The Buzzards Bay 14 is an American

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

that was designed by L. Francis Herreshoff and first built in 1940.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 88-89. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. The Buzzards Bay 14 is a scaled-up development of the

Herreshoff 12½ The Herreshoff 12½ Footer is a one-design keelboat. History Nathanael Greene Herreshoff designed the 12½ footer in 1914. It has been in continuous production since then, and is nearly universally acclaimed as one of the finest small boats of ...

, which was designed by L. Francis Herreshoff's father,

Nathanael Greene Herreshoff Nathanael Greene Herreshoff (March 18, 1848 – June 2, 1938) was an American naval architect, mechanical engineer, and yacht design innovator. He produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup defenders between 1893 and 1920. Biography Her ...

Production

The design was commissioned by Llewllyn Howland and was intended to be built by the Concordia Company in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

out of wood, but few were completed as the company concentrated on the

Beetle Cat The Beetle Cat is an American one-design sailing dinghy that was designed by John Beetle and first built in 1921. It is a smaller adaptation of traditional Cape Cod catboat designs originally intended for fishing in shallow waters.Sherwood, Ri ...

instead. In the mid-1980s production was commenced in

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

, with 17 boats completed by 1994. Today the design is built in fiberglass by the Buzzards Bay Boat Shop of North Falmouth, Massachusetts and from wood by Artisan Boatworks in

Rockport, Maine Rockport is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. It is 35 miles (56.3 km) southeast of Augusta. The population was 3,644 at the 2020 census. Rockport is a popular tourist destination and art colony. History Rockport, or "the River ...

Design

The Buzzards Bay 14 is an open recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

with a foredeck. It has been built of wood or, more recently, of

, with wood trim. It has a

fractional rig A fractional rig on a sailing vessel consists of a foresail, such as a jib or genoa sail, that does not reach all the way to the top of the mast. The forestay is a wire that secures the mast to the front of the boat. With a fractional rig, t ...

with wooden or

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

spars. The hull has a spooned

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, an angled transom, a keel-mounted

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

controlled by a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn ...

and a fixed long

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

, with a slightly cutaway forefoot. The wooden version displaces and carries of encapsulated lead ballast, while the fiberglass version displaces . The boat has a draft of with the standard keel. For sailing the design has a boom-mounted

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its forward corner (tack) is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main ty ...

and may be equipped with a

spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a Point of sail#Reaching, reach (wind at 90° to the course) to Point of sail#Running downwind, downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinna ...

of .

Operational history

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote about the fiberglass version, "there is a wood “feel” to the boat, as all seats, seat backs and other trim are teak, and fittings are either wood or bronze. Wood spars are an option to the standard painted aluminum. Sails include the main, with one set of reef points. The jib is club-footed, and optional sails are available. There are two locking compartments, and storage under hinged seats is available as an option."

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.buzzardsbayboatshop.com/ Keelboats 1940s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by L. Francis Herreshoff Sailboat types built by Concordia Company Sailboat types built by Buzzards Bay Boat Shop Sailboat types built by Artisan Boatworks

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References

External links