^6 



t AND StftEAM. 



[July 30, 1891. 



10J87S54 321 



SAIL PLAN. 2J^-RATER "IOTA." 



2^~RATING-25FT. CORRECTED LENGTH. 



OF the many great changes of recent date in yachting, none 

 perhaps is more marked than that in the formation of racing 

 classes; both in the process of growth and in the variety and at 

 the same time uniformity of the yachts which constitute them. 

 The growth or formation of a class under the old conditions was 

 a matter of years; yachts of various odd lengths and tneasure- 

 ments were added one at a time, by building, altering, or purchas- 

 ing from another locality, the result being a collection of craft 

 varying so greatly in size that no allowance table could make the 

 racing fair and equable under all conditions of weather. Up to 

 ten years back in tnis country and half as long in Great Britain, 

 there was little difference in type between the boats in any one 

 class; just as all American boats were shoal centerboard sloops, so 

 were ail British yachts cutters of little or no beam. Of late years, 

 however, there has been an intermixture of types, especially on 

 this side, where centerboards both shoal and deep, with inside and 

 outside ballast, have raced with wide and narrow cutters, under 

 all possible modiiication of both sloop and cutter rig. 



The 70Et. class offers an excellent example of the former diver- 

 sity in size and type, including Wenonah. Hildegarde and Mis- 

 chief of 61ft., Vision 63, Huron 63. Thetis 64, Stranger 65, lleen 65, 

 Fanny 66, Shamrock 68, G-racie 69, Katrina 70, and Bedouin and 

 Titania both over 70ft. These yachts, which have constituted the 

 70ft. class from 1880 to 1890, and have raced together many times, 

 include almost every variety of model, from the flat-iron Fanny 

 through the deeper centerboards and compromises and the mod- 

 erate cutters to the extreme "plank-on-edge" lleen. The other 

 American classes were much the same in composition, while the 

 British classes differed in being confined exclusively to keel 

 craft of from 45^ beanjg in the older to 7 beams in the newer boats. 



The vast change between such a state of affairs and that exist- 

 ing to-day is clearly shown in the class which is now monopoliz- 

 ing the attention of American yachtsmen, the new 46ft. This 

 class, composed of ten fine racing craft, representing a total out- 

 lay up to the present time of at least $150,000, has been built since 

 the close of the last yachting season, being at that time hardly 

 more than a matter of gossip and speculation. Up to last fall, 

 though there were half a dozen boats old and new of 46ft. l.w.l or 

 under, the class was not known in racing, and it may be said that 

 the entire fleet has been built to order at the shortest possible 

 notice. 



The characteristics of the old classes were, as we have noted, 

 uniformity of model up to a comparatively recent date, and diver- 

 sity of size; in the new classes the exact reverse is found, a uni- 

 formity of size and diversity of model. In the matter of size, the 

 prevailing rules in this country are still such as to permit vessels 

 of different racing measurements in the same class; but this dif- 

 ference is confined to the sail plans, the waterline lengths in all 

 cases being the same or nearly so; the advantage of building to 

 the class limit being generally appreciated. On the other side a 

 still higher degree of uniformity has been reached by means of 

 the classification as well as the measurement bemg by length and 

 sail area combined, each boat being built to the maximum limit 

 of the class, which is at the same time her racing measurement, 

 80 that she neither gives nor takes time from her opponents. 



In the matter of model, while the old extremes of sloop and cut- 

 ter have disappeared entirely from British as well as American 

 racing, each class still includes a wide range of types, and for the 

 present at least there is no tendency toward the production of a 

 single type which shall monopolize all the racing and bar all ex- 

 periments, as was once the case on both sides. Just now a very 

 wholesome tvpe of keel cutter is in the majority in America, but 

 there is still every opportunity for competition by centerboard 

 boats, the rule favoring one type as much as the other. In Great 

 Britain the keel cutter of 4J^j beams or less has rap'dly driven out 

 the old boats of 6 to 7 beams, but at the same time the center- 

 boards are now making a successful fight with the best of the keel 

 craft. 



While It is only too true that the improvement of racing yachts 

 has in a great measure put a stop to general racing, It Is still very 

 piftiB tjiat isucb a cl^sg as tbe 46 lOft. offers opportunities for 



comparison and study such as were never met with under the old 

 conditions in the racing of all lengths and sizes of boats together. 



The main cause for the disappearance ot extreme types and 

 the production of moderate craft of uniform size in each class is 

 easily discovered, as its influence has been the same on both sides 

 of the Atlantic. On this side the improvement in type has been 

 coincident with the adoption and extension of the Seawanhaka 

 rule, based on the tvvo factors of lengtn and sail area; and in 

 Great Britain the corresponding change dates from tlie end of 

 1886, when the old tonnage rule was replaced by the same length 

 and sail area rule in another form. Though widely used in tnis 

 country for some years previous to its complete adoption in Great 

 Britain, the rule, in several different form^ originated with Mr. 

 Dixon Kemp, baing proposed in the Field so long ago as 1880. As 

 the rules stand to-day they are nearly identical in effect, though 

 the measurement of sail is somewhat different m the two 

 countries, while the unit of measurement is qalte different, being 

 in one ease rating, and in the other feet of corrected or sailing 

 length. 



Almost the only class which is sharing the racing with the new 

 46ft. is another new one, whose limit is 35ft. corrected length. 

 Though small in numbers as yet, it prothises to grow rapidly by 

 next season, while its lease of life is likely to be even longer than 

 that of the 46ft. class. The rapid development of modern classes 

 is well shown by the history of this same class in Great Britain, 

 where it is known as the 23^-rating. The growth and changes of 

 this class, which has producpd nearly 50 racing yachts within 

 three years, is both interesting and instructive. It dates from 



the adoption by the Y. B. A. of the rule, = Rating, in the 



o,uuo 



winter of '86-7 after a long discussion. The new classes under the 

 rule were: 23^, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60 and over 60 rating. The allowance 

 of sail for the different lengths of l.w.l. in the ^-rating class was 

 as follows, the third and fourth columns giving the correspond- 

 ing figures by the Seawanhaka rule: 









SAIL 



AREA. 









L.W.L. 



Y.R.A. 



Sea. 



V 



L.W.L, 



Y.R.A. 



Sea. 





18 



833 



1,024 



33 



25 



600 



625 



2^ 



19 



789 



961 



31 



26... . 



.. 577 



576 



24 



20 



750 



900 



30 



27. 



555 



529 



33 



31 



714 



841 



39 



28 



r,86 



484 



33 



33. 



691 



784 



38 



29 



.. 516 



441 



31 



23 



. 65i 



739 



37 



30 



500 



400 



20 



24 



635 



678 



26 











In the destruction of the old tonnage classes, the smallest, 3 

 tons, about 29ft. l.w.l. and 1,100ft. sail area, became 5-raters, there 

 being but one or two odd boats as small as SJr^-rating. There 

 were, howevei", the Southampton "lengthers," of which we spoke 

 last week, and in 1887 two boats built for the 31ft. l.w.l. class were 

 so canvassed as to race at times as SJ^-raters. One, Madcap, was 

 21ft. 8in. l.w.l., 7ft. 4in. beam, 5ft. 4in. draft, and carrie-i 693 sq. ft. 

 of sail, and tlie other, Thalassa, was of nearly the same dimen- 

 sions. Both were rigged as pole-masted sloops, with masts well 

 forward and mainsail and jib. The I'acing about Southampton in 

 that year was partly under the length rule, partly by tonnage, 

 and partly by rating, but the following year saw the rating rule 

 fully established to the exclusion of the other two. The flrsi. boat 

 really built for the class was the Lady Nan, 33ft. l.w.l., 8ft. 4in. 

 beam and with 6.53ft. of sail, sloop rigged; designed and built by 

 Mr. Arthur E. Payne, a very successful craft. 



In 1889 the class experienced a veritable boom, a dozen boats 

 being built, and by the leading designers, Payne, Watson and Fife, 

 among them being Iota, whose lines appeared last week and 

 whose sail plan is now given, being enlarged from Le Yacht, to 

 which paper we are Indebted for the sketch of Iota under sail. 

 The new Southampton boats were longer than the old, the Wat- 

 son boats Queen Mab, Thief and Cosette being about 24ft. 6in. 

 l.w.l. bv 5ft. 3in. beam, while the Payne boats Humming Bird and 

 Cock A' Whoop were still longer, jast under 26ft., with about 7ft. 

 6in. beam. The latter two were lug.rigged, lately shown in 

 the Jjick 0" I^anthorn, the Watson ho^fts being sloojp-jigge^, Tfte 



class included several centerboards and various rigs, but the best 

 boat v/hen the season closed was Humming Bird, keel. 



Next year, 1890, came a new crop, distributed on the Clyde, the 

 Solent and in other places. Babe, Camilla, Janetta, M'liss, Dol- 

 phin, Bandersnatch, Princess Ida and others of less note. On the 

 Solent, where the racing is always hottest, Babe, a Payne boat, 

 26ft. 9in. l.w.l,, with 552ft. of sail, a lug mainsail and jib, led the 

 list with 25 prizes to 30 starts. The present season finds about 15 

 new SJ^-raters afloat, and though it is too soon to pick the win- 

 ners, tne two Watson boats. Elfin, 20ft. I.w.l.x7ft. 6in. beam, and 

 Oronsay, 25ft. 1 w.l.x7ft. 3in. beam, both centerboard boats, 

 arrt beating the keels in a most astonishing manner on the Clyde . 



The rig shown on Iota is the pole-masted cutter, and has 

 been used on a number of the 234-raters, but this and the Solent 

 sloop rig have been displaced both on the Solent and Clyde by 

 the lug mainsail and iib, the bowsprit being very short and in 

 many cases being dispensed with entirely. The length has ex- 

 panded from 31f r. in 1887 to 36ft. in 1891, the beam varying from 

 6ft. 6in. to 7ft. 6in., and the draft being about 5ft. 8in. 



Ttie dimensions of lota's sail plan are: 



deck to truck... . 

 diameter at deck 



diameter at gammon iron 



. 6ft. llin. 



23ft. 





. 27ft. 



Sin. 





5ln. 





6 in. 





lOin. 







10ft. 



lOin. 





4in. 



'. 21ft. 



Sin. 







89 





670 





701 









Staysail, sq. ft., 



Total 



Y. R. A rule 



Seawanhaka rule 



The official measurement gives 714ft. by the Y. R. A. ritle, the? 

 difference probably being due to a slight error in ealarging the 

 plan. The tigures show, however, the results by the two rules on 

 the same sail plan. In the American boats the rig has been sim- 

 plified by the omission of the staysail and shortening of the bow- 

 sprit, so that only a mainsail and small jib are carried. The lag 

 mainsail as shown on the Jack o' Lanthorn a few weeks since, has 

 buen tried on one, but was discarded for the cmventional boom 

 and gaff sail. From all appearances the class is likely to produce 

 boats of not over 26ft. l.w.l. and about 7ft. 6in. beam, at least there- 

 is little probability of a much longer and narrower boat proving 

 successful. 



ESSEX Y. C. ANNUAL, JULY 25 -The Essex Y. C, of Newark, 

 sailed its annual open regatta on Newark Bay, oft' Bayonne, last 

 Saturday, in a moderate S. W. breeze, the times being: 



CLASS C. 



Length. Elansed. Corrected. 



Vision 23.01 3 04 12 3 00 58 



Viola 35.03 3 01 .58 3 01 58 



Our Own 33.10 3 04 14 3 03 033^ 



CLASS D. 



Just Woke Up 31.11 3 28 59 3 28 59 



Libbie May 33.00 Did not finish. 



CLASS P. 



Undine 21.11 3 01 14 3 01 14 



Eureka 31.10 3 04 36 3 04 383^ 



CLASS G. 



Ges So 18.05 3 09 57 8 09 57 



GLASS H 



Mist 17.09 2 18 13 2 18 13' 



Gala Water 16,02 2 36 08 2 33 44j<^ 



Addie 14.10 3 88 30 3 34 07j| 



Three Cranks 14.11 8 « 09 3 86 54* 



Undine, from tbe Shrewsbury, won the special prize for best!- 

 elapsed tinje. 



