://www.caborico.com/aboutus/index.html . It’s such a beautiful hull – and seaworthy – why don’t we have more of these boats?
Maynard Bray says:
Hi Charles,
We’re estimating about 1,500 man-hours to build a Fish boat. Labor rates at $50 to $60 per hour get you to $75,000 or $90,000. Then there are the materials: wood, fittings, lead ballast keel, sails and rigging. Add these and it reaches $100,000, at least. If a “factory” like Herreshoff Mfg. Co. were turning Fish boats out like Fords, the costs could be reduced some, but I doubt if it could ever get down to $25,000. New boats of any material, if well built, are expensive. These days, used wooden boats are a real bargain.
Charles Whitin says:
I have sailed aboard a Fish named “Sea Robin” owned by N.T. Long out of Sakonnet Point for many years. Even in a ‘Smokey’ Sou’wester in mid-summer on Buzzard’s Bay, her helm was light as a feather. The boat, like every Herreshoff design, draws comment and admiration in every harbor. What is wonderful about sailing “Sea Robin” is that it places you literally a century earlier, while making a passage to or from Cuttyhunk into an time-warp, and a potentially epic voyage instead of an everyday sail.
Nat Wilson says:
My Fish Class enters her 99th year. I have owned her for forty of those years. Mostly original. No carbon, motor, just tide, wood, wind ,rope and wire. She always found her way home safely. Sporting her original gaff sail plan and leaking a little in the press of wind. Congratulations to Off Center Harbor and the 250th video. It has inspired me to get out the sand paper, varnish and go to work.
Nat Wilson
Bruce Sinclair says:
Nat, I surely hope you do!
Craig Humphrey says:
Are there used Fish class boats available for less than the $100,000 price tag? I like the 12 1/2, and the Fish class has more to offer for the obvious reason that there is more boat and more room in the cockpit.
Maynard Bray says:
The very best source for Fish boat information is Steve Nagy’s Herreshoff Registry, which you can view by Googling. In it, each and every Fish boat is listed along with its present owner and whereabouts. I don’t know of any for sale offhand, but Artisan Boat Works has one that’s in need of a complete restoration.
David Coons says:
What would someone have paid for a Fish Class in 1916? And today?
Maynard Bray says:
The first batch cost $875 each; the price then rose to $925, then $1,750 and finally to $1,900 in 1925. The Marlin cruisers of 1937-38 went for about the same. These days a new Fish boat I expect would be well over $100,000.