Here you see FOX at rest in Great Cove on Sunday, the only sailboat in the WoodenBoat School fleet remaining there then. The School’s year ended last week and FOX was scheduled to be pulled out of the water yesterday and tucked into storage with the rest of the fleet until next year’s classes.
But some fortunate sailors have everlasting memories of sailing on FOX and her sisters. And others will be able to have those memories created in next year’s classes. Here’s a Leighton Archive image of FOX being sailed and creating memories:
Leighton Archive image
FOX is a Haven 12 ½ daysailer designed by Brooklin Boat Yard’s Joel White in 1985. The Havens are a practical adaptation of perhaps the most classic of small sailboats, the Herreshoff 12 ½ (foot long at the waterline) daysailer. The Herreshoff was designed by the dean of sailboat designers, Nathanael Herreshoff, in 1914 as a safe, high-performing training boat.
The principal difference between the Haven and the Herreshoff is that the Herreshoff has a relatively large, fixed keel and the Haven has a removable centerboard for shallow water access and easy transportation. They both have the same fine lines above water and both may be gaff-rigged or Marconi-rigged.
The story is that Joel was asked to design a small sailboat that was as beautiful and high-performing as the Herreshoff, but that could be transported on a two-wheel trailer between the customer’s residences at the lake and on the seacoast. Mission accomplished. (Primary image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on September 28, 2025.)