soo 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 3, 1888. 



BRITISH CANOEING. 



THERE can be no doubt as to "building activity" in regard to 

 canoeing -on the Thames; but what maybe doing in other cen- 

 ters and in private "yards" is as vet a sealed book; but if, as we 

 may suspect, there is good work also goiug forward in the coun- 

 try, no doubt shortly some hardv hand will give his fellow canoers 

 au idea of what is being "created" in his district. As usual at 

 this early time of year, a great many new boats am being "talked 

 ol," and if all were built it is certain the Royal C. C. accommoda- 

 tion would need to be doubled. As it is, however, a steady refill- 

 ing of the stocks at Mr. Turk's, as new keel succeeds finished craft, 

 speaks well for coming sport. At the present moment there is 

 in the finishing shop a trio of canoes of about as neat a treble dif- 

 ference without distinction as ever puzzled the political critic 

 of the celebrated "three courses" doctrine. The lines of each 

 canoe are, comparative to past canoes of the same class, straight; 

 not, however, in fact "straight" from a naval architect's point of 

 view. 



"Severn's Sister," of the tlrree, exhibits the greatest amount of 

 "design" and study. She exemplifies — if, indeed, example be 

 needed— that, in modern canoe model, nothing now exists between 

 "first class" and "second class," except that second class by R. C. 

 C. rules must be "clench" build. It maybe answered, "But sec- 

 ond class are limited also to 75sq. ft. of sail and 2001bs. total weight." 

 Quite so; but, except the "clench" build, there is no reason 

 why a second class hull should be raced with success against first 

 class. 



Some of the most successful canoes in American racing comply 

 in either or both ways with our second class limits. Pecowsic, 

 for instance, has sailed all her races, getting far and away ahead 

 of other craft, under a sail plan of T2sq. ft., with a beam of 29in., 

 and a total weight considerably under 2001bs.; she has beaten 

 canoes of similar length which carried as much as 120sq. ft. of 

 sail. Then Vesper, of America, was nothing but what could be 

 produced in our second class — a clincher or lap-steak hull, quite 

 light, with a small plate and no ballast, and a moderate sail area. 



Then we may turn to Charm in England last season, and what 

 was the general cry-out against her? That she was too small — a 

 mere bottom of a canoe, with a deck jammed on. But she sailed 

 well, and thereby created— well, not friends. Does any man in 

 sober sense believe that, if Charm had been constructed of clincher 

 build instead of carvel, that she would have been appreciably less 

 fast? Charm, under her smaller rig, during the first matches of 

 last season, could not get to the front, but she altered to 30ft. 

 main, pro 40; and, query, would not several of our second class 

 canoes, under a similar increase of sail plan, make a decidedly 

 hot time of it for some of the first class? 



It will naturally follow as a question, Why do they make it 

 hotter for firsts? Without hesitation the answer is, Because they 

 are not fitted up to racing mark. Toy shop fitting and construc- 

 tion of steering gear and rudders will not hold under a sufficient 

 press of sail to get the requisite pace. It is no good having a tail 

 if you have not sufficient backbone to wag it. A little closer at- 

 tention to such detail as deck tiller fittings, yoke ropes and foot 

 straps, will put a canoe further ahead in a race than many feet of 

 canvas would. 



Now to return to Severn's Sister. She is presumably intendeTl 

 to be a "second class"—?'. e„ if, when fitted out completely, she 

 manages to keep within the 2001bs. She is a long, easy-lined 

 craft, of very good-looking model. Her stem has perhaps a little 

 too much of the river rowboat rake about it; but that may be 

 graceful to some educations. She is "Clench" built, and the 

 "lands" may be said to hardly exist, so carefully have they been 

 fined down. Her bottom strakes are of oak, and the topsides 

 mahogany. She has an easy bilge, turning out of a good, but by 

 no means fiat, floor. Her good qualities will be mainly found in 

 her model or form. The ;arrangement of her inside is peculiar, 

 and though probably it has "reason" everywhere, it certainly 

 conflicts strongly with many generally appreciated cruising no- 



tions. For instance, from the after bulkhead— which is far aft— 

 she is open below deck until close up to the bows, where there is 

 a quasi collision bulkhead. Hence, unless two air tanks are to be 

 carried forward, the canoe, if capsized, would certainly be in a 

 very critical position; for with the center plate, the mast weight, 

 and presumably some baggage all forward, she would tertainly 

 sink so much by the head that the little fore hatch and the mast 

 case would be under water, and the buoyancy of that compart- 

 ment, small as it is in any case, wouid be lost in a minute or two 

 by its filling up. 



The result would be that, the stern end would, so long only as 

 the locker lid resisted the influx of water, stand up like a Maplin 

 Sand buoy; and she would only survive while the hatchway kept 

 clear above water; but it is close up to the bulkhead, hence, as a 

 fact as to displacement, the hatch would probably be partly sub- 

 merged at an early stage, and all this without allowing the weight 

 of the crew to be on board. 



This is pointed out, not as a defect in the boat, but in her inter- 

 nal arrangement. It can easily be remedied by inserting carefully 

 fitted air cases on each side of the center-plate case forward; but, 

 on the whole, practical men will generally advocate that for so 

 small and fragile a craft as a canoe to, as safely as possible, en- 

 counter the risks of venturesome voyages, a first principle is that 

 she shall be so constructed as to undoubtedly survive an ordinary 

 capsize in moderate weather. The Severn's Sister is fitted for 

 tandem crew, and displays a lot of room for sleeping accommoda- 

 tion; but, so far, she is only in the "varnishing" stage, hence none 

 of her fittings are in place. 



A somewhat similar canoe, hut again differing in mode of fit- 

 ment, is the Isa— larger-looking in hull than many a first class 

 canoe. She has the same, or nearly so, disposition of bulkheads 

 and lockers, but differs in hatchways. 



The Isa, like the Severn's sister, is a single-plate canoe, and in 

 each case the plate is very far forward; but probably a good bal- 

 ance of sail will be attained by setting only a small mizen, and 

 having also a powerful drop-plate rudder. 



A very different craft is the new Shaughraun— a much smaller 

 boat in looks; for, though her leading dimensions come out not 

 much below those of the other two, she has less bilge and finer 

 and lower ends, which considerably reduces her in bulk. At pres- 

 ent she is not fitted for the "crew on deck" position of sailing; 

 but it is a safe prediction to say that, for second class racing, 

 where next to no ballast can be carried— owing to the 2001b. limit 

 —the crew will have to take the deck position. She has compara- 

 tively a round floor, and very little of it; and, with the crew bal- 

 ancing out to the windward, she should prove a very fast craft. 

 She is fitted with two center-plates, one forward and one aft; the 

 balance thereby obtained will enable her to carry the compara- 

 tively large mizen she has; but it has been clearly demonstrated 

 in practice that the use of two plates, one in front of the other 

 (practically at the two ends of the boat), deadens everv moment 

 in maneuvering, and is detrimental to Adding her up to wind- 

 ward. The after-plate, where the canoe is very much cut up aft. 

 is almost an essential in running in a heavy sea, especially if 

 the forward plate is placed considerably forward of the mid- 

 length. 



The Shaughraun exhibits some of Turk's neatest work, both in 

 build and fittings, and her sails and rigging are all that practical 

 seamanship, apart from fancy work, can desire. She has a nar- 

 row well with the coamings running to a breakwater point for- 

 ward. She has a watertight bulkhead forward, but a very long 

 way forward; hence if she filled by a capsize it would be an ex- 

 tremely doubtful question if she would float for even a short 

 length of time with her crew on board. Her after bulkhead has 

 a door in it, and unless that door can be made and kept perfectly 

 water-tight, it might as well be a grating for all the floating 

 qualities it gives. Of course doors and locker hatches can be 

 made perfectly water-tight by washer sides and screw pressure, 

 but as generally fitted with India rubber they soon become inef- 

 fective. 



With the modern position of the skipper sitting out on the side 

 deck, with his toes tucked under a batten or strap in the lee 

 bilge, a capsize with the wind abeam or forward of the beam is 

 almost an impossibility with steady wind; and should a sudden 

 squall beam-end the canoe, and the canoe is so constructed as to 

 water-tight bulkheads as to be not more than 6ft. length in middle 

 compartment, all that the skipper need do is to haul down his 

 mainsail (by its downhaul) and to heave the canoe upright by his 

 own balance, and he will probably not get wet above his ankles. 



One feature of the second class canoe is supposed to be its com- 

 parative cheapness to build, but it must be borne in mind that 

 this is mainly dependent on the mode of building and the nature 

 of the fittings. If a design drawing is to be carefully followed 

 within a sixteenth of an inch, or an attempt thereto; frames or 

 moulds to be actually taken from the body plan and set up a foot 

 apart; the plank made to go as decided by the design, and not as 

 mere "eye" or sweet bend of the plank suggests— a canoe so built, 

 though clincher, will cost almost as much as a carvel ribband- 

 built canoe. She will never look the same finish or model; in- 

 deed the model cannot be carried out with any fair degree of 

 accuracy in clincher-build in so small a craft. Clincher-build is 

 also more difficult for an amateur or a house carpenter to mend, 

 should a fracture be made when out of reach of a professional 

 boat builder. 



The fittings in the later second-class canoes are an immense 

 advantage on the early craft. Copper keel and stem bands 

 are now fitted; "lifting eye bolts" are added to stem and stern, 

 clutch deck tillers, yellow metal center plates, and when you 

 come to add gratings as floor boards, and cleat racks and drop 

 plate brass rudders, it will be found that there is very little dif- 

 ference in cost between a second and first class canoe. But let a 

 man try sleeping afloat one night in a "smooth skin" and one 

 night in "clencher build." If there is the slightest ripple, the 

 "rip rap" all night on the clench "lands" will determine, him 

 never to patronize that build again for cruising, and if not for 

 cruising, what is it good for?— London Field. 



NORRISTOWN, Pa.-The first regatta of the Norristown C. C. 

 took place April 28. It is the intention to have races every Satur- 

 day afternoon throughout the season. There are four races on 

 the programme, but the sailing race for canvas canoes did not fill 

 to-day. The course is one-half mile with a turn. The wind was 

 light southwesterly, making it a beat to the buoy and a run home. 

 First race, sailing, wooden canoes: 



Dimensions. Start. Finish. 



Gracie, E. A. Leopold 12ft,x34in. 4 10 00 4 20 25 



Princess, Chas. Wainwright. .l.ift.xSGin. 4 10 00 4 26 08 



Second race, single paddling: 

 Bertha, F. H. Preston. .12ft. X26 in. 4 45 00 4 49 45 

 Vivian. Jay C. Knipe.. . 9ft. 10in.x£3^in. 4 45 00 4 50 CO 

 Restless, Benj. Davis ... .14ft. 3in.x2H in. 4 45 00 4 50 05 



Tne above are canvas canoes built by amateurs. 



Third race, tandem paddling: 

 Princess, Oscar Brant and Chas. Wainwright.5 27 00 5 31 14 

 Restless, H. S. Barnes and C. H. Egbert 5 27 00 5 31 27 



Tne prizes are silk flags to go to the canoe winning the greatest 

 number of times during the season. Judge, Benjamin Davis. 



BRITISH CAN OS ASSOCIATION.-Com. Gibson and Mr. W. 

 C. Stephens have been elected honorary members of the B. 

 P. A. 



Canvas Canoes and how to Build Them. By Parker B. Field. 

 Price SO cents. Canoe and Boat Building. By W. P. Stephens. 

 Price $1.50. TJie Canoe Aurora. By C. A. Neide. Price $1. Came 

 Handling. By C. B. Yaur. Price $1. Canoe and Camera. By T. 

 S. Steele. Pr ice 1.50. Four Months in a Sneahbo-x. By N.H. Bishop. 

 Price $1.50. Canoe, and Camp Cookery. By "Seneca." Price $1. 



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