Amaryllis, a catamaran built by Herreshoff, is being taken down from the rafters to be cleaned and re-hung for better viewing pleasure. Upon bringing it down for inspection, we were surprised to see a speedometer and underwater speed measurement device in the hull!
Here’s an old photo of the Amaryllis, for perspective.
Mike and Sandy took a trip to the Museum’s sail loft and curatorial space to check out special thimble, span hook, and hank designs. Span hooks were used for gaff and boom spans, and we’ve got 65 hanks to make along with 75 rings. The hanks were not clipped to the forestay and topmast stay, but instead to rings on these wires:
This past week also brought news that German yachting magazine Goose had published a three-page article on our model. We’ve also received inquiries from other yachting and travel magazines, so our RELIANCE seems to be showing well!
There is a lot of effort going on behind the scenes to make sure our RELIANCE is accurate. Boats, especially race boats, change during the season. We chose late August as our configuration date, when RELIANCE was measured and raced for the Cup, since this timeframe is when we had the best pictures. Ours has been a constant battle for configuration management.
For example, NGH’s approved drawing 86-126 (from MIT Hart Collection) shows the original placement of three topmast backstay staples and a trysail staple as shown in picture #1 and as placed on our model as in picture #2. Our visit to the NYYC in NYC last Spring to see their model showed a discrepancy which was confirmed in picture #3 as blown up in #4.
Our metal casting expert, Mike Mirman, then used this picture to created a new fitting, shown in #5.
Hi everyone,
We’re working on an event that we’re very excited about. On Saturday, November 16th the Museum is having its biannual FREE Day from 10am to 5pm. FREE Day has become one of my favorite events to plan. We will welcome many visitors to the Museum for activities, tours, hot cider, and children’s activities. Over the years the event has grown and it has been a pleasure to welcome both our regular community as well as people who have never been to the Museum before. The Day is a celebration of what we do – sharing our history, exhibits and special projects with the community.
On the 16th – at 1 pm and 3 pm – Project Manager, Sandy Lee will be leading special guided tours of The RELIANCE Project. Sandy is a fascinating man and the perfect person to be leading our team of volunteers. The project is hugely important to the Museum and it is ever evolving, so, if you have been before you should come back and if you’ve never been, here is your chance.
Come visit us and give extra thanks to Sandy and his volunteers while you’re here. They are an amazing team and we are all energized by the work they put in week after week.
See you on the 16th!
-Maggie
See a full schedule of events here
The RELIANCE Project 