BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 307 
of the smack Willie and Ada , of Grimsby (in which the writer made a 
trip to the Dogger Bank), may be taken as a fair illustration of the pro- 
portions of the first-class North Sea trawler, though this vessel is not 
so deep as the majority of the class to which she belongs: Length, over 
all (outside of stem to outside of taffrail), 77 feet 6 inches ; beam, 20 feet; 
width at taffrail, 12 feet; depth of hold, 10 feet; 73.68 tons. The sail 
area would be from 700 to 750 running yards of 24-inch canvas, and the 
dimensions of spars as follows: Mainmast, deck to hounds, 35 feet 3 
inches, total above deck, 45 feet; maintop-mast, 33 feet; main-boom, 
37 feet; main-gaff, 30 feet ; main gaff- topsail yard, 17 feet; mizzen-mast, 
above deck, 37 feet (10 feet of this, above the eyes of the mizzen rigging, 
is tapered to form a pole top-mast); mizzen- boom, 19 feet 6 inches; 
mizzen-gaff, 14 feet ; mizzen gaff-topsail yard, 8 feet ; bowsprit, outside 
stem, 20 feet. (See Plates VII and VIII.) 
Of late years many improvements have been made in the equipment 
of the sailing trawlers, among which the most important, perhaps, is the 
introduction of improved apparatus for handling the trawl. 
The next important type of trawling vessel is the single-masted 
smack or cutter, employed chiefly in the south and west of England, 
from Wales, and also from Ireland. These vessels are much smaller 
than the ketch-rigged trawlers, and seldom exceed 50 tons in size. 
As a rule, they adopt the “single boating ” system, and it is necessary 
that they should be swifter than the vessels that follow “fleeting.” We 
therefore find that the Brixham smacks, which may be taken as the 
type of this class, are very sharp, deep, and rather narrow, with a pro- 
portionately large spread of canvas, the form and sail area being such 
as to insure a high rate of speed. At the same time they have the 
reputation of being fine sea-boats, and there is probably not to be found 
in the fishing fleets of the world a higher combination of excellent sail- 
ing qualities and sea- worthiness than is possessed by some of the modern 
built trawling cutters of the south of England. A builder’s model of 
one of these vessels, that was exhibited at London (1883), represented, 
the following proportions: Length, 67 feet; beam 17.9 feet ; depth, 9.7 
feet ; draught of water from 10 to 11 feet. 
We quote from Holdsworth the following notes on the history, rig, 
and general equipment of the vessels employed in trawling when he 
wrote, which may answer very well for the present time, with the ex- 
ception that the introduction of steam trawlers, iron smacks, and a few 
other changes which have been noted, have occurred since his report 
was published : 
“The vessels used for trawling are commonly called smacks. During 
the last twenty years great improvements have been made in their 
design with the object of making them faster; and in some few cases 
it may be a question whether by the adoption of very fine lines sea- 
going qualities have not been to some extent sacrificed to the desire 
for increased speed. Formerly the smacks were much smaller than at 
the present time, and ranged from 23 to 36 tons N. M. They were 
