length. The modrl has proved to he a good sea boat 

 in the Chesapeake, and \ery efficient. 



The half-model shows a long and very narrow V- 

 Ijottoni, hunich. having the gi'eatest depth of keel 

 rabbet at the forefoot; the bow is curved and raking 

 and the keel rabbet runs nearly in a straight line, 

 from the forefoot up and aft, to the bottom of the 

 stern, which is round in plan, with much tumble- 

 home, a form once called a "torpedo stern" but now 

 called ■■do\e-tail" by some on the Chesapeake. The 

 sheer is straight. On deck the greatest beam is about 

 amidships, but at the chines it is close to the stern. 

 The entrance is therefore very long and sharp, while 

 the run is also long and very flat. The chine in profile 

 is nearly coincident with the load waterline over its 

 full length. The half breadth of tlie model is to the 

 keel rabbet, not to the centerline. 



Scale of the model is 1 inch to the foot; the boat was 

 37 feet overall, 34 feet 3 inches on deck, 4 feet 2'^ 

 inches moulded beam at deck, 3 feet S'^ inches at 

 chines, drew about 1 foot lOJ.i inches at the propeller, 

 and displaced 1890 pounds without crew. 



steep, short-dangerous seas of the Chesapeake and 

 ran steadily on their course, as required in the trotline 

 crab fishery. 



The half-model is of a long, low, and narrow V- 

 bottom wooden launch having slight sheer; a rockered 

 keel rabbet; a slight camber in the chine profile, with 

 the chine almost coincident with the load line at bow 

 and stern; a straight, raking stem rabbet with small 

 round at forefoot: and a dove-tail, or torpedo, stern 

 round in plan, with the sides of the hull brought 

 around in a sharp tumble-home by vertical, tapered 

 staving. This marked tumble-home in the stern, in 

 profile, was the hallmark of this type of launch. The 

 deck plan shows the beam to be carried well fore and 

 aft; the greatest breadth at rail is slightly forward of 

 midlength. The chine, in plan, is also carried well 

 fore and aft with only moderate reduction in width, 

 l)ut at the Imw the chines are brought in to form a 

 very sharp entrance. The nm is long and flat, being 

 nearly straight in the buttocks as the stern is ap- 

 proached. The midsection is formed with a straight, 

 rising floor, an angular chine-bilge, and a straight, 



/tot »T C*^*' W I' 



Lines oka Racing V-Bottom Motor Boat of 1902, the Fairbanks .No. 2. This model inspired the modern 

 fishing launches of the Chesapeake Bay region. Taken off builder's half-model U.SNM 31 1239. 



Gi\en by Charles VV. Langdon, l^oatbuilder, Ox- 

 ford, Maryland. 



CHESAPEAKE BAY FISHING LAUNCH, about 



1912 

 Builder's Half-Model, usnm 315109 



This model of a typical Chesapeake Bay Hooper 

 Island fishing launch was employed to build a boat 

 in Dorchester County, Maryland, at or near Cam- 

 bridge about 1912, and represents the class built 

 there between 1910 and 1925. Boats of this type were 

 employed in the crab fishery in summer and in oyster 

 tonging in winter. The half-model represents a fish- 

 ing launch adaption of the racing lavmch form of the 

 Fairbanks No. 2, the half-model of which (usnm 311239, 

 p. 211) is in the Watercraft Collection. Well adapted 

 10 their work, these boats were seaworthv in the 



strongly flaring topside. In the forebody the topside 

 flare is very great, becoming hollow near the stem 

 rabbet. Toward the stern the flare of the topsides 

 gradually decreases and becomes tumble-home near 

 where the stern begins to be rounded. A skeg and a 

 shallow outside keel are fitted; the propeller and 

 rudder are well inboard of the extreme stern; and 

 the rudderpost, of iron, is fitted with a semibalanced 

 wooden rudder blade. The dead rise carried to the 

 extreme stern is an unusual feature shown in this 

 model. 



Heavily built of pine and oak, these launches have 

 a long cockpit in which is located the engine in a box 

 abaft midlength. The side decks are narrow and the 

 cockpit has a low coaming its full length. Near the 

 bow is a short forward deck and a small, low trunk 

 caliin that usually contains two Ijunks and a stove; 



278 



