480 
FOREST AND 1 STREAM. 
[June 13 1896. 
S 29. Huguenot, open, New Bochelle, L. I. Sound. 
29. Huntington, ouen, Huntington, L. I. Sound. 
S 29, Seawanhaka, special, Oyster Bay, L. I. Sound. 
SEPTEMBER. 
3. Cor. Atlantic City, mosquito class, Atlantic City. 
S 5. Stamford, An , Stamford, L. I. Sound. 
5, Larchmont r special, Larchmont, L. L Sound. 
M 5. South Boston, open, City Point, Boston Harbor. 
5. Beverly, 4th open sweeps, Buzzard's Bay. 
6. Wintt rop, sail, Great Head, Boston Harbor. 
7. New York Y. R. A., An., New York Bay. 
7. Beverly, open, Buzzard's Bay. 
7. Larchmont, fall regatta, Larchmont, L. I. Sound. 
M 7. Lynn, open, Lynn, Boston Harbor. 
M 7. Old Colony, open, Nahant. 
8 7. Norwalk, open, Norwalk, L I. Sound. 
7. Hempstead, open. 
7. Toleao, open, .Toledo, Lake Erie. 
10-13. Cleveland, open regattas, Cleveland, Lake Erie. 
12. Beverly, 5th cham., Buzzard's Bay. 
12. Hull, dub, Hull, Boston Harbor. 
S 12. Indian Harbor, special, Greenwich, L I. Sound. 
12. Larchmont, special, Larchmont, L I. Sound. 
S 12. Sea Cliff, special, Sea Cliff, L. L Sound. 
12. Squantum, Burkhardt cup, Squantum, Mass. 
12. Chicago, open, Chicago, Lake Michigan. 
16. Atlantic City, moBquito class, Atlantic City. 
18. Hempstead, closing day. 
S 19. American, fall regatta, Milton Point, L. I. Sound. 
26. Hull, club, Hull, Boston Harbor. 
8 26. Riverside, special, Riverside, L I Sound. 
26. Squantum, Burkhardt cup, Squantum, Mass. 
OCTOBER. 
3. Cor. Atlantic City, mosquito class, Atlantic City. 
To all appearances the system of starting signals and numbers 
established by the Y. R. TJ. will be a success and do much to prevent 
the confusion that has always reigned in yacht racing under a differ- 
ent rule for each club. There are, however, several points where im- 
provement may still be made. In regard to starting, the custom in 
England and America differs materially; in England a yacht race 
always starts on time; in America It never does, but there is always a 
delay, awaiting the club steamer, or the judges' tug, or the ice cream, 
or some prominent yachtsman whose entry is desired, but has not 
seen fit to rise in season to reach the starting station by the advertised 
time. This being the case, another signal is very much needed, a pre- 
iminary signal that shall indicate that the preparatory gun will be 
fired within a short time. As matters are now, the best yachtsmen, 
the prompt ones, are at the line at the advertised hour, on the slender 
chance of a punctual start. No preparatory is given and they sail 
about, often for an hour or two, with no definite idea of when a start 
will be made. It often happens that when the preparatory signal is 
given they are at a considerable distance, possibly missing the signal 
entirely, or else failing to catch the gun in time to set the watch for a 
close start at gun-fire. All that is needed is a signal, such as a number 
of long blasts from the judges' steamer and the display of some flag, 
to indicate that the time of postponement is at an end, that yachts 
shall approach the line and watch for the true preparatory signal, 
which will follow in perhaps not more than ten minutes. Such a 
signal can easily be given, and should be demanded by the racing 
rules. 
Another small but important point is the marking of the starting 
line, which in this country is invariably done by two marks or mark 
boats in the water, one at each end of the actual line crossed by the 
yachts. On British courses the starting line is, if at all possible, marked 
by a shore range as well as by the two marks in the water. No man , 
however expert, can tell to a certainty just when his yacht is on or 
over a line between two marks, one on each side of him; but with a 
shore range he can approach the line as closely as he pleases and yet 
feel sure he is not on it when the gun fires. Such a range can in many 
cases be established without difficulty by the erection of two flagpoles 
on the shore; if painted white these should be visible against most 
backgrounds. 
The racing number and class letter promise to become accepted in- 
stitutions, as they are not only a necessity to the spectator and the 
newspaper men— on whom the racing yachtsmen presumably rely for 
correct reports of the races— but to the latter themselves, as indicat- 
ing just who their competitors may be. Thus far several difficulties 
have presented themselves in the way of a thoroughly satisfactory 
system of numbering. One of these is the common objection of rac- 
ing men to accept numbers large enough to be visible outside of the 
yachts themselves; the owners of yachts of 30 to 50ft. in some cases 
refusing to take numbers hardly large enough for 15-footers on the 
plea that they were too large. Another difficulty is in the placing of 
the numbers, usually close in by the mast and as low down as possi- 
ble, and thus hidden by the round of the luff. Still another that may 
be noticed this season in the smalleAoats with very light sails is the 
blurring of the number on one side of the sail by the back of the num- 
ber on the other side, which shows through the thin fabric; the num- 
ber is thus made indistinguishable save at short range. 
Where permanent numbers are used, as in the Y. R. U., the best 
solution of all these difficulties is the painting of a number, 1n figures 
and letters of rpasonable size, on the sail itself in the proper position, 
near the peak. This can be done so that the two sets of numbers will 
not overlap and show through. There would be no objection possible 
on the plea of weight or windage of the numbers, the only objection 
would be the possible permanent disfigurement of the sail. Another 
plan, that we have more then once advocated in the past, is to adopt 
three or four standard sizes for the material on which the numbers 
are to be painted, and to have each sailmaker provide himself with a 
set of the standards in the form of light wooden templets, with 
grommet holes marked in the corners and if necessary along the sides. 
When a sail is made the sailmaker will mark off the holes and set the 
grommets, locating the number where it should be, in the peak of the 
mainsail; and the cloths on which the numbers are painted, and which 
should be of some opaque material, will be made with holes marked 
from these same templets. In setting the two numbers it will only be 
necessary to lace or tie through the grommet holes In the numbers 
and the sail. The numbers may be quickly removed, and they will, 
when in place, be held snugger and with less danger of getting adrift 
than if put on with pins. 
It is all very well to say that not only the race committee but every 
competent yachting reporter should know the yachts at sight; but the 
printed entry lists are necessarily unreliable, yachts which are entered 
do not always start, and others start without being entered in time 
to he named in the list. Out of some forty or fifty yachts some 
changes of rig, color or shape are certain to turn up, especially in the 
first races of the year, which confuse the most expert, and it is neces- 
sary both for the committee and the reporters to identify a yacht at 
the first glance, picking up another as soon as the name of the first 
is hastily jotted down. 
In the Knickerbocker Y. C. race of Saturday the 30-footer Vaquero 
HI. was distinguishable from the other two— none of the numbers 
being visible at a comparatively short distance— by the fact that she 
followed the English fashion and carried her racing flag on a light 
Stan* above the main truck; In this case of course it was the different 
position of the flag which identified the yacht: but more than this, 
while the flags of the other two were saugly curled up under the leach 
of the mainsails, secure from public view sav« on certain occasions, 
that of Vaquero HI. stood out boldly and plainly at all times, high 
above the yacht and visible from the entire horizon. If a racing flag 
is of any practical use, it must be placed where it will be always visi- 
ble, and the peak of the mainsail is about the worst place on the yacht. 
A racing flag of sufficient size and appropriate design, some simple 
combination of two or three colors and not the crazy -quilt patterns of 
monograms, initials or heraldic crests so often seen, and displayed 
from the truck, serves not only to identify a yacht, but to set off, with 
its bit of bright color, the whole structure of bright yellow spars and 
white canvas. 
YACHT DESIGNING— X. 
BY W. P. STEPHENS. 
(Continued from page UhS, May SO.) 
We have thus far dealt with the yacht as she presents 
herself to the eye on the stocks or the railway, a solid 
body of extremely complicated form. Such a conception 
as this, while a true one in its way, is entirely valueless 
for the purposes of the designer; the most that it gives is 
a picture or a series of pictures of parts of the vessel 
which cannot be accurately measured and which disclose 
few or none of the essential elements. Beautiful as they 
may be, the finest drawings or photographs of a yacht out 
of water or under sail are useless compared with the com- 
plicated tangle of plain black lines that represents so much 
to the initiated and so very little to the novice. In order 
to grasp the work in a practical way the designer is forced 
to abandon the artistic and to adopt the conventional and 
prosaic methods of mechanical drawing. A thorough 
knowledge of the science of descriptive geometry must 
be set down as the foundation of the education of the 
designer, as through it he acquires that training of mind 
and eye that enables him to see the lines on a flat sheet 
of paper standing out in the curved form of the model. 
In default of such complete knowledge, however, the be- 
ginner must content himself with a knowledge of the 
leading principles of the science, leaving it to time and 
practice to acquire the desired proficiency. 
Descriptive geometry is that branch of mathematics 
which treats of the graphic representation of all geomet- 
rical magnitudes (lines, surfaces and solids), and also of 
the problems relating to these magnitudes in space. The 
various divisions of the science are: orthographic projec- 
tion proper, the basis of all mechanical, architectural and 
marine drafting; spherical projection, the basis of map 
and chart making; shades and shadows; perspective, the 
basis of free-hand drawing, also used to a certain extent 
in architectural drafting; and isometric projection, a 
minor branch of mechanical and architectural drafting. 
The drafting of war and merchant vessels, especially the 
older types, with their grotesque sterns and eccentricities 
of form — and in particular where the use of wood made 
the employment of cant frames a necessity — involves some 
complicated problems of descriptive geometry; but the 
drafting of yachts, especially the more modern models, is 
a comparatively simple branch of the subject, less difficult 
and complicated by far than in other mechanic arts, such 
as masonry, stairbuilding and sheet metal working. The 
principles themselves are simple and not difficult of com- 
prehension; the main difficulty for the learner lies in the 
method of their application; if the work is not done care- 
fully and systematically from the start, more or less con- 
fusion must ensue from the large number of lines and 
points employed. At present we shall deal only with the 
essential principles, but when we come to their applica- 
tion in the every-day work over the drawing table we 
shall endeavor to set forth such a systematic course of 
operations as may simplify the drawing and lessen the 
chances of error. 
The portrayal of an object as it actually appears to the 
eye is a comparatively simple matter, but such a drawing 
can give no exact information as to sizes and relations of 
parts; it cannot be measured, and is of no use for pur- 
poses of exact construction. For all the purposes of the 
mechanic arts the picture must be abandoned in favor of 
a conventional drawing which often fails to convey any 
idea to the uninitiated, but at the same time is full of 
meaning to the experienced workman. The making of 
such drawings of vessels is a very essential part of the 
designer's work, but it is in no sense the whole of design- 
ing. 
We have in Fig. 11a solid of the simplest form, an ob- 
long and rectangular block of wood. While the picture 
indicates the nature and proportions of the object, it gives 
FIG. 11. 
no definite idea that would enable us to construct another 
of the same size. In order to obtain something exact and 
definite the draftsman is compelled to abandon the real 
and to enter the domain of the imaginary. In the upper 
part of Fig. 12 we have the solid drawn in perspective, 
A B C D, EFGH. Let us conceive of this solid as sus- 
pended in a glass box, VUYW.ZTOX Notf, if we 
can apply a plumb line to the vertical edge of the block, 
A F, we will find that it touches the bottom of the box at 
f; and similarly the upper end of the line will touch the 
top of the box at a. By applying the plumb line in turn 
to the other three vertical edges of the block we obtain 
three more points on the bottom, e, g, h, and three on the 
top, d, c, b, and we then have the exact outline of the 
bottom of the block on the bottom of the box in e, f , g, h, 
and of the top of the block on the top of the box. Now 
we can take a straightedge and apply it to the long upper 
edge of the block, A B, obtaining points, a and b, on each 
end of the box; and by the same process applied to the 
other three long edges, we can obtain the exact outline of 
each end of the block on the corresponding end of the 
box, as at a, d, e, f , b, c, g, h. Now, by the same process 
the two sides of the block may be projected on the sides 
of the box. 
There is nothing specially complicated or difficult about 
this process, which will evidently give us the exact out- 
lines of each side of the block, from which measurements 
may be taken and another block made. The only diffi- 
culty for the beginner lies in the lack of that mental 
training that should enable him at once to see, in place 
of the tangled and confused lines on the flat surface of 
the paper, a mental image of the solid block surrounded 
by the glass box. The expert draftsman, in examin- 
ing such designs of yachts as appear from week to week 
in our pages, sees, not the black lines on the printed 
page, but a solid body, equivalent to the wood model or 
the yacht herself out of water. This power of eye and 
mind to work together in the creation of the imaginary 
solid from the actual flat surface is acquired in time 
through practice in marine drafting alone; but the best 
means to it is through the study of descriptive geometry 
and the solution of its problems. It will require some 
effort on the part of one unfamiliar with drafting and 
projection to understand the various lines in Fig. 12. 
The rectangle W Y Z T represents the front end of 
flG. 12. 
the glass box, toward the draftsman, and Y U X O 
represents the rear end, at the back of the picture. The 
lines W Y, Y TJ, Z O and T X represent the four long 
edges of the box. The vertical edge V T is nearest to the 
draftsman, and the other vertical edge Y O is the fur- 
thest from him. The heavy lines show the inclosed 
block, suspended midway between the two sides of the 
box, but nearer the top and front end. It will be evi- 
dent on careful inspection that the drawing may be read 
in two ways: one as just described, with the end W Y T 
Z toward the draftsman; and the other exactly the 
reverse, with the end Y TJ Z O facing him and the block 
inclined the other way. 
Suppose that in place of the block and the glass box we 
take a yacht on the dry dock, as in Fig. 13. We may start 
with the same process of projection by means of the 
plumb line. If we walk slowly around the deck from 
stem to transom and drop the line from the rail at inter- 
no. 13. 
vals of a few feet, we shall get on the level floor of the 
dock an exact counterpart of the half breadth of the yacht 
at the rail. If we apply the plumb line in the same way 
along the waterline, as marked by paint or by the usual 
discoloration, we shall obtain the duplicate on the floor. 
We can then go further and obtain the half breadth of the 
bottom of keel and possibly at the rabbet. 
Now we can take a long straightedge, and with proper 
appliances to hold it both level and square to the fore and 
aft line of the keel we can project on the side of the dock 
the outline of the top of rail, stem, keel, rudder and 
counter, as well as the rabbet line. We can also project 
the waterline, which will evidently be a straight line on 
s 
i 
1 ,4gi? 
1 ^ » V^K* 
FIG. 14. 
the side of the dock. We may in this way go a little fur- 
ther, and if the dock is closed at one end we can project 
the greatest cross section of the yacht upon it. This, 
however, is as far as we can go by the simple method 
which was fully adequate for the delineation of the plain 
