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26 MARINE REVIEW. [ May 30, HISTORY OF THE AMERICA'S CUP. Syren and Shipping of London, England, recounts in a very inter- esting way the history of the struggle for the America's cup. Now that both contestants for this year's race have been launched, the story, which follows, is worthy of reproduction: It was on Aug. 22, 1851, that the schooner America showed the best British yachts the way round the Isle of Wight, and won from her eigh- teen competitors a £500 cup. That was half a century ago, and still the palm for fast sailing yachts must be awarded to our cousins across the pond, despite the plucky attempts of British yachtsmen to build speedier boats. The evident superiority of the America led English yachtsmen to copy her more salient features. The old type of British yacht, designed on the cod's head and mackeral tail system, was replaced by a longer and finer bowed craft, with more raking masts, while the sails--to emulate the flatness of the America's canvas--were laced to the boom. Still, for all that, there was no great similarity between the types of swift sailing pleasure craft in vogue on either side of the Atlantic. This disparity be- tween the English and American yacht was, perhaps, never so strongly marked as in 1885 and 1886, when the English boats Genesta and Galatea failed to regain the cup carried away by the schooner America in 1851. These vessels were typical cutters, the ratio of beam to length in the case of the Galatea being 1 to 5 2-8. Her competitor was the Mayflower, and in each vessel it was possible to trace what might be termed the process of evolution, whereby the inshore and usually calm waters off the eastern seaboard of the United States had tended to produce a vessel of the skim- ming dish type, that is of great beam and little depth. English yachtsmen, on the other hand, had evolved a deeper and narrower vessel, capable of making good weather of it in the turbulent seas and strong winds expe- rienced in the seaways round our shores. Thus, when the Mayflower.and the Galatea crossed the starting line, the two types were clearly on their trial. The differing dimensions of each boat are extremely interesting, especially when they are compared with the Shamrock II and the Con- stitution, which are to do battle in the present autumn: MAYFLOWER. GALAIBA. Weeneti cover aoe eo cs 100 ft. 102.6 ft. Length, on water-line........... So ft. % in: 86.8 ft. Dears ee 23 ft. 6 in. 15 ft. Beam-at water-line...¢.5. 0... -% Zo: th 3 iat 15: ft, Draueht 20 10 ft. 13Y ft. Displacement... 0.46 is. 128 tons 157.6 tons Mast; deck to hounds. ..<.2... 63. ft. d8 ft. Mopmasti 2145.65.52 48 ft. Ol ft. BOOM ei ae ee 80 ft. ont. (Gate ee eee 50 ft. 46 ft. Bowsprit Outboards. - 2. v:...2.. 38 ft. a1 ft. Spimnaker DOOM. 2.1... OT ft. 67 ft. Ballast 2. ioe ee 50 tons 80 tons In the first race, the Mayflower won by 12 minutes. The first at- tempt at a second race was frustrated by light winds, and when the race was sailed there was so little wind that the American yacht, though she beat the English cutter by 29 minutes, was within 10 minutes of the 7 hours' limit. This defeat of Lieutenant Henn's boat was a great blow to the yachting cult on this side of the Atlantic, for the challenger was justly deemed an all-round good boat, especially capable of giving a good ac- count of herself in anything like a blow. From this time onward, the 'English and American type of yacht have approximated, each nation adopting the good points of the other, so far as conservatism and physical conditions of sea and weather would permit. This convergence of types is shown by the fact that the Thistle, though of the same length on the water-line as the Galatea, had a beam of 20 ft. and a much bigger sail- spread. When the Shamrock and the Columbia contested in 1899, the sail areas of the two vessels were approximately equal, that of the Sham- rock being 13,491 sq. ft. and of the cup defender 13,135 sq. ft. But even this enormous sail-spread will be eclipsed by the Constitution, and, we presume, by Shamrock II also. Since the race of 1886, the length along the water-line of these international contestants has practically remained the same, and despite this fact, the sail area has increased enormously. The following are the dimensions of the Constitution and it is interesting to compare them with those of the Galatea: engin, Ovet all. a ee a i ee 141. ft. Lengia, con watetune... 0)... ee 89 ft. 10 in. eae ae 23: ft. 5. in. HOTAUCHE i ee a 20 ft IDisplacenieht 4, 147 tons Balas ee 75 tons MASE a ee 108 ft. EOpmast 3 50 ft DOOM i ee 108 ft Gt ee a 63 ft The sail area of the Constitution is over 14,500 sq. ft., or 1,500 sq. ft. more than that carried by the competitor with the first Shamrock. But, perhaps the fact which best illustrates the lines on which the modern yacht has developed, is shown by a comparison of the sail area of the Galatea with this year's cup defender. The area of the main sail of the latter is greater by close upon 1,500 sq. ft. than the whole suit of plain sails, five in number, carried by the Galatea. Regarding the matter from this point of view, it is simply marvellous how, adhering to the same length of water line and working in the direction of minimizing the wetted surface, that it should be possible to have so increased the sail spread. How does Shamrock II contrast with these measurements? Though at present official figures are not forthcoming it will probably be found that her length, from end of boom to end of bowsprit, will be greater, cer- tainly not less, than that of her rival. So it is with her masting, and this, of course, argues a sail spread as great as her rival's. But when all is said and done, though design of hull may approximate the difference be- "Little Giant" made. Ask for Catalog "E." It's free. Is especially designed for Ship Yards and Dock Work and is capable of drilling in any kind of wood up to three-inches diameter any depth. This machine can be reversed at full speed by simply turning the handle to right or left, withdrawing auger instantly. 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