Feb. 12, 18851 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



BB 



fachting. 



June 

 June 

 July 

 July 

 July 



Aug. 



Aug. 

 Sept. 

 Sept. 



FIXTURES. 



12- New York Y. O, Regatta. 

 20-Hull Y. O.. Pennant Matches. 

 11- Hull Y.*C., Cruise. 

 18— Hull Y. C, Club Race. 

 25-Hull Y. C. Ladles' Dav. 



1-HnUY. C, Club Race." 

 16— Hull Y. C, Open Race 



5— Hull Y. C, Champion Race. 

 19— Hull Y. 0., Champion Race, 



TO DEFEND THE CUP. 



/"iOMMODORE James Gordon Bennett has cabled to Mr. W. P. 

 ^ Douglass to commence at once the building of a large centerboard 

 sloop. Mr. A. Gary Smith is to furnish the design. Length on load- 

 line 84ft.. beam 33ft., draft 8ffc. 



A NEW REEFING- GEAR.— We have received from Commodore A. 

 J. Prime, of the Yonkers Y. C, a sketch of Mr, Fearon's new reefing 

 geer for jibs, and will illustrate it shortly. This gear will be fitted to 

 Jhiee new catamarans now building by Mr. Fearon. 



FIRST OF HER KIND, 



IT will be remembered that when the hues of the proposed Fendeur, 

 originated by Mr. R. C. Hopkins, were first published in these col- 

 umns in February, 1883. a great deal of comment ensued. Some of 

 the opinions expressed were highly favorable, others took the oppo- 

 site side and could not see how a boat of triangular section could 

 stand up Mr. Hopkins tried a model on his lines with considerable 

 success, as reported at the time; but for private reasons the actual 

 construction of the Fendeur was delayed for the time being. This 

 left the question an untried venture, until taken up by Mi-. E. L. Will- 

 iams, of Lowell, Mass. as a builder of shell boats, Mr. Williams had 

 met with much success in shaping his boats all from one a^d the 

 same mould, simply turning it up higher and higher for successive 

 frames. From the outset lie took great interest in the Fendeur, 

 which seemed to strike in a similar vein of thought. Last spring, he 

 laid the keel for the first of the breed, tried her thoroughly during 

 the season, and late last fall sold the boat to Mr. A. Wheelwright, of 

 this city. A great deal of credit should be given to Mr. Williams for 

 his enterprise and good judgment in a field not yet prospected. The 

 Mamie, whose lines and interior are herewith illustrated by hand- 

 some cuts extracted from the new book on "Small Yachts," soon to 

 appear, turned out so satisfactory, that Mr. Williams has since estab- 

 lished himself as a yacht builder in South Boston, with the object of 

 constructing similar boats. 



It is now pretty well understood that successful yacht building 

 should be divided into two great chapters, which have little in com- 

 mon with one another. First, the design. Second, the practical con- 

 struction. Excellence in both is necessary to insure the best per- 

 formance, and neglect in either division will be visited with 

 corresponding shortcomings in the behavior of the boat. We are led 

 to these remarks to save hasty critics overrunning their reckoning I 



should they inspect the Mamie, now hauled out at Frank Bates's 

 yard. South Brooklyn. This boat, being purely experimental, the 

 builder could not afford to risk his funds in aiming at the most favor- 

 able build, but rather sought to confine outlay in cash to the narrow- 

 est limit possible, for this would all have been sunk had Mamie proved 

 a failure. Hence, in the details of practical construction she falls 

 short, and loses much which ininht have been drawn upon to her ad- 

 vantage. Of this the builder was aware, and his next promises to be 

 superior in many ways. 



In spite of these drawbacks the Mamie has shown herself a very 

 likely craft at all times, justifying further similar undertakings. As an 

 example, her keel consists simply of 4in. ditch and consequently but 

 little outside ballast could be hung thereon. Had it been a 6in. balk, 

 with the rabbet near the lower edge, the wood projecting inside in- 

 stead of outside the garboards, nearly three times the weight of iron 

 could have been bolted underneath and rig increased to correspond. 

 Again, the ballast inside is composed of scrap. But if cast to fit 

 would be much lower and afford Sin. or 1ft. more head room. We 

 bear that lead may be substituted this spring and this alteration put 

 into effect. In point of type Mamie is a straight framed cutter with 

 the addition of a shoulder above water. Her bottom, though odd at 

 first, sight, differs in reality but little in the frames from a deep 

 cutter. The slight hollow in the floor and the usual round of the 

 bilge have simply been straightened out, a very trifling divergence in 

 form from many an existing and successful cutter. In the forward 

 and after frames, this difference is so small as to amount to scarcely 

 more than an idea. Hence, we are right in looking for much the 

 same performance as in ordinary boats of like general proportions. 

 But the main distinction between the Mamie and regular cuttets lies 

 not in her bottom, but in the topsides. From loadline up the Mamie 

 approximates the usual sloop form. She has very nearly a cutter's 

 I » n torn and a sloop's topside. A compromise more truly than the 

 so-called compromises which are only deep and heavy sloops and 

 partake of sloop qualities all through. 



For her performance the writer must draw upon report, not hav- 

 ing had the chance to test hi r in person. Report speaks well of her, 

 and in just the way the boat's form would lead one to expect. With 

 the weight and fine lines of a cutter below, she is a steady boat of 

 great ease, holding her way through a sea and also in light, variable 

 winds, owing to great momentum and small resistance. With the 

 low weight and flaring but easy roundish topsides, she is notably 

 stiff after once heeling down to her "sticking point," which seems to 

 be about planksheer-to in good sailing breeze. Beyond this angle 

 she resists. Likewise does she rise to a head sea with much life, as 

 plenty of bulk above water has been provided and the flare all round 

 prevents her dropping deep into a hollow. She is specially dry, 

 throwing no spray, but dippinga little harmless water over the lee 

 bow when pressed in lumpy surroundings. Her motion is not hard 

 and quick, but the reverse, rendering a long cruise an agreeable 

 pastime in place of jerking athletics to preserve one's balance. She 

 is light on the helm and certain in stays in rough water, also free 

 from yawing when running wide. As to speed, her official trials 

 have not so far heen very exacting. Two matches weie sailed in 

 Eastern waters. One of them, under the flag of the Saleru Bay Y. G, 

 saw Mamie lift the. ducats in good style, and the other failed for want 

 of wind. Her builder tried her in scrub races and thinks her fast. 

 After her advent in New Y'o k waters last fall she was under way 

 only- twice before going on the mud for the winter, but her present 

 in t considers that, so far as he could judge without competitors 

 alongside, the Mamie gave promise of very fair speed. Her exact 

 status as a racer, when tried high, we may leave for the coming 

 summer to determine. But it can be said with certainty that Mamie 

 is not a slow boat, and at least up to the average. Allowing for a 

 more advantageous stowage of weight, and there is reason to believe 

 she or a similar boat will make her mark in the records. 



No doubt the broad question will at once be asked: "What advan- 

 tage is there in the style?" Leaving speed out as not fully settled, 

 (lie answer would be that Mamie attempts to combine certain char- 

 acteristics of the cutter in the.general shaping of her underwater body 

 with others of the sloop in her topside, and that is exactly the pith 

 of the problem we are seeking to solve in the various compromises 

 which have lately come into life. In the matter of draft the. Mamie is 

 no better off than an ordinary cutter. As to heeling, she will be 

 suffer at extreme angles, and the easy flare will make a drier, livelier 

 boat, giving also more width across deck. Her rig will be snug; her 

 motion will be measured; she will hold a steady course; display 

 power and be close-winded in a sea; able in a breeze; probably fast, 

 Just in accordance as excellence in proportions and shaping are en- 

 grafted upon the design of her lines. She will have liberal headroom 

 and length for accommodations, and besides she will be somewhat 

 easier to set up and plank. It is not here proposed to sail off into 

 ecstacy, just because Mamie is something new. Often old ideas are 

 better than innovations. But an analysis of Mamie seems to justify 

 further and fuller trial, for though she may never displace other 

 types, she will be an addition to the circle from which to make choice . 

 She may develop into a very acceptable kind, unless future experi- 

 ment shows up some drawback not yet appreciated. The propor- 

 tions of such boats may also admit considerable variation. 



Mr. Williams is to lay the keel of another, in which the best method 

 ot construction is to be followed, and the advent of this new candidate 

 may supply more accurate comparison. 



The chief dimensions of Mamie are: Length over all, 25ft. ; on load- 

 line, 21ft. 8in.; beam across deck, 6ft.; at loadline, 5ft. to outside of 

 plank; draft, extreme, 4ft. Sin. ; least freeboard, lfein. ; displacement, 

 4.4 short tons approximately. 



| |The Mamie is built with a light, closely spaced frame. Keel, 10x 

 4m. Stem and post, 3in.. sided. Frame sawed, moulded Sin. at heel, 

 m at head, and sided l-%in. Spaced 6in. between centers. Iron floors 

 on every other frame. Plank, ^in. yellow pme. Clamps, 3xj*m. 

 Deck beams, \%m. moulded ana \% sided oak; spaced Sin. Beck, 

 l^tXlm. thick white pme, laid straight fore and art. Galvanized iron 

 > a sun gs. Center of mast from fore side of stem, 7ft, Sin. Mast, 19ft. 

 deck to cross trees; Sin. diameter at deck; topmast, 14ft.. heel to 

 truck; bowsprit, 10ft. outboard; boom, 22ft; gaff. 14ft. Full cutter 

 rig, with running jib. Sails by McManns & Son, of Boston. Hoist of 

 Ml, 14ft.; foot of foresail, 7ft.; foot of jib. 10ft. Total ballast, 

 ■:;,'i tons, 000 pounds of which is outside. 



EXPLODING THE FABLES. 



THE fond delusions to which the sloop men have clung for so long 

 a time, delusions based partly on a knowledge of the defects of 

 i he centerboard sloops, but mostly on a complete ignorance of the 

 cut ter, are disappearing rapidly under the light of additional knowl- 

 edge, and the hard logic of indisputable fact. 

 >'.peed has been conceded to the cutters for some time, but to offset 

 iiey have been denounced as mere racing machines, beautiful 

 pictures being drawn of them sailing under water, with only a paid 

 crew on board, usually all lashed fast: while the owner watches the 

 sport from a safe distance, on shore. 

 When the first rumors arrived here of these vessels sailing across 

 ear the ultra faithful at once sought comfort in the loud asser- 

 non that hay would never venture on th e Atlantic, and that no con- 

 i .: a was possible as the challengers must cross under sail, and that 

 they would not dare to do. 



Many who knew better than this, however, were still highly de- 

 Ugh 3d .when the report came that Genesta and Galatea would cross 

 under trysails. Knowing what a ship's trysail was and in what 

 weather it was used, these experts at once pictured the huge cutters 

 'i eiuler a small triangular rag, and on this assumption at once 

 condemned both boats as unseaworthy and dangerous. It has been 

 :;.i of love with us to enlighten the ignorance of these self -ap- 

 pointed experts, and that it has not been altogether "lost" is shown 

 in the tact that they now admit the propriety of the rig for passage, 

 the large racing mainsail being kept for match racing. The last 

 a the London Meld has some remarks on the same subject, in 

 which they corroborate on two very important points the views so 

 ad by the Forest and Stream, the seagoing abilities of 

 a cutters, and their accommodations for living on board. Both 

 ot these points we have strenuously insisted on from the first, and 

 both have been denied and ridiculed. 

 "According to the New York Herald, the Genesta and Galatea are 

 to race across the Atlantic in April under trysails. Some of 

 1 - Cork papers make merry in consequence over the idea of 



the vaunted British racing cutter going to sea under a trysail, and 

 declare that their owners dare not live on board. If the writers had 

 an opportunity of seeing the owners on board such beautiful vessels 

 say, as Marjorie and Wendur, and the luxurious comforts they enjoy 

 in the way of cabin accommodation, they would very much modify 

 their opinions as to the British racing machines. It is forgotten that 

 the America crossed the Atl mtic in 1851 under a jury rig, and shipped 

 her racing spars at Havre, they having been sent across on a steamer. 

 oat the Cambria and Dauntless raced across the ocean 

 and Cambria's boom was 64ft., mainmast deck 

 to hounds 62ft., and bowsprit 41ft. outside. The Fleetwing, Henri- 

 od \ esta came across before the westerly gales in the winter of 

 ibbl under big spars, and no doubt the British racing cutters could do 

 the same, although they might often have to stow their booms, and 

 would probably require a new sail to race with on arrival. Among 

 oga lory to the British cutters is one that their lead 

 Will dropoff, and that if they get hit by a big sea they will 

 crumble up like match wood. Of course a lead keel may drop, 

 although, so far as our knowledge goes, it has only happened yet 

 when fastened with iron bolts; and a yacht may be -crumpled up' 

 just as ships are ; but let us hope that these anticipations are f ounded 



