Spars
spars
herreshoff NY40 marilee
Along with doing a complete restoration of the NY40, French & Web built MARILEE’s boom, top gaff and 2 separate rigs. Combing through the abundant records and plans of NG Herreshoff at the Hart Nautical collection at MIT, the original Herreshoff drawing of MARILEE’s Marconi rig was found. Penned by Captain Nat himself, this sparked the unique idea of building two separate rigs for MARILEE.
The design and engineering that was done to accommodate the different loads these rigs would place on MARILEE’s hull. Reinforcement of the hull structure was ingeniously designed and engineered to accommodate the very different loads these rigs would place on the deck and hull.
HErreshoff NY50 spartan
Teaming up with MP&G, French & Webb built over 100 blocks and a 90 ft mast for one of the largest gaff-rigged Herreshoff yachts, SPARTAN. One of the unique features of this mast is the beautifully sculpted saddles that accepted all the wires for the standing rigging. The 90-foot main mast was made as an eight stave construction and all the blocks were machined out of teak with bronze fittings.
Noelani/Naema
New spars for this Alfred Mylne inspired 135 ft classic schooner were built of hollow eight stave construction. French & Webb built these 100 ft spars, along with all the classic bronze hardware. The spars used an impressive five thousand board feet of wood, and were fabricated in record time for the client.
Herreshoff buzzardS bay 30s
Constructing the spars for the “triplets”, as they were affectionately called during the restoration, meant French & Webb had a production assembly similar to what the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol would have had originally in the early 1900s. Built as hollow spars of Sitka spruce, with newly forged and cast bronze hardware, all three were then fitted with wire leather rope and canvas from Nat Wilson Sailmakers. French & Webb used the original Herreshoff plans from the Hart Nautical Collection of MIT which helped with the historical accuracy and look of the rigs.