06 
FfdREST AND STREAM. 
25ft. Shoal Draft Sloop. 
The shallow draft centerboard sloop, the plans of 
which appear in this number, was designed by Mr. Thomas 
Clapham, of Roslyn, L. I., and built for Mr. Warren 
Somers, of Atlantic City, N. J. After a season of almost 
constant use, the boat is in splendid condition. She is 
very fast and able, having far exceeded her owner's and 
designer's expectations regarding her speed and sea- 
worthiness in all weathers. A good sized watertight cock- 
pit, 7ft. 6in. long, makes her a comfortable boat for day 
sailing, and her large cabin gives ample accommodation 
for four people to cruise on her comfortably. The cabin 
house is git. long and isin. high; the top is slightly 
crowned, giving 4ft. 6in. headroom under beams. On 
each side of the cabin are long transoms, so that two per- 
sons can sleep without overlapping. The trim in the 
cabin and cockpit is of mahogany. The dimensions on 
the sail plan clearly show the size of the spars and sails, 
and nothing further need be said regarding them. On 
her keel there is 2,5oolbs. of lead, which makes her prac- 
tically non-capsizable. Her dimensions are as follows: 
Length — 
Over all 4oft. 4in- 
L.W.L 25ft. 
Overhang — 
Forward 8ft. 5in. 
Aft. 6ft. iiin. 
Beam — 
Greatest lift 8in. 
L.W.L loft. loin. 
Draft- 
Greatest 2ft. 
To rabbet ift. s'm. 
Freeboard — ■ 
Bow 3ft. 2m. 
Tafifrail 2ft. 6m. 
Least 2ft. 
Displacement io,s6oIbs. 
Her frames are of oak, steam bent, i^/^'m. by ij^in. at 
heads, and i^in. by 2^in. at heels. The planking is of 
cedar, %in. thick. The deck beams are of oak, 2in. by 
iJ4in., and the deck planking is of pine, ^in. thick. The 
deck and the top of the cabin house are covered with 
canvas. . . _ 
25-FOOT SHOAL DRAFT SLOOP SAIL PLAN. 
Unlttcfcy Ships. 
"Unlucky ships" in our navy have a most unpleasant 
way of acting up to their reputations. Any bluejacket 
will tell you that the most unlucky ship in the navy is the 
Thunderer— he is firmly convinced that in the event of 
war she will come to grief. The origin of this ship's 
reputation is not exactly known, though a story exists 
to the effect that a workman was injured or killed during 
her construction, and his dependents scurvily treated by 
the Admiralty of the period. His wife, dying in child- 
birth shortly afterward, cursed the ship. So goes the 
legend ; possibly enough, like many another legend, it was 
made later on to fit events. No doubt whatever attaches 
to the Thunderer's ill luck— a fearful boiler explosion and 
a terrible gun disaster marked her earlier years. Minor 
disasters have been many; most things that could go 
wrong with her did so, and, though it was recently stated 
that she had outlived her bad luck, almost immediately 
afterward all her guns went wrong— a matter of inquiry 
at the present moment. She is being put out of commis- 
sion and replaced by the Hood, and it is extremely doubt- 
ful whether she will be employed again save as a harbor 
ship — men do not like her. 
Another unlucky ship is the Howe. She went ashore 
and sank at Ferrol. Subsequently she was raised and 
refloated, but her "bad luck" clings to her; she is the 
worst ship of her batch to manage. By bluejacket super- 
stition she is doomed to sink some consort or be sunk 
by her, one of these days. 
Then there was the ill-fated Victoria. A horrible story 
(absolutely without foundation) about a man who was 
accidentally fastened down to die to her used to be related 
in the early nineties. She met with disasters, culminating 
in the terrible catastrophe that bears her name. The 
saddest of all iticidents in connection with this catas- 
trophe has never been made public. When the order 
was given for each man to jump, a batch of marines were 
not ordered to fall out. All, or nearly all, of those men 
were drowned standing at attention. However, this in- 
cident does not concern the luck of ships. 
The list of unlucky ships could be extended coniider- 
ably, but the above typical cases will suffice. In fact, of 
them it is absolutely useless to argue against nautical su- 
perstitions. The "bad luck," of course, varies; in the 
basic 
majority of cases it is confined to breakdowns and so 
forth, but whatever it be, once the "unlucky" reputation 
attaches to a ship it will last till she ends her career. And 
since the new royal yacht has thus got labeled, nothing 
that may be said or left unsaid will clear her. As she has 
cost over £500,000 something must be done with her. 
One speculation is that royalty will decline to use her, and 
that she will be handed over to the Lords of the Ad- 
miralty in place of the Enchantress, the anything but sea- 
worthy craft that now carries them around.— London 
Chronicle. 
Yachtsmcn*s Club. 
At the Yachtsmen's Club, 47 West Forty-third street, 
on Wednesday evening, Jan. 23, Mr. Clinton H. prane, the 
well-known yacht designer, delivered a most interesting 
and instructive lecture on "Cntising Yachts: Their De- 
sign and Construction." The lecture was well attended, a 
larger number of members being present than on any of 
the previous Wednesday evenings, which shows the in- 
creasing interest as the series progress. Arrangements 
have already been made for the following subjects: Jan. 
30, "Knots and Rigging," Herman White, Esq. ; Feb. 6, 
"Steam Yachts : Their Design and Construction," Henry 
Gielow, Esq.; Feb. 13, "Knots and Rigging," Herman 
White, Esq.; Feb. 20, "Racing Yachts: Their Design 
and Construction," William Gardner, Esq.; Feb, 27, 
"Knots and Rigging," Herman White, Esq, 
Designs Recently Pttblished in Forest and Stream, 
25-footer Flirt, Oct. 13-20. 
2i-footer Tattoo, Oct. 27. 
Minnesota, Nov. 17. 
19ft. sailboat, Nov. 24 and Dec. i. 
Cutter Isolde, Dec. 8. 
Catboat Lazy Jack, Dec. 15-22. 
Raceabout Jolly Roger, Dec. 29. 
Bald Eagle II. and ice boat, Jan. 5 
25-footer Brigand, Jan. 12. 
Canadian ice boat and 14ft. cutter, Jan. 
38ft. cruising launch, Jan. 26. 
19. 
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