14’ Biscayne Bay Herreshoff (2017) - LANA

Lana is a Biscayne Bay 14 designed by Nathanael Green Herreshoff in 1925 for shoal waters. Herreshoff’s 2,000-plus designs that survive, such as Lana’s, are sought by connoisseurs of classic yachts.

Lana lives up to the Herreshoff reputation. She is a delight to sail, well behaved, surprisingly quick and yar, even in light wind, and beautiful! She is great here on the Cheaspeake Bay and its tributaries.

In 2017, Lana was built in Williamsburg by a master carpenter, the head of marine activity at Jamestown Colony and was number two in command of Pride of Baltimore. Her hull, mast, boom, spars and jib club (for self-tacking) are made of wood. She has double – chine marine plywood planking on solid wood white oak frames, floor keel and stem. Deck and floorboards are cedar, coamings are vanished mahogany. Spars are varnished Sitka spruce.

She has a centerboard that draws about 3 feet down that can easily be lifted to a draft of 1 foot. You can step her mast in about 10 minutes. Her Load Rite trailer is included in the price.

After buying her in 2023, Latell Sailmakers in Deltaville washed and examined her sails (Dacron jib and main) which are in great shape. We gave her hull a fresh coat of paint with her name done in gold leaf. She is well cared for; she stays on a lift with a custom cover in sailing season and in a covered garage in the winter. Her halyards and sheets are no more than two years old.

We made improvements to make her easier to sail. We adapted the tiller to hinge up with a custom tiller extension. The jib club was not included when we bought the boat, so we downloaded the original Herreshoff plans from MIT and made one from a nice piece of fir. With a new sheet and Davey & Co lignum vitae bullseye fairleads with bronze eye straps, the self-tacking jib is working beautifully. The main sheet was difficult to handle, especially from the port gunnel due to a bad lead. We added a fairlead block to ease the sheet properly into the cam cleat. That, another block for additional purchase, and a new lighter mainsheet has made the main much more manageable. We try to maintain her elegant provenance but have resorted to the occasional 316 stainless steel and polyester line here and there.

Lana was designed to be sculled but the holes for the rowlocks had been cut, abandoned and filled, so we cleaned out the fill and installed a new bronze rowlock on the transom and bought a nice long oar. The tiller extension holds the rudder straight while you scull.

She is ready for you to come aboard and enjoy making a lot of carefully built weight move beautifully!

her in 2023, we painted her bottom