Mariette was built as "Project 698" by Nathanael Herreshoff, at his Bristol, Rhode Island yard, for prominent yachtsman Harold S. Vanderbilt.[2] She was part of a series of seven large schooners built between 1903 and 1905 by the Herreshoff shipyard. Mariette and her sister-shipVagrant are the last of this series still in service. The ships are smaller versions of the earlier Eleonora and Westward, also by Herreshoff.[3]
Design
Construction plan
Half-hull model on display at the MIT Museum
History
Skipper Jacob F. Brown sailed on Mariette until 1927.[2] She was then sold to Francis B. Crowninshield, from a family with a sailing tradition, whose first ship was Cleopatra’s Barge. In homage to this ship, they renamed Mariette to Cleopatra’s Barge II. The rigging was modified into a Bermuda rig. Writer James A. Michener was a regular guest aboard, and mentions the ship in his novel Chesapeake (1978).
In 1939, Mariette was requisitioned for service with the US Coast Guard and used for patrols.[3] Crowninshield was given his ship back in 1946, in a state of disrepair, and sold her.
In the following years, Mariette had several owners and various names. At some point, she was owned by Walter Boudreau under the name Janeen.[4] From 1979 to 1990, she belonged to Andrea Rizzoli, who had her restored at the Beconcini shipyard (Cantieri Navali Beconcini) in La Spezia, Italy. In 1982, she was used as a charter in the Caribbean.[3] In 1995, Thomas J. Perkins, from San Francisco, purchased her and restored her original rigging. The same year, Mariette collided with the 6-metre Taos Brett IV[2] during the Nioulargue race, killing one of the sailors.[3]
He sailed in various Mediterranean races until 2005. He then sold Mariette to a French skipper, base in Antibes.
Construction plan
Half-hull model on display at the MIT Museum
France
