33' Herreshoff Catamaran (1933) - AMARYLLIS II

AMARYLLIS II (HMCo. #1232) was built in 1933 at HMCo. for K.T. Keller of Chrysler. It is a replica of a catamaran that Captain Nat designed and built in 1876. In June of 1876, the local paper reported the following: ” ‘Amryllis’ [sic] is the name of the strange little craft that has lately attracted so much curiosity in our bay, both by her great speed and unique appearance. She is a double boat, having one placed thirteen feet from the other, both being twenty-five feet long and twenty inches wide, drawing twenty inches of water. A platform supported between the two boats is capable of accommodating eight or ten persons. The chief novelty consists in a certain device giving freedom of motion to each boat, great speed, and the lively sensation of an ordinary yacht without her careening propensity. She is a perfect lifeboat and her speed rivals the fleetest sailing vessels in going to windward, and is much greater with a beam wind. She was built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, and in a few days will leave here for New York, to enter the centennial regatta there, in command of her inventor and owner, Mr. N. G. Herreshoff, which port under favorable circumstances he thinks he can reach within daylight.” The original AMARYLLIS did indeed prove a speedy vessel, and her inevitable win at that regatta was famously contested. AMARYLLIS II was built by HMCo. workmen nearly 60 years later aided somewhat by N.G.H.’s memories, though is diaries suggest he found the final AMARYLLIS II to be overly heavy for his liking. This vessel spent many years on display at the Henry Ford Museum before returning to HMM for permanent display. Today, it can be seen hanging overhead in the Hall of Boats in Bristol. Of particular interest to viewers may be the ball-joint construction connecting all structural members, the steering mechanism by which both rudders are controlled, and the strong resemblance to iceboats of the period.