Steve Paskey
06-07-2003, 04:46 PM
Mystic Seaport has the papers of L. Francis Herreshoff; parts of the collection, including a great deal of correspondence, have been digitized and are now available on-line.
While rummaging through the files this afternoon, I found a delightful exchange of letters between LFH and a very young Phil Bolger.
In a 1946 letter, written at Bowdoin College when he was just 18, Bolger declares that he hopes to be "heard from" when he gets out of the army in 18 months. With regard to genoa jibs, the young upstart Bolger proceeds to tell LFH: "I can't help thinking you're on thin ice theoretically. Negative pressure, bah! Is no such beast."
In a 1947 letter from Camp Drake in Tokyo, Private First Class Bolger asks LFH whether he thinks it is possible to "break into the field" without an apprenticeship as a draftsman, "which appears to me to kill originality." LFH replies that Bolger has the necessary qualifications, but suggests that he might want to wait a few years, as few boats are being built and most designers have little work.
Other topics discussed in the letters include the seaworthiness of Slocum's SPRAY, double-enders, the area curve of a powerboat, and the fact that the shape of a boat's sheer and underwater profile appear to be different if the bow is drawn to the left rather than to the right.
Bolger's 1946 letter (http://www.mystic.org/library/Manuscripts/CPageImage.cfm?PageNum=55&bibid=35258&Box=7&Folder=2)
Herreshoff's Reply (http://www.mystic.org/library/Manuscripts/CPageImage.cfm?PageNum=4&BibId=35258&Box=2&Folder=10)
Bolger's 1947 Letter (http://www.mystic.org/library/Manuscripts/CPageImage.cfm?PageNum=57&bibid=35258&Box=7&Folder=2)
Herreshoff's Reply (http://www.mystic.org/library/Manuscripts/CPageImage.cfm?PageNum=49&bibid=35258&Box=3&Folder=2)
[ 06-07-2003, 09:08 PM: Message edited by: Steve Paskey ]
While rummaging through the files this afternoon, I found a delightful exchange of letters between LFH and a very young Phil Bolger.
In a 1946 letter, written at Bowdoin College when he was just 18, Bolger declares that he hopes to be "heard from" when he gets out of the army in 18 months. With regard to genoa jibs, the young upstart Bolger proceeds to tell LFH: "I can't help thinking you're on thin ice theoretically. Negative pressure, bah! Is no such beast."
In a 1947 letter from Camp Drake in Tokyo, Private First Class Bolger asks LFH whether he thinks it is possible to "break into the field" without an apprenticeship as a draftsman, "which appears to me to kill originality." LFH replies that Bolger has the necessary qualifications, but suggests that he might want to wait a few years, as few boats are being built and most designers have little work.
Other topics discussed in the letters include the seaworthiness of Slocum's SPRAY, double-enders, the area curve of a powerboat, and the fact that the shape of a boat's sheer and underwater profile appear to be different if the bow is drawn to the left rather than to the right.
Bolger's 1946 letter (http://www.mystic.org/library/Manuscripts/CPageImage.cfm?PageNum=55&bibid=35258&Box=7&Folder=2)
Herreshoff's Reply (http://www.mystic.org/library/Manuscripts/CPageImage.cfm?PageNum=4&BibId=35258&Box=2&Folder=10)
Bolger's 1947 Letter (http://www.mystic.org/library/Manuscripts/CPageImage.cfm?PageNum=57&bibid=35258&Box=7&Folder=2)
Herreshoff's Reply (http://www.mystic.org/library/Manuscripts/CPageImage.cfm?PageNum=49&bibid=35258&Box=3&Folder=2)
[ 06-07-2003, 09:08 PM: Message edited by: Steve Paskey ]