AQUATICS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 129, 1 June 1901, Page 4 (Supplement)

AQUATICS.

Most of the local yachts, have now beer hauled up for the season in thoir winter quarters.

Owners of yachts on the Devonport foreshore have had some trouble with larrikins and the thieving fraternity in .that district. The Daisy, Irish Lily, and several of the boats hauled up on the beach have been broken into, and various ai'ticles stolen. One of the yachts bore signs of a narrow escape from fire.

I have received the following- letter from the owner of the Speedwell:—"l ■wish to lay before you my side of the question of declining to race the Miro. Nothing- was said about a race until after the Coromandel Regatta, when Miro offered to race my boat fpr £10 a-side, conditionally on the wind being easterly or westerly and blowing hard. I declined these one-sided conditions, but offered to race for £5 a-side and take the weather as it came. Nothing came of this, and some weeks later I offered to race for £10, but Miro now wanted £20. Later still a friend of mine went purposely to the Miro, as she was being got ready for the Ponsonby Club's race, and before several witnesses offered to put up the money then and there to bind a match for £10 a-side, but the only satisfaction he could get was the answer, 'We will see after Saturday's race." This race did not eventuate for want of wind, and when it was finally sailed my boat was debarred from competing. Having failed to make a match, and knowing that Miro had to sail off with Eulalie at North Shore, I determined to start if Eulalie did not, although not officially recognised in the race. Miro was carrying a large new mainsail, and both boats were sailed by their owners and started on the fall of the flag. Speedwell gradually left Miro, and finished 15min lOsec ahead. Eulalie did not start. The two boats have now met six times, with the following results:—lst, N.S.S. Club, Miro won by lrnin 21sec; 2nd, N.S.S.C.,- Speedwell won by 3min; 3rd, Annual Regatta, Speedwell won by Bmin 22sec; 4th, Coromandel Regatta, Speedwell ahead first round 12min 30sec (Kotiri won the prize); sth, N.S.S.C, Miro won by lmin 2sec (Irish Lily won the prize); 6th, N.S.S.C, Speedwell won by lomin lOsec. This speaks for itself and to remove any doubt I now offer to race Miro for "£2O next season, best two out of three races.—l am, etc., W. A. Wilkinson, owner of Speedwell."

Mr G. L. Watson, the. designer of Shamrock 11., has had the use of the towing- tank of Dendy, the great Dumbarton shipbuilder, for testing exact models of the challenger for the America Cup. So accurate are the rasults obtained by the use of the tank with the models of battle ships and cruisers that it is possible to predetermine how much horse power will be .necessary to drive a ship at any given speed by the simple expedient of towing a model of the same at a given rate of speed through the water nnd noting the pull on the towingline. The "Scientific American," commenting, on the subject, points out that the problem is complicated in the case Of a yacht* "Unlike a war ship, a yacht is always sailing at a greater or less angle of heel, and consequently the form of her immersed portion is constantly changing. This complication of the problem makes the peculiar Value of towing tank experiments all the more apparent. A form of hull which is easy to drive under a small angle of heel may drag heavily under a larger angle, a fact which was proved in the case of Valkyrie 11. and of Shamrock. Both of these vessels held their own fairly well with the American yachts in light airs, but they were quite unable to compete with them when the course was sailed in a heavy breeze, and the yachta were borne down until lee-rails were awash. By careening the models to the angle of heel which they would assume in a strong breeze, and by adding weight as an equivalent to the vertical component of the wind pressure, it will be possible to produce conditions practically identical to those which occur in a race, and it

ought not to take very long- to discover what combination of run and quarters will give the least disturbed wake and the smallest stern wave consistent with the maximum amount of sail-carrying power." The Crowinshield yacht for the defence of the Canada Cup, Illinois by name, will be, it is said, of interest to British yachtsmen, as she is built under the girth rule. She is a semifin of the following dimensions: — Length, 0.a., 45ft 3iu; over forward, Bft 3in; overhangaft, Oft; 1.w.1, 28ft; breadth, 9ft sim; breadth, at 1.w.1., 9ft liin; draught, 6ft 9in: depth, w.l. to rabbet, 2ft s|in; least freeboard, 2ft; displacement-, 14,4?91b; ballast, 60001b; sail area, 1348 sq ft. She will, if' successful in the trial races, meet either the M'Leod boat or the new Sibbick boat.

"Hanger" in the London "Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic New s" writes:—The new boat designed by Dr. Warre, which the Oxford men have been using, is something' of an innovation in first-class eights. ' She is 56ft in length, or about 7ft shorter than usual, and her beam Is 2ft 2Jin, against 2ft OJin beam of last years boat. It is therefore her want of length, and not her width, which gives her what some critics consider a tubby appearance. There Las been a feeling of late for shorter boats, and several scullers have made use of them with success; but this is the first occasion on which a short boat has been tried of late years for a University crew. She certainly sits the water remarkably well, and seems to have a good deal of pace. How she will do on tidal water, of course, remains to be seen, and her appearance at Putney will be watched with much interest*, but there appears no reason why she should not do well. A short boat is naturally far more handy to steer than a long one; and though this is a matter of much less importance at Putney than it is on the Isis or on the Cam, still it is not to be altogether lost sight of. Tom Sullivan, the New Zealand sculler, who was champion of England in 1893 is in favour of shorter boats, and his opinion is worth consideration. It is the old question of on the water or through the water; and if Dr. 'Warre's boat comes up to expectations, it may bring about a modification in the accepted type of racing boat. Dr. Warre's design may be new (says the Sydney "Referee"), but it bears a very colourable imitation to the eight-oar craft designed by Chris. Neilsen for the Mercantile" 8.C., Sydney.