[Jan. 28, 18*8. 



DESIGN FOE RACING CANOE 



SAIL PLAN— KACING CANOE. 



A NEW RACING CANOE. 



WE reproduce from the Yachtsman the accompanying design 

 for a racing canoe, the sail nt«n being disposed of according 

 to the rule and practice in England, the mainsail much larger 

 than the mfzen. The hull which is to carry this sail plan is cut 

 away aft accordingly. 



HARTFORD C, C. 



THE annual reunion and dinner of the H. C. C. took place at 

 The Heubleiu on Jan. 23. The tables were handsomely deco- 

 rated with the colors of the A C. A. and the Hartford, Motncan 

 and Springfield clubs. By the side of eafh plate was a small, 

 miniature white satin flag, bearing the sailing to<em of the club— 

 a red star and ere cent. The menu was printed on white satin, 

 headed by the club totem. The banquet was served at 8 P.M., 

 and thirty six members and guests sat down to one of the app;- 

 tizing spreads for which this hostelry is famous. The following 

 prominent oanoemen were guest= of the club: Com. Winne and 

 W. Howard Brown, of Albany: F. A. Nickerson, A. R. Patterson, 

 E. C. Knappe and Mr. Pardons, of the Springfield club were also 

 present. Patterson's Submarine Band, consisting of banjos, 

 guitars and mandolins, did good work during the evening in en- 

 livening the assembly Pres. Parnell, in a neat and pithy speech, 

 introduced Com. Winne, who did his duty by the Association in a 

 very effective speech, at the same, time expressing his p'easure at 

 being present. By special rf quest the " Controlling Influences of 

 Drink." and "Mc Fluffy 'a Canoe" were delightfully rendered. 

 The Com. was elected an honorary member of the if. C. C. and 

 presented with a silk flag of this club. Mr. Niekerson gave some 

 ideas f>f canoeing and camping at the annual meets; the same 

 " Old Nick." Mr. Brown was called upon, and as usual was most 

 interesting in his remarks. The dinner was a great success 

 throughout, and will be long remembered as a most pleasant 

 affair. Though the Commodore's stay in Hartford was necessa- 

 rily short, it is very apparent already that his visit did much to 

 strengthen and enlarge the firm hold wh'ch the Association has 

 in this vicinity. 



NARRAGANSETT BOAT CLUB.-Providence, R. I„ Jan. 20.- 

 Editor Forest and Stream: At the annual meeting of this club on 

 Jan. 12 the following offit ers were elected for the ensuing year; 

 Board of Governors: Pres., Hiram Kendall; Viee-Pres., John 

 Shepard, Jr.; Sec'y, Chas. E. Hudson; Treas., Cbas. W. Rhodes; 

 Capr., Chas. H. Gurne> : Lieut., Frank A. Sheldon; G vernors, 

 James S. Aborn, Alonzo E, Flint, Stephen Waterman; Auditor, 

 Frauk Bo wen. The Dast year nas bet-n one of uriequaled success not- 

 withstanding the boating season has been short owing to the late- 

 ness in completing our new boat house (-milt to replace the old 

 one des'royed by fire on Dec. 6, 1890;. Our membership has in- 

 creased very much, owing greatly to the new 1 ouse and elegantly 

 eguipppd navy; also to the easy accommodations for reaching 

 there, only ten minutes ride from the i enter of the city. Our 

 prospects are of tue brightest for ihe nest peason. Assuring you 

 of the high appreciation we have of your valued paper, I sm, 

 Ch as. E. Hudson, Sec'y. 



MOHICAN C. C —The annual meeting of the Mohican C. C. 

 formed ihe first Dart of a very pleasant eamptire of the club on 

 Jan. 15 at the residence of Mr. Howard Brown. The foll owing 

 officers were elected: Capt., C. W. Winni§; Mat?, Wro. Martin; 

 Purser, W. H. Hackett; member of Executive Com., Harry Miller. 

 The year has been a very successful one lor the Turtles, the mem- 

 bership of the club has increased, the finances are ir. a v<>ry satis- 

 factory condition, the purser's report showing an income of $1,- 

 868.04 and an expenditure of $1,211.37, leaving a good balance, and 

 the clun made a most treditabe slowing at the A. C. A. meet. 

 The members are already at work in preparation for a large rep- 

 resentation next August, and they are determined that the club 

 shall do credit to Us captain, Commodore Winne. 



WESTERN C. A— The Secretary-Treasurer of the W. C. A., 

 Mr. O. A. Woodruff, Dayton, O., will be glad to hear of canoeists 

 not members ot the W. C. A., or who have not attended the 

 meets; especially those in the vicinity of the coming camp in 

 Wisconsin. He "will furnish all information in regard to mem- 

 bership, transportation, etc. 



AN ANCIENT BRITISH CANOE. — A boatman named Swabey, 

 living at East M lesey, has just found in the bed of the Thames 

 at Hampton Court what appears to be a relic of early British 

 times— an ancient British canoe, made of the trunk of a tree, the 

 interior having been burned or scooped out. 



A. C. A. MEMBERSHIP.— Atlantic Division: Glentworth R. 

 Butler, M.D.; 0, R. Richards. 



UNDER ROYAL C. C. RULES. 



GOSSOON, cutter, Messrs. Adams' 40-footer, has been sold by 

 Stewart & Bmney to C. A. Morse, owner of the 30-footer Saracen 

 No. 2, who will use her for cruising. 



PURITAN C. C.-We have received a very tempting invitation 

 to the annual dinner of the Puritan C. C. on Jan. 30. 



lifting. 



Small Yachts. By C. P. Kunhardt. Price $10. Steam. Yachts and 

 Launches. By C. P. Kunhardt. Price $3. Yachts, Boats and 

 Canoes. By C. Stansfleld-Hicks. Price $3.59. Steam Machinery. Bi 

 Donaldson. Price $1.60. 



SIZE VS. QUALITY.— A striking instance of that worship of 

 mere size, which has worked such injury to yachting in the past, 

 is found in the recent action of the Nominating Committee of the 

 New York Y. C. in omit' ing the name of Vice-Commodore E. D. 

 Morgan from the list of nominees. Mr. Morgan is to-day one of 

 the most conspicuous figures in American yachting, not merely as 

 the owner of the most noted yacht since the days of the America, 

 but as the best representative of the younger and more active 

 racing element in the club. He has done more within the past 

 five years to promote the designing, building and racing of yachts 

 than any three other yachtsmen in the world, having in commis- 

 sion through the whole of each season a large private fleet of 

 steam craft and sailing yachts. To him is due at least a part of 

 the credit for the production of Gloriana, a yacht whose fame 

 exceeds even the famous Burgess trioof cupdefenders, and which 

 is probably the fastest yacht for her size afloat to-day. The omis- 

 sion of Vice-Commodore Morgan's name after he has filled the 

 office creditably for a year, and with most of the old officers re- 

 nominated, is emphasized by the fact that his proposed successor, 

 though an old and popular member of the club, is in no way 

 prominent as a representative of racing, cruising or other inter- 

 ests, but was chosen because he is a part owner of one of the older 

 schooners. The reason given for the change is that "by an un- 

 written law of the club" the commodore must be a steam yacht 

 owner and the vice-commodore a schooner owner. When elected 

 laot year Mr. Morgan was the owner of the huge schooner Constel- 

 lation, a yacht noted chiefly if not entirely for her size, and it now 

 appears that by the sale of this craft he has rendered himself in- 

 eligible for re-election, in spite of his present ownership of Glori- 

 ana. Two logical conclusions may be drawn from these facts, 

 that the club elects flagships rather than flag officers, and that 

 its unwritten laws are as badly in need of amendment as some of 

 the written ones. The sequel to the action of the Nominating 

 Committee will not be known until the election on Feb. 4, as an 

 opposition ticket, containing the names of Vice-Commodore Mor. 

 gan and Rear Commodore W. Butler Duncan, Jr., has been posted 

 in the club house. 



MINIMUM LIMITS TO BALLAST.— Among the many odd 

 proposals for the regulation of building and racing that have been 

 made within the past year in England, one of the most unreason- 

 able, as well as one of the latest, is to the effect that every yacht 

 must carry a weight of metal ballast equal to one ton for each 

 half unit of rating; thus a 20-rater, such as Jessica, would be com- 

 pelled to carry 10 tons, a 2J£-rater, such as Smuggler or Needle, 

 would be compelled to carry at least VA tons of lead. While, in 

 the event of the proposal being adopted, the limit might be placed 

 so low as to work no harm, the principle involved is a wrong one; 

 as it can hardly be disputed that the ideal yacht is the one which 

 carries the least possible weight of ballast consistent with safety 

 and speed. While we would never advocate the taxing of ballast' 

 at the same time the designer should be left perfectly free to pro- 

 duce the best possible craft with the least possible ballast. It is 

 possible that, some limitations may be necessary to meet the case 

 which has given rise to this curious proposal, but, whatever form 

 they may take, nothing but harm can come from a rule compell- 

 ing the general use of large propr rtions of ballast. 



MR. BURGESS AND HIS WORK.-On Jan. 12 Mr. W. E^ 

 WatThouse was present at a meeting of the Philadelphia Y. Q. 

 and delivered a very interesting talk on the subject of Mr. Bur- 

 gess and his work as a designer, including in his remarks much 

 of a practical nature concerning designing and construction. 



INSTRUCTION IN NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.— A correspon- 

 dent informs us that the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute 

 of Technology has this year added an elective course in naval 

 architecture to the fourth year studies in the mechanical course. 



THE "GLORIANA FISHERMAN."— From all accounts, the 

 new fisherman Jas. S Steele, known as the "Gloriana Fisherman" 

 from her peculiar model, has proved a great success, although not 

 ballasted in a way to do justice to her model. Her amateur de- 

 signer, Mr. T. F. McManus, has every reason to feel proud of her, 



MODERN SHEERPLANS. 



WHILE the midship is now, as it always has been, the most 

 important factor in yacht designing, it has been thrown 

 somewhat into the shade of latp, while fashion at least, and let us 

 hope something more substantia] in the way of science and com- 

 mon sense, has been busy with the sheer plan and lateral plane. 

 For many years under the influence of the tonnage rule in Eng- 

 land and various length or bnlk rules in America, the lateral 

 plane, and in fact the entire sheer plan, remained almost un- 

 changed, while the modifications of the midship sections were in- 

 numerable. From Musquito of 1848 to Vanessa in 1873 and Maggie 

 in 1878, and even later boats up to 1885, the sheer, overhang and 

 keel contour showed no marked differences; and in the same way 

 on this side the sloops and schooners of 1880 had the ident'cal snub 

 ends, rank sheer, straight keel and plumb sternpost of 1870 or 

 even 1860, The changes that were but gradual betwe°n 1880 and 

 1885, on hoth sides of the Atlantic, have become rapid and extreme 

 to a startling degree within three vears, the triangular outli ne in- 

 dicated in Thistle and realized in Minerva and Yarns, having been 

 followed by the abnormal ou' lines of Gloriana, the Rogers boat, 

 Dilemma and the British yachts of small rating: while even more 

 fantastic snapes are now "n paper and may be seen in wood and 

 lead by next Jtme. We take from the Field the following inter- 

 esting summary of the history oi the changes of sheer plan within 

 the last fifty years: 



" The attempts to introduce a very raking stem or keal forty 

 years ago did not generally succeed, although we had such notable 

 successes as America, Kitten and Lulworth. Indeed, the deep 

 gripe or fore-foot seemed to have so many ad vantages that the 

 square toe was fashionable until about a decade ago. The great 

 dtpth given to the new style of length-class boat about 1881, and 

 the now familiar teachings on surface friction and the repeated 

 enunciation of the fact that, if a vessel's head can quickly fall 

 off the wind, it can as quickly come to, had a great deal to do 

 with the gradual merging of the keel and stem into a straight 

 line. It is curious, however, to reflect that the notion of this ex- 

 isted in the inventive bra'n nf the late Lieutenant Demp3ter, of 

 the Indian Navy, and in 1846 he actually built himself a yacht 

 21 ft. on the water-line which literally had no keel, as keels were 

 then understood. He said ne took the idea from the 'grabs' and 

 dhows of the Gulf of Arab>a and Indian Archipelago, the only 

 difference between his vessel, the Problem, and tbo eastern 

 craft, being that he 'made the steropost rake at exactly the same 

 angle as the stem.' The yacht, was huilt of iron, and had lead 

 run into the lower part of her hull. Her mid-section was much 

 the same as that of a modern 2.5-rater, and she was 21ft. on the 



water-line, with a beam of 6ft. Bin. Lieut. Dempster's leading 

 idea in making his yacht's profile of this particular shape was 

 thus described by himself: ' Suppose that the angular hull is lying 

 over at an angle of SOleg,, then there is more length and body of 

 the vessel immersed lo leeward than there is to windward, and 

 the fluid acting powerfully upon a weather helm has a tendency 

 to press her bodily to windward.' Lieutenant Demoster had 

 thus something more than a mere glimmering of what actually 

 takes place when a vessel is by the wind and heeled at a consider- 

 able angle; and we might say that the subject is worked out with 

 more exactness in ' Yacht Architecture,' pages 72 and 76. 



'•The lat' St form of the triangular profile is shown by the 2 S 

 rater and the French yacht Lezard. 



" The raking stem and horizon ta 1 keel are very ancient arrange- 

 ments. They are to be met with in old Scandinavian vessels and 

 in men-of-war of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Von 

 Saefkow, of the German navy, adopted it for the numerous yachts 

 he designed between 18T5 and 1883, and we republish the profile of 

 a yacht he sent us in 1882. This profile is now being reproduced 

 by American designers, and it may ba said that the 30 footer Bo- 

 nina had a similar sort of kepi in 18*1— mwh modified in form, 

 but with a horizontal lead in view. The American 46 footer 

 building for Mr. Archibald Rrgers by Herresboff & Co., of Bristol. 

 Rhode Island, is the most advanced t\ pe of the horizontal keel 

 and raking stem, and a career is anticipated for her equal to that 

 of the Gioriana. The main advantages of this form of profile arc 

 that the weight of metal keel can be got very much lower than ir 

 can with a longitudinal section, shaped like that of the modern 

 British 'rater.' Also, in a disturbed sea, vessels with a straight 

 length of keel are much steadier on their helm, and at the same 

 time are smart enough to work short tacks, even with a Prob- 

 lem, inasmuch as what they lo-ein actual quickness in flying 

 round they gain by not having their way so much deadened— du<s 

 to the less sudden gyration. 



'•A curious fact in connection with the very raking stem is that 

 vessels which have them are less prone to run off their helm than 

 vessels with a deep fore-foot or gripe. 



'The overhanging stem came in soon after measuring length ou 

 deck was abolisued, and it now pretty welt equals the amount of 

 overhAUg given to the Bombay boats and to the Problem. This, 

 excessive overhang fore and aft is, we are afraid, credited with 

 virtues beyond what it possesses; but there is no doubt, whatever 

 that it may, under certain conditions, add to the power of the 

 vessel which has it. In still water and at low speeds, the water- 

 line wouldnot be lengthened; but at high speeds it would be. as 

 the quarter wave crest would pretty nearly take in the whole 

 counter. As this wave crest is a "follower" it exerts some for- 

 ward pressure on the counter which the vessel would not experi- 

 ence if she were cut off short at the sternpost, and this can be 

 taken as equivalent to a reduction of head resistance. The over 

 hanging counter and bow (the latter in a smaller degree) may 

 also assist stability under certain conditions, but not quite in the 

 manner sometimes claimed for it. If a yacht is much heeled and 

 sailing at a high rate of speed, a wave hollow is formed both to 

 windward a> d to leeward at about amidships. The one to leeward 

 more seriously affects stability; and no doubt a large portion of 

 the diminished power is given back by the wave crest under the 

 counter and on the lee bow; and this recuperation does not exist, 

 to the same extent in a plumb-stommed and 3quare-stemed vessel. 

 Tbe other advantages justly claimed for the overhangs are 

 greater deck room and dryness in a sea way. The disadvantages 

 for the racing yacht » re the great weight of the counter and the 

 overhanging bow. This adds to the weight or displacement of the 

 vessel, and also raises ber centre of gravity, or, w hat is the same 

 thing, diminishes her stability. Whether the advantages out- 

 weigh the disadvantages is a moot point with many; but we ar« 

 inclined to regard the overhangs, if untaxed, with most favos. 



