Wagon Box

WAGON BOX

L. Francis Herreshoff Design No. 99 Cruising Ketch

SPECIFICATIONS

Designer: L. Francis Herreshoff, Design No. 99

Hull builder: Peter LeBourdais, Story Shipyard, Essex, Massachusetts

Launched: June 1978, Bailey Island, Maine

Length overall: 30′ 3″

Waterline length: 25′ 11″

Beam: 8′ 10″

Draft: 4′ 8″

Displacement: Approximately 13,000 lb

Rig: Ketch; Sitka spruce masts and booms

Construction: Carvel pine planking on steam-bent white oak frames; bronze fastened

Engine: Yanmar 3YM30 diesel

Steering: Tiller

WAGON BOX has the lovely sheer, low cabin trunk, and distinctive double-ended hull that make L. Francis Herreshoff’s small cruising boats so appealing. Designed in 1956 and launched at Bailey Island, Maine, in June 1978, she combines a manageable ketch rig with the useful accommodations and auxiliary power of a proper little cruising yacht. Her present owner helped bring her into being and has been her sole owner since 1989—a particularly nice continuity in a boat approaching fifty years afloat.

At a little over thirty feet, WAGON BOX falls comfortably between a large daysailer and a cruising boat. Her full keel, modest draft, and divided sail plan suit the pleasures of coastal cruising: an afternoon’s sail, a weekend among the islands, or a longer trip with time to stop along the way. Her low freeboard puts the sailor close to the water, and the long sweep of her sheer gives her a grace that is difficult to achieve in a boat of this size.

The original drawings were prepared for William A. Shirley and are preserved in the L. Francis Herreshoff collection at Mystic Seaport. The design is also illustrated and discussed in Sensible Cruising Designs. Among the original requirements was room to carry a dinghy on deck.

WAGON BOX’s hull was built at the Story boatyard in Essex, Massachusetts, decked at a small yard near Herreshoff’s Castle in Marblehead, and then completed and outfitted in Mere Point, Maine.

WAGON BOX is carvel planked in pine over steam-bent white oak frames, with bronze fastenings. She received a substantial rebuild and refit documented by marine surveyor Kent Thurston in April 2008 at Rackliffe’s Boat Shop in Northport, Maine. The entire hull was refastened, with plank and frame repairs made as required. The survey described the work as being to a very high standard.

The cockpit was completely rebuilt with port and starboard seats and a bridge deck, replacing the earlier flush arrangement. The original canvas deck covering was replaced with Dynel and epoxy. Chainplates were backed, hatches renewed, and substantial interior joinery replaced.

The interior includes a double V-berth forward and a single berth to starboard in the main cabin. The galley is to port at the foot of the companionway, with a gimballed Force 10 two-burner propane stove and oven, an icebox, and a stainless steel sink. A varnished pine sole, opening ports, and overhead hatches complete the arrangement.

Auxiliary power is supplied by a Yanmar 3YM30 diesel driving a three-bladed Max-Prop. Other equipment includes renewed bronze through-hulls and electric and manual bilge pumps. Sails include a mainsail, mizzen, genoa, and working jib. Electronics include a radar/chartplotter, VHF, and depth sounder.

WAGON BOX offers the appeal of a small Herreshoff cruising ketch with an ownership history reaching back to her construction. For someone drawn to wooden boats of modest size and good proportions, she is well worth a look. The owner’s history and 2008 survey are available. Please call or email Artisan Boatworks for further information and arrangements to view her.