BB-25 Tarantula

[Adam]

Does anyone know what happened to her? The registry seems rather "light" - with only the original owner named. I know that MINX and her had been sunk in a squall in 1915 during a Marion race - was she not raised like MINX?

[Steve]

It is my understanding that she disappeared from any records in the 1917 timeframe.  Although it is probable that she is no longer extant, I have not found any confirming evidence.  I'd love for some facts to turn up!

[Alan]

The HMM Chronicle #23 1994 indicates that there was a violent squall on Aug. 1, 1914 during a BB25 race at Beverly YC in Marion, MA. The BB25's in that race were Mink, Bagatelle, Vitessa, and Whitecap (currently Aria). Vitessa was half full of water, and according to the article (by  David Cheever) this incident lent support to classes with self bailing cockpits (except for the S boats that came later). Well, Tarantula was not in that squall/race because although she was contracted Jul. 16, 1914 as "stock," she was not sold to W. H. Langshaw (her first and possibly only owner) until Apr. 5, 1915. Langshaw, a self-made millionaire and President of Dartmouth Mills, was a member of Beverly YC. According to the article, mention of Tarantula in the Beverly YC records ends around 1920. It is interesting that Tarantula was the last BB25 built and the Herreshoff record shows a slightly narrower beam and deeper draft than the other four BB25's. This is certainly a reclusive Tarantula.

[Steve]

My son's parent company is the world's largest source of online publications for libraries.  He was recently able to get me access to an unbelievably rich set of content that includes complete runs of thousands of newspapers (though The Bristol Phoenix is unfortunately not one of them).   I am going to have a lot of fun with this, but for now all I have been able to turn up is a race in 1915 at BYC in which Langshaw and TARANTULA finished fourth of four, behind VITESSA, BAGATELLE, and MINK.  This was in an article by Leonard Fowle on page 12 of The Boston Globe of Aug. 15, 1915.  I'll keep digging as I am sure there is more.

My collection of BYC Yearbooks stops at 1907 and I didn't record info on the BB25s when I was collecting data on the 12s and 15s.  The HMM has a fairly good collection of these books which will at least provide a record of her participation at BYC.

[Steve]

I found another article, page 15 of the Sept. 12, 1915 Boston Globe that posts the results of 3 BB-25 races.  It is interesting that each boat was skippered by a different owner in each race.  I suppose they were trying out each other's vessel.

If you assign a point value for the finishes, TARANTULA was the slowest boat.  Of the four races, she had 3 lasts and one second.  The second-place showing came when she was skippered by the fastest skipper.

Four data points doesn't make a conclusive argument, but it appears that the beam/draft changes you note didn't do
anything to speed her up.

Adam Langerman - are you able to find anything in the NGH design notes that explains why he made the changes?

[Adam]

The race in which she and MINX where sunk is in 1915 as I stated:

"Marion, July 17 [1915] --- A tempest with heavy wind in parts of the bay seriously interfered with the fifth club race of the Beverly Yacht Club The race opened with 36 entries and the start was a favorable one. Soon, however, a severe tempest came up.
The 21-footers and Herreshoff 15-footers had passed Bird Inland while the 25-footers were approaching it. The 15-footers took advantage of the short run home and gave up the race. There were 15 in this class and they arrived safely. The 21-footers continued, while the little 12-footers were hanging on in the protection of the inner course.
The 25-footers were in the path of the worst of the squall and could not weather it. The Vitessa was dismasted while the Mink and Tarantula were capsized and sunk. The crews of the boats were in the water for nearly half an hour until the Forbes yacht and Robert Herrick's Gypsy came to the rescue, and there was much anxiety during this period. ..." (Source: Anon. "Two Yachts Go Down in a Squall. Beverly Y.C. Boats are Hard Hit. Mink and Tarantula Sink, Vitessa is Dismantled." Boston Globe, July 18, 1915, p. 10.)

[Adam]

And here is the Chronicle  - I believe the 1914 date is wrong as I stated above.

http://www.herreshoff.org/news/publications_archives_4_1_7.pdf

[Adam Langerman]

Nothing in the Design Notebook BB25 page to corroborate the changes to TARANTULA.

[Adam]

Steve - See if the New Bedford Standard times and the NB Mercury are in that database....

How sure are we that Tarantula was modified? I see the record - but we all know how inaccurate that can be - plus there is nothing special about the entry - I would think there would be something in the notes.

[Steve]

Nope ... nothing from New Bedford is in the list of publications.

[Alan]

We have at least answered Adam's initial question about whether TARANTULA was raised after sinking in the squall on July 17, 1915, as MINK was. We know that TARANTULA participated in the Langshaw Cup regatta reported in the Boston Globe on Sep. 12, 1915.
And thank you Adam for clarifying that the TARANTULA sinking did indeed occur in 1915. The story cited in HMM Chronicle is based on recollections of Bob Stone, who was there that day and whose family owned the Vitessa, and there is some corroboration in the Boston Globe of 8/16/1914 that there were squalls that affected BB-25 racing. So, these may well be two separate incidents and the 1914 date in the Chronicle is not necessarily wrong.
I agree that we don't know for sure that TARANTULA had different specs than the other BB-25's even though it is written in the record. All we need to do is find her and measure her to answer this question...

(And of course the other question is: how did a sailing yacht get a name like "Tarantula"?)

[Adam]

I agree the name has a lot to be desired (Is 'yuck' a valid discription?)....

It seems as if this was not that uncommon of a name - W.K. Vanderbilt's 153' Herreshoff steamer was the same name and NGH's Catamaran was Tarantella is a play on the name Tarantula (At least with the catamaran you can sort of get the connection....).

[HerreshoffHistory]

There is a reason why NGH named his catamaran Tarantella. If you'd
ever had seen a Herreshoff catamaran sail, you'd understand.

The boat is named after the dance Tarantella and legend tells that
someone who had supposedly been bitten by the tarantula (or the
Mediterranean black widow) spider had to dance to an upbeat tempo to
sweat the poison out. (Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantella.)

The patented Herreshoff catamaran with its independently pitching
hulls also danced over the waves. And, believe me, it does dance with
those hulls.

I can only assume that Tarantula's owner also had the fast dance in
mind when he named her. He not only was a very successful (and
controversial) entrepreneur, but a very accomplished musician.

Nice discussion on Tarantula. And yes, she was raced again after her
sinking and, no, apparently she was not raced again after 1915, at
least not together with the other BB25s.