492 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[Dec. 21, igoi:. 
A. C. A. Dinnef. 
Philadelphia, Dec. 16— Editor Forest and Stream: 
On Saturday night, Dec. 14, a dinner was given to the 
members of the Atlantic Division of the A. C. A. at The 
Orchard, the country home of the Athletic Club of 
Philadelphia. The weather was fierce, with a howlmg 
wind and rain, nevertheless nearly forty canoeists as- 
sembled around the board, and one of the regular A. C. 
A. nights was passed. 
Those present were: Louis A. Hall, Commodore, A. C. 
A , Boston, Mass. ; M. D. Wilt, Vice-Commodore Atlantic 
Division, Philadelphia, Pa.; F. S. Thorne, ex-Comroo- 
dore, Buffalo, N. Y. ; T. L. Dunnell, ex-Commodore, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Harry C. Allen, ex- Vice-Commodore, 
Trenton, N. J.; Joseph Edward Murray, ex-Vice-Com- 
dore, Philadelphia, Pa.; Henry C. Smythe, Librarian 
Custodian, New York, N .Y. ; W. A. Furman, F. G. Fur- 
man W. H. Heidweiler, H. P. Moorhead, H. C. Allen, 
W. S. Smith, M. S. West, W. C. Lawrence, R. G. Lucas 
and Harry Ott, Park Island Canoe Association, Trenton, 
N J. ; F. C. Moore, Wendell Andreas, H. L. Pollard and 
F C. Moore, New York C. C; D. B. Goodsell, Yonkers 
C. C; M. D. Wilt, J. E. Murray, F. A. Hockey, A. S. 
Fenimore, H. W. Fleischmann, H. E. Blumner, E. D. 
Hemingway, Omar Shallcross, E. W. Crittenden, Wm. 
Overington, Jr., and Will K. Park, Red Dragon C. C, 
Philadelphia; T. Rice Davis, Lakanoo C. C, Burlington, 
N J. ; Dr. Pennington, E. H. Preston, Philadelphia, Pa. 
The table was arranged in the form of the letter V, with 
Louis A. Hall and M. D. Wilt at the head, and J. E. 
Murray and H. W. Fleischmann at the ends. Speeches, 
songs and bright remarks followed like a continuous per- 
formance. Com. Hall gave an interesting talk on the 
coming meet, which will be held at Cape Cod next 
,\ugust. His remarks were well received, and he made 
himself heard without the aid of a megaphone. Ex-Com. 
Thorne spoke of the many pleasant times at past meets, 
and advised every one to be on hand at Chatham next 
August. W. K. P. 
Red Dragfon C» C. 
Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 16.— The Red Dragon C. C. 
has been rather quiet since the boating season closed, even 
the trapshooting interest not receiving the attention of 
former seasons. Commencing the first Saturday in Janu- 
ary, a series of weekly shoots will be held, which will last 
until the opening of the canoeing season. Many hand- 
some prizes have been secured, and the competition 
promises to be spirited. A distance handicap will give 
the poorer shots an equal chance with the best. 
Several of the Red Dragons distinguished themselves at 
the Sportsmen's Show which was held in Philadelphia 
recently. Although none of them were in training, a good 
showing was made in tilting tournaments, canoe races and 
other aquatic sports. To Com. Wilt much credit is given 
for his untiring efforts in having the Red Dragon C. C. 
represented at the Sportsmen's Show. He placed several 
of the members' canoes on exhibition, and devoted much 
time to the events. It was intended to have a Red Dragon 
camp, which would have been a very interesting exhibit, 
hnt owing to lack of space and time it was impossible to 
arrange it. W. K. P. 
— ^ — 
Designing Competition. 
In view of the continued and increasing interest in 
yachting, a desiging competition will be opened in the 
columns of Forest and Stream. In America the yacht- 
ing season is comparatively a short one, and such a 
competition a.= has been determined upon will serve to 
stimulate the interest in the subject during the winter 
months. The competition is open to both amateur and 
professional designers. Three prizes will be given for the' 
best designs of a yacht conforming to the following 
conditions: 
I. A pole mast sloop. 
II. 2Sft.. load waterline. 
III. Not over 4ft. draft (with centerboard hoisted). 
IV. At least 50 per cent, of ballast outside on keel. 
V. sft. headroom under cabin carlins. 
All abnormal features must be studiously avoided in 
the design; and the construction, sail and cabin plans 
should be of the simplest character. It was our idea in 
laying out the conditions of the competition to make 
them simple as possible, so as not to hamper in any 
way the designer, and yet convey to all that we wished 
to produce a safe, comfortable cruiser on which two or 
three amateurs could live with comfort for a period of 
two or three months and cruise along our eastern sea- 
board from New York to Halifax with safety. A center- 
board boat of moderate draft was decided upon, as so 
many more harbors would be accessible to a boat of that 
type. 
DRAWINGS REQUIRED. 
I. Sheer plan, scale lin. = ift. — showing center of 
buoyancy and lateral resistance. 
II. Half breadth, scale lin. = ift. 
III. Body plan, scale lin. =ift. 
IV. Cabin plan, scale lin. = ift. 
V. Sail plan, ^in. = ift., showing center of effort. 
The sails should consist of a jib, mainsail, spin- 
naker and balloon jib. No topasil will be carried. 
A table of offsets and g.n o^itline specification must 
accompany each design. The drawings should be care- 
fully drawn and lettered. All drawings should be made 
on white paper Pr tr^^ing cloth in black ink (no colored 
bear a nom-dei-plume only and no indication must be 
given of the author. In a sealed envelope, however, the 
designer should inclose his own name and address, to- 
gether with his nom-de-plume. All designs must be 
received at the office of the Forest and Stream Publish- 
ing Company, 346 Broadway, New York City, not later 
than February 28, 1902. All drawings will be returned, 
but postage should accompany each. 
The Forest and Stream reserves the right to publish 
any or all the designs. 
The prizes offered are as follows: ist prize, $25.00; 
2d prize, $15.00; 3d prize, $10.00. Mr. Theodore C. Zerega 
offers an additional prize of $10.00 for the best cabin plan. 
Honorable mention will also be made of meritorious de- 
signs. 
Mr. Clinton H. Crane, of the firm of Messrs. Tams, 
Lemoine & Crane, has kindly consented to judge the 
designs and make the awards. Mr. Crane's professional 
standing is so high that he needs no introduction, and 
every confidence will be put in his ability and fairness. 
In our issue of Nov. 23 we first announced a designing 
competition for a 25ft. waterline cruising sloop, offering 
as prizes, $25, $15 and $10. In doing this we have fol- 
lowed a custom which has been most interesting and 
successful with our English and French contemporaries, 
the object being to stimulate and increase the interest of 
amateurs in yacht designing. We hope and expect that a 
large number of drawings will be submitted, and we ask 
our readers to call the attention of any of their friends 
who may be designers to enter the competition. When 
this idea was first thought of, we were somewhat in 
doubt as to the size and style of the craft to be selected, 
but finally concluded that a cruising boat would appeal to 
the largest number, and that 25ft. waterline length was 
the smallest craft in which living accommodation could 
be secured in a boat of modern design. This competition 
scheme is in a measure experimental, and we will gladly 
welcome any suggestions of our readers regarding it. 
Should this competition prove a success, as we firmly 
believe it will, it is our intention to continue it, and to 
offer prizes for boats of different sizes and types. But it 
is essential that this first trial shall have the cordial sup- 
port of our readers, to whom we submit it with the hope 
that they will create a lively interest in it. 
The boiler shop of the John N. Robbins Company's 
Boston Dry Dock, South Brooklyn, was destroyed by 
fire on the night of Dec. 12. The boiler shop was a one- 
story building, which extended along the long dock on 
which Shamrock II. was laid up in winter quarters. The 
yacht was in close proximity to the shop, and although 
the hull was not damaged in the least, the wooden cover- 
ing that protected the deck was in danger of catching 
fire. _ A careful examination made of the hull on Saturday 
last failed to show any material damage. There were one 
or two places where the rivets gave evidence of corrosion, 
otherwise the hull seemed to be in excellent condition. 
The yacht is being strongly shored up and the cradle in 
which she rests is a very substantial affair. Shamrock's 
tender and her sails were stored in the shed that was 
burned, and they were entirely destroyed. 
Remarks on the IRating^ Rules^lfor 
Yacht Racing J 
In studying- the recent excellent article by Thalassa, in 
Forest and St'ream of Nov. 30, I was more than ever 
impressed with the conviction that between the framers of 
rules and the great body of untechnical yachtsmen there 
is a great gulf fixed. For the naval architects and math- 
ematicians who wrestle with formula; I have the greatest 
respect, but at the same time I have a large sympathy 
for those plain yachtsmen, like myself, who have to ap- 
pl}^ these rules, and who think, not unreasonably, that 
existing complications are quite bad enough. Let it be 
granted — for it seems likely — that a rule using displace- 
ment as a minus quantity, or as a division, will produce 
a large-bodied yacht, but how is the factor of displace- 
ment to be obtained? Weighing machines suitable for 
boats up to five tons dead weight may be fairly plenti- 
ful in England, but they do not exist in many parts of the 
United States, and I do not know of one on the Great 
Lakes. A calculation or approximation of the weight of 
larger craft from the designer's drawings would require 
the services of a skilled specialist — something out of the 
question in many places — and besides will reputable de- 
signers cheerfully submit their plans, even to strictly 
disinterested confidential measurers? In any case, the 
result of the calculation would have to be made public, 
and to suggest a concrete example — would Mr. Watson 
care to have Mr. Herreshoft' know the exact displacement 
of Shamrock? Again, what is the displacement of a 
yacht but the total weight including crew and stores; 
and how is it to be kept stationary for a season or even 
for two successive races? The rule would have to tol- 
erate some margin of variation, and the substitution of 
a light spar for a heavy one might overstep the limit. 
Verily the troubles and anxieties of owners and race 
officers would be multiplied! 
However excellent in theory a displacement rule might 
be, ,it would in practice be simply vile, and if it is the 
best solution that the men of figures have to offer. I hope 
I may have nothing to do with its application. Is there 
no better way, or is it possible that we are trying to 
force a passage where there is no channel? As a prac- 
tical man, I would submit the following suggestions: 
1. The prime function of a measurement rule is simply 
to measure the size of a yacht. 
2. Restrictions on form or proportions are a separate 
and distinct consideration, and should not be embodied 
in the measurement formula iinless it is entirely con- 
venient to do so. 
3. No one set of restrictions will answer for all 
classes of boats, as the requirements in the various sizes 
are entirely different. 
4. Restrictions OH (^pnstructiQfi ?|^pul4 be kept sepa^ 
rate from measurement and other formulee, although' 
framed in harmony with them. 
Here we have four distinct propositions? related, k j& 
true, but requiring separate consideration, m4 yet we 
have been trying to provide for the first three, m4 evem 
to indirectly influence the fourth by one simple fofMalay 
and hitherto failure has been the result. We can be m no> 
worse position by attempting to deal with the varl'Smsi 
factors of the problem in detail — possibly we shall g^tz 
part of the answer right— at present much that is right: 
is obscured by that which is wrong, and so it appears' 
to be all wrong. Now, first of all, we want to measure 
the size of a yacht, and fortunately this part of the prob- 
lem has already been pretty well solved, if we would only 
accept the solution for what it really is, and not con- 
demn it for failing to answer other requirements for 
which it was never intended. Beginning with the em- 
pirical fact that a large yacht outsails a small one. other 
things being equal, naval architects have deduced a 
strictly scientific formula for the principal factor — length 
— which is fortunately very simple: The possibilities of 
speed vary as the square root of the length; and as this 
factor is readily obtained, we are at once able to con- 
struct a scientific table of time allowances. For its most 
primitive form such a rule would require either that al- 
lowances should be made in distance according to the 
length of the course to be sailed, or that both course and 
allowances should be measured by time alone. Both of 
these methods being inconvenient, a fixed relation be- 
tween time and distance is assumed, namely, that VL 
(in feet) = speed in nautical miles per hour. On this 
basis allowances for a given number of miles are calcu- 
lated in terms of time. One cannot fail to be struck with 
the roughly approximate, not to say loose, character of 
the assumed relation between time and distance, and it 
is remarkable that in all the controversies over the ques- 
tion this has never been attacked. Not only is the rule 
loose, but in practice only 40 or 50 per cent, of the the- 
oretical allowances are used, the assumption being that 
strong winds are required to give larger yachts their fulli 
advantage over smaller, and the 40 or 50 per cent. is. 
another rough approximation — a weather averager. 
Lest the amateur investigator should become discour- 
aged at this point, it is as well to say that no length 
rule, with its attendant table of time allowances, was 
ever intended to apply to yachts of considerable inequal- 
ity of size. It was foreseen, even at the beginning, that 
serious racing demanded vessels closely matched, espe- 
cially as regards length, and the constant and fairly suc- 
cessful endeavor has been to encourage definite classes, 
each built up to a certain limit, time allowance becoming 
trifling in any case, and in the latest practice disappear- 
ing altogether. 
Certain refinements in the application of the rule must 
be noticed. At first length was measured between per- 
pendiculars; but as this was unsatisfactory, owing to the 
different practices of builders, other methods were tried, 
leading up finally to a measurement of waterline length, 
which, although not quite perfect, is at least fair and 
workable. The necessity of taking into account other 
factors of size, besides length, led up to the measurement 
of sail area, which, while not itself a factor of size, neces^ 
sarily varies with the power of a boat on a given length. 
Computing the sail area in square feet and extracting the 
square root of the result gives a fairly close coefficient 
of power. In narrow vessels of small power this co- 
efficient is less than the waterline; in narrow tonnage- 
cutters the two were about equal, and in modern racing, 
craft the square root of the sail area is considerably in' 
excess of the waterline. Combining the two, we get the 
well-known Seawanhaka rule, with the following 
formula: , - 
L.W.L. + V S.A. 
My object in explaining the theory of the above rule at 
such a length is to draw attention to the fact — ^too often 
overlooked — that it was designed as, a measurement rule 
pure and simple, and not intended to restrict or control 
design. It is customary to blame the rule, either directly 
by charging it with producing a bad type of yacht, or in- 
directly by saying that it has failed to prevent unde- 
sirable development. Such criticism is illogical and 
unjust. Had the rule been specfically warranted by its 
makers to produce "good yachts," the case would be 
different. But an examination of the newspaper reports 
and discussion on the subject twenty years ago will show 
clearly that it was the opponents of the rule, the repre- 
sentatives of vested interests, who charged it with a ten- 
dency to influence design, and the sponsors of the rule 
were at some pains to warrant it harmless in this par- 
ticular. 
The problem at that time was how to measure a yacht, 
not how to restrict the designer, and the rule was espe- 
cially recommended with a view to giving the designer 
free scope, of which he has taken a very free advantage^ 
indeed. As a method of measuring mere size, the rule 
was a success, and is still a success; and this fact cannot 
be too strongly emphasized. The rule is a distinct ad- 
vance in the science and art of yachting — a permanent 
asset. 
We want improvements in other directions, but we 
know how to measure a yacht. What now concerns us is 
how to get the right sort of yacht to measure. Before 
dealing with this subject it may be noted that the British 
L X S A 
rating rule. — 6000 ' ^" ^^^^^ irom 1887 to 1893, was 
the same in principle only worked out in another form; 
and it is a fact that under these rules we had the best 
yachts and the best racing that the present generation 
has seen. 
Coming now to the question of restriction, it will be at 
once conceded that a good yacht or a wholesome boat 
is one that best answers the purposes for which she is 
designed and used. Varying local conditions of wind 
and water demand varying types, but there are some 
general requirements which apply to all yachts. They- 
must be seaworthy and workable, and this almost iiii 
every case demands that the various factors of length, 
beam, draft, freeboard, overhangs and sail area, shalLbe 
moderate in proportion to each other. What constitutes 
moderation, however, is a matter that varies with type 
and size. 
l\ for % oertftin locality it i^ fqund <iesifa^|9 tq Jiavf^ 
