Nonoro — Herreshoff Alerion 26 Sloop

Evolution of the Alerion Design

By Dieter Loibner

The Herreshoff Alerion 26 evolved from some logical sources and one serendipitous incident. First, it possesses the genes of Capt. Nat’s personal daysailer, the Alerion III, which was built in 1912 (he had two others before). “Right around that time my grandfather started spending winters in Bermuda, so he designed a boat that he could sail there,” says Halsey Herreshoff. “My father, Sidney, had worked on Alerion III, so he asked Capt. Nat how he liked it. My grandfather expressed satisfaction with the sailing abilities, but found it a touch too tender and wet in choppy conditions.”

So Capt. Nat added some ballast to Alerion and modified the half-model to increase beam, forward volume and overall length by about 1 foot. This boat was built in 1914 (No. 732S) for Elias Cornelius Benedict, a Wall Street investor who named it Sadie. It was one of Herreshoff’s most beloved designs, with a long and successful career under various owners.

At the end of her sailing career, Sadie was donated to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, but eventually found its way back to the Herreshoff Museum where she was restored to mint condition and is taken out to sail again.

Also in 1914, Capt. Nat scaled up the modified Alerion by a third, which became the Newport 29 cruising class. That boat was 36 feet overall with 29 feet of waterline. It had a fixed keel while the original Alerion and Sadie had centerboards and external ballast. The yard initially built three (Dolphin, Mischief and Comet) in 1914 and a fourth one, Paddy (now known as Teaser), in 1926. Comet was lost in the Hurricane of 1938, but the three survivors still are cruising and participate in classic regattas. An updated version of the Newport 29 also is on offer by Herreshoff Designs and Brion Rieff Boatbuilders.

The last piece of the development puzzle for the Alerion 26 came in the person of Isaac B. Merriman Jr., a Herreshoff supporter and the last owner of Capt. Nates Alerion III, which he donated to the Mystic (CT) Seaport Museum.

“It was around 1977 when he called to say that he missed Alerion and asked if we could build him a slightly smaller version of that boat in fiberglass,” Halsey says. “It was one of my father’s last projects and we used Sadie’s lines, but adjusted the size down.” (Halsey pointed out it was “11/12ths of 3/4 of the Newport 29.”) All these iterations gave the modern-day Alerion 26 its size and mien, a touch shorter than Capt. Nat’s original, but with a fixed keel.

But Merriman’s influence also was felt way past the commissioning of this retro-style daysailer: While Merriman was taking delivery of his new Alerion in Key Largo, Fla., Halsey’s mother, Rebecca, managed to convince him to donate his estate to the fledgling Herreshoff Museum, which put it to good use by acquiring some of the old buildings that once housed the operations of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Merriman, Halsey remembers, was an emotional man. He liked the new Alerion very much, but sold it to one of his good friends, who took it from Florida to Nantucket. There the boat created a healthy interest that warranted the start of a production.

Subsequently, the boat received a taller Marconi rig — which improved light-air performance — a small auxiliary inboard engine and a special setup for the self-tacking club-footed jib, so it could be used with a roller-furling system. Unlike the modern classics that combine retro looks with contemporary design and technology (i.e. fin keels, spade rudders and carbon rigs), the Herreshoff Alerion 26 sticks to its guns, with few concessions (electric propulsion, aluminum rig and modern sail handling) to the modern era. By and large, it is still informed by Capt. Nat’s original idea of a simple boat that he could sail on a moment’s notice and all by himself.

Hull, Deck and Cockpit Construction

• Full keel with cut-away forefoot and keel-hung rudder underwater configuration.
• Vacuum-bagged, cold-molded, wood-epoxy hull construction.
• Laminated Fir frames, floors, deck beams, carlins and sheer clamp.
• Hull planking is one (1) interior layer of longitudinally oriented 3/8” tongue and groove cedar followed by three (3) layers of opposing diagonal veneers of 1/8” with an exterior layer of 1708 biaxial / matt fiberglass cloth with painted (Awlgrip) exterior surface.
• Varnished teak sheer strake, toe rails, taff rail and transom
• Marine plywood subdeck with bare teak overlay for finish decks.
• Varnished Teak cabin sides with oval-shaped fixed ports (port and starboard)
• Varnished Teak companionway hatch with teak and bronze hatch slides
• Bare Teak companionway drop boards
• Vertically oriented, tongue and groove Teak cabin bulkhead (aft) with varnished finish.
• Marine plywood cabin top overlayed with FRP cloth set in epoxy with smooth and non-skid finish coatings.
• Varnished Teak cockpit coamings
• Bare Teak cockpit seating, sail locker tops and cockpit sole
• Vertically oriented V-matched marine plywood cockpit well side walls with painted (White) finish.
• Newly (Awlgrip) painted (2026) topsides and boot stripe.
• White topsides with single light Gray boot stripe
• Unpainted bottom as boat has only been dry-sailed in fresh water environment

Deck Hardware and Features

• Bronze stem iron
• Cast bronze bow chocks port and starboard
• Custom bronze jib furling line under deck fairlead
• Single Bronze bow cleat
• Cast bronze stern cleat port and starboard
• Cast Bronze stern chocks
• Varnished Teak boarding assist posts starboard side deck and cockpit.

Interior Layout and Accommodations

• Furthest forward is chain locker accessed thru forward bulkhead.
• Next aft is V-berth platform with storage and propulsion batteries under berth.
• Furthest aft are seats (with seat cushions) port and starboard with under seat storage and additional storage behind raised panel seat backs with painted (White) finish.
• Full bulkheads, partial bulkheads and joinery fronts for V-berth platform and cabin seating are vertically oriented V-match marine with painted (White) with Satin varnish Teak Trim.
• Interior cabin sides are Satin varnished Teak with oval-shaped fixed ports
• Interior cabin and deck overheads are of V-matched marine plywood with painted (White) finish
• Hull sides are longitudinally oriented varnished tongue and groove Cedar.
• Exposed frames, deck beams, etc. are of laminated Fir with varnished finish.
• Artificial lighting provided by polished Brass LED reading lights port and starboard at aft end of V-berths and aft cabin bulkheads.
• Interior cabin sole is bare Teak.

Spars and Rigging

• Keel stepped, single spreader, fractionally-rigged sloop sail plan configuration with self-tacking, roller-furling jib and in-boom furling main sail
• Sparcraft aluminum mast and spreaders with Leisure-Furl luff track and mast head sheaves for future addition of spinnaker halyards if desired.
• Leisure-Furl aluminum furling boom with sun cover
• Bronze mast partners with Spar-Tite mast wedge
• Bronze stem iron / headstay fitting, shroud chainplates and backstay tang
• Stainless steel wire standing rigging (shrouds and stays) with stainless steel turnbuckle adjusters
• Modern low-stretch rope running rigging (sheets, halyards and topping lift)

Sail Trim and Handling Equipment

• Sail control lines (main sheet, main halyard, boom-furler, jib sheet and jib-furler) lead under deck to cockpit thru custom bronze fairleads for easy adjustment with powered winches and rope clutch / sheet stoppers.
• Jib tensioned by means of removable purchase system and secured on track with adjustable cleat on port side mast.
• Electric powered sail control winches: Anderson #28 self-tailing (2ea)
• Spinlock rope clutch / sheet stoppers (5ea)
• Harken MKIV roller-furling headstay
• Self-tacking jib track and car
• Forespar solid vang
• Harken adjustable main sheet traveler
• Harken locking winch handles (2ea)
• Anderson locking winch handles (2ea)
• Custom line bags at sail control pod

Sails and Canvas

• All sails by Hallet Canvas and Sails in 2019
• Sail usage 3-4 sailing days per year since 2019
• Hallet full-battened mainsail and bag
• Hallet roller-furling jib with sun cover and bag
• Interior seat cushions
• Custom line bags at sail control pod

Electronics and Navigational Equipment

• Ritchie bulkhead mounted helm compass
• Masthead wind indicator / Windex

Auxiliary Propulsion

• Bellmarine Drive-Master Eco-line 48-Volt, 3.0 Kw electric motor with flexible motor mounts on laminated Fir engine beds
• Bellmarine Eco-line AC34 motor controller
• Bellmarine Drive-Master battery and motor metrics display
• 1” Stainless steel propellor shaft
• Last Drop stuffing box
• Bronze fixed 2-blade propellor

Steering Equipment

• Keel hung rudder and tiller steering
• Marine plywood and FRP construction rudder with bronze rudder post and heel
• Bronze tiller head and varnished teak tiller

Electrical Equipment and Systems

• 12-Volt DC ships / lighting system
• Ships / lighting battery bank of (2ea) 12-Volt AGM marine batteries
• 48-Volt DC electric propulsion system
• Electric propulsion battery bank of (4ea) 12-Volt, 200 AM, deep-cycle Lithium Battery Power batteries
• Propulsion range 20 nautical miles
• 110-Volt, 30 Amp shore power (battery charging) system
• Hubbel 110-Volt AC shore power inlet
• 110-Volt, 30-Amp shore power cord
• Separate Perko battery selector switches (2ea) for ships / lighting and electric propulsion systems
• Electric winch circuit breakers
• LBP (lithium battery power) battery charger

Dewatering Equipment

• Thirsty-Mate hand / manual bilge pump
• Cockpit drains directed to cockpit sump for overboard discharge
• Shure-Flo electric / automatic cockpit drain sump
• Johnson electric / automatic cabin bilge pump
• Bilge pump control switches for both pump systems

Safety Equipment

• PFD’s, Type III, life vests (2ea)
• Fireboy automatic fire extinguishers (2ea)

Additional Equipment

• Ditty bag with spare lines and messengers
• Bucket
• Double-axle Load Master trailer with spare tire, ladder and spar racks