BoatsBull's Eye

Bull's Eye

Fractional Sloop · Long Keel w/trans. Hung Rudder · First built 1914

A 1914 Nat Herreshoff design featuring a long keel and fractional rig that transitioned to fibreglass in 1949

Designed by Nat Herreshoff & A. Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff, built by Cape Cod Shipbuilding Co.

LOA
Beam
Draft (max)
Displacement
Ballast
Hull type
Long Keel w/trans. Hung Rudder

Is it for you?

Character

Where this design lands on the numbers a shopper trusts — read straight from her own ratios.

TrailerableBeam 1.78 m — inside the 2.55 m no-permit tow width across most of Europe, and the 2.59 m US and Canadian limit. About 612 kg of hull, so roughly 1,200 kg on a trailer: check that against your own towing rating.Ramp-launchableAbout 612 kg of hull, with a keel that raises or a draught shallow enough to float off a trailer — she can go back on the trailer at the ramp, not only into the water.Shoal draughtDraws 0.74 m, board up where she has one — creeks, sandbars and thin anchorages most keels have to stay out of.
LivelySea-kindly

Her heavy displacement on a beamy beam gives 15 — a quick, lively motion that feels every wave.

Comfort ratio 15
CoastalBluewater

2.11 — right around the 2.0 line, the edge between coastal and offshore.

Capsize screening 2.11
LightHeavy

304 — heavy for her waterline, built to carry stores and ride steadily.

Displacement / length 304
EasygoingPowered-up

20.4 — plenty of sail for her weight; lively and quick to respond.

Sail area / displacement 20.4
TenderStiff

56% of her weight is ballast — very stiff, carrying full sail in a blow.

Ballast 56%

Powered-up and quick to accelerate — this one likes to sail.

  • Narrower than ~86% of boats her size on file

Compared with 35 boats of the same type within a quarter of her length.

The record

Full specifications

The complete reference set — tap any figure to switch between metric and imperial.

Dimensions
Weights
Ballast / displacement
55.6%
Rig & sail area
Rig
Fractional Sloop
Ratios
SA / displacement
20.4
Displacement / length
304.2
Comfort ratio
14.7
Capsize screening
2.11
Hull speed
4.8 kn
Pounds / inch immersion
262
Hull
Hull type
Long keel w/trans. hung rudder
Construction
Wood
Ballast type
Lead
Production
Years built
First built 1914
Designer
Nat Herreshoff, A. Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff
Builder
Cape Cod Shipbuilding Co

Boats like this, on the water

Nobody has filmed this one — but these are close.

Comparable boats the fleet has on camera: same type, within a quarter of her length. Open the boat, or watch the video — a timestamp means she only appears in passing.

Jeanneau Cap 5405.40 mSame hull family0.6 m longerA 1986 fractional sloop with a long keel and shallow draft, designed for stable, shoal-water coastal cruising
Delivery and tour, before and after ⛵️ Jeanneau 54 sailboat3:11from Allende los Mares · Vuelta Vertical

The family

Boats like this

Nearby designs by size, type, and era — worth a look alongside her.

Herreshoff 12 1/2A legendary gaff-rigged daysailer designed by Nathanael Herreshoff, still actively raced in both wood and fiberglassGoldeneye (Herreshoff)A classic long-keeled daysailer based on 1928 Nathanael Herreshoff lines, updated with a modern masthead rigHerreshoff Manufacturing Co. FishA classic gaff-rigged one-design racer commissioned by Seawanhaka Corinthian YC and built by Herreshoff since 1916

Keep looking

Nothing filmed of this one yet

Two ways to keep looking — both search what the fleet has actually recorded.

Search the fleet for boats like thisAsk the fleet about the Bull's Eye

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