Haven 12 ½: A Timeless Classic
Designed for one purpose, useful for all
Article by Sean Willis Grealish
Nathanael Herreshoff’s 12 ½ requires little introduction within wooden boating circles. The 1914 design came to be between his 5th and record setting 6th consecutive America’s Cup design victories and is considered some of the designer’s best work in small craft. The original design featured a low wetted surface area “wineglass” hull with a full keel and gaff rig. The large cockpit allowed for numerous willing crew with long seats nicely backed by a varnished coaming to keep the worst spray at bay. The buoyant and relatively high bow sections were perfect for rowdy day sailing in Buzzards Bay Massachusetts, a true fit for purpose kind of design for big boat sailors who wanted to play around with something sporty for the day.
Joel White’s adaptation of Herreshoff’s famous design in the 1980s sought to maintain the look of the original while reducing the draft by a foot. Joel’s Herreshoff 12 ½ Shadow, built in 1930 the same year he was born, came into his ownership at the age of 13 and never left his livery such was his admiration for the design. The resulting adaptation is a boat with identical profile above the water, overall displacement, and of course the namesake 12.5ft waterline on a hull that remains 16ft long. Remarkably the center of buoyancy and stability are the same as the original design, a feat accomplished through the use of a centerboard that goes down through a slot in the 583lb lead keel, increasing the draft from 18” up to 36” when lowered. Some modifications to measurements were made across the design, but I challenge the reader to spot them in the flesh. The design features options for gaff or marconi rigs of equal 133 sqft which is quite capable at propelling the ~1,500lb boat in the lightest of breeze.
In the words of the designer himself:
“Let the credit for the excellence of these boats go where it is due – to the Wizard of Bristol, N.G. Herreshoff” —Joel White
Wherever Lazydog is launched from boat ramps across in the Pacific Northwest, the question that most often comes from passersby is of course “Did you build her?” I’ve debated my response over the years, but a recent favorite has been, “Well, she came into my family the same year I did….” which is usually enough to generate a chuckle and gauge whether they’d like to hear the rest of the story.
Lazydog was originally built by professional cabinet makers—which explains the meticulous construction—in the small lakeside town of Kaslo, British Columbia. The hull is planked with Western-Red Cedar with White Oak frames and is glassed on the outside. While this method has its vocal naysayers, Lazydog hasn’t exhibited any signs of weakness over the last 25 years. Leaving the internal side without fiberglass allows the hull some measure of breathability, which is assisted by dry storage on a trailer throughout the year. Additionally, it is lovely to simply slide the boat into the water after a long winter and sail off the dock with the knowledge that a crewmember will not spend the day on bucket duty as the hull expands adjusting to its new aquatic environment. The spars are solid Douglas Fir, and with the proper pre-planning the mast can be stepped solo. As a 25-year old man I can manage it with relative ease. Lazydog features the simpler, and faster Marconi rig layout with a traditionally styled beige jib and main. A Bullseye (the fiberglass version of Herreshoff’s original 12 ½) spinnaker was recently added to improve downwind performance and give crew something to do since the running rigging is so efficiently designed for singlehanding that crew are often blissfully uninvolved in the actual sailing of the boat.
Presumably named after a friendly canine with a penchant for napping amongst the wood shavings, Lazydog rolled out of the Kaslo BC shop after seven years of construction. For her precise and passionate builders though, it turned out the construction journey was a greater reward than frequent sailing. Lazydog was sold to my father in 1999 and brought south to her new life sailing the lakes, rivers, bays and straits of Oregon and Washington. Since then she has been proudly family maintained and looks the same today as when she rolled out of the boatshed thanks to my father’s tireless efforts over the years.
A SIMPLE JOY TO SAIL
Given that Lazydog’s lifespan within the family has been in lockstep with my own, I’ve had the pleasure of being several of the demographics the Haven 12 ½ caters to so nicely. The large cockpit is a relatively secure space compared to most 16-foot boats, giving a certain peace of mind to my parents when my sister and I were aboard. Although I remember fearing the water rushing past the coaming as a child, the dependable righting moment of such a heavy keel kept my fears from becoming a capsized reality. The shallower draft of the Haven compared to its Herreshoff parent allows for the bow to be nosed up onto beaches, perfect for the imaginative pirate raids of my youth. The running rigging is relatively simple, offering few opportunities for getting caught up in high load situations and features many of the classic knots drilled into sailor children’s heads in lieu of more scholarly duties after school. Finally, the self-tacking jib and simple controls mean that Lazydog can be sailed by a single competent skipper who is even left with time to handle young charges onboard.
But make no mistake, this boat sails. The tall Marconi rig, shapely hull and 3-foot centerboard draft combine to create a wooden boat that is lethal compared its generational peers. In a class of her own when sailing upwind, it’s not uncommon for Lazydog to be pointing higher and moving faster than all the small wooden vessels around her, while her crew stays drier to boot. Downwind and reaching performance is also exemplary for such a short waterline, and she maintains her stability well even when running with her spinnaker or while wing-on-wing dead downwind at 6-plus knots while the crew sit back and enjoys the stable ride. The large rudder offers plenty of helm, even when broad reaching in a sea state big enough to overtop the windward coaming, and in light air the responsive hull can be tacked by simply moving the crew's weight to the leeward side as the tiller is pressed over.
If I can see the dappling of light breeze on the water, I know Lazydog will be able to pick it up and ghost along. Once up to speed the momentum bestowed by higher displacement coasts her from one wind patch to another at speeds that are slightly slower but certainly more peaceful than rowing. If the need arises for a workout, Lazydog has an arsenal of watery blades to choose from. The original cockpit-length oars are kept aboard since they are quick to deploy from beneath the seats and useful maneuvering up to docks with a lowered mainsail cluttering the cockpit. They are, however, too short for any real rowing thanks to the wide beam. To fix this issue I cannibalized a pair of old carbon fiber racing oars such that they now come apart in the center to fit their 11-foot lengths within the cockpit. With an aft seat removed and placed crosswise like a thwart across the forward seats, these longer oars row Lazydog at a consistent 2 knots without much strain. Nevertheless, she is a remarkably capable light wind vessel, and I rarely find myself deploying the carbon monsters anyhow.
While light winds showcase the slipperiness of the timeless low wetted-surface-area hull, it is out in heavy air that the Haven 12 ½ really comes into its own. On multiple occasions I’ve found myself beating upwind in 20 knots without a reef, at both speeds and angles matching 30-plus-foot vessels around Lazydog. Buoyant bow sections easily keep her nose on top of the waves and the coaming does an admirable job protecting the crew when compared with other 16-foot designs. In yet another wonderful design feature, the entire hull forward of the mast is a watertight compartment, offering peace of mind regarding flotation when the chips are down. The 35% ballast ratio on such a dainty platform does wonders for heavy weather performance and the small self-tacking jib allows for a high pointing angle and good forward movement to be maintained while gusts are bled out of the main. Once the gunnel is near the water the hull is remarkably difficult to budge any further, a feat that can only be achieved through egregious lack of awareness on the mainsheet or helm. Even then, a small amount of water might be shipped over the coaming but the situation is easily salvaged by dumping the main. Additionally, the large rudder, transom-hung and extending down to the keel base, offers continued rapid maneuverability even in heavy breeze and large seas. Regardless of conditions I have never been unable to quickly change course when the need arose. This comes in handy broad reaching in short swell patterns tall enough to overcome the aft coaming or transom if the helmsman gets complacent. In these seas Lazydog can be steered from set to set with the responsiveness of a dinghy a quarter her weight without fear of getting skunked in the trough due to a lack of speed. While the traditional hull form won’t get up on a plane, some decent surfing can be had when a tall set pushes boat speed to 8 knots or more. I’ve spent thousands of days racing small boats in such conditions and have never been drier or done less constant work than onboard Lazydog when conditions get spicy.
Thanks to her dependable sailing performance in light airs and seaworthiness when the forecast must be taken under strong advisory, Lazydog is a wonderful cruising dinghy for my local waters in Washington state’s Salish Sea. The cockpit floor comfortably sleeps my 6’2” frame in spite of the centerboard trunk and I can easily sit up on the floorboards when under a tarp hung over the boom. There is no lack of stowage capacity thanks to the aft locker and deep cockpit and all 8 long items (a boom crutch, 6 oars/oar sections and a spinnaker pole) tucked nicely under the seats. While the full keel doesn’t allow the boat to be sailed straight onto the beach, here on the Salish Sea’s sloped beaches once Lazydog is aground I am able to step off the bow into only a foot of water. Despite the weight of the keel she can also be easily pushed off right after grounding on our PNW pebble beaches and can be walked around in the shallows by one person to optimize beach positioning. I have also never been concerned about beaching her on an ebb tide and refloating on the next flood.
Lastly, as many others have found before me, there is no better way to be offered good food and conversation by larger cruising vessels than to singlehand a wooden boat into a cove, set an anchor, drop and stow the sails and step off onto the beach in under five minutes.
The Haven 12 ½ serves as a reminder of just how capable a wooden boat can remain in this modern era of yacht design. Her lines remained undistracted by the need for an enclosed cabin with sitting headroom, flat-bottomed beaching, lightweight materials, or rowing performance. Herreshoff was a sailor first and foremost, and for my money he created a design optimized to do just that, in both whisper and whitecap breezes. •SCA•
A beautifully written article about a most admirable boat. I've admired yours on several occasions while bopping around the Salish Sea. I hope you are able to keep her forever.
Back in the 80's, while cruising the East coast (Fl to Maine and back) in my English 23-footer, I felt absolute privilege to be offered to take out a Herreshoff 12-1/2-footer out of Newport. Its legend and exceptional sailing manners remains clear to this day.