4B6 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec. 80, 1886. 



THE " THISTLE " LINES. From the Boston Herald, Dec. 25. 



A SHARPIE ON THE GULF COAST. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It would be strange if no tar had stuck to my clothes during my 

 many voyages on water, salt and fresii, blue, green or mud color; 

 at least I have learned to know \vhat kind of sailing pleases me 

 best, and for the betiefit of those wliose tastes are similar I will 

 give you an account of a successful attempt to gratify my liking 

 for a light draft boat. My cruising ground nowadays is along 

 the coast of t)ie Gulf of Mexico, between Mobile and New Orleans; 

 headquarters being in Biloxi Bay. 



I wanted a boat equal to the task of facing a stiff wind on the 

 Gulf, in easel should be caught out in one; and at the same time 

 of so liglw a draft as to be able to cross the many shallow bars at 

 the entrances of bayous and creeks. Having plenty of time to 

 study the question before the moment of action should come, I 

 studied the yachting department of your valuable paper, letting 

 naugnt escape me, and many were the hulls and sail plans that 

 adorned my sketch book ere the day when the lines of the Mar- 

 guerite were dra\vn, "life size," on the floor of the big verandah of 

 our Aviiiter liome at Ocean Springs, Miss. 



This craft was designed according to ideas derived from the 

 writings of one of your most frequent contributors, Mr. Thomas 

 Clapham, to whose unconscious aid I attribute her success. Prac- 

 tical hints and clear statements of general principles were not all 

 the assistance I got from Mr. Olapliam's writings. There was also 

 the inestimable advantage of ha-.ang a quotable authority with 

 whicii to crasJi the opposition of otliers interested in the boat and 

 doing the biggest iialf of the work involved, and often inclined to 

 do some of tue planning as well. 



The Marguerite is a shai-pie built entirely of yellow pine. Her 

 dimensions are as follows: 



Ft. In. 



Length over all 20 00 



Greatest beam (on deck) 6 07 



Greatest beam (on bottom) 5 03 



Breadth of stern (ou deck) 5 07 



Breadth of stern (on bottom). 4 01 



Depth at bow 8 00 



Depth amidal i ips 1 08 



Depth at stern 10 



Rise of bottom from after end of centerboard box 



to stern 10 



Rise of bottom from after end of centerboard box 



to bow 04 



Length of centerboard 6 06 



Drop of board 3 06 



Length of rudder 2 06 



Width 01 rudder 1 02 



Di^ance of mainmast from bow i 00 



Tlie rudder is hung on an iron fork passing through the boat at 

 a point one foot from the stern, and ha /ing very I ttle if any rake, 

 alter the manner of balance rudders. Just aft the rudder post is 

 a step for a driver mast. There are two skags, one reaching from 

 the centerboard aft to rudder with greatest width lOin. and one 

 reaching from centerboard forward ^\'ith greatest width 4in. 

 This last put on at the urgent advice of Creole builders, but in my 

 opinion only useful in receisang the wear and tear of scraping on 

 oyster shell reefs when we suddenly bump on them. While build- 

 ing we were visited by several Creole builders, and by one Nor- 

 wegian ^vho has been very successful v/ith small sailboats. All 

 agreed that she would be fast and able, though they had never 

 Been one like her. The Creoles are very skillful builders of "sail- 

 ing skiffs" as they call them; being in fact sharpies with shallow 

 keel aud a good deal of deadrise, as ^v^ell as considerable spring to 

 the bottom. They are generally cat or lugger rigged. 



When our boat was finished the season was so far advanced that 

 we concluded to try her -with a jury rig. I found an old catboat 

 sail, 8ft. hoist, 13ft. on the ga/I and 19ft. on tlie boom, a ragged, 

 baggyi villainous old sail, and a small jib about 8ft. long aud 5ft. 

 in greatest width. Tliese I fastened on to her spar with such odds 

 and ends of ropes and marlin as came handy. I forgot to mention 

 ttiat siie is decked for 7ft. forward, 4ft. aft and 6in. on each side, 

 and has a Sin. coaming. , 



Our first trip was iu a furious gale, so that we had to double reef 

 mainsail, and the mast was nearly carried away at that. Yet we 

 found that she was very stable and only wet her lee rail in the 

 strongest puffs when held to it witliout easing sheet. She is about 

 the hardest boat to knock down and the quickest to recover that I 

 ever saw, and handles easily in every respect; takes little water on 

 board in a sea, goes right along if there is ever so little breeze, and 

 is very fast according to such tests as we could obtain. 



We sailed trials against a number of boats, all larger than she. 

 Only one of these ^va3 able to beat her. That was a catboat, 2ft. 

 longer, and with a racing sail and shifting ballast, and in a light 

 breeze. With a good breeze this boat could not come out at all 

 owing to her great spread of canvas. A catboat of New York 

 build, and a very good one too, \vitl\ a very fine well-setting sail, 

 sailed against us several times. This boat was 21ft. long and 9 or 

 loft wide. Vfith the wind abeam we sailed at tbe rate of 8 miles 

 an hour on the first trial, and beat her, as we also did with lighter 

 winds. With stronger winds she could beat us, owing, as I tnmk, 

 to her greater weight. Yet we could stay out vsdth comfort in a 

 blow that would swamp her. Our trials were had on all points 

 of sailing, and we were agreeably surprised at the way tbe Mar- 

 guerite would go to windward. On one occasion we sailed 6 miles 

 in forty minutes. Our course was B. S. E. with the vnud south. 

 Two miles of the distance was in a channel sheltered by a marsh 

 where the water was smooth. The rest was across the broad 

 water and in a very lively sea, -with short sharp wares sucii as one 

 gets in shoal water. We carried about l,0001bs. of ballast and 

 crew, and the boat's rail never came down to the water, even when 

 we caught a sudden puff. _ . , j. •, 



I am soon going to try the Marguerite under a new suit of sails, 

 vawl rig, and hope to see her do even better. I shall certainly 

 write you of the result. J Ohn M. Tbacy. 



HELEN.— Mr. C. D. Middleton's schooner Helen, of Philadel- 

 phia, arrived at Beaufort, N. C, on Dec. 26, -if ter being ashore for 

 some days in Core Sound. She is bound from Philadelphia for 

 the South. Magnolia, steam yaclit, also from Philadelphia, tor 

 Nassau, N. P., arrived at Beaufort on the same day, alter ground- 

 ing in tho North River. 



YACHTING IN CUBA.— m SpoH, the sporting paper of Havana, 

 devotos a part of its space to yachting each week. In the last 

 issue to hand, Dec, 9, it publishes a translation into Spanish of the 

 de9cripti©a oi tli» Th»ti8 given some time siace m our colurons. 



MIDSHIP SECTIiHI* 



THOSE PLANS OF THE THISTLE. 



ON Saturday last the Boston Herald published a partial cabin 

 plan, an outline of the sheer plan and a midship section of a 

 yacht of 80ft. L. Vv^.L., 95f t. over all, 16ft. beam, and 14ft. draft, which 

 It claimed were autlientic plans of the new Scotch yacht Thistle. 

 That they were obtained from Mr. Watson is not stated, though it 

 is intimated that they were given to the Glasgow correspondent 

 of the paper; but it is stated tliat they bear the stamp of Mr. Wat- 

 son's olfiee, with the date Nov. 33, 1886. Accompanying the draw- 

 ings are partial specifications for building. The drawings, re- 

 ceived in Boston Dec, 24, must have left Glasgow by Dec. 14, about 

 which time Mr. Watson had declined to give to Mr. Burgess the 

 wateiiine length of the new boat; so it is not to be supposed that 

 at that very time he was giving out the plans to a newsp^er. 

 How the plans, if they came as stated, from Mr. Watson's oflSce, 

 were obtained, we do not know; but an inspection of the drawings 

 and accompanying description gives every reason far the belief 

 that they are not what they purport to be. If furthei- proof were 

 needed, it is found in the following cablegrams. The Forest and 

 Stream cabled to Mr. Watson, last Monday, Dec. 27: 



"Plans of Thistle in Boston Herald 80ft. waterline, Ibft. beam. 

 Are they authentic?" ^ „„ „ , 



Mr. Watson's answer was received Tuesday, Dec. 28. He cabled: 

 "Quite impossible that Herald can liave true plans." 

 It is evident from this that the plans in any case must have been 

 obtained without the designer's knowledge or consent, aud from 

 their appearance we should say that they, as weU as the specifica- 

 tions accompanving them, if not entirely fraudulent, are simply 

 rough drafts given out for the purpose of making estimates, per- 

 haps of the Thistle, perhaps of some other yacht, and obtained 

 from some builder in violation of the rules of professional courtesy 

 observed by designers and builders generally. That there is sonie- 

 thing wrong about the whole matter is evident, and until it is 

 cleared up the mystery as to Thistle's dimensions remains as deep 

 as ever. The plans given by the Herald are reprinted above. 



OFF FOR FLORID A.— Lieut, and Mrs. Henn left New York for 

 Florida last week. They will cruise and fish there through the 

 winter, returning in time for the yachting season fter«. 



THE NEW BRITISH RATING. 



WE learn from private advices that the proposed rule— 

 L.W.L.X Sail Area 

 6000. 



has been adopted at the Y. R. A. meeting on Dec. 14, and the old 

 tonnage rule is a thing of the past. The new rule is, no doubt, an 

 improvement on the old, but is objectionable as retaining the 

 indefinite unit of tons, which with each change in the rules 

 means, if possible, less than it did before. 



The new rule is so framed as to keep the "sail tons" approxi- 

 mately near tho old Y. R. A. tonnage, so that a 20 tonner is still 

 practically a 20 tonner; but if, as is claimed, the rule is practically 

 identical with the Seawanhaka rule— 

 L.+ yS. A. 

 2 



it is difficult to see any good reason for retaining the meaningless 

 term tms, instead of adopting a rating as well as a ola-jsiflcation 

 like the Seawanhaka, which, while the result is the same, is far 

 simpler and more definite as to the size of a yacht. Tho new rule 

 goes into operation for seven years, at least. 



A DESIGN FOR A LENGTH AND SAIL AREA RACER.-It 

 seems probable that as soon as the dimensions of the Taistle are 

 accurately known several yachts of her size will be built here, 

 especially if that size brings her within the second class. In tlie 

 meantime yachtsmen are engaged in the consideration of variotis 

 designs with a view to buildmg. Wo would call the attention of 

 those interested in such matters to a new design which we believe 

 is well worth a careful inspection and one that possess many ex- 

 cellent features. It is the work of Mr. Wm. Gardner, a young 

 American, a graduate of Cornell University, who lias been for 

 several years in England as a student of naval architecture under 

 the most advantageous circumstances. Late in the year 1885 Mr, 

 Gardner sent a design to tlie New York Y. C, of a yacht to defend 

 the America's Cup and last year he sent over another and newer 

 one. The drawings were on the lost Oregon and were several 

 months in coming to hand, being finally lit-hed up and delivered iu 

 a somewhat damaged condition. On a visit to New York this 

 summer Mr. Gardner brought out the model, which wnth the draw- 

 ings and speciDcations, is now at tho otTice of Mr. J. Murray Mit- 

 chell, the lawyer, 41 Wall street, where Mr. Mitchell, who is an 

 enthusiastic lover of yachting, seems to be very happy to have 

 yachtsmen examine it. The leading dimensions are: Length on 

 waterline, 84ft.; beam, extreme, 18ft. 9in.; on waterline, 13ft.; draft 

 13ft. The stem is of clipper proportions with even more than the 

 usual overhang, but of very gracef .d shapa. The overhang aft is 

 also quite long and carried out to an edge, while the sheer is fair 

 and pleasing to tlie eye. Tlio specifications, which are very care- 

 fully drawn, call for a composite hull of *he lughest quality with 

 aU ballast on the keel, the weight of the hull proper being kept as 

 low as possible, while strength is fully provided tor by a thorough 

 system of bracing. Of course the yacht is a keel boat and a cut- 

 ter, but she is very different from the extreme British type in the 

 feature of beam. With over 3ft. more tlian Gonosta or Galatea 

 she has increased stability, a much wider deck for working simrs, 

 and more room below, her cabin plans showing a wonderful amount 

 of accommodation. Tlie plans show a cutter rig of moderate area 

 only, but the immersed surface is also kept down. The increased 

 beam permits a very different form from the extreme cutter, a 

 boat with fairly rounded sides aud with none of the flattening seen 

 in the tonnage rule boats, wliich form certainly promises speed. 

 The design is of the type we have of late alluded to, a cutter liuilt 

 outside of the rules that have produced Irex, Genesta and Doris; 

 but embodying the best points of the American and British models 

 while of less extreme proportions than either. Of course it is suit- 

 able for a smaller yacht, either 70 or 50ft., for second or third class, 

 with some modifications as the size decreases. Mr. Gardner's 

 work deserves recognition not only from tlie merit of the design, 

 but because he is an American who is working quietly, but stead- 

 ily for the improvement of our national type. There are plenty of 

 yachtsmen able and willing to build, wlio could put their money 

 in this design with a reasonable assurance of a full return, rather 

 than risking it on the ordinary block model of which only too 

 many failures will suggest themselves. 



EXPERIMENTS ON Y''ACHT MODELS.— An English exchange 

 say's: "Mr. R. S. Fronde (owuer and designer of the Jenny Wren), 

 who conducts the Admiralty experimental works, lately removed 

 from Torquay to Gosport, is about to make some exhaustive 

 experiments wdth models of sailing yachts of various types, includ- 



as many others of different property ^ 



kno-^vn ability and great experience, as well as his exceptional 

 opportunities of experimenting with models of every kmd, there 

 is little doubt that he will collect much valuable data, from which 

 a tolerably accurate opinion can be formed as to tho best propor- 

 tions of length, breadth and depth calcidated to produce the fast- 

 est type of yacht under the proposed new rating by sail tons." 



THE RADHA LAWSUIT.-On Dec. 21 the jury in the suit of 

 Seymour against LoriUard brought in a sealed verdict, giving the 

 sum of S5,7o0 to Mr. Sej-mour. 



Two remarkable specimens of deformed fish, says Nativre, 

 were taken from a rearing pond at Delaford, and brought to 

 the South Kensington Aquarium. One is a trout about 

 three years old, whose tail is bent to such an extreme that it 

 stands at right angles with the body of the fish. Its mode 

 of progress Is labored, and its appearance is very peculiar. 

 The other specimen is an ordinary stickleback, measuring 

 4in. in length, whose body is swollen through dropsy to the 

 extent of liu. in diameter. At first sight its appearance 

 is similar to a young mouse, and it requires close inspection 

 to grasp the fact that it is a fish. It moves very slowly, 

 with great expenditure of force, the weight of the contorted 

 body being considerable. 



"Forest and Stream" Fables (seven of them with a like num- 

 ber of illustrations) are for tlie edification of the wise and the 

 instruction of the foolish. In this journal they are advertised tor 

 the wise. The foolish we cannot reach. The Fables are sent post- 

 paid ou i-eoeipt of ten ceata. 



