April 20, 1907 .1 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
623 
Boston Letter. 
I My pen has seemingly become a pendulum that 
swings in regular arcs of a week each from the 
;onderklasse to Class Q and then back from the 
22-raters to the sonderklasse again. This week 
I 1 loud “tick-tock” draws one’s attention to the 
ioats of German origin concerning which there 
. ire two interesting announcements. 
President Ybarra, of tbe Royal Y. C., of San 
Sebastian, Spain, has cabled to the Eastern Y. 
2 . that King Alfonso has offered a cup for a 
series of races between the Spanish and Ameri- 
:an sonder boats in September next under the 
oint control of the two clubs just named. The 
plan is to have the three boats that will repre¬ 
sent the United States at Kiel, next August, 
shipped to San Sebastian immediately after the 
conclusion of the races for the Kaiser’s cup and 
o have an international match off the Spanish 
watering place under the same general rules as 
vill govern the German-American series. 
Simultaneously with this verification of a 
natch prophesied some months ago comes the 
velcome news that Frank Gair Macomber, Jr., 
nas ordered a new sonder boat designed by 
Messrs. Small Bros. Mr. Macomber owned and 
•aced two boats in the class last year, Chewink 
ml., a Herreshoff product, and Windrim Kid, 
lesigned by Small Bros. Kid proved one of the 
I fastest of the class so that Mr. Macomber has 
j every reason to believe that his new boat will be 
successful. She makes the seventh 1907 boat for 
he class, which is ensured a thorough develop- 
nent of the rule since designers Gardner, Crown- 
1 nshield, Small, Crane, Lawley and Mower have 
given the task their most careful thought. 
Mr. R. C. Simpson, of Mr. Crowninshield’s 
^ —.—. - - - : 
office, has designed a Q boat for a member of 
the Winthrop Y. C. who will probably build, 
thus adding a sixth to the list of Orestes’ new 
rivals. The Simpson design shows a boat that 
in every way complies with the spirit as well as 
the letter of the rule. Her principal dimensions 
are approximately 36ft. length over all, 25ft. load 
waterline, 8ft. breadth, and 865 sq. ft. rated sail 
area. The Crowninshield sloop, announced last 
week, is slightly larger. Her dimensions are 
38ft. length over all, 26ft. load waterline, 8ft. 4m. 
extreme breadth, 8ft. waterline breadth, 5ft. 
9J 4 inches extreme draft, and 9,960 pounds dis¬ 
placement. She will be entitled to 838 sq. ft. of 
sail. For a Class Q boat she is rather full for¬ 
ward, especially on deck, and her lateral plane 
is quite generous. 
Turning from the new to the old we may pause 
for a moment over the fate of Oweene, in 1901 
a crackerjack 46-footer, ranking third in a class 
of nine new boats. To-day she is floating on 
her side in Lawley’s basin, unable to keep on 
her feet now that the high price of lead has 
stripped from her the 20 ton keel that once held 
her erect. Sixteen hurrying years have spanned 
her yachting career and now leave her but two 
alternatives, death by breaking up or a linger¬ 
ing life for a few years as an auxiliary house¬ 
boat, should some purchaser believe her worth 
the expense of an engine and an iron keel. Of 
her old competitors but one has passed away— 
Ilderim, broken up at Newport two years ago. 
Of the others Mineola (now owned in Bermuda 
and known as Isolt) and Sayonara are entered 
for the coming Bermuda race, while Barbara, 
Thelma and Jessica are auxiliary schooners, 
Alborak is an auxiliary yawl, Nautilus a 
schooner, and Gloriana and Harpoon, ex-Beatrix, 
still swing their original sloop rigs. 
1 he first Boston hydroplane has been com¬ 
pleted and has attracted no little attention as the 
first concrete illustration that Bostonians have 
had of this French model of speed madness. 
The sheer plan resembles a butcher’s knife, the 
bow is reminiscent of a toboggan, and the in¬ 
terior suggests Swiss cheese with its numerous 
holes. Fourteen feet long by four wide the 
deck’s plan is a plain oblong, while the hull it¬ 
self is cut up into eleven compartments by two 
longitudinal trusses and eight short cross bulk¬ 
heads, all of which are cut out in ovals to save 
weight. The total weight is but 145 pounds with 
double diagonal planking on the bottom (the 
outer planking running fore and aft) and an 
oiled silk deck. The engine will be of 35 horse¬ 
power and a speed of close to 30 miles per hour 
is looked for on the waters of Lake Winnipesau- 
kee. In general form, engine location and double 
rudder arrangement this biflucated box so closely 
follows the general scheme already fully de¬ 
scribed by Forest and Stream as to need no 
further explanation other than the statement 
that the extreme depth of her side is 11 (4 inches 
and the depth of the jog in her bottom is 4^ 
inches. 
At Martin’s yard in East Boston two interest¬ 
ing launches are nearing completion and a cabin 
house is being built on the 18ft. knockabout 
Gertrude II. preparatory to her departure for 
New Orleans. Of the launches one is of the 
semi-high speed type, 30ft. over all, 5ft. breadth, 
19m. draft and will be equipped with a 4-cylinder 
4-stroke Yale engine. She is double planked with 
Washington (State) cedar which, despite its 
high price, is likely to become very popular since 
it does not swell with dampness nor shrink from 
At 8:30 P. M. a boatswain’s whistle—a soft, 
1 ow, wailing, wobbling sound—that increased in 
| /olume in wavy variations to a shrill ear-pierc- 
I ng screech, to stop, and a second time be re- 
I seated, sending cold shivers down the spine of 
j he audience in the concert hall at Madison 
| Square Garden on the nip'ht of April 10, was fol- 
[ owed by a hoarse roaring of “All hands on 
leek!” 
The curtains were yanked back, disclosing a 
row of burnt cork coons in white ducks with big 
red ties and red socks. The three end men on 
each side wore dark trousers; those who made 
discord on the spare ribs to the left, the pigskin 
and jungles to the right. The coons between 
were supposed to give out various vocal sounds 
unguessable by the size or shape of their mouths, 
under the leadership of a very prim blue-coated 
school master whose blue coat, blue yachting cap 
and white-winged collar were well set off by a 
wide, flaming red necktie. 
Some very fine singing, interspersed with jokes 
(modern and ancient) was followed by profes¬ 
sional talent and a very interesting moving pic¬ 
ture exhibit. American motor boats, racing on 
tbe Hudson, followed by tbe Monte Carlo races 
in which one little flyer is seen—or rather not 
seen, as all you can see is the stem and two 
feathers of spray—leading the fleet of other boats 
that could be seen plunging and leaping as 
naturally as if the audience were watching the 
original races. 
