After exploring boat designs that would fit my criteria, choosing and then reflecting on a few designs, making a model of one I thought I had decided upon, and reconsidering all my criteria, I finally decided to build a Coquina.
Why? She is stunningly beautiful, sails extremely well, is a cat ketch (a favorite of mine), just the right size in length and draft, perfect for my sailing territory, and did I already mention – beautiful? I couldn’t resist.
There have been many Coquinas built thanks to Doug Hylan and Maynard Bray, who researched N. G. Herreshoff’s original and later modified design and builds, its history, and construction. While there are limited historical resources for the design, they have somehow created the closest manifestation of N. G. Herreshoff’s most beloved boat. Hylan and Bray produced design plans (with construction photos) from the original drawings and photos, as well as from other’s attempts to replicate her design. I will not go into her history here, as it is easily available, but suffice it to say that, through Herreshoff’s own words, his personal Coquina was the boat he sailed most often (almost every day, summer and winter).
Photo of N.G. Herreshoff’s original Coquina.
Coquina sailing off Prudence Island, June 15, 1919.
Maynard Bray’s Coquina.
Shelter Island Boat Works 
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