Description

Mariette was commissioned by, Jacob Frederick Brown, a member of the Eastern and Boston Yacht Clubs and was the ninth of 14 large steel schooner yachts built by HMCo between 1902 and 1925. These magnificent schooners are among the largest and most expensive private sailing yachts built by HMCo and were commissioned by leaders in American business and industry. These expensive yachts represent the peak of HMCo's success at the beginning of the 20th century.

HMCo's string of six America's Cup defenders from 1893 - 1920 was a key factor in attracting so much yacht design business. This attention afforded the company the ability to experiment with new designs and expand their product line with more one-design or batch produced vessels that helped to keep orders for boats steady. In 1915, at the time of Mariette's construction, a record 500 workmen were employed by HMCo.

Mariette was a sister (another vessel based on a prior design) to Vagrant II, built for Harold S. Vanderbilt. Both Vagrant II and Mariette are still sailing as of 2018. The only other survivors of the HMCo steel schooners are Queen and Wildfire. The elegance and racing records of these schooners have captured the imagination of yachtsmen down to the present day. The largest replicas of Herreshoff yachts are three of the most famous schooners: Westward (Eleonora, built in Holland), Elena (Elena, built in Spain) and Ingomar (awaiting completion in Holland).