286 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 11, 1888, 



NEW YORK C. C. CHALLENGE CUP. 



THE international races for the New York C. C. cup will be 

 sailed on Saturday next off the house of the New York C. C., 

 at Stapleton, Staten Island, the first race being called at 10 A. M. 

 and the second at 2 P. M. The extra open races will he started 

 immediately after the cup races. Mr. Butler has sent the Fly 

 down and will enter the open races, while Mr. Warder will sail 

 the If. 



CHARM. 



THE races which will take place on New York Bay this week 

 cannot fail to be interesting, the two competitors being the 

 fastest boats of America and England respectively: but at the 

 same time the contest is less important than that of 1886, m that 

 there is no special issue involved, the boats being of the same 

 type, though of different model. Unlike Pearl and Nautilus, the 

 previous competitors, the Charm was designed to carry no ballast 

 and displace as little as possible, her total displacement being no 

 more than the ballast of the older boats. The races of 1886, both 

 at Grindstone and New York, demonstrated beyond possible 

 question the great superiority of light displacement, fine form, 

 and the deck position over heavy displacement, full and bulky 

 models, and the lying down position, the two English boats being 

 decisively beaten* in every race. On his return to England Mr. 

 Walter Stewart, who sailed the two Pearl canoes, at once set to 

 work on the design for a new canoe, on the principles of the 

 American craft, the boat being built under his direction in the 

 winter of 1886-7. 



The Charm, as she was named, raced in all the regattas of the 

 Royal C. C. in 1887 and 1888, with great success, winning the 

 challenge cup each year and proving her superiority to the old 

 heavy ballast canoes still used by the R. C. C. In the spring of 

 the present year a challenge was sent to the New York C. C. for 

 the cup offered bv them in 1886, and Mr. Stewart also came out in 

 time to sail in the races of the A. C. A. at Lake George. In these 

 the Charm made but a poor showing, being beaten by several 

 American canoes. Since then she has been altered and improved 

 in some respects, and is likely to make a better showing in the 

 matches against one boat than against the fleet, but at the same 

 time she has little chance of outsailing Eclipse after the way in 

 which the latter defeated her at the meet. Eclipse will be sailed 

 by her owner, Mr. Reginald S. Blake, Brooklyn C. C, instead pf 

 Mr. Brokaw, who sailed her at the meet, but either is fully 

 capable of doing full justice to the good qualities of the boat. 



A comparison of the accompanying lines with the many others 

 published in the Fouest and Stkeam, Notus, Vesper, Pecowsic, 

 Guenn, Vagabond, Snake, Lassie and Sunbeam, will show that 

 while similar to some of them in displacement and general fea- 

 tures, the Charm differs very much in model, being unlike any in 

 her midship section and also in the distribution of the displace- 

 ment. There is, however, a striking resemblance in some respects 

 between her and the Vagabond. The designers of the two boats, 

 though working far apart and in ignorance of each other's work, 

 had each the same ends in view, the reduction of displacement to 

 the lowest possible limit, with a maximum of stability and mini- 

 mum of frictional surface. The dimensions are different, the 

 Charm (15.2^+31) being shorter and wider than the Vagabond 

 (18x29), hut the two drawings have been reduced to the same 

 actual size, so that a direct comparison can easily be made. 



The actual length of Charm is 15ft. 2^in., but she is shown as 

 15ft. for the following reason: The writer has for some time 

 adopted the plan of making all drawings of ordinary canoes of 

 length of 15ft. to scale, whatever the actual length may be. 

 The lengths of canoes vary within small limits, from 14ft. 6in. to 

 16ft.; an average being 15ft., so for the purpose of comparison all 

 designs are enlarged or reduced, as the case may require, to this 

 length; the beam being unchanged. All stations are spaced 1ft. 

 apart, all level lines 2in. apart, and the three bow and buttock 

 lines are spaced a distance apart equal to one-eighth of the beam. 

 In making a new design the same length, 15ft. is taken, so that a 

 direct comparison may be made with many other designs of the 

 same actual size; the lines of the canoe being first drawn, after 

 which a second drawing is made, showing all details and fittings 

 such as centerboard. masts, bulk jeads, etc. In making this latter 

 drawing it is expanded or contracted, as required, to the dimen- 

 sions of the prrposed canoe, say 16ft. instead 15. A little extra 

 drawing is involved, but this is more than paid for by the bene- 

 fits arising from a more thorough study of the design; a good 

 thine, of which there cannot be too much, as it is always easier 

 to remedy errors in a pencil line than in a plank or timber. 



In making a plate for printing from the drawing by the pro- 

 cess of photo-engraving, any degree of reduction is possible. In 

 the case of the Vagabond, Aug. 16, 1888, the lines were drawn to a 

 length of 30in., the scale being 2in. to the foot., while the plan 

 showing well and fittings was made 32in. long, equal to 16ft. 

 Both drawings were afterward reduced by photography to the 

 same actual length, that of a column. An inspection of the 

 drawings will show that the arrangement plans are really a little 

 smaller, both in breadth and depth, than the lines; having been 

 reduced a little more in order to make the lengths the same. In 

 practice this makes no difference, as all measurements except 

 the position of bulkheads, etc., in a fore and aft direction will be 

 taken from the lines, especially from the enlarged body plan. 



The designed displacement was 2501bs.; hull 100, board 28, fittings 

 12, and crew HOibs., but she now displaces more than this. This 

 displacement is distributed as in the Vagabond, according to the 

 wave form theory; but the bow has been made as fine as a curve 

 of versed sines, the run being proportionately full. The midship 

 section is in the same position in each, but Vagabond has a much 

 fuller bow and correspondingly finer stern. The midship section 

 of the Charm is a marked departure from that of American 

 canoes, being a triangle, with a very sharp turn to the bilge, all 

 the sections being triangles, in fact it is practically that of the 

 common "skipjack." As in the Vagabond, all superfluous dead- 

 wood has been cut away, the keel being much rockered. 



There are three bulkheads, one just abaft the mainmast in the 

 extreme bow. There were originally two hatches in the fore deck 

 abreast the trunk, but they have been removed since the meet, a 

 new fore deck being laid. Abaft the well is a large deck hatch, 

 held down by four thumb screws, one at each corner. Inside the 

 hatch two movable beams are fitted so as to slip into place, each 

 beam having a nut in each end. The thumb screws fit these nuts, 

 holding the hatch down, but in practice it is not watertight, in 

 spite of a lining of felt around the joint. The fore hatches were 

 fitted with screws and movable beams in the same way, but they, 

 too, proved leaky. The 

 lately been replaced b„ 

 English drop rudder has 

 as shown last week, the plate dropping very deep. The upper 

 brace is also slightly different, the slot being omitted, leaving the 

 brace solid. The rudder stock is passed up from below, a key way 

 being cut in the brace to permit the passage of the small stud on 

 the rudder stock. After the rudder is shipped the rudder nead, a 

 grooved brass wheel, is put in place on it. 



The deck gear consists of a wooden wheel 9in. in diameter, 

 turning on a brass pin. This pin is mounted in a block o, which 

 slides between two guides h to, screwed to the top of the hatch. A 

 thumb screw on the after side of the sliding block serves to press 

 it forward, thus tightening the tiller chains. The arrangement 

 is ingenious, but as fitted it is rather clumsy and not entirely 

 satisfactory. The floor of the canoe is covered with a handsome 

 grating 4ft. 6in.Xlft. 2in., made of ash and mahogany. It looks 

 well, but is much more expensive than the ordinary thin floor 

 boards, while the added weight is an item. 



The Charm is ribband carvel built, but with the ribbands run- 

 ning inside and not outside of the ribs. The former are %in. 

 wide and %in. deep, of oval form, the ribs being but r 'i 6 X 3 i 8 , 

 spaced ±}im. The ribbands are first fastened to the frame and 

 moulds, then the light ribs are jogged into the ribbands and keel, 

 after which the planks are laid. The keel is of spruce lin. thick, 

 and 3J4in. wide inside and iMin. on bottom. A heavy iron keel 

 band J4X1J4 was used, but was removed prior to the races at the 

 meet. The stem and stern are oak knees. The planking is of 

 Spanish cedar a full 3 lfs ir\. thick, thus making a very light hull. 

 The deck edge is protected by a half-round bead of American 

 elm. The garboards only are in whole lengths, all the other 

 strakes being butted. The deck beams are spaced 9in. The well 

 is open, with no hatches, a cleat board with six cleats being fitted 

 in the fore end of the coaming. The mast tubes are each l%m. in 

 diameter. There is no foot-steering gear and only a small single 

 blade paddle is carried. The workmanship on the boat is very 

 good throughout, though the hard turn to the bilge and the light 

 ribs and planking make a difficult boat to build. The vig, 

 which we will show later, consists of two balance lugs 84 and 16ft., 

 the mizen being trimmed by a bumpkin, as shown. 

 The dimensions are: 



Length .• 15ft. 



Beam, extreme ■ dlin. 



Beam, l.w.l 29Min. 



Draft 5in. 



Freeboard Kin. 



Sheer, bow &Wn. 



Sheer, stern 3 l Ain. 



Displacement as designed 2501bs. 



