Contributions From
The Museum Of History And Technology:
Paper 25

The Migrations Of
An American Boat Type

Howard I. Chapelle

THE MIGRATIONS OF
AN AMERICAN
BOAT TYPE

by Howard I. Chapelle

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[Pg 135]

The New Haven sharpie, a flat-bottomed sailing skiff, was
originally developed for oyster fishing, about the middle of the
last century.
Very economical to build, easy to handle, maneuverable, fast and
seaworthy, the type was soon adapted for fishing along the eastern
and southeastern coasts of the United States and in other areas.
Later, because of its speed, the sharpie became popular for racing
and yachting.
This study of the sharpie type—its origin, development and
spread—and the plans and descriptions of various regional types
here presented, grew out of research to provide models for the hall
of marine transportation in the Smithsonian's new Museum of History
and Technology.
THE AUTHOR: Howard I. Chapelle is curator of transportation in the
U.S. National Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

For a commercial boat to gain widespread popularity and use, it must besuited to a variety of weather and water conditions and must have somevery marked economic advantages over any other boats that might be usedin the same occupation. Although there were more than 200 distinct typesof small sailing craft employed in North American fisheries and inalong-shore occupations during the last 60 years of the 19th century,only rarely was one of these boat types found to be so well suited to aparticular occupation that its use spread to areas at any great distancefrom the original locale.

Those craft that were "production-built," generally rowing boats, weresold along the coast or inland for a variety of uses, of course. The NewEngland dory, the seine boat, the Connecticut drag boat, and the yawlwere such production-built boats.

In general, flat-bottomed rowing and sailing craft were the most widelyused of the North America

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