[March 13, 1884. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



138 





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"THE BUCKEYE." 



TO supply information to many inquirers the building lines of a 

 Chesapeake buckeye are produced herewith. The plans in 

 question are from an original model of the Cynthia, a boat famous 

 as abler and faster than the general run of the family. She repre- 

 sents the latest improvements, and it is not difficult to find good rea- 

 son for her comparative success in the extra depth of oue foot given 

 her beyond the custom, the Cynthia drawing SJ^ft. or the depth of 5. 

 She is distinguished likewise by more deadrise. an easier turn to the 

 bilge, and rather longer and finer entrance. She is another illustra- 

 tion of the fact that boats "grown" to a certain locality to meet cer- 

 tain ends are after all only in the first stages of development reviewed 

 from a purely critical standpoint, making no allowances fcr the 

 special limited work the boat is intended to cover, nor for the restric- 

 tions due to the lack of material, money or skill under which she is 

 brought forth. For the moment the original buckeye took on a 

 form one step nearer to the regular yacht, us in the case of the Cyn- 

 thia, a marked improvement in performance resulted; and it is 

 reasonable to suppose that still further approximations to the stand- 

 ards observed in yacht modeling would contribute, step by step, to 

 a corresponding development of qualities for the better until event- 

 ually the pristine buckeye finds herself transformed into a veritable 

 yacht, not deviating radically from a yacht in any respect. There 

 is then good ground why any one seeking the qualities of a yacht 

 can save himself trouble and "certain disappointment in declining to 

 be driven back toprimordials of any kind. The various stages of 

 experiment and the gradual evolution from the extemporized acci- 

 dents which have '-grown'' to certain localities, have already all been 

 gone through extensively by others whose experiences and labors 

 have led up to the modern yacht as the climax to the evolution. 

 doing back to early forms for a fresh start involves only a tedious 

 and profitless repetition of what the world has already acquired, and 

 it is much sounder policy to take the initial from the latest develop- 

 ment and attempt to improve upon that. 



But there are cases in which a return to first efforts is fully justified 

 when a yacht is not wanted, but a contrivance to fulfil in the readiest 

 and cheapest way that particular duty to which the existence of the 

 "grown" or indigent boats owe their origin, though even then the 

 structural and mechanical attributes will generally admit of con- 

 siderable amelioration through the application of funds and greater 

 skill than were at the command of the originators of the type. Thus 

 we find that where the peculiarities of the buckeye are sought to be 

 preserved, their build has undergone great change nevertheless. The 

 Cynthia and her sisters are no longer the clumsy dugouts of yore, 

 but are built with a frame and regularly planked. The crude creation 

 hewn out of a log has been replaced by a more pretentious construc- 

 tion, both in regard to perfection and refinement of form as well as 

 in methods of manufacture. 



This stage of the evolution is fittingly represented by the buckeye. 

 Sportsmen and others on the lookout for a boat which will carry 

 them and a load at good speed on the conditions of cheap first cost, 

 light draft and small rig with fair behavior in troubled waters, will 

 find in the plans produced this week one more excellent addition to 

 the collection of useful substitutes for full-fledged yachts. As the 

 sharpie displaced the dugout on Long Island Sound with the scarcity 

 of large logs and the advent of the sawmill, so has the framed buck- 

 eye come to the fore in Chesapeake Bay and Southern waters as the 

 substitute for the improvised canoe. 



That she is a swift boat, gauged by a rational comparison of size 

 and not by the empyrical length standard set up out of band by 

 yachting cliques without reason or considerations of justice, few 

 need to be told. With a long body, easy ends and fore and aft sec- 

 tions, with deadrise and slow bilge and a fair allotment of ballast to 

 the bulk, boats like the Cynthia ought to be capable of excellent be- 

 havior and speedy on all points, falling short only in turning to 

 windward in lumpy water. This the sportsmen may be willing 

 enough to forego for the sake of the economical inducements and 

 light draft held forth. For his purposes the buckeye can certainly 

 be favorably commended. He will find it quite possible to improve 

 upon her present equipment, and thus exact a higher degree of 

 efficiency by attention to details of ballasting and rig. 



The Cynthia is 49ft. on deck between rabbets, tie plans being to 

 outside of moulds only. Her beam is 14ft. and draft 3j£ft., with keel 

 in ordinary trim, or about 2% if fitted with board. Owing to her 

 ballast she has good weight for working, some ability in a sea, and 

 shows well in climbing to windward, where lighter boats fail. She 

 has a round stern, which is locally a matter of pride and style ob- 

 tained at an extra cost of about $a00. The buckeye is built in all the 

 ports along the Chesapeake, and a fifty foot boat, hull and spars, is 

 said to cost about $1,000, iron work, sails, gear and joinerwork in 

 cabin being extra, which $500 may cover. The usual rig Is similar to 

 the sharpie, and was illustrated in this paper for Feb. 14. The 

 schooner rig is, however, coming into vogue as more efficient. 



SOME GENERAL REMARKS. 



REFERRING to Mr. Franklyn Bassford's letter published last week, 

 these remarks are made m reply and explanation: 

 Weight in itself without consideration of form is not productive of 

 resistance, but form without regard to weight certainly is. Hence 

 great weight on a good form of sufficiently narrow beam may be ■ 

 driven as economically as less weight in a broader form. Though 

 more water is moved, it is moved to a less distance, hence at a less 

 speed and expenditure of power. Proof to be found in the fact that 

 with like sail area, Bedouin drives 106 tons practically at the same 

 speed the Gracie drives her 04 tons. We referred to beam in propor- 

 tion to ioadline, as fantail overhangs cannot bo included in the boat 

 proper from a naval architect's standpoint any more than a cutwater 

 reaching half way out on the bowsprit. A look at Lloyd's Register 

 will show a vast majority of cutters under 4J^ beams and a mere 

 handful of 5 beams and over. For the rest it seems to be only a dis- 

 pute as to what can be called a sloop and what a cutter. No hard 

 and fast line can be drawn, for one type gradually merges iuto the 

 other, and if it is any consolation to call a sloop so modified as to 

 possess in a greater or less degree the principles of a cutter by the 

 term sloop, no one will seriously object. They may be called frigates 

 with a fore and aft rig, or steamers without an engine, for all the dif- 

 ference the name will make. Just so our yachts are built with enough 

 depth and weight and shipshape equipment to earn respect from sea- 

 men and professional people instead of being looked upon as childish 

 toys or silly machines. A centerboard will draw less water than a 

 keel, though the difference in deep boats is reduced often to a nominal 

 amount, and it remains for every one to determine for his own pur- 

 pose whether the advantages of either overbalance the disadvantages. 

 The cost of a yacht is regulated by the amount of material and 

 labor used in construction and the completeness of equip- 

 ment, and not by the empty name her type goes by. All this 

 may be more in a sloop or in a cutter, according to their individual 

 shape and outfit. With the exception of excess in ballast, there is 

 nothing in a cutter which, quality for quality, cannot be as cheap 

 and even cheaper than in the sloop. It is certain, however, that a 

 cheap and nasty job will cost less than a good piece of work, regard- 

 less of type, in the first place, though, taking depreciation into ac- 

 count, the costly job will often be found the cheaper in the long run. 

 Mentioning prices of yachts out of hand is no more a fair comparison 

 than citing a Chatham street suit of hand-me-downs for $10 against a 

 $50 suit from a reputable tailor. The notion that a boat and a boat 

 ought to cost alike simply because they are two boats. fought to be 

 overcome by this time. A tin watch and a gold watch are' both 

 watches, but there is a difference in price. The construction and 

 outfit of the Bedouin and the Gracie differ in just the same manner, 

 and long after the Gracie is broken up for firewood the Bedouin will 

 have fair market value. The modern beamy Boston sloops are not 

 only as expensive but more expensive to build than cutters, for the 

 simple reason that there is more of them on the length in the way of 

 material, more rig and equal or more displacement and draft. The 

 Gracie is au old-fashioned light draft. Such yachts are no longer 

 built. Dr. Barron's new sloop of 52ftt. Ioadline has more than the 

 actual depth of the Gracie on 70ft., and within a few inches 

 the same draft. We are. well aware that under length rules 

 very narrow beam cutters may not come into vogue, but the 

 signs of the times all point to moderate beam at least, 

 coupled with the depth, draft, low weights and equipment 

 of the cutter. All this may be only old experience. It may all 

 have been tried long ago. In fact, the ancient Phoenicians knew all 

 about cutters and outside lead long before the English developed the 

 modern yacht. There is nothing new under the sun anyway. But 

 the fact remains that in spite of previous experience we drifted off 

 at a tangent here in America into the universal construction of flat, 

 shoal, light displacement traps and declined to listen to anything 

 else until the "cutter agitation" again opened the public's eyes to 

 the possibilities in directions for a long period refused the slighest 

 recognition. That period is now closing. There will be no more 

 schooners built like the Grayling and no more sloops like the Fannie 

 or Gracie. How far we will proceed in the opposite path, how nearly 

 we will approximate the extreme type of cutter is a question no 

 newspaper controversy can settle. It can safely be left to future ex- 

 perience. Forest and Stream has labored for a full understanding 

 of both sides and equal recognition to various systems, so that intel- 

 ligent selection would result. It must be readily understood by 

 every one that as long as "cutter principles" could not obtain a hear- 

 ing in this country, as long as everything in the way of change or 

 improvement was damned without trial or evidence, yacht designing 

 was nothing but groping in the dark, a matter of stumbling on the 

 right thing in place of intelligently appreciating the problems to be 

 worked up to as nearly as limiting conditions would allow. No better 



