4B6 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Deo. 4, 1897; 
G — Bilge Stringer.~The minirnMin sectional area at 
middle shall cover at least one-half the full length of 
hilge stringer, with ta/per allowed at the ends. At least one 
Tbilge stringer must he rim on each side, at about the loioer 
part of turn of hilge, and two are recommended ia any 
cape, the sectional area of each being at least one-half of that 
of the single stringer. In yachts whose extreme beam ex- 
ceeds twice the greatest depth from underside of deck to 
upper side of keel, two such stringers on each side should 
always be fitted. 
• H — Deck Beams. — The minimum sectional area, of deck 
beams shall cover at least the middle third of the beam, 
allowing a taper, in the moulding, to each end. There 
must he one main, beam at the hitts, two at each mast (part- 
ner beams), one al fore-end of coM'n. trunh, one at after- 
end, tivo at each sJiylight, haich and companion in flush- 
decked vessels, and one at transom. The auxiliary beams 
and, the half -beams abreast of house, skylights, etc , may 
be of the smaller areas given for each. The beams may be 
spaced at will, provided the maximum distance between 
centers does not exceed that given in the tahle. which is 
based upon the thickness of deck planking The beams 
should befogged into the .shelf of clamp a, dista,nce equal to 
onCr-third of the moulded depth of beam at ends. 
I—PlanMng — The dimensions given in the table are the 
minimum thicknesses allowed, after finnl planing, over a 
distance in the middle of the vessel equal to at least one- 
half of the over-all length. It is not compulsory that the 
garboards be of greater thickness than the rest of the plank- 
ing, but this is sometimes desirable, especially in the larger 
yachts. 
The rabbet from the waterline upward on the stem, and 
along the horn timbers, may be cixt to the depths given in 
the table, the hood ends of the planks being slightly tapered 
to this reduced depth. 
It is recommended that wherever practicable, the planking 
shall be in single lengths, without butts; and that where 
butts are unavoidable they should be made, not on the 
frames, but on butt-blocks between the frames. Butts in 
adjoining strakes should be at least 6ft. apart, and butts in 
the same space should be separated by at least three inter- 
vening strakes. The planking should be worked in narrow 
widths, especially in the topsides. 
• J— Decking.— the thickness given for the deck plavk ap- 
plies also to the plank.shcer (covering board), and the 
partner j^anks. The ends of the deck plank shoxildhc well 
supported, and in no case should they be wrought to a shtm 
edge, which will crush down in caiilking. 
K—Keel Bolts.— The sizes given are the minimum diame- 
ters for the main (center line) keel bolts lohfn sqoaced 12ln, 
aipart. The sizes a'nd spacing may he varied as long as the 
equivalent strength is maintained. These sizes are suffi- 
cient for the average metal keel, of about 50 per cent of the 
total displacement^ hxit if the keel be deep and narrow it is 
recommended that the side bolts, of smaller size, driven 
diagonally from each side in alternation, be used in addition 
in the spaces between the main bolts. Where considerably 
less than 50 per cent, of the total displacement is carried in 
the metal keel, all bolts may be reduced in proportion. For 
yach ts to he used only in f resh (lake) water, steel bolts may 
be atsed, ivithout galvanizing, hoth^ ivith lead, and iron keels. 
It is recommended that the outside metal keel, whether of 
lead or iron, be cast before the wood keel is worked out; the 
contraction of the iron or lead is more or less an unknown 
quantity, and the keel, when finally cast, may not be of the 
exact dimensions intended and may not fit the wood keel as 
worked from the plans. 
Lt— Metal Centerboards.— Solid qylate centerboards not ex- 
ceeding the thiclinesses given in the table shall be allowed. 
In built-up metal hoards aiid woodenhoards weighted with 
metal, the total locight shall not fixaeed that of a solid steel 
plate of the same superficial area and of the thickness, 
allowed by the table. 
General Details.— It is recommended, that diagonal straps 
of steel be worked across the deck frame in way of masts 
and runners, being scored into the beams; and that similar- 
straps be worked across the main frames, two at the main 
chainplates on each side and one at the runner plate. The 
deck frame should be specially strengthened about the bitts 
and masts, and ample provision should be made for the pull 
of the halyards on the bitts, blocks and hooks around the 
mast. For this purpose bolts may be run from deck to keel, 
or iron braces may be fitted below deck, well bolted to the 
mast. At least three hanging knees should be worked 
on each side, and in the larger yachts there should be 
hanging knees on the main beams at bitts, partners, mid- 
dle and after end of house and transom Lodging knees, 
should also be worked about the partners and at either end 
of house. 
The shelf or clamp may be reinforced by fore and aft 
pieces abreast of the channels, worked inside the shelf and 
up under the deck beams and covering at least six frame 
spaces. Similar pieces may also be worked lower down, to 
take the lower bolts of the main chainplates. 
To the Council of the Yacht Badng Union of the Great 
Lakes: 
Gentlemek: In compliance with the instructions re- 
ceived from you to prepare a table of scantling to govern 
the construction of yachts for your fleet, I herewith subnait 
the following report and table. 
It is evident that any attempt to impose restrictions in 
yachting, whether in the rules for measurement and classi- 
fication, in the direct limitation of special features, or in the 
regulation of construction, must of necessity tend to encour- 
age not all types or methods of construction alike, but some 
one in particular at the expense of others. In dealing with 
the subject of construction, it is absolutely necessary at the 
outset to determine which one, of many possible methods, is 
to be selected as the standard and awarded the first consid- 
eration. The various methods of construction now followed 
by yacht designers and builders are: First, the old all wood 
construction found in all of the Lake yachts up to a dozen 
years ago, practically ship construction, with a great bulk 
of wood, a heavy ceiling throughout the vessel, and too fre- 
quently inadequate fastenings; second, a lighter and more 
scientific wood construction, such as is found in the Burgess 
yachts Merle ard Wona and the Gary Smith yachts Oriole 
and Cinderella; third, the still lighter and stronger wooden 
construction, with numerous but light members well placed 
and fastened, introduced to the Lakes about 1891 in the Fife 
yachts Yama, Zelma, Nox and Vedette; fourth, all-steel 
construction, as found in Sultana and the Watson Vreda; 
fifth, composite construction, with steel frames, floors, gar- 
board and deck stringers, beams, etc., and wood keel and 
planking; sixth, the very light wooden construction of the 
last few years, as in Vencedor, Siren and Vanenna, with 
frames all bent, and with the beams of small size and spaced 
closely together, and double skin. 
The first two methods may be dismissed as obsolete, and it 
is not necessary to consider steel construction at the present 
time, as it is of advantage only in larger vessels than are in- 
cluded in the Lake classification. In point of speed alone, 
the double-skin methods, both composite and the all-wood 
construction with very light bent timbers, possess some 
advantage over such a good all-wood construction as that of 
Yama and Zelma; at the same time the cost is materially 
greater, the work can only be properly done by a builder 
accustomed to it, with an adequate plant and a force of 
skilled workmen; and its durability is at the best no greater, 
than that of good all-wood construction. 
Neither of the two methods, as exemplified on the coast in 
Wasp, Syce and Norota, and in the fin-keels Niagara, 
Druailla and the special SO footers, has yet been introduced 
on the Lakes save in Vencedor, Siren and Vanenna, of 
the Lake Michigan fleet. Considering the limited advan- 
tages of the^e two methods, their heavy cost, the facil- 
ities for building as they are to-day in most Lake ports, and 
the general conditions of Lake yachting; there seems to be 
no immediate call for the introduction of either to the prac- 
tical exclusion of the ordiaary good all-wood construction. 
Any small deficiency of the latter in point of racing speed is 
more than compensated by the cheapness and facility of con- 
struction, within the powers of ordinarily good mechanics; 
and greater durability. 
With such success for your Association as may be reason- 
ably looked for in the near future, and with a resulting in- 
crease of racing and building, it will in time become neces- 
esary to extend the limitations of scantling to cover both 
composite and the lighter all-wood construction; but, apart 
from the difficulty of doing so at the present time, the wel- 
fare of yachting on the Lakes would only suffer by the im- 
mediate introduction of a limited number of extreme racing 
yachts that would of necessity outclass others less costly, 
superior in many respects, and in speed inferior but to a 
slight degree. 
In default of exact and definite instructions as to the scope 
of the task committed to me, I have, in view of the above 
considerations, attempted to deal only with the now existing 
method of construction in your fleet. 
Whether dealing with one method of construction only or 
with several, it is necessary to establish a certain standard of 
strength, according to which the sizes of the various mem- 
bers may be determined. Taking practical examples from 
your flpet, such yachts as Aegie, Zelma, City of the Straits, 
Eva and Yama, while fairly light in construction, are amply 
strong; and on the other hand, it is clearly recognized that 
in the newer Canada a safe limit of strength and durability 
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has been exceeded in the effort to gain extreme speed. In 
determining the specific sizes of the different members for 
each class, a large number of examples of each method of 
construction and in various sizes have been studied, 
and the practice of all the leading designers and builders 
has been compared. The standard aimed at has been a 
strength about equal to that of Yama and Zelma. 
The examples on which the accompanying tables are based 
have been selected from the British fleet as well as the 
American coast fleet, and in determining the final figures 
the following facts have received due consideration: 
As concerns the British yachts, they are, as a rule, vessels 
of less power, smaller sail area, and of more moderate pro- 
portions of beam and depth: consequently permitting a 
somewhat lighter construction than in American yachts of 
equivalent measurement. 
As compared with the yachts of the Atlantic coast, 
the Lake vessels of equivalent sizes, practically all under 
53ft. R. L., are subjected to harder service, and require a 
rather stronger construction. While on the coast yachts as 
small as 36ft. racing length as a rule confine their racing to 
one locality, it is quite a common thing on the Lakes for a 
27-f ooter to make the entire racing circuit of one Lake or to 
go from one to another, and even the small 23 footers some- 
times make long racing cruises. In order to be fit for the 
long port-to-port passages on the Lakes, a yacht, especially 
if of small size, must be thoroughly and durably con- 
structed, and to this end the standard has been placed some- 
what higher than the examples of the salt water fleet would 
warrant. 
Looking at the same question in its local bearings, it has 
seemed in every way better that the yacht which makes the 
racing circuit every season should be allowed a weight of 
material necessary for ample strength, even if the yacht built 
so ely for harbor racing in one locality be coinpslled to carry 
a somewhat greater weight of construction than is absolutely 
necessary for such service. 
Other things being equal, the success of any yacht con- 
strue ion depends upon the quality of the material and work- 
manship; if it can be assured that only the best run of ma- 
terial will be used, it being carefully culled over in the 
working, and that each individual workman will carry out 
skillfully and honestly the terms of the speciflcations, a ma- 
terial reduction of size ia possible; but such favorable condi- 
tions cannot be relied upon implicitly in general building, 
and unless a special price is paid for the highest possible 
grade of work the scantling must be heavy enough to allow 
for the inevitable small imperfections. 
The accompanying tables are based on two assumptions: 
first, that it is the desire of the Council, and of the yachts- 
men which it represents, to produce craft of modern con- 
struction, and intended primarily for racing, but at the 
same time capable of standing the strains of hard racing 
service for a reasonable term of years, and afterward to be 
capable of further use as cruisers. While every effort has 
been made to allow some scope for improvement, and for the 
ingenuity of the designer, at the same time preference has 
been given to materials and methods involving moderate 
rather than excessive cost. 
The second assumption is that both materials And. work- 
manship Will be what is called "fitst class''; and, while it is 
obviously impossible to speftify exact sizes for all of the 
numerous members of a yacht, that the dimensions and 
arrangement speciftcally called for in the table are supple- 
mented by the full complement of other details, as indicated 
in the accompanying des^cription of parts. 
I have not been unmindful of the desirability of concise- 
ness and simplicity in the enumeration of members; but it 
\vill be seen nn slight Goasideration that one result must 
inev/itably follow any such spirited and continued racing as 
is looked for by yachtsmen. The first yachts built to the 
new limits will probably have, in addition to the members 
specifically demanded, others such as knees, straps, etc , that 
have been denied sppcific mention for the sake of simplicity. 
In the effort to outbuild, however, designers will soon find a 
way to omit all parts not specifically mentioned, thereby sacrij 
ficingto speed the itnmediate strength and permanent durabil- 
ity of the yacht, and thus completely nullifying the eft'orts of 
the Association, An instanoe of this evasion of a well-intended 
restriction is found In the Bo'ston 3lft knockabouts; the 
few and simple restrictions originally laid down served theit 
purpose until the competition became very keen; then prac- 
tically everything but the specified members (frames, plank- 
inz, decking and lead keel) was omitted, the result being a 
mere racing machine. To avoid such a conclusion as this to 
the laudable efforts of the Y. R. U. of the Great Lakes in a 
new field, it has seemed desirable to deal with many more 
details than would otherwise have been necessary. 
Assuming that the present attempt shall prove successful 
for the time being in producing a fleet of strong and durable 
yachts, it even then cannot be considered perfect or final. 
Not only will it ultimately require to be extended to covet 
composite and steel construction, but som.e provision must 
be made for probable improvements in all-wood construa- 
tion which will call for amendment of the present tables. 
To this end I would suggest the appointment by the Union 
of a standing committee of three or more yachtsmen Who 
shall devote themselves to this subject of ^construction. It 
should be one of the duties of such a committee to pass upon 
special plans of construction not strictly in accordance with 
the terms of the table, but possessing equal merit, when 
such plans are submitted by designers; to suggest amend- 
ments to the table when the advance of design makes them 
necessary, and in time t extend the tables to cover other 
methods of construction. 
In preparing such a table as that called for by the Coun- 
cil, there is very little that is useful as a guide, nothing of 
a similar nature having thus far been attempted by yachting 
bodies save in two ways. 
As long ago as 1875 the efforts of a few English yacht 
owners and builders resulted in the inducing of Lloyds' So- 
ciety to extend its system of survey and classification to 
yachts; and with excellent results, so far as they went. For 
some years past, however, Lloyds' scantling has failed to 
meet the requirements of modern racing construction, and 
the leading British racing craft are not built to Lloyds rules 
or subject to their survey. An inspection of these rules 
shows that they are in no way applicable to the present case, 
as at best they would not extend below the Slttt. class; and 
they recognize but one system of construction, with all 
sawn frames, doubled, which is practically obsolete to-day 
in racing yachts. 
Apart from Lloyds' Society, the only other efforts at the 
limitation of construction are those made independently by 
many individual clubs within the past three years in the 
"restricted" or "one-design" classes, each under special re- 
strictions as to dimensions and usually as to details of con- 
struction as well. A careful examination, both of Lloyds' 
tables and of the rules of the various special classes, dis- 
closes very little material that can be utilized in drawing up 
a general and comprehensive scheme of scantling adapted to 
even one form of modern racing construction. 
The dimensions here laid down for the various parts are 
based strictly on the best current practice of designers so far as 
this could be harmonized and tabulated. A study of a large 
number of yachts of from 20ft. to 60ft. racing length and of 
different types and dates, disclosed a wide divei-sity in the 
practice of different designers; in the one detail of scantling 
and arrangement of frames, many different combinations of 
sawn frames, single and double, in single lengths or futtocks 
and tops, bent frames of uniform scantling and spacing, and 
sawn and bent frames together, are found. Each of these 
methods possesses certain advantages and disadvantages of 
its own, and the designer should be free to choose at will 
from them. In dealing with this detail the sectional area of 
each frame, small or large, for a space of several feet in the 
length of the yacht, has been measured; and from these has 
been computed the sectional area necessary to give the same 
strength in frames all of the same size and spaced 12in. apart 
uniformly. A number of examples have been thus treated 
in each class, and from them has been deduced the average 
sectional area for a spacing of 12in. necessary in this class. 
As stated later in detail, so long as this minimum of 
sectional area per foot length is not exceeded, the designer is 
at liberty to employ any size or sizes of frames and 8pacio». 
A similar method has been followed throughout in deducing 
from actual yachts an average of sizes for all members. 
The dimensions for each class, as determined indepen- 
dently, when plotted in one table disclosed various discrep- 
ancies in reading from class to class across the table, making 
it necessary to revise them in order to obtain a general har- 
mony in the intervals between the classes In doing this it 
was at the same time necessary to follow the ordinary work- 
ing fractions of the inch as used by mechanics. In explana- 
tion of any apparent discrepancies in the table, it may be said 
that the mere detail of thus harmonizing all classes after 
each was comparatively satisfactory in itself, proved a mat- 
ter of some difficulty. 
In Lloj^ds' rules the scantling is proportioned on the basis 
of a nominal "tonnage," obtained by multiplying together 
the length from the fore part of the main stem to the after 
part of the sternpost on the range of the upper deck, the 
greatest external breadth, and the depth from the top of 
upijer deck beams to the top of the keel, the product being 
divided by 100. By this measurement Yama would come out 
about 31 tons, and a yacht of the Saft. class would measure 
about 37 tons; the smallest class named in Lloyds' tables 
being "Under 27 Tons," the next being 37 to 86 tons, then 36 
to 54 tonw, 54 to 73 tons, etc., up to 350 tons. In the present 
case the existing classes of the Union, based on racing 
length, offer the best practical basis; the yachts which may 
be built under the table being limited to the regular classes 
of the Yacht Racing Union of the Great Lakes, as follows- 
