■^ 



The Ocean Freighting Ship ]\'illiam Lawreme. 1874, from a French print in the VVatercraft Collection (USN'M 

 159930). This type was popular with American and Canadian shipowners during the period 1865-85. (Smil/t- 

 sonian photo 44638-1!.) 



but rarely a gaff- topsail; on the topmast was set a 

 large staysail which became better known to modern 

 yachtsmen as the fisherman staysail. The rig was 

 designed so that in strong winds and fresh breezes 

 the vessels would work on all points of sailing under 

 foresail alone, the jib and mainsail being set only 

 when the vessel was racing to put a pilot aboard a 

 ship, or when the weather was light, at which time 

 the topmast staysail would also be set. 



These pilot schooners attracted international atten- 

 tion and were widely copied abroad. When yachting 

 became an organized sport in America, a great many 

 schooner yachts had pilot-boat hulls and rigs; indeed, 

 two or three were former pilot boats or were used as 

 pilot boats after a few years as yachts. By 1860 fore 

 booms were being added and the size of the foresail 

 reduced, so that the rig became the modern one now 

 used in some yachts. By then the pilot boat was a 

 rather stereotyped model having a short, straight keel 

 with much drag, and a nearly upright post, above 

 which was either a very short counter or a strongly 

 raking V-shaped transom; the stem was nearly upright 

 above the load line and unadorned with any head or 



carvings, the forefoot was usually much rounded and 

 the curve of the forefoot was carried farther and farther 

 aft along the keel in each new boat. The sheer was 

 usually strong, the freeboard amidships quite low. 

 The midsection was formed with a steeply rising floor, 

 sometimes with hollow at the garboard, a high and 

 often hard turn of the bilge, and a slight tumble-home 

 in the topside. The entrance was usually long, very 

 sharp and, sometimes, slightly hollow at the load line 

 just abaft the stem. The run was less long but very 

 fine, with almost straight buttocks where they crossed 

 the load line aft. Some of the boats were flush decked; 

 others had a long, low quarterdeck, with an oval cock- 

 pit for the helmsman. In the early part of the 19th 

 century many pilot boats had a "sunk poop," the 

 raised quarterdeck ending aft just forward of the steers- 

 man's position and dropping down to a level below 

 that of the maindeck. Few pilot boats had a cabin 

 trunk on the quarterdeck, a flush deck being preferred 

 there. 



The designers and builders of pilot schooners were 

 often noted yacht builders as well. George Steers of 

 New York and Dennison J. Lawlor of Boston were 



52 



