Design and Heritage
Joel White kept the profile, sheer, stem, and stern lines of the Herreshoff original, along with its rig, and from the outset hoped the Haven would resemble those early boats. To admit a centerboard he reduced the fixed draft from 2 feet 6 inches down to 1 foot 6 inches, then widened the hull by 3 inches amidships and 1½ inches at the stern to preserve the stability the original carried. He also held the longitudinal center of buoyancy unchanged so the new boat would float and conduct herself exactly as the Herreshoff design. The result, in the words of one Small Boats assessment, is a design whose sailing ability is virtually identical to her predecessor, and White himself wrote that the performance of the two classes seems exactly the same both off the wind and to windward.
Construction
The boat was drawn for traditional plank-on-frame work using the Herreshoff method of framed molding, which specifies a timber mold for each of 22 hull frames. Builders follow carvel planking over steam-bent frames, and because the plans carry full-sized patterns for all 22 construction molds, lofting is optional. The plans themselves run to eight sheets plus a page of designer notes and are rated at an Advanced skill level; full-size patterns cover the molds and critical parts, and owners report the drawings can readily be adapted to other hull-building approaches such as cold-molding. Eric Dow, who has built Havens in Brooklin for over 30 years and specializes in them, completed his first in 1987 and built his first ten or eleven plank-on-frame before turning out two or three annually; he notes a Haven can be finished in fewer than 800 hours from setup to painting, and he recommends the traditional method for the amateur since that is what the plans call for. The design also anchors the Small Boats Course at The Landing School in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Rig and Handling
The Haven carries the Herreshoff rig—available in either gaff or Marconi form, each giving 133 square feet of sail—and a lead ballast keel brings total weight to roughly 1,500 lbs. With the board up she draws only 18 inches and with it down 3 feet 4 inches, a range that lets her explore thin water yet stand up when sailing. She is big enough to sail comfortably with four people yet easily singlehanded, and at WoodenBoat School a mixed fleet of Havens and Herreshoffs is daysailed and often raced together. Owners describe her as a dream to sail even for a novice.
Accommodations and Use
There is no cabin in the daysailer sense; the open cockpit is sized for four to sail in reasonable comfort, and the boat's reputation has grown as a versatile beauty suited to racing, family sailing, and coastal exploring. Her modest beam of 6 feet 1 inch and displacement of 1,409 lbs keep handling within reach of one person while still welcoming a small crew.
Known Issues
The only documented shortcoming in the supplied plans is the tiller pattern, which owners flag as flawed.
The Verdict
The Haven 12 1/2 succeeds as a faithful, centerboard-equipped reinterpretation of a beloved Herreshoff daysailer, trading a little fixed draft for vastly expanded gunkholing range without sacrificing the way the original sailed. She rewards the traditional builder yet tolerates modern methods, and she remains a friendly, stable small-boat platform decades after Joel White drew her.
Pros
- Centerboard cuts draft to 18 inches yet keeps 3'4" bite when lowered
- Sail performance matches the Herreshoff 12 1/2 per designer and reviewer
- Full-size mold patterns make plank-on-frame build approachable for advanced amateurs
- Comfortable for four, trivially singlehanded
Cons
- Plans rated Advanced; tiller pattern is flawed
- No enclosed accommodation—pure daysailer
