Lewis Francis Herreshoff | |
---|---|
Born |
Bristol, Rhode Island |
November 11, 1890
Died | December 1, 1972 | (aged 82)
Occupation | Ship Designer |
Parent(s) | Nathanael Greene Herreshoff |
L. (Lewis) Francis Herreshoff (November 11, 1890 – December 1972), was a boat designer, naval architect, editor and author of books and magazine articles. Early in his career he worked for the Herreshoff Manufacturing and for naval architect Starling Burgess.
He was born on November 11, 1890 in Bristol, Rhode Island to Clara Anna DeWolf and Nathanael Greene Herreshoff. In 1926 he became self-employed, designing both racing and cruising sailing yachts, plus many canoes, kayaks and other small craft. He died in December 1972.
Herreshoff's designs included:
A series of graceful clipper-bowed ketches: Ticonderoga 72 ft, Tioga/Bounty 57 ft, Mobjack 45 Ft and Nereia 36
A shoal-draft leeboarder: Meadowlark
Arguably the original "passagemaker"; the inspiration for Beebe's book, and an indirect inspiration for Perry's "container boat": Marco Polo.
His answer to Hanna's ideas about the ideal homebuild: H-28
His books include The Common Sense of Yacht Design, The Compleat Cruiser, Capt. Nat Herreshoff: The Wizard of Bristol, The Writings of L. Francis Herreshoff, Sensible Cruising Designs and An L. Francis Herreshoff Reader. He published numerous magazine articles, notably the 'How To Build' series in the magazine The Rudder. Herreshoff's success as an author is especially impressive in one sense; his dyslexia had led his father to shunt him into agricultural school.