YACHTING.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 816, 21 October 1887, Page 13

YACHTING.

THE AMERICAN YACHT / VOLUNTEER, (THE FIELD.) The moat interesting subject foryachtsmen on this side just now is Gen. Paine’s new steel sloop Volunteer and her performances. The Volunteer was built at Wilmington, Delaware, by the Priory and Jones Company, of American mild-steel, from designs by Mr Edward Burgess, of Boston, assisted by her owner, Gen. C. J. Paine, who is probably the best practical-yachtsman, not only as regards the handling and sailing of a boat, but as regards form and construction also, ia the States. The Volunteer was towed round to Boston in the first week of July, and has been fitted out there in the yard of Lawley and Son, the same firm who built and fitted the Puritan and Mayflower. In her general appearance on the water Volunteer is remarkably like the Thistle. She has the same sheer and projecting bow, and the same overhang of couuter. The main difference of appearance is in the shape of the deck line, and that does not show in a side view. Thistle’s deck line is far more gracefully drawn than that of Volunteer; the latter carries her entrance line three or four feet abaft the centre of load line, then she keeps pretty full for twenty feet or so, and comes in with a rapid ugly turn into her narrow taffrail. In this portion of the design Volunteer is a decided failure, so far as beauty is concerned. The designer, Mr Burgess, is reported to have stated that the builders did not follow bis lines correctly in this part cf the work. Fortunately for the purpose of Volunteer’s mission, the defects in her water form are not of much consequence as regards the actual sailing qualities of the boat, though the extreme narrowness of the deck abaft the rudder head must militate against the rapid and easy handling of the main sheet, and it certainly is very ugly to a seaman’s eye. There are radical differences of form, however, between the two yachts Thistle and Volunteer, which do not present themselves to an ordinary view. First, Volunteer has nearly three feet more extreme beam than Thistle ; but this is only at one point, and from the way in which Volunteer’s deck line is drawn, she does not really get the benefit of her extreme beam to anything like the same extent thatj Thistle gets from hers. Watson’s deck lines are all beautifully proportioned, so as to get the greatest possible advantage from whatever breadth of beam he has to deal with. The Burgess boats, on the contrary, are all defective in this particular. Their entrance lines are carried so far aft that they are defective in spread for their shrouds, their runs are rapid and ungraceful, and they do not attain the full benefit in sail-carrying power which their nominal breadth of beam would entitle them to under a well designed fore-aud-aft deck line. For these reasons I am inclined to think that Watson has really got more natural beam stability «ifh his 20ft. 3in., well carried out, in Thistle, than Burgess has got with his 23ft. 2in. confined to one single frame or so in the Volunteer. Like most' amateur designers on this side of the water, Burgess lays great stress on a long, fine entrance, and he has in all hia designs so far sacrificed other desirabl® qualities to the attainment of that feature. The runs of all his boats are bad ; so much so that none of them can ever attain anything like the highest speed which is attainable within their water-line lengths. It is perfectly true that the Puritan and Mayflower are fast boats. How could they be otherwise, with SOOOft. of canvas to 125 tons of displacement? But the point I wish to make is, that they do not, any of them, approach the highest speed that could be attained by a really well designed boat of their dimensions. A flit bottom scow, drawing a foot aud a half of water with SOOOyds. of canvas on her, would beat any of them out of sight in smooth water. Well, to return to description. Volunteer draws 10ft. of water as against histle’s 14ft. or 144 ft., but then Volunteer

lias her centre-board, by which she increases her draught about 14ft., and gets an increase of the latter at immersed surface of aflput 150 sq. ft. The board does not really give as good support for carrying Bail as. the same number of superficial feet would, do if placed in .a keel; with ballast law down, as in the Thistle; but, on the other hand, the board can be hauled up when running free, and so far lessen the mass to be driven through the water. This is exactly the question that is to be tested in the cup races this year for the first time, because it is only in the Thistle that you have ever sent over a boat combining the qualities of sail-carrying power, with good sailing lines. All the other boats were built to meet the peculiar,, rules of the English clubs, and, although {they were fast boats, they were not designed to meet boats that carried 30 or 40 per cent, more canvas to the ton of displacement. So in the coming Thistle races we will really have something like a veal test of the qualities of keel y.' centreboard, other things being equal. I say equal, because, although Thistle is only 20ft 3in. beam as against Volunteers or Mayflower’s 23ft. 2in., yet from the superiority of her fore and aft lines, Thistle gets really more benefit from her beam than either of the other boats. lam here presuming that either Mayflower or Volunteer will be selected for the cup defender. This 1 consider almost certain, for; although Atlantic did wonderfully well in the spring races here, she is looked upon as an uncertain boat to rely on for a great race. Priscilla has no speed to speak of in this connection, and Puritan is too small to face the Thistle. Volunteer has had several trial spins outside Boston Harbor, and theßoston journals are loud in her praise. So far, there has been no real trial of speed with any of the racing cracks; but enough has been shown to demonstrate that she is very On the 21st of July Volunteer had a sort of r«ice for six miles, toward Marble Head, in a good fresh breeze, with several fast steam tugs. She got away from them all. One of the tugs had a patent log, which indicated a speed of over 11 knots per hour. The wind was about abeam, and the sea was moderately rough. This indicates that Volunteer was doing about 11J knots per hour, with her sheets started. Of course, nothing very extraordinary in this. It is quite common for the racing yachts here to run away from the fastest tugs. Bat what I place more reliance on is the very generally expressed opinion by Boston sailors and yachtsmen, that Volunteer is a good bit better on every tack than May-, flower. I have been figuring things up for some time back about Thistle aud Mayflower, and the conclusion I came to was that Th stle is from four to six minutes better than Mayflower over the New York course. Now, if Volunteer is really a good bit better than Mayflower, as the Boston people say, why, then, Thistle will have her work cut out for her. By the way, Mayflower is now a New York boat ; she has been purchased by Mr E. D. Morgan from Gen. Paine, and now belongs to the New York Club fleet, of which club Mr Morgan has been elected rear-com a. od ore. Cringle Redivivus. New York, July 27. From cable messages received from the United States it appears that the Volunteer won the Goelet Cnpßace at Newport against the Mayflower, Atlantic, Puritan, and Priscilla on Aug. 5. Volunteer beat Mayflower by Bmin. 42sec„ and Puritan by lOmw. 53sec. A moderate breeze prevailed during the race ; and the course was 45 iles. , , On Aug, 6 a second contest took place between Volunteer, Mayflower, and Puritan, from the lightship at Brenton’s Beef to Martha’s Vineyard, a distance of about 42 mile 3. Volunteer was beaten by Mayflower by 4min. 47secs., and hy Puritan by 295e0.; but during the last half of the distance Volunteer had to battle against a strong tide, which the other yachts avoided by keeping close to the shore. A fresh breeze prevailed On Aug. 9 another race took place over a course of 100 miles, from Martha’s Vineyard to Marble Head, The Volunteer finished two and a half hours before the Mayflower, which was second. The wind was very light, with occasional calms. Volunteer made therun in twenty-four and three-quarter hours, of which she was three hours becalmed and at anchor. On Aug. 11, a race for a cup, given by the Boston Herald, over a course of thirty-six miles, was won by Volunteer, which beat Puritan, Atlantic, and Mayflower.