195 
LIGHTER Rowinc Boats. 
Light boats constructed for speed alone have usuallya nearly cir- 
cular section (see Fig. 6). This,makes the calculation of their stability 
very simple, since it is evident at once to any one with a very slight 
knowledge of mathematics, that the metacentre in the case of a 
circular section will not change its position, but remain fixed at the 
centre of the circle, to whatever angle the boat be heeled. In 
racing skiffs intended for a single person the metacentre will be 
but a few inches, say three or four, above the water line, In such 
boats the centre of gravity will commonly be above the metacentre, 
and the boats will,have no stability at all. It is in fact a very 
difficult feat of balancing to sit still in a boat of this kind holding 
the oars out of water; and any one unused to race rowing who 
should venture to get into such a boat, would be immediately 
upset. In the larger racing boats the metacentre is naturally 
higher, and, as the centre of gravity is not raised in the same 
degree, they have a little stability. It is, however, but little ; and 
in such boats the greatest precaution is necessary, and very strict 
discipline is commonly observed. No one moves without orders ; 
on getting in, the men‘are handed to their places one by one, and 
each sits down before the next steps in, the same,care being used 
in getting out of the boat. The lighter boats in use on these lakes 
have a good deal more stability than regular racing boats, but still 
they are crank, and not,‘in my judgment, safe in the hands of 
careless or inexperienced people. Some of them are the more 
dangerous because the defect of the sharp floor renders them less 
_ stable than from their size and weight they appear. Safety in 
light boats can only be secured by care and skill, and in very light 
boats only by the strict observance of the racing precautions. The 
sad accidents which occur from time to time on our lakes afford a 
strong and melancholy proof of the necessity of care. Ladies and 
q children should never be taken in light boats, nor infirm or very 
_ Clumsy people, nor large dogs ; in"many light boats it is unwise to 
7 attempt to change seats, a thing never in any boat to be done 
__without care. 
