Herreshoff Meadowlark Sailboats for Sale

First penned in 1948 by L. Francis Herreshoff as Design Number 88, the Meadowlark represents a masterclass in thinwater cruising philosophy. Conceived as an antidote to the deepdraft, heavydisplacement cruisers of the postwar era, this radical, modified sharpie was designed specifically to navigate the sprawling shoals of the Florida Keys, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Bahamas. Herreshoff’s sensible cruising ethos—which he championed through a series of articles in the midcentury sailing press and later compiled in his seminal book, Sensible Cruising Designs—is physically manifested in the Meadowlark. By merging the flatbottomed utility of a New England sharpie with the balanced handling of a leeboard ketch rig, Herreshoff created a vessel that could glide over sandbars and into tidal creeks where traditional cruising yachts of the era would inevitably ground.