NATURE 



42 1 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER i, 1904. 



AMERICA!^ .l.VD BRITISH YACHTING. 

 Ai>icrican Yachting. By W. P. Stephens. Pp. ix + 

 580. (London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) Price 

 8i. 6d. net. 



THIS excellent book not merely contains a well 

 written history of .American yachting-, but puts 

 on record the principal points in the development of 

 yacht designing, both in the L^nited States and in this 

 country, during the fifty years since the famous 

 .4()j('?-;i:a came to this country (in 1851) and astonished 

 English yachtsmen by her remarkable performances. 

 The contests between English and .\merican yacht 

 designers have been continuous and keen, including 

 struggles for the .America Cup as well as matches of 

 equal or possibly greater interest between yachts of 

 many classes. Some of these have received little 

 attention, although the results have had considerable 

 influence on later construction. The author is a keen 

 sportsman, fully informed upon all branches of his 

 subject, and capable — as many other yachtsmen are in 

 these days — of discussing the problems of yacht design 

 on a scientific basis. .Americans have inherited from 

 this country the love of yachting as a sport, and have 

 given repeated proofs that they are formidable rivals 

 in the design and management of yachts. They have 

 gradually reached an appreciation of what Mr. 

 Stephens describes as " the importance of Yachting to 

 a maritime nation." He says : — 



" It is a stimulus to the advancement of Naval 

 .Architecture, such as is necessary in maintaining the 

 .Naval and Merchant Fleets at the highest standard; 

 it is a training school for seamen both amateur and 

 Ijrofessional ; and its mimic battles are constant re- 

 minders of the necessity for perpetual progress in all 

 details of Naval development." 



.As to its influence on individual yachtsmen, Mr. 

 Stephens considers that yachting 



" can fairly claim a place amongst the arts and sciences 

 as a purely intellectual pursuit. The Science of Yacht 

 designing, a branch of Yachting which many amateurs 

 follow as a recreation, offers an unlimited field for study 

 and research. The man who can design his own 

 Yacht, large or small, construct her, or at least plan 

 and s.upervise the construction, and finally can guide her 

 to the head of the fleet with his hand on the tiller, his 

 active brain anticipating each move of clever opponents, 

 may well lay claim to one of the highest achievements 

 within the reach of any sportsman." 



Concurrently with the abandonment of " rule of 

 tlumib " methods in yacht design, there has been an 

 ini|jortant change in regard to the publication of in- 

 formation respecting the forms and equipment of 

 yachts. Formerly, secrecy was the rule. Yacht owners 

 took elaborate precautions to prevent the publication of 

 details. V'cry often this secrecy was associated with an 

 itjnorance of principles, resulting in false estimates of 

 the relative value and importance of causes influencing 

 success. The late Mr. Dixon Kemp did much to break 

 down this practice; his books on yachting remain valu- 

 able to this day. Mr. .Stephens does not enter into 

 NO. 18 I 8, VOL. 70] 



technicalities so fully as Mr. Dixon Kemp did, but he 

 writes with intelligence and a grasp of principles, and 

 his summary of events is accompanied by an analysis of 

 distinctive features in successive designs which can be 

 read with interest even by naval architects. He traces 

 the influence of local conditions, and of rules of 

 measurement for competitive sailing, upon American 

 and British yachts. He indicates clearly how these 

 widely differing types have, in process of time and as 

 the result of continuous competition, gradually 

 approximated, and led to the production of vessels on 

 both sides of the .Atlantic closely resembling one another 

 in their main features. He gives illustrations of the 

 general principle that as soon as a rule for time 

 allowance is established, yacht designers begin to 

 exercise their ingenuity so as to produce vessels which 

 shall get the greatest possible advantage in time 

 allowance under the particular rule in force, and he 

 shows how, in some cases, very unsatisfactory types 

 have been brought into existence simply for racing 

 purposes. The story of the contests for the .America 

 Cup is told with fairness and good feeling. Like most 

 practical yachtsmen, he does not consider that yachting 

 has benefited on the whole thereby. He is too good 

 a yachtsman to favour the production of mere " racing 

 machines," and his opinion of the latest example of 

 .American skill (the Reliance) is noteworthy, being 

 summed up in the words that while she " represented 

 a new and extreme step in the development of the 

 racing machine, her whole form is confessedly bad 

 for all purposes but cup-racing." In his judgment 

 the tendency of international racing has been to 

 minimise the importance of model and construction, 

 and to increase the influence of the designer, owner, 

 and skipper. His remarks on the " challengers " in 

 recent years run counter to the popular view. He 

 directs attention to the fact that recent challenges have 

 not come from yachtsmen who sail their own yachts, 

 but from men of ample means with little or no yacht- 

 ing experience, who see, in the publicity attending a 

 cup match, a means of advertising themselves. 



Incidentally, Mr. Stephens brings into relief the fact 

 that, in the United States, the design of the most 

 successful yachts in recent years has been the work 

 of men of considerable culture and scientific know- 

 ledge, like Burgess and the younger Herreshoff. 

 Further, he makes perfectly clear the thoroughness of 

 the study devoted to every problem alTecting ultimate 

 success. Not merely has close attention been given 

 to form, stability, and sail equipment, but no expense 

 is spared in the United States to obtain the best possible 

 materials — thus associating strength with lightness ; in 

 modifying structural arrangements for the same 

 purpose, or in arranging every item affecting efficiency 

 and rapid working of sails. He frankly acknowledges 

 that in all these matters (which greatly influence the 

 result of yacht racing) his countrymen have obtained 

 substantial advantages over ourselves, and equally he 

 shows his appreciation of the favourable conditions 

 under which they can proceed in drilling their crews 

 and " tuning up " the vessels (to use an American 

 e.xpression) before the cup races take place. To one 

 fact, however, he hardly attaches adequate importanct\ 



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