Could really use some help in sorting out 4-"Q" class yachts

[michaelobney]

I'm working on a pen & ink sketch of some Q-boats but not entirely sure to their identities. The sail numbers are as follows: Q5, Q7, Q10, and Q16. I think Q5 is Cotton Blossom II, Q7 is Grayling, Q10 is Nor'Easter, but not entirely sure on those. Q16 I'm not sure if it's Falcon or Hayday or are those two boats actually one in the same?

Help is greatly appreciated.

[Adam]

Unlike today sail numbers in those days were usually assigned at the Yacht Club level or local salling association level - and are notoriously difficult to pin down which boat was which -  so that a particular boat may have one sail number while saling out of one club and a different number if the boat moved to a different area. Additionally boats would sometimes share sails... usually you have to know who took the photo and where the photo was taken - then you can usually narrow down the timeframe - and then the location....Can you post the picture you are sketching from?

[Charles Barclay]

Today, the Q's like their larger Universal rule J's, would have the numbers assigned by a class association if it existed.  With several designers of Q's the next sail # assignment required cooperation and yet was subject to change down the road.  So an accurate number might be unique to a singular point in time.  As vessels moved out across the country the only reason to assume the sail number remained the same was habit.  The smaller and much more plentiful S's had sail numbers assigned by regions ie. S 8 in Hawaii is not S 8 on Narragansett Bay.  Yet, it is not unheard of prior to the national body assigning sail numbers for vessels to switch numbers.  Even today, I sail a boat with three mains and three different numbers, I always look up to verify when I check in. 

Herreshoff Q-Grayling currently carries Q-7--not likely a class sequential assignment since the vessel was launched in 1923.  See here from mid August:  http://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=rWgcEmMfboQ&u=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DV3C-n1sp8o4%26feature%3Dem-upload_owner

Try here for some Q numbers:  http://www.toandos.com/DCole1.html   It does look like Cotton Blossom II is Q 5. 

You may not like what you find with some questions popping up with different names associated with the same number.  Or several boats of the same name with different numbers over time.  For example, which of the several Nor'easter's are you looking at?

You might also try this registry thread:  http://www.herreshoffregistry.org/forum/index.php?topic=116.0

The wikipedia citation on the Universal Rule will be of some help in general understanding but lacks the information you seek as well as contains several errors of fact. 

No one said it would be easy.  Good luck. 

[michaelobney]

Since my posting I have been able to pin down Q5 is Cotton Blossom II and Q10 is Nor'Easter.

The sail number of Q7 on Grayling I obtained from their Facebook page. Falcon I have seen through imagery on Marblehead Studios with the Q7 sail number and black hull and in Photoboat Photography have seen images of Falcon with a sail number of Q16 and white hull. I think that Falcon (Q16) at some point in time was named Hayday and has since been renamed back to the original name Falcon.

Thank you all for your assistance.