The New Haven Sharpie 



The sharpie was so distinctive in form, proportion, 

 and appearance that her movements from area to area 

 can be traced with confidence. This boat type was 

 particularly well suited to oyster fishing, and during 

 the last four decades of the 19th century its use spread 

 along the Atlantic coast of North America as new 

 oyster fisheries and markets opened. The refinements 

 that distinguished the sharpie from other flat-bottomed 

 skiffs first appeared in some boats that were built at 

 New Haven, Connecticut, in the late 1840's. These 

 craft were built to be used in the then-important New 

 Haven oyster fishery that was carried on, for the most 

 part, by tonging in shallow water. 



The claims for the "invention" of a boat type are 

 usually without the support of contemporary testi- 

 mony. In the case of the New Haven sharpie two 

 claims were made, both of which appeared in the 

 sporting magazine Forest and Stream. The first of these 

 claims, undated, attributed the invention of the New 

 Haven sharpie to a boat carpenter named Taylor, a 

 native of Vermont.' In the January 30, 1879, issue 

 of Forest and Stream there appeared a letter from Mr. 

 M. Goodsell stating that the boat built by Taylor, 

 which was named Trotter, was not the first sharpie.' 

 Mr. Goodsell claimed that he and his brother had built 

 the first New Haven sharpie in 1848 and that, because 

 of her speed, she had been named Telegraph. The 

 Goodsell claim was never contested in Forest and 

 Stream, and it is reasonable to suppose, in the circum- 

 stances, that had there been any question concerning 

 the authenticity of this claim it would have been 

 challenged. 



No contemporary description of these early New 

 Haven sharpies seems to be available. However, 

 judging by records made in the 1870's, we may assume 

 that the first boats of this type were long, rather 

 narrow, open, flat-bottomed skiffs with a square stern 

 and a centerboard; they were rigged with two masts 

 and two leg-of-mutton sails. Until the appearance of 

 the early sharpies, dugout canoes built of a single 

 white pine log had been used at New Haven for 



tongmg. The pine logs used for these canoes came 

 mostly from inland Connecticut, but they were ob- 

 tainable also in northern New England and New 

 York. The canoes ranged from 28 to 35 feet in length, 

 15 to 20 inches in depth, and 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches 

 in beam. They were built to float on about 3 or 4 

 inches of water. The bottoms of these canoes were 

 about 3 inches thick, giving a low center of gravity 

 and the power to carry sail in a breeze. The canoes 

 were rigged with one or two pole masts with leg- 

 of-mutton sails stepped in thwarts. A single leeboard 

 was fitted and secured to the hull with a short piece 

 of line made fast to the centerline of the boat. With 

 this arrangement the leeboard could be raised and 

 lowered and also shifted to the lee side on each tack. 

 This took the strain off the sides of the canoe that 

 would have been created by the usual leeboard fitting.' 

 Construction of such canoes ceased in the 1870's, but 

 some remained in use into the present century. 



The first New Haven sharpies were 28 to 30 feet 

 long — about the same length as most of the log canoes. 

 Although the early sharpie probably resembled the 

 flatiron skiff in her hull shape, she was primarily a 

 sailing boat rather than a rowing or combination 

 rowing-sailing craft. The New Haven sharpie's de- 

 velopment* was rapid, and by 1880 her ultimate form 

 had been taken as to shape of hull, rig, construction 

 fittings, and size. Some changes were made after- 

 wards, but they were in minor details, such as finish 

 and small fittings. 



The New Haven sharpie was built in two sizes for 

 the oyster fishery. One carried 75 to 100 bushels of 

 oysters and was 26 to 28 feet in length; the other 

 carried 150 to 175 bushels and was 35 to 36 feet in 

 length. The smaller sharpie was usually rigged with 

 a single mast and sail, though some small boats were 

 fitted for two sails. The larger boat was always 

 fitted to carry two masts, but by shifting the foremast 

 to a second step more nearly amidships she could be 

 worked with one mast and sail. The New Haven 

 sharpie retained its original proportions. It was long, 

 narrow, and low in freeboard and was fitted with a 

 centerboard. In its development it became half- 

 decked. There was enough fore-and-aft camber in 

 the flat bottom so that, if the boat was not carrying 



1 Forest and Stream, Januaiy 23, 1879, vol. 11, no. 25, p. 504. 



2 Forest and Stream, January 30, 1879, vol. 11, no. 26, p. 500. 



3 Henry Hall, Special Agent, 10th U.S. Census, Report on the 

 Shipbuilding Industry of the United States, Washington, 1880-1885, 

 pp. 29-32. 



•• Howard I. Chapelle, American Small Sailing Craft, New York, 

 1951, pp. 100-133, figs. 38-48. 



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BULLETIN 228: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



