612 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[June 29, 1901, 
Small Yacht Construction and 
Rigging. 
BY LINTON HOPE. 
Chapter VI.— Floors, Shelf and Deck Beams. 
Ais soon, as the planking is finished, before clenching off the 
nails, the moulds will have to be removed. To do this the 
centerboard boat will have to be turned over keel down, but the 
other can remain on the stocks. Before turning the boat over, all 
the stays of the moulds and on the stem and stern of the boat 
must be cut adrift from their fastenings, and when that is done 
she can be lifted clear of the floor by about four men and turned 
over on two trestles. Four or five light strips of wood, called 
cross spauls, Avith cleats on their ends, should be fitted over the 
edges of the top strake between the moulds to hold the boat in 
to her beam, as if this is not done she will fly out several inches 
at each side directly the moulds are removed. This must be done 
on both boats. The moulds can row be removed, and the easiest 
■way is to cut them across in one or two places with a saw; bvit if 
they are to be retained for future use, it will be a longer job to 
get them out whole, and great care must be taken not to injure 
the planking and timbers. 
The planking being now finished, and all the through fasteiiings 
clenched properly over roves or burrs, the positions of the floor 
timbers shoiid be set of! from the construction drawing. The 
stations are usually marked F-F-F on the drawing, or else the 
floors are shown on the drawing in their places. 
A thin wooden template is made to fit the inside of the skin 
and keel, etc., at each station, and from it the floor is made either 
in steel or a natural oak crook. The latter is the simplest for the 
centerboard boat, and the bow and stern floors in the keel boat, 
but the hollow sections amidships on the latter will require steel 
floors, as suitable crooks could not be obtained, and would be 
very difficult to fasten. These steel floors can be made by any 
smith, from the template, if it shows the bevel required. This is 
usually done by naihng small blocks of wood on the sides of the 
template, at about four places from the angle of the keel and 
garboard to the end of the arms. These blocks must be the 
exact width of the finished- forging, and must show the angle or 
bevel of the t)lanking with the template at each point. 
When ordering the iron work, always give a correct template 
as well as a full sized drawing of each piece, and if possible let 
the smith have a look at the place where it is to go. 
All iron work must be fitted in place and drilled, and the holes 
countersunk before being galvanized. 
The oak floors are cut roughly to shape from the template, 
giving the edges the proper bevel when sawing out of. the crook. 
They should then be tried in place, and if a fairly good fit, the 
inside of the skin and keel, at the floor station, should be chalked 
and the floor fitted exactly to its place in the manner described in 
the previous chapter for fitting the planks; and when it is a good 
fit, the sharp angle at the junction of the planking and keel 
should be partly cut away to leave a water course or "limber 
hole." This is constantly -omitted, even by good builders, but is 
most essential if the boat is to be kept clean and sound, for if 
there is no proper water course the boat cannot be pumped out 
dry, and water will always lie in the anprlcs of the floors. The 
limbers must not be cut too large, or the joggle over the keel will 
be cut awaj'. and much of the strength lost; a fair proportion for 
most l3oats would be two-tliiuds the height from the inside of the 
plank to the top of the keel at the joggle, and about twice that 
amount in width. 
A good rule for the sizes of wood floors is to make the siding 
equal to two or two and a" Ivilf limes the thickness of the planking, 
and the moulded depth on. tlie lop of tile keel two or two and a 
half times the siding; thus for V^in. i)lanking the floor at the top 
of the keel should be lin. to lV2in. by 2in. or S'/ain., according to 
the strength required at the different stations, the stoutest floors 
being at the mast step and amidships, and the lightest at the 
ends. All floors should run up to the turii of the bilges, and the 
arms should taper fairly from ihe keel to the end, which should 
be square in section, so that if the floor is lin. sided, it would be 
lin. by lin. at the ends of the arms. Steel floors are usually of 
a flat section in small boats, such as we are now dealing with, and 
should be about half the thickness of the planking at the keel, witli 
a width of about four times the thickness. For V^in. planking 
they would be lin. by %in. at keel, and would taper to the ends 
of the arms to half those dimensions. 
Paint well under each floor before fastening it in place. 
The shelf, which is also known as the inwale in small boats, 
varies considerably in its proportions to the rest of the scantlings, 
according to the class of boat. For instance, in some very light 
boats of barely 3-16in. planking with bent timbers %in. by %in., 
spaced 2in. center to center, the inwales were IV^in. by %in., 
tapered fore and aft to ygin. by %in., the boat being about 25fr. 
over all and 5ft. 6in. beam. In an ordinary strongly built boat 
of the same dimensions, but with %in. planking and %in. by 
%m. timbers, spaced 5in. center to center, the shelf would be 
about 2V2in. by lV4in., tapered to 2in. by lin. at the ends. That 
is to say, that though the planking is nearly three times as thick 
and the sectional area of the timbers more than seven times as 
great, the shelf is barely double the sectional area of that in the 
light boat. The shelf of the latter, however, would be- fastened 
inside the timbers below the level of the deck, so that it would 
not be cut away more than %in, for the dovetails of the deck 
beams, the timbers not being let into it at all, while the inwale 
of the light boat would have all the timber heads let in flush, and 
the beams let in to their full depth, but only half way through 
the thickness of the inwale at the top, the dovetail being tapered 
to nothing at the bottom of the beam. By this method the 
inwale touches the deck and tlie planking, both of which are 
fastened directly to it. This is necessary with such light 
material to tie the skin and deck edge together, as they are both 
too thin to fasten to each other in the usual way by nailing or 
screwing the deck to the top strake. ' , . , , 
The term "shelf" i» usually applied to the heavier class of 
work only, but I shall use it here to denote the form of con- 
struction in which the timbers and beams are not let in, using 
the word "inwale" in place of shelf, when the other method is 
required.^^^^^ important that tlte ^helf should be quite ffee from 
knots or short grain, and for that reason Oregon pine is one of 
the most suitable woods; but for the inwale of a very lightly built 
boat American elm is better, , as it will not fly so easily when cut 
across the grain to let in the timbers and beams. The only objec- 
tion to American elm for all work of this sort is its weight and 
expense; but if Oregon pine were used in cases where the timhpr.s 
are let in it would probably .split in .several places, especiallv 
between the dovetail."! of the deck beams. A light, tough mahog- 
any is not a bad substitute for both the former woods in cither 
class of work, but it is as expensive as -the American elm, while 
not equal to it in toughness, and it is considerably heavier than 
Oregon pine but is more durable and less likely to spht. 
As soon as the pair of shelves are cut out to the correct section 
and taper they will require steaming at the fore ends to the cuive 
of the boat. To save time they are usually cut out, planed up and 
steamed before the floor frames are fitted, being bent round tlie 
outside of the top strake and cramped or lightly nailed in place- 
to set to their proper shape by the time they are wanted. Ucca- 
sionallv the after ends will have to be steamed as well, in whicli 
case they must be done separately, one end being steamed and lelt 
to set all night before taking off the boat to steam the other end, 
unless you have a steam box long enough to take the whole length, 
which is hardly likely. , , , , , j. , 
Before putting in the shelf the edges of the top strake must be 
planed down to the correct sheer line, and this takes a lot of 
careful work and a well trained eye or there will be ' lumps or 
"straights" in the sheer. Use a jackplane set fairly coarse at 
first and get well away to look at the sheer as you plane the 
edge. Be sure and get the sheer right now, as you cannot 
alter it much afterward. Don't touch the top of the transom till 
the deck beams are faired up. ^ , , , . , 
When fastening them m place fit the fore ends against the 
inside of the stem and to each other, so that when the breast hook 
IS fitted afterward the whole fore end of the boat wall be a solid 
block, composed of stern, shelves, breast hook and planking, with 
tlie space between shelf and plank carefully filled up. 
Get the shelf in place and hold it firmly with three of four 
cramps, driving it tightly against the stem and keeping the top 
%in above the level of the under sides of the deck beams. This 
level can be marked all around the inside of the boat before the 
shelf is fitted. For example, if the beams are l%in. moulded at 
the ends the level of the top of the shelf would be lin. below the 
'^'^Stert^fastening from forward, putting a through fastening through 
plank, timber and shelf at every other timber, each fastening 
hema; alternately in the top and bottom edges of the shelf. 
When within a few feet of the after end of the shelf cut it to fit 
tightly against the transom in the same manner as the fore end 
fits against the stem. It will be tied to the transom with a quarter 
knee. There is often a lot of twist in the shelf here, especially in 
long counters like that of No. 2 design, and care must be used to 
get it in place, nailing it at every timber if required. 
The bilge stringers are the next to go in, and owing to their 
length being equal to that of the boat, they cannot well be fitted 
after the deck beams are in place. These very essential portions 
of the frame are somewhat similar in section to the shelf, and, like 
it, are -ft'orked from end to end of the boat inside the timbers, to 
give longitudinal strength. Unlike the shelf, they are placed on 
edge, and are wider at the base, where they touch the timbers, than 
they are at the top. A good proportion for the section would be 
a moulded depth amidships, equal to four of five times the thick- 
ness of the plank, with a width at the base equal to one-third the 
depth and at the top edge equal to one-fourth the depth. The 
ends would taper in the same manner as with the shelf. 
The stringers should be placed right in the turn of the bilge, 
just over the ends of the floors, which may be cut away to allow 
the stringers to lie flat on the timbers. Like the shelf, they should 
be thoroughly fastened at every other timber, and at each floor, 
■ Where a stringer on edge would interfere too much witb the 
internal room, a slightly stouter one may be worked on the flat, 
bu* it will ret be nearly so strong. 
Before cutting out any of the deck beams a mould must be made 
for the longest beam in the boat, and from this template all the 
beams can be drawn out on the boards from which they are to be 
cut, placing one inside the hollow of the next, so as to waste as 
little wood as possible, taking care that the wood is sound and 
straight-grained. Where head room is not an object, it is best to 
make the beams thin and deep in section with the ends of less 
depth than the middle, the moulding amidships being about four 
times the siding, the latter being the same as the thickness of the 
deck. If, however, every bit of head room is wanted, they may 
be square in section, but should in that case be of greater sec- 
tional area to make up the strength required. 
The ends of the beams are fitted carefully to the inside of the 
planking at the stations shown on the construction plan, and 
they are dovetailed %in.,into the shelf with a long nail driven 
down through the beam into the shelf. When all the main beams 
are in place the fore and aft beams or carlines are fitted, the ends 
being dovetailed for half their depth into the two end beams, but 
the dovetail must not be cut more than half way across the 
beams. The half-beams from shelf to carline arc fitted just the 
same as the rest of the beams, all joints being dovetailed. 
The beams and carlines should be cut out about ^4in. deeper 
than the specified moulded depth, and when they are in their 
places they should stand ^4in. above the deck level. This is to 
allow enough wood to fair them off, which is done by laying a 
long batten on them from end to end of the boat, and planing off 
all lumps till the batten touches every beam and also the edge 
of the top strake at the sheer line if it is moved to cither side. 
When the batten is first laid over the beams and transom it 
looks a hopeless job to get them fair, but if the high beams 'are 
chalked and then some of the surplus planed off and tlie batten 
again tried until they are fair there should be no great difficulty; 
but it takes a lot of time and patience. Having fixed and faired 
the beam.Sj it is time to fit the knees and the shaped pieces 
from carlines to beam at the end of the cockpit, and for all 
these thin wooden templates must be made, and the knees, 'etc., 
cut out by them from the oak crooks as in the case of the stem. 
The breast hook is the \nost important knee in the boat, and 
should be at least equal in thickness to the shelf; the moulded 
depth will of cour.se be taken from the specification (which will 
be published later), but it will to some extent depend on the 
grain and quality of the oak. In the case of boats where the shelf 
is below the sheer level, the top of the breast hook will also be 
below the deck level, and will have to have a packing piece on 
it to take the end of the deck. The positions and shapes of the 
knees are shown on the construction plan, and all these will be 
about the same thickness as the planking or a trifle stouter, and 
they should all have at least three through fastenings in each arm. 
Our Boston Letter. 
Boston, June 23. — Independence has been soiiiewhal 
handicapped in her tuning up by the necessity of altera- 
tions in Iter rig and in her steering gear. When she came 
out o£ tlie Charlcstown Navy Yard dock with iter stern- 
post rudder and gear substituted for the balance rudder, it 
was thought that there would be no further need of altera- 
tions, btit on the first trial under the sternpost rudder it 
was found that the steering gear was not heavy enough. 
It was .so light that there was practically no power in it. 
During the trial several cogs of the steering gear, which 
was of the bevel type, were broken. This necessitated 
another change. It was decided to use the screw that has 
formed part of the gear for the balance rudder. In order 
to get the proper length on the rudder post, a piece was 
spliced to it, which ran up through the deck, just aft 
of where the bevel gear came through. On account of the 
rake of the rudder post, it was necessary to cut through 
i^nf of the deck beains and also cut a new hole in the 
deck. 
The after part of the screw fits into a socket on the 
rudder head and the wheel is turned with right and left 
threads, as in the gear of the balance rudder. Indepen- 
dence went out for a trial last Friday with this gear in 
place, and from all that can he learned, it will prove 
satisfactory. She was tried for the first time on that 
day with spinaker set. For the first setting it appeared 
to work very well, and it was run up and taken in fairly 
quickly; but on this point it Avould not be fair to make 
comparison, as the crew are not yet used to the sail, and 
the chances are tliat it will have to be set a few more 
time.s before men are regularly stationed on il. 
On the day that she took her involuntary jibe, one of 
the. bowsprit spreaders, or what is known as the 
"whiskers," was bent. This has been straightened up and 
the spreaders, which are hollow castings, strengthened 
Avith stee! pieces. On Saturday Independence was taken 
down the bay for another trial, but it was so foggy that 
the trip had to be abandoned, and she was towed back 
to tlie dock by the tug A- W. Chesterton. Slic was to 
have gone out to-day, anrl it was expected that .she would 
have an impromptu brush with the schooner Hildegardc. 
but the easterly wind that has been blowing for the past 
forty-eight hours drove in such a bank of fog that it was 
impossible to do anything. At one time she started from 
the dock, only to be driven back by a dense fog bank. 
It is expected that Independence will start for Newport 
on Tuesday, and that the rest of her tuning up will be 
done in those waters. It will take several trials before 
the crew is permanently separated for work on different 
parts of the boat. If she can go out every day before 
she gets actual racing, she can be put into good condition, 
but in the event of an accident she may be seriously 
handicapped on account of being so far away from her 
builders. 
In the local racing, it appears that the new Hanley-de- 
signed centerboard 25-footer Calypso is able to show her 
lieels to last year's champion Flirt in anything except a 
very light air. There has been bo opportunity of trying 
out both of these boats with Crowninshield's latest 25- 
footer, Chewink, owned by F. G. Macomber, Jr. Flirt 
and Chewink had a try out in the special race of the 
Eastern Y. C. last week. Flirt easily got away from the 
new boat, but that she did so seemed to be due to clever 
handling on the part of her skipper. 
Chewink came up to enter the race of the Savin Hill 
Y. C. on Saturday, hut there -was no class for her, and 
Flirt and Calypso were having it out in Hull Bay. Calypso 
would have entered the race of the Eastern Y. C. but she 
carried away her mast off Pig Rocks, when headed for 
Marblehead Harbor. 
In the 2ift. restricted class there have been changes of 
position in almo.st every race, and it is very hard to pick 
a winner at this stage. Opitsah III., designed by Crown- 
inshield, and Eaglet, designed by Burgess, are both new 
boats, and have not yet had a proper tuning up. In the 
contest, hard after them is Zaza, which came out at the 
end of last season. She is short on the waterline, but there 
is considerable over all. She beat the class handily in one 
race, and it is likely that she will repeat the perform- 
ance again. 
In the i8ft. knockabotit class, Bonito, designed by 
Crowitinshield. seems to be able to get away with the 
class in all kinds of weather. She is a very pretty boat and 
is an even sailer. She is stiff enough for all that will 
be required of her, and, at the saine time, she can gather 
speed in a very light air. 
In the unrestricted i8-f ooters. Dauntless seetnS to have 
met her match in Circe II. This boat was originally a 
21-footer, and raced for the Quincy cup under the name 
of Thelma. She was designed by Crowninshield. After 
the Quincy races were over her ends were pulled up and 
she now qualifies for the i8ft. class. Last year she faced 
with this class, but did not seem able to do much with 
Dauntless. In two races recently she showed up much 
better. In one of them she gave Dauntless a hard race, 
and in the other she beat her. 
John B. Killeen. 
The Canada's Cup Challengers. 
The third week of June showed several things about 
the Canada cup challenger Im^adel. For one thing, she is 
not so big as calculated — which is an unusual and pleasing 
discovery, for it was feared that she would go over meas- 
urement. When she was launched it was announced 
officially that she was going to draw 6ft. 6in. when rigged, 
and that her waterline would be 28ft. She was measured 
carefully by Com. Gooderham, of the R. C, Y. C,, a few 
days ago. Her draft, in racing trim, was 6ft. 2m. The 
forward overhang measured 9ft. iQi^in., and the after 
overhang irft. loj-^in. Dedticting these from the over all 
length, 49ft. 6in., the waterline was found to be-27ft. gin. 
Invader still sits a trifle by the stern, and a slight altera- 
tion in her ballast might improve her considerably. She 
carried more of a c|uartcring wave than she should when 
traveling at a good pace, although she leaves the water 
very cleanly in comparison with many yachts of her size. 
The Toronto men are making good use of their time. 
Almost every day Invader was out for a sail, and day by 
day she improved. Her first trials were sailed with a 
short gaff, made in Oakville, and Toronto's b(X)in. The 
latter was long enough, but the gaff was too short to 
stretch the head of the sail. When the proper spars were 
shipjied the work of getting the mainsail into shape began 
in earnest. The big sail was stretched and restretched, and 
by tlje latter part of the week the cringle in the peak of 
it was out at the gaff end and some of the bagginess had 
disappeared. The No. i jib was found to sag to leeward 
when set flying, so snaps were added to tJie wire bolt tqjic 
of the luff of it, and it travels on the forestay. 
Invader's mishaps have been of a minor character. She 
carried away her staysail boom, as the_paid hands call the 
Hght spar on the foot of the jib; on another occasion 
she carried away her jib halyards, and on another the- 
strap of the jib sheet block parted. No serious damage 
was done, and mariners Avho viewed the hollow mast, with 
its Vsm, shell of wood, with suspicion, are commencing 
to feel confidence in it. It was lifted out when the new 
gaff and boom were ready for shipping, and strengthened 
by additional bands of brass. 
A new wrinkle in light weather sailing — new, at least, to 
the Toronto men — is being tested. Ordinarily the goose- 
neck of the main boom of the 35-f ooters is very close to 
the deck. With the patent hoist on the after side of the 
mast, however, the whole sail can be hoisted away up 
till the gaff is above the spreaders and the boom is away 
above the deck. This upward shifting of the center of 
effort of the sails should result in more power, and the 
experiments have been satisfactory so far. A correspond- 
ing hoisting up of the jib has not yet been attempted in 
the cup challengers, although this works well in the i6ft. 
skiffs, and these little boats are frequently to he seen 
with their jibs away up the staj'-. 
Invader's first spin in anything like a good sailitig breeze 
occurred on Friday, June 21. It was an exciting dash 
with Beaver, the only other Toronto 35-footer, and vyhile 
it was of less than an hour's duration it was a good indi- 
cation of the new boat's possibilities. The two sloops took 
a flying start, with Beaver a length astern, and worked out 
of Toronto Bay in three long tacks. There was a twelve - 
mile breeze blowing. Beaver, always a wbnderfully stiff 
and weatherly craft, stood up like a church and rapidly 
outfootcd -and outpointed the Sibbick boat. The latter 
heeled to an angle of 45 degrees, but as soon as slie 
obtained the bearance of her long lee side she heeled no 
further. Her mainsail was setting wretchedly, one-half 
of it being curved one way and one-half the other; it was 
either peaked too high or needed cutting, or the hack- 
draft of the jib was spilling into it, 
The boats had a two-mde thresh to' windward, nosing 
out into Lake Ontario to a buoy south of the Eastern 
Gap, and when they came about and headed back for 
the harbor, Beaver had a lead of 3m. los. 
Invader, with her canvas drawing properly, owing 
to the started sheets, showed what she could do on the 
reach. She tore through and over the water, any fuss 
she made being purely surface spray. In the half-mile 
dash through the piers she gained a minute. When sheets 
were further started-for the run back to the moorings she 
continued to gain, but not so rapidly, and when the 
yachts finished she was just twenty-five seconds astern. 
There is no doubt that she can be improved sufficiently to 
make her half a minute to the mile faster by the wind. 
She does not make much lee way. she foots fast enough 
and she is stiff enough. The trouble so far has been with 
the canvas. This has been greatly improved, but, as the 
hymn says, ".Yet there is room." 
The new boat, which is regarded by Toronto men as 
.=<ure to be selected as the R. C. Y. C.'s challenger, can 
4p some wonderful work in turning. On one occasion 
