June 29, 1895.] 
FOREST ANB STREAM. 
" This should not take more than three or four days, so that by 
Wednesday or Thursday Capt. Newcomb is expecting to have her 
under sail. She has apparently received no injury from the breaking 
of the ways, as the cradle held firm and supported her. 
" Her looks have been improved by the extra length at the -water 
line forward, and the new bow promises increased speed." 
VALKYRIE BEFORE LAUNCHING. From a Photo by West & Son. 
Modern Yacht Construction. 
In view of the different methods of construction adopted by the de- 
signers of the new challenger and defender, and the fact that this 
difference may prove the ruling factor in the races, the following 
extract is particularly interesting. It is from the yachting volumes 
of the Badminton Library, and was written by Mr. Watson im- 
mediately after the races of 1893. 
"In the lecture on 'Progress in Yachting and Yacht-building' 
which I delivered in 1881, in a fanciful specification of the yacht for 
the season 2000, 1 required that the plating below water should be of 
manganese bronze. Curiously enough, a few years later saw an at- 
tempt to combine the strength of steel and the smoothness, anti- 
fouling and non-corrosive properties of copper, in the building of a 
torpedo-boat of this material; while this year (1893) the chosen de- 
fender of the America's Cup has been plated with a similar bronze on 
a steel frame, the builders claiming, and not without reason, that the 
additional smoothness of bottom give3 her an advantage of five to 
seven minutes on a forty mile course. But such a practice seems 
hardly likely to bee ime general for ordinary racing yachts built for 
men of normal depth of pocket; and whilst, as in the old Mississippi 
steamboat days, it sometimes paid to burn hams, most of us have to 
try and get along with good coal. 
"I was going to build the topsides, frames and beams of my ideal ves- 
sel of aluminum, and the other day a small yacht has been built on the 
Continent of this lightest of metals; but the present cost of this ma- 
terial, and, as yet, its unreliability, place it, for the present at least, 
outside the range of practical material for yacht-building. There 
seems more hope for some of the very beautiful and immensely strong 
alloys of aluminum, but they are too expensive, and also heavy. It 
may be some years before the complete realization of my design is ac- 
complished, and platinum is substituted for lead as ballast, though 
when syndicates of millionaires start yacht-building there seems very 
little limit to extravagance in construction. 1 
"In nickel-steel there is promise of a very'perfect material. This is 
an alloy of the ordinary Siemens-Martin steel with nickel, and called 
by the makers Yolla metal. It can be made to comply with all the or- 
dinary tests applied to ship ateel, in the way of ductility under stress, 
and at the same time have a breaking strength of 40 tons to the square 
iuch, as against 27 for ordinary steel. This metal was used by Mr. 
Fife in 1893 for the frame and beams of the 20-rater Dragon HI,'; and 
although the few pounds of weight saved by no means accounted for the 
phenomenal success of this little ship, yet the gain was all in the right 
direction." 
In his prediction of fourteen years ago Mr. Watson was barely five 
years out; in fact, less, as the complete scheme has not yet been real- 
ized, only common, every-day lead being used for the keel of the new 
defender. Why the certainty of success should have been risked by 
the use of such a cheap and old-fashioned metal in place of the fin-de- 
siecle platinum, we do not know; money will do anything in these 
modern days, and if platinum is faster than lead, then the new boat 
should have had it, cost what it may. The other details, of manganese 
bronze bottom and aluminum topsides and deck beams, with the lib- 
eral use of aluminum alloys, have been fully realized in the new Bris- 
tol boat; with what advantage yet remains to be seen. 
The article at least shows that two years ago Mr. Watson had looked 
over the whole field of construction in the most thorough manner. 
Whether he is yet up to the times can only be known after the racing 
of the two yachts; but it is evident that while the difference in weight 
of construction, the gain in speed from that difference, and the pos- 
sible loss of necessary strength in the defender as compared with 
Valkyrie III. are all unknown quantities, that Mr. Watson has thus 
far gained a positive advantage in being ready much earlier, and iu 
having a vessel that is hardly likely to require any subsequent 
strengthening, The defender, on the other hand, is still far from com - 
pletion, with barely nine weeks to the date set for the first race; and 
not one but her designer, and possibly not even he, can say how much 
alteration and strengthening may be necessary after the first trials. 
J ong,;but not very high. They, together with the photo of the yacht at 
her moorings in Gourock Bay, taken by Mr. Adamson, show what might 
be expected from all that is known of Mr. Watson's earlier work— a 
fair, round and clean sweep to the whole side, with an avoidance of 
those extreme features now so frequently seen, such as the forcing 
down of the lines of stem and horn- timber just above the waterline, 
and an excessive round to the frames, forward and aft. The great 
beam and the abnormal fin are indeed extreme features, but hardly 
to be classed with some of the eccentricities of genius recently floated. 
The view of the spars bears out all that has been said about their ex- 
treme dimensions; mast, boom and gaff are very long and large, the 
latter two being hollow. 
Jubilee. 
After the breaking of the ways under her on June 10, Jubilee laid 
until the night tides on June 22, when she was finally launched. The 
launch is described as follows by the Boston Globe: 
" At high tide yesterday morning a pile-pulling lighter wasl placed 
on either side of Jubilee, and as the tide fell a heavy stick of timber 
was passed under her stern, just aft the flu, and its ends attached to 
the steam purchases on the lighters. As the tide rose in the evening 
the lighters rose with it, and with them, aided by a pull on the pur- 
chases, the stern of Jubilee. 
"When only the bow was left resting on the ways, the boat was 
hauled astern by means of purchases from the cradle to capstans on 
the piers at either side, and she was thus floated with comparative 
ease. The purchases on the big timber were then slacked away and 
Jubilee settled to her proper lines. 
" Nothing now remained but to clear her of the timber and the 
cradle, and this was done soon after high tide, 11 P. M., the work of 
lifting, floating and hauling out having occupied less than two hours. 
1 By lines to the piers the boat was warped to the outer end of the 
Atlantic works dock, under the shears, and here she will receive her 
spars and complete her fitting out Mast and bowsprit are in place, so 
that little remains to be done save to sling the mainboom and gaff, get 
the topmast on end, reeve the running rigging and bend the sails. 
The Newport Races; 
Mr. F. P. Sands, who has been at the head of the scheme for a series 
of yacht races off Newport at the close of New York Y. C. cruise, has 
announced the following program : — 
The races will take place immediately after the return of the fleet to 
Newport, propably on Aug. 7, and will continue for four days. 
The races will be open to yachts of any regularly organized club, 
and will be in charge of the regatta committee of the New York Y. C, 
who have consented to act upon the occasion. The general conditions 
of the races are as follows : — 
First day.— Schooners in cruising trim. 
Second day. — Sloops, cutters and yawls in cruising trim. 
Third day.— Schooners in racing trim. 
Fourth day.— Sloops, cutters and yawls in racing trim. 
Any class may sail in cruising trim by the unanimous consent of all 
interested. 
The classes for which entries will be recei ved, together with the prizes 
In cash , which have been determined upon, are as follows : — 
SCHOONERS, 
First Class.— Over 80ft. racing length ; $300 to the first and $120 to 
the Becond. 
Second Class.— Under 80ft. and over 70ft. racing length ; $250 to the 
first and $100 to the second. 
Third Class.— Under 70ft. racing length ; $200 to the first and $80- to 
the second. 
SLOOPS, COTTERS AND YAWLS . 
First Class.- Over 80ft, racing length ; $400 to the first and $160 to 
the second. 
Second Class.— Over 60ft. and under 80ft, racing length ; $200 to the 
first and $80 to the second. 
Third Class.— Over 60ft. and under 60ft. racing length ; $150 to the 
first and $60 to the second. 
Fourth Class.— Over 33ft. and under 50ft. racing length; $100 to the 
first and $40 to the second. 
Fifth Class.— Over 43ft.; $50 to the first and $20 to the second. 
No second prize will be given in any class unless four or more start. 
Sloops and other craft in the fifth class must be up to the requirements 
for representation in the New York Y C. 
The course will be an equilateral triangle, formed by B-enton's 
Reef Lightship, Point Judith whistling buoy and an off shore mark —a 
red and white flag or buoy placad by the committee. 
Compass bearings of marks, starting signals, etc., may be obtained 
from the committee the day previous to races. 
All classes of schooners, and classes one and two of sloops, cutters 
and yawls, will sail twice around the course, except by order of the 
committee. Classes three, four and five of sloops, cutters and yawls 
will sail once around. 
The same course will be used for each day's racing, except that the 
committee will start yachts so as to make one leg as much as practic- 
able to windward. 
The committee have power, if they consider it advisable, to stop any 
race at the end of the first round, and award the prizes. 
The start will be from Brenton's Reef Lightship. The racing rules 
and time allowance of the New York Y. C. will govern. 
Entries should be addressed to the Regatta Committee, New York 
Y. C, Newport, R. I., and must be made twenty-four hours prior to 
the start of each race. 
The Cup Defender. 
For the past ten days the most contradictory reports have been 
afloat concerning the date of the launch of the new defender at Bris- 
tol, June 22, 23 and 26 being given, as well as July 4. The facts seem 
to be that while all interested were intensely anxious to launch on the 
very high tide of June 22, the yacht was not ready, and the discovery 
at a late moment of the rottenness of the launching ways made a fur- 
ther delay necessary. The ways on which Colonia was launched were 
built of heavy timbers of yellow pine, painted with anti-fouling paint, 
being laid in the spring of 1893. Recently these ways have been added 
to in length, it being assumed that they were still sound and good. 
When Colonia was launched there was a score in her keel, evidently 
made by a bolt head or other projection in the ways, and last week a 
diver searched for the defect. He soon found signs of decay, and a 
part of the ways was taken up and found to be completely destroyed 
by worms. It was necessary to examine all of the old work, which 
was then found to be worthless; so the work of rebuilding this part of 
the ways was begun and pushed as rapidly as possible. On Tuesday 
an official statement was made that the launch will take place at a 
quarter to 1 on Saturday, June 29, and will be public. According to 
the New York Sun, in an interview on June 24 Mr. Iselin stated that 
the beam of the defender is 24ft. and draft 18ft. 
The ownership of the new steam yacht building by Ramage & 
Ferguson is credited to Mr. Rutherford Stuyvesant. owner of the 
schooner Palmer, this latter yacht being now on the sale list. 
Valkyrie. 
Through bad weather and other circumstances, the first trial of 
Valkyrie under canvas did not take place until June 18, and then she 
was out for but two hours, a short sail in a light breeze being ended 
by a hard shower, her mainsails being Btowed and covered while she 
ran into Gourock Bay under headsails; however, she was under way 
for a time with clubtopsail set in a moderate breeze. From the re- 
ports she handled well and carried her canvas satisfactorily, heelino- 
readily to a certain point, but hanging there. The reports, however, 
are very inconclusive, and while they are good so far as they go, it 
will not be until she has been under way for some little time that her 
true form will be in part apparent. We always distrust the first ac- 
counts of trials with a new boat, as, unless she shows some marked 
defect at the start, it takes some time for her captain and crew to 
know just what she is and still longer before their experience be- 
comes known to outsiders, A great many wild rumors are afloat to 
the effect that the yacht will not race at all in British waters, and that 
the good people of Glasgow are pained and indignant thereat, and 
other unimportant yarns. She will probably sail in the Clyde regattas 
next week, meeting Ailsa and Britannia. The former boat is now at 
Gourock for alterations, including, It is stated, the removal of the lead 
added outside prior to the Thames races. There is a report that thir- 
teen of her crew left the ship because her owner and skip- 
per refused to make such alterations as they (the crew) 
considered uecessary. . It is also reported that a series of 
matches have been arranged, to be sailed very soon, between Ailsa 
and Valkyrie. Those who are looking for sensations may find one in 
lhe renewed report that Valkyrie has a centerboard. We are in- 
debted to Messrs. West and Son for the excellent photo of the after 
body of Valkyrie, a complement to the view published last week. 
From none of the photographs can any exact figures of dimensions b.e 
obtained, all showing more or less distortion or foreshortening; but 
they show her to be a very wide boat, though whether 27, 26 or even 
25f c. beam, no one can tell. They show a moderate freeboard, taking 
the whole length of the boat from stemhead to taff rail, the ends being 
VALKYRIE IN GOUROCK BAY. From a Photo by Adamson. 
