F.B.Barden "FI 23" history

[John Hutchison]

Gentlemen,
I'm still attempting to put together the history of CRUSADER #1225 which. according to the HMC build register, was originally contracted for "Coakley" late in 1932 but was later sold to "Barden" in 1938. Can anyone shed any light on either of these owners.  I've recently found that the Barden Boat Yard was est. in 1927 by F.B.Barden. Would Barden have just brokered CRUSADER to another party in 1938?  What was this boat doing between her birth and 1938?
Any help would be appreciated.
John

[Steve]

John:  F.B Barden, among other things, was a dealer based out of Marion, MA.  If you look through the builder's record, you will find that they did a lot of business selling new 12's.  I know they also had a rental fleet of 12s for awhile.  They are still in business today, but as a marina rather than a dealer.  I once tried to get records from them, but didn't get very far.  I would be willing to wager that they just acted as a broker for your boat in 1938.

[Adam]

This was a very common practice back then. I once did some research on a company out of New Bedford that did the same in that time frame - Furnans. They used to make (or I should say contract out) a near copy of an ovsized 12 (like LFH's). There is one in Scituate that makes you do a double take of a 12...

[HerreshoffHistory]

From the late 1920s until the close of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company Frederick B. Barden was by far its most important customer for 12 1/2 footers. His first order came in 1926, a year before Barden's Boatyard was officially established. From then until 1943 he would order or broker a total of 74 12 1/2 footers (plus #1225s Crusader in 1938 and one Marlin Cruiser in 1939), usually delivering them by truck from Bristol. During the same time span the HMCo built 280 12 1/2 footers. Barden thus took up more than a quarter of the company's production of 12 1/2 footers during its final years.

[HerreshoffHistory]

John Hutchison asks what #1225s Crusader has been doing between her birth in 1932 and her sale through Barden to Coakley in 1938. I don't know, but would speculate that she spent all that time at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, possibly as a testing platform. Remember that #1204s Silverheels, the Fishers Island 23 Prototype, was also used as a testing platform from 1931 when she was built until her sale in 1938. Crusader was unique because she was a shallow draft Fishers Island 23 and thus also a prototype. These were the slow- to non-selling years of the Great Depression and both Crusader and Silverheels probably spent them in Bristol.

[John Hutchison]

Thanks HH,
One correction...according to the HMC built register, #1225 was built for Coakley in 1932 but for some reason delivery was apparently not made.  As you suggest, Crusader may have lingered at HMC until Barden took her in 1938. I'm trying to get records from Barden Boat Yard.
Its interesting that Crusader also is the only FI23 with water-tight compartments for and aft. On Nov.2, 1932, Sidney conducted a flotation test, flooding the boat and measuring her trim. Sid noted the test on the 1225 construction plan. Differing from other FI23s, she also has genoa sheet winches on pedestals located aft of the cockpit, inboard of the coaming tails.
The construction plan also notes that in May 1939, HMC completed an order to install a 4Cyl Redwing "Meteor" engine.  The engine was installed in a mahogany box in the cockpit.  As I received the boat, the engine was missing and the remaining box was quite crude in construction.  If HMC performed this work their quality control was lacking at the time. I'm installing a 48V electric drive which fits nicely under the cockpit sole, using the original shaftlog, shaft and strut.
Thanks again for the helpful response.
John
PS: Does anyone know who "Coakley" might be?