i^Ol^EST AMD STREAM. . 
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Jan-. 13, 1900.1 
The.real bottom point is that some of the latest produc- 
tions in the class have been constructed purely for racmg. 
and, with that end in view and under the idea that the 
lightest weight wins, they have been supplied with very 
light plain plates, and therefore practically they carry no 
hallast and solely depend on the sitting out of the man 
to carry the sail. We have pointed this out as a folly 
long ago, not with any intention of warning experienced 
men from the line they are taking, but to warn recruits 
to the sport from being led into a trap, or, at least, what 
mav prove a trap to them. 
A few weeks ago Mr. Linton Hope altered his own 
cruiser's heavy plate, from a plain plate to a bulbed 
plate of much lighter total weight, but of far greater 
balancing power than the plain plate. The change in weight 
was 881bs. instead of I24lbs., and the owner writes us: 
"Eft's bulb keel is quite a success, the most extraordinary 
thing being that she is much improved in running in a 
light wind Avith the bulb right down. The boat is much 
stiffer, and a saving of 22 per cent, and 29 per cent, re- 
spectively in area and weight of her late plain plate." We 
do not hesitate to say that the reduction in the weight 
by the change is not the way we should have worked. We 
should have preferred to take I24lbs. as a very fairly_light 
ballasting for a 24in. beam canoe carrying 140ft. of 
sail, and we should have given her a far heavier bulb. 
The actual plate and bulb of Nautilus is I25lbs.. of 
which the plate is about 7olbs. and its hangers, etc., slbs., 
so that the bulb is 5olbs. She has been carefully calculated 
for stability, apart^from man sitting out,, to or at several 
angles of inclination culminating in "on her beam ends," 
and the solb. bulb is only just on the safe side. 
Any craft, deep keller, may be knocked down flat by a 
squall, but the requisite is that she shall infallibly have 
yet righting power — that is, certain ability to self-right, so 
that she can live out a squall, or, in other words, her 
owner having confidence in the scientific structural power 
of his boat, when he is caught in a tight place in a squall 
sits tight because he knows his own boat's power. The 
amount of sail he may carry is simply a question of 
nursing his spars and shrouds ; provided his plate is down, 
he can keep all sheets fast and let her lie down. 
There is in this consideration only one other point, but 
probably it is the most important of any. It is the question 
of the buoyancy of the bilge of the boat. If you are con- 
fidently to let her lie down to a squall, even in .smooth 
water,' but certainly in rough, you must know that the 
side body immersed has sufficient displacement to keep her 
hatch and well coamings out of water when she is actually 
lying flat over at an angle of 90 degrees. Calculate this 
position for, say, six existing canoes, with, of course, the 
weight of a man sitting in her, say i6olbs., and in prob- 
ably four cases you will find that the lee well coaming 
comes under water. Such a craft is a gone ship ; she is 
dangerous. . _ , 
There may be many capsizes experienced in such a 
craft, when by the mainsail striking the water and the 
crew intuitively planting out to windward the angle of 
90 degrees is never reached ; indeed, 70 degrees will put 
the mainsail in the water. And so the extreme lesson is 
never learned until one day she gets a real flattener, and 
then — .well, let us hope the shore or another boat is quite 
handy. 
In writing last week on structural requirements for a 
safe canoe, the most important point \yas not quite 
finished, or not sufficiently worked out to caution owners. 
Of course those who have the drawings of their canoes 
can, by suitable sections and spacing, easily work out the 
line of immersion when the canoe is laid hat on her beam 
ends' with crew on the upper bilge; but for those who 
have not drawings, or who do not know how to work 
out the displacement, there is nothing but experiment left 
to ascertain the true state of the canoe in this dangerous 
position. 
The flat position is possible for any canoe, be she bulb 
keeled or merely plain centerplate of heavy weight, or 
even of light plate, but the question is whether, when laid 
flat, she will abstain from shipping water. A lean-sided, 
fine-ended canoe, with Ioav freeboard, will undoubtedly 
ship water and fill — ^that is, with the i6in. minimum width 
of well allowed by the rule. No narrower well would be 
conveniently workable for cruising and camping; it there- 
fore remains a governing question as to the canoe's ability 
as a safe cruiser that the sections which are immersed on 
the canoe being laid over flat are of sufficient area to float 
the coamings well clear of the water. 
The Nautilus of 1899, which we pointed out last week 
as being only just on the safe side, has a very large amount 
of surplus buoyancy, or overhanging sides and ends, and, 
compared with others, considerable freeboard ; her weight 
of keel, i. e., plate and bulb, is moderate and not so heavy 
as some others are, and j'et she is near it. We have gone a 
step further and roughly estimated the eft'ect of a wet man 
and wet sails, and, short of actual experiment, Ave conclude 
she would be just near coaming awash. 
As the beam is limited to 42in. and built up to, the 
only Avays to safeguard this swamping danger are full 
above water ends, or increased freeboard. Which Avay 
may be the most advantageous, both in effect and in good 
looks, is for the designer to say; certainly the fuller ends 
will give the stiffer boat for sail carrying, but she will 
be more of a puncher, wetter, and possibly also sloAver, in 
rough Avater, than the higher freeboarded. lean-sided 
model. To test the question on any existing canoe there 
is no necessity to get Avet and then capsize her; the trial 
can and should be made in the off season — that is, at this 
time of year. Take the canoe with sail set, with center- 
plate down, and with a ballast Aveight representing the 
weight of owner in wet clothes, easily estimated by 
weighing a dry and a Avet suit of flannels, placed and 
lashed on the upside of the centerboard case. Then. Avith 
a line to the masthead, pull the canoe doAvn on to her beam 
ends. The result may be startling, but it will be vitally 
useful, and is so simple that the test should be im'-ariably 
made before the season is given a chance of proving that 
the craft is dangerous. 
Of course, the owner has a bit of margin of safety in 
that he Avill most likely not be Avet through when the 
canoe is laid flat; but the extra bit of buoyancy for a wet 
man may mean just enough margin for safety for a dry 
man laid flat^ in rough water. Unless the rule made a 
certain amount — a large amount — of displacement re- 
quisite, there is no practical way of dictating what the pirea 
of immersible sections should be when the upright dis-^ 
placement is in no Avay legislated; but owners have it 
clearly in their own hands by test that the canoe in which 
they intend to sail miles from land on the sea will not fill 
and sink from under them when laid flat by a squall. 
A Canoe Race Across the English Channel. 
The folloAving letter to the Field is from an old A. C. A. 
man, Dr. C. M. Douglas, formerly of Lakefield, Ont., 
well known to all w^ho attended the Grindstone meets. 
The letter alludes to a proposed canoe race across the 
Channel : 
Sir— The chief advantage of a cross-Channel match for 
small single-handers and canoes is that it would test 
the capabilities of these craft in open water, Avith varying 
conditions of currents, wind and sea in a way that might 
not be found on land-protected Avaters. Perhaps a cross- 
Channel cruise is more than can reasonably be set down 
in the vocation of a "canoe." A cruising race, say, from 
Bembridge to Red Bridge, at the head of Southampton 
water, might be a more legitimate test of the merits of 
tlie.se useful and handy craft, sail or paddle, singly 
or combined, being optional as modes of propulsion. I 
suppose the machine in which an uncertain stability is 
obtained by balancing man to vvindAvard against sail, 
might be entered if any one would care to do so.^ On June 
19, 1894, 1 crossed the Channel in a bona fide ''canoe" of 
the folding type, 12ft. long, 3oin. beam, and ift. in, 
depth, weight some solbs. The wind was light from the 
N.E. or N., with a liazy atmosphere, when I left Dover 
at 8:30 A. M. under a light leg of mutton sail and paddle. 
.'\fter I had made some ten miles or so the light breeze fell 
to a calm, the haze grew thicker, and I struck my sail and 
went on under paddle, steering by compass fastened to the 
flooring board of the canoe. If the Aveather had not 
changed I Avould have reached Calais in comparative com- 
fort, but Avhen off Cape Grisnez at half-past two in the 
afternoon, a fresh westerly wind sprang up. I had been 
carri(.d rather out of my course by the ebb. The flood 
coming in and meeting the wind caused a beam sea, which 
made me paddle cautiously and circumspectly. I dared not 
set sail for fear of being bloAvn over, so 1 liad rather a 
rough time of it before I got into smooth water between 
the long piers of Calais Harbor. EA'entually, when I got 
alongside the S.E.R. steamboat at half-past seven or 
seven in the evening, and Avas helped out of my canoe by 
some good Samaritans among the crew, I was rather in the 
shivering condition of a "wet hen," Avith my views on 
the suitability of a folding canvas canoe for cross-Channel 
cruising considerably modified, especially when the naviga- 
tor is nearly three score years of age. A cross-Channel 
cruise in a single-bander of a decent size for open water, 
such as a canoe yaAvI, ought not to be such a serious un- 
dertaking. A match for such boats of the combination 
row and sail species Avould undoubtedly attract attention 
and interest, more especially if the craft could afterward 
make their Avay, by canal or river, to the exhibition at 
Paris. 
I have attended many canoe meets in America — not in 
England — but I have never seen a proper cruising race, 
that is from point to point some twenty miles or so. under 
cruising conditions as to the use of sails and paddles (or 
oars) in the case of the larger sizes of these small yawls. 
It might be interesting. C. M. D. 
CANOEING NEWS NOTES. 
The Yonkers C. C. Avill hold its annual meeting and 
election on Feb. I. 
The bilge-board cruising canoe Chiquita has been sold 
by T. S. Oxholm to Louis Ohlmeyer, of the Knickerbocker 
c. c. 
On Jan. 6 the Puritan C, C. opened its new club house 
on the Strandway, South Boston, Avith a formal house- 
warming, a number of visitors being present. 
Legitimate Types of Yachts. 
After all that was said in iSgS against Dominion, the 
so-called catamaran, the question then raised is still an 
open one. The Seawanhaka race committee failed to 
prove that Dominion was catamaran or that there Avas 
either rule or precedent for barring her had she been a 
catamaran or any sort of double boat. As the essential 
points of her design are still found in all boats of the 
scoAV type now imiversally used in racing, the whole 
question of their legitimacy must come up sooner or 
later for a final decision. The load Avaterline length 
when the yacht is in an upright position being the mam 
factor in all modern rules of measurement, the vital ques- 
tion is whether the clubs should recognize as fair and 
legitimate a form of hull which Avill only sail fast when 
turned on to one side, in Avhich position the actual effective 
waterline is from 50 to 100 per cent, greater than in the 
upright position for measurement. Alongside of this maiii 
question, involving a distinct principle of design, the 
questions of a hollow in the transverse sections or of 
double rudders, etc., are but trivial. The folloAving, from 
the Boston Globe, is of interest in this connection. 
The latest report in regard to the Quincy challenge cup 
is that Messrs. Faxon and Keith are not going to build 
a new defender, but will make alterations in Hostess. 
Hostess was very fast last year, and with a little tuning 
should be made even faster. Just what changes Mr. 
Faxon intends to make on last year's successful defender 
were not stated. 
W. B. Smith, who built Hostess, is enthusiastic in 
regard to the matter of bilge boards instead of the center- 
board, Avhich is used at present. He claims that these 
boards would be advantageous to all boats of the Hostess 
type, and his argument appears to be a reasonable one. 
He is also an advocate for double rudders, such as Avas 
used on Pompano, for boats of this type. 
It Avill be remembered that Hostess had to be sailed "on 
her ear," as the racing men put it, to get the most speed 
out of her. When she laid out, she immersed little 
more than the turn of her bilge, ■ The displacement, thus 
obtained, was of the minimum order and she had to go 
fast, provided she could keep on her feet. 
The great danger, in such a craft, is that the rudder is 
likely to get out of Avater, and the skipper thus losing the 
means of controlling his boat, cannot prevent her 
capsizing. With the double rudder this danger would be 
eliminated and in the event of a puff laying the boat 
out the skipper could nurse her back again to her proper 
position. 
On windward work Hostess was still fast enough to 
beat out her competitors if she could hold on, but when 
she got her narroAv side into the Avater it weakened the 
holding power of her centerboard, and the consequence 
was that she fell off. 
If bilge boards were used she V-^^uld have had some- 
thing to keep her from sliding. Tn^. result would be 
that, being able to point and go in the direction she was 
pointing in, her great speed, made greater by her minimum 
displacement, Avould bring her out to the windward mark 
faster than anything in her class. 
The Higginson challenger is to have more beafn than 
Hostess. It has been said by some people that the limit 
of extreme beam, as regards speed, has been reached in 
Hostess, and that more beam Avill make the ncAV challenger 
slower rather than faster. Be that as it may, any new 
boat will find a tough proposition in last year's defender, 
and will have to go fast to a superlative degree to get 
aAvay from her. 
As raced last year, Hostess was in principle a double 
boat, sailing With her keel out of water and but one bilge 
immersed. The alterations described above Avill give 
her some of the more important auxiliary features of the 
catamaran and true double-boat, two rudders and two 
centerboards, a rudder and centerboard for the starboard 
half of the hull and one each for the port half. Is such 
a craft fairly eligible under the L.W.L. rule and methods 
of measurement of the Y. R. A. of Massachusetts ; and if 
'so, what is the rule worth as an incentive to improvement 
in designing? 
The following is from the Field of Dec. 30; 
A correspondent Avrites to us suggesting that we should 
publish the lines of the yachts which have just been racing 
for the America Cup, and stating that they have already 
appeared in an American paper. We should be very 
pleased to give the lines of two such famous boats, but, 
unfortunately for the Avorld at large, the great designers 
A'ery seldom allow their efforts in designing to be made 
public, and we feel quite certain that the genuine lines of 
neither boat have appeared in any paper as yet, Avhatever 
may happen in the future. 
The "lines" alluded to are probably the fake designs 
published last Avinter in this country and Avhich Avere 
subsequently proved, on - the docking of Columbia and 
Shamrock, to be worse than caricatures. We are sur- 
prised that some reputable yachting journals have actually 
commented on these "lines" and the accompanying figures 
as though they were, either in their origin or on their 
faces, in any Avay worthy of belief. 
Two important items of news Avere duly chronicled m 
large type in some of the New York daily papers of last 
Aveek. On Friday it Avas postively announced by special 
cable from London that Sir Thomas Lipton liad again 
challenged for the America Cup (whether for 1900 or 
1901 not stated) and that Watson Avould design the ncAV 
yacht. On Saturday it was stated with equal authority 
that no challenge had been sent, nor was likely to be for 
some months, and that nothing had been done toward 
selecting a designer. In this simple and ingenious matter a 
certain amount of yachtnig ncAVS was provided to break the 
prevaling dullness. 
Mr. VVill Fife, Jr., has been sloAvly recovering his 
health, but it is only within a short time that he has been 
able to discard the cane which reolaced the crutches which 
he was obliged to depend on during his convalesence. He 
is now busy with plenty of work at his Fairlie Yard, 
The Dublin'iBay Water Wags, 
The once popular Water Wag class of Dublin Bay, Ave 
believe the first real one-design class, has of late years 
fallen off in popularity, and the racing has been very dull. 
We learn from the Field, as below, that a new and larger 
class will noAv be started. 
The Water Wag Club has at length taken a decisive 
step with regard to its new type of boat. It Avas felt that 
if something Avas not done to infuse life into the class, 
small boat sailing A\'Ould practically disappear in Dublin 
Bay, and of late years the Water Wags have been in a 
moribund condition. It was not a Aveakness in strength, 
for the fleet was large, but some Avay or other there Avas 
no life in the sailing. As it would be a pity to alloAV the 
Water Wag — which has been the parent of the one-class 
otie-design principle — to disappear, the members of the 
club determined some time ago to adopt a new type of 
boat. Although a design Avas obtaiiied from Mr. J. E. 
Doyle, the designer of the Colleens, and practically 
adopted, nothing was done for certain until Monday, Dec. 
18. At a committee meeting Mr. Doyle's design was ac- 
cepted Avith a slight modification, the 14ft. of length being 
increased to 14ft. 3in., the extra 3in. going to give a raked 
transom which improA^es the appearance of the boat. The 
new boat will be of a much more powerful and able type 
than the existing Wag. The square stern Avill make her 
much more roomy, she Avill be ift. 3in. more in length, 
the bearn Avill be 5ft. 6in. and the sail area 110 sq. ft., 
divided into lug sail and jib, as against 75 sq. ft. of lug 
alone, as in the present class. The increase in sail will 
give the "crcAv" something more to do, for it used to be a 
among others the Belfast Lough Insect class A\'as ex- 
ception of the spinaker Avork. he was merely shifting bal- 
last. There were many designs under consideration, and 
among others the Belfast Lough Insect class was ex- 
amined. The specifications and measurements will bf 
strict, but, while an extra cheap boat is not aimed at. the 
expensive boat Avill be prevented by a rule of the club to 
that eflfect. 5;«cessive cost, indeed, was one of the factors 
