FOREST AND STREAM. 
[April 29, 1905. 
Forest and Stream'' Designing 
Competition No. IV. 
For a 60-Foot Cruising Launch. 
SUBMITTED BY VAUGHN D. BACON, BARNSTABLE, MASS. 
In the plans which accompany this description of a 
60ft. power launch the necessary displacement has been 
taken in breadth rather than depth. Elevent feet beam 
seems to be the minimum within which the comfortable 
cabin arrangement selected can be carried out. This, 
with the consequent light draft of 2ft. 6in. to gar- 
board, necessitates high freeboard and a straight sheer 
to obtain full headroom in the engine room and galley 
under the main deck amidships. 
The dimensions are as follows: 
Length — 
Over all 65ft. Oin. 
L.W.L 60£t. Oin. 
Overhang — 
Forward 2ft. Oin. 
Aft 2ft. Oin. 
Freeboard — 
Bow 5ft. Oin. 
Stern 4ft. lin. 
Least , 4ft. Gin. 
Beam— 
At deck lift. Oin. 
At L.W.L lOft. 6in. 
Draft- 
To rabbet 2ft. 6in. 
Greatest 3ft. 6in. 
Displacement 20.66 short tons 
Displacement per inch L.W.L , 1.19 short tons 
Center buoyancy aft section 1 29.80ft. 
Center gravity hull and equipment ..29.30ft. 
Weights. 
Short Tons. 
Keel, keelson, eifjjine keelsons, stems and floors 1.74 
Planking 2.19 
Frames 69 
Decks and top of trunks ' 96 
Deck frames and carlines 46 
Deck clamps, shelves and bilge clamps 66 
Cabin floors, frames and ceiling 1.21 
Fastenings, paint, etc 1.10 
Interior joiner work, sides of trunks, furniture, etc 2.20 
Engines 2.10 
Shafts, propellers, etc 50 
Gasolene, tanks, etc 2.00 
Water, tanks, etc... ^ 2.25 
Anchors, chains, windlass, etc 40 
W. Cs, lavatories and plumbing 20 
Hardware and fittings 25 
Boat, davits, etc .25 
Crew, stores, etc 1.50 
Total 20.66 
Constfuctioa. 
Keel — Oak, sided Tin. and moulded 9in. at section 5. 
-Keelson — Oak, Tin. by Sin. 
Stems — Oak, 4in. by 6in. at heads. 
Frames — Oak, 2i4in. by 2i/4in. steamed and bent and spaced 15in., 
center to center, except along engine keelsons, to be spaced 7%in., 
center to center. 
Floors — Oak, Sin. at throats. 
Planking — Georgia pine, li/4in. 
Deck — Framed oak, 2in. by 3in. at center and 2in. by 2in. at ends. 
Decks — White pine, l%in. 
Deck Clamps — Hard pine, 2in. by 6in. 
Deck Shelves — Hard pine, 3in. by Sin. 
Bilge Clamps — Hard pine, 2in. by 4in., two each side. 
Engine Keelsons — Oak, Sin. 
Cabin Floors — Hard pine, %in. 
Cabin Floor Frames— Opk, li/2in. by 2i4in. 
Ceiling — Cypress or pine, %in. 
Power. — For power two four-cylinder 6in. b3' yin. 
Craig gasolene engines have been selected, driving twin 
screws of 28in. diameter and 36in. pitch. Mr. Craig 
states that these engines, although listed as 20 horse- 
power, will develop 25 horsepower each at 400 revolu- 
tions, and 30 horsepower at a maximum speed of 450 
revolutions. The speed of the launch has been esti- 
mated as follows: 
Ordinary cruising speed, 11 miles per hour at 50 
horsepower and 400 revolutions. Maximum speed 1214 
miles at 60 horsepower and 450 revolutions. To ob- 
tain 8 miles per hour would require about 260 revolu- 
tions, which should be obtained at 30 horsepower. 
The capacity of the gasolene tanks is 350 gallons. 
Figuring the consumption of fuel at i pint per horse- 
power, would give the boat a cruising radius of 700 
miles at 8 miles per hour and 616 miles at 11 miles per 
hour. 
The mufflers and exhaust from the engine pass up 
through a dummy smoke stack on the main deck. 
Should a coal or wood stove be preferred to the 
Primus oil-stove shown in galley, the stovepipe can 
also be caried up through this stack. 
Accommodations.- — Beginning at the bow, first comes 
the cabin locker; then the forecastle, with the usual 
transom lockers, and two hammock cots on the port 
side. These cots are both placed on one side, so that 
there may be ample floor space and seating room left, 
when both cots are down. At the forward end is- a 
w. c. for the ' crew, and the crew lockers are at the 
after end. 
Next comes the deck house, which rises to a height 
of 4ft. 6in. above the main deck. This house con- 
tains an extension transom, so that it may be ijsed as 
an extra stateroom at night, if required. Also a steer- 
ing wheel for use in bad weather, and an extension 
table for meals, etc. The house is lighted by twelve 
T2in. bullseyes, six of which open . for ventilation. 
Under this house is a passageway with 4ft. headroom 
- leading to the galley with a 200-gallon water tank on 
either side, with lockers above, or this space may be 
utilized for the batteries. The compressed, air tanks 
for whistle are above the water tanks under the main 
deck, back of the deck house staving. 
Next comes the galley with stove and dresser on 
port side, also ice-box under deck house, opening into 
|he affe" end of the pass^^eway. On the st§rb6^r4 
side are sink, food lockers, dish racks, and steps lead- 
ing _ to deck house. A sliding door opens into the 
engine room. _ The galley is in a central position, mak- 
ing it convenient to serve meals in either the saloon, 
deck house or forecastle. 
The engine room is 8ft. long, with transom locker 
and hammock cot on either side; to port ' are two 
lockers; to starboard, small locker under cot, and a 
wash bowl. The lower half of the saloon buffets are 
open into the engine room, giving free access to the 
shaft and couplings. A hatchway and ladder over the 
reversing gear of the port engine leads to the main 
deck. Fresh air for the galley and engine room is 
obtained by three 7in. screw ports on each side and 
through two sin. ventilators or windsails at the after 
end of the deck house. The air thus obtained passes 
up and out through the dummy stack already mentioned. 
Just aft of and a step above the engine room is the 
saloon, 7ft. 6in. long, with bufifets and lockers at the 
forward end, and a transom berth with drawers under- 
neath on each side. On the after bulkhead is an 
open fireplace wifli mantle and book shelves above. 
Next comes a passageway, or steerage, leading to 
the stateroom and main companion way steps, and a 
locker for oil skins, etc., also a linen press, with a 
locker back of it opening into the saloon. On the 
port side is a bathroom, 4ft. 6in. long, with w. c, 
oval wash bowl and small bath. Placing the bathroom 
in this passageway makes it equally accessible to the 
saloon, stateroom or deck. 
The owner's stateroom, 7ft. gin. in length, is aft, 
and contains a double bed, with drawers' under, and 
large clothes locker on starboard side and a wash 
bowl and transom with drawers underneath to port, and 
another and smaller locker aft, with a bureau or chest 
of drawers against the bulkhead between bend and 
transom. This transom- is full length, and can be used 
for an extra berth if needed. 
Separating the lazarette from the stateroom, and the 
rest of the boat is a watertight steel bulkhead. This 
lazarette is reached by a brass man-hole plate in the 
after deck and contains two gasolene tanks, with a 
total capacity of 350 gallons. These tanks are sup- 
ported by keelsons or bilge stringers running well 
forward beyond the sternpost or deadwood. This 
position for the fuel tanks is not conventional, but 
has been selected for economy of space, leaving better 
and more comfortable quarters for the crew forward. 
The tanks are high enough for the oil to flow to 
the engines under any condition of trim or settling aft, 
and the pipes lead outside along the garboards to en- 
gine room. The waterjacket or casting is high and 
can be flushed out at any time. 
This cabin arrangement seems to cover everything 
called for in the requirements of the competition. With 
the exception of the deck house, the owner's quarters 
are aft and together and away from the crew,, and in- 
cluding the deck house, give three separate sleeping 
compartments at night, with a total berthing capacity 
for the owner and guests at follows: 
Stateroom 3, saloon 2, deck house i; or a total of 6 
berths. The crew accommodations are two in engine 
room and two in forecastle. 
The forward deck is 12ft. gin. long, then comes the 
deck house, with passage way ift. 6in. wide each side. 
The main deck over galley and engine room is loft. 
gin. in length, giving ample room for the handling of 
the boat, use of deck chains, etc. Next comes the 
cabin trunk i8in. in height, with 2ft. waterways on each 
side, and an after deck iift. gin. in- length. The in- 
terior finish to be of white enamel with mahogany trim- 
mings, and dark green upholstery. The construction 
is strong, plain and inexpensive. No estimates have 
been obtained from builders, but the cost of building 
should be well within the limit of $9,000. 
Queries on Marine Motors. 
B. J. G., Edgartown, Mass. — Is a three-bladed propeller more 
powerful than a two-bladed, and why? 2. Would I get better re- 
sults to run my propeller slower or faster than my engine, which 
runs 410 revolutions per minute? 
Ans. — I. If the two-bladed propeller has the same 
blade surface as the three bladed, and the blades are 
true pitch the whole of the driving surface, it would be 
equally as powerful. The principal trouble with two- 
bladed wheels used for heavy work is they are not 
true. Quite a difficult matter to make true patterns, 
and not have the castings warp in pouring. 2. It , 
would all depend upon the propeller.- 
R. J. H., New Bedford, Mass. — Which is the more economical, 
a high, low or medium speed marine gasolene engine? 
Ans. — All things being equal, there should be more 
friction in a high than a low speed engine, which would 
take power. On the other hand, a high speed engine 
should get a more even quality of gasolene vapor and 
air, could be run on a higher explosive mixture if 
proper adjustment were made. As ordinarily designed 
a propeller wheel will absorb more power at high than 
low speed. It is, therefore, an open question depending 
on conditions. 
S. J. R., Manteo, N. C. — Which, do you consider the better, 
",splash" or positive feed lubrication? 
Ans —A good system, that is sure, no matter whether 
"splash," force feed, or gravity, is absolutely necessary. 
Some "splash" systems are very ooor, ;others have 
been used successfully for many years. Gravity feed. 
is good, provided the pressure leaking past the rings 
does not blow the oil back into the cups. Force feed 
is good unless the small pipes get choked with dirt, 
or there is a leak in the pressure. A splash system may 
be positive and a force feed may not be, but no matter 
what systeiri! it shoiil^ be ppsitive. 
Marine Gasolene Engines. 
BY A. E. POTTER. 
(Concluded from page 822.) 
In order to know the developed horsepower and 
fuel consumption of a marine gasolene engine, the pur- 
chaser will ordinarily have to make his own test. Many 
manufacturers guarantee their engines to develop a 
certain horsepower, and also guarantee the amount of 
fuel, per horsepower hour, without making any tests 
whatever. 
If the price at which the engine is sold will not 
warrant careful test for efficiency, some engines will de- 
velop considerable less -horsepower than others, and he 
who buys one is quite as likely to get a poor engine 
as a good one. The intelligent manufacturer who tests 
his engines out can tell whether or not each one turned 
out is up to the established standard. Such tests should 
be made thoroughly systematically and knowingly, the 
results should be carefully studied, and in a two-stroke 
engine they should show whether the exhaust and in- 
let ports are properly proportioned and located, two of 
the most important features of two-stroke engines. Im- 
perfections of cylinder boring or improperly fitting 
piston rings can be proven in no other way. The 
amount of back pressure on the exhaust, the actual 
compression and vacuum in cylinder and crank cham- 
ber, the amount of "wire-drawing" in the exhaust, the 
timing of the spark in multi-cylinder construction,- and 
several other minor, alt?iough important, points may be 
brought out. But paramount above all these, in no 
other way or manner can the horsepower of the en- 
gine be shown and the number of revolutions per min- 
ute at which the engine develops the most power. 
Some engines will develop more power per hundred 
revolutions at low than high speeds, while others will 
be found to be very uneconomical at low speed and 
reasonably economical at high speed. In others high 
speed causes a great waste of gasolene. 
Several years ago I had occasion to run a small 
launch for a period of twenty hours. It was rated 2^^ 
to 3 horsepower, yet the consumption of fuel, in- 
credible as it . may seem, averaged but a trifle less than 
one gallon per hour, at a speed not far from 350 r. p. m. 
Another engine of the same make in a similar boat, 
with the same number of revolutions, used less than two 
quarts per hour. 
If you are to address a manufacturer of the cheaper 
grades of two-stroke engines, and a.sk him at what 
speed his engine develops the most horsepower, and 
also at what speed the consumption of fuel per horse- 
power is the least, he will either give you an evasive 
answer, make no reply, or possibly give an answer, 
figures, etc., 'that he has no idea is anything like the 
truth, or he may possibly make reply, truthfully, too, 
that he does not know; that he never considered the 
matter of sufficient . importance to make any study of 
testing. 
If not of importance to the manufacturer, it ought 
to be to the purchaser, for if one make of engine 6in. 
diameter and 6in. stroke delivers 25 per cent, more 
horsepower at 25 per cent, less- fuel, it certainly must 
be worth more than the less powered more uneco- 
nomical engine. 
In four-stroke engines, testing is even more necessary 
than in two-stroke. It is rare that a two cylinder four- 
stroke engine will show the same horsepower on each 
of two or more cylinders. Testing is absolutely neces- 
sary in order to regulate the tension on automatically 
operated inlet valve springs, timing of valves, regularity 
of _ ignition, relative timing of ignition in different 
cylinders, tracing leaks under inlet or exhaust valves 
or valve seats and a dozen or more different points, all 
essential if the engine is to be up to the recognized 
standard of excellence attained in the modern manu- 
facture of marine gasolene engines. 
Let the design of the engine be by the ablest gaso- 
lene engineers, the machine work the most modern and 
rational, the assembling the most careful, the amount 
of perfection in developed horsepower depends on care- 
ful attention to the symptoms as shown on the testing 
block, by one who knows how to make it, and who can 
read from his records the story of maladjustments, im- 
perfect machinery or material, often crude design. 
In testing marine gasolene engines, the only thor- 
oughly reliable apparatus is the Prony brake. Once 
knowing what the result by Prony brake will show on 
an electric generator in volts and amperes, this becomes 
the handiest method of testing, but to be absolutely 
sure, the work should be occasionally proven by the 
old reliabk brake. 
An exhaust or pressure blower may sometimes be 
used to good advantage to satisfy the manufacturer that 
the engine is up to an established standard, but no 
matter what method of testing is employed, it should 
be exhaustive, made with the engine connected up with 
mufflers, etc., about as to be installed in the boat. 
Nothing will teach the manufacturer so much abbut his 
own engine, the operation so often neglected, if not 
entirely omitted, as the object lessons of the marine 
gasolene engine under test. 
Gravesend Bay Championship Races. — The five 
events to count on the championship of Gravesend Bay 
have been settled upon. The first takes place June 24 at 
the Atlantic Y. C, the next on July 22 at the Marine and 
Field Club, the third on Aug. 5, under the auspices of the 
Brooklyn Y. C, the fourth on Aug. 19 at the Bensonhurst 
Y. C, and the last on Sept. 9 under the auspices of tlif 
New York C. C.. . - " 
