Each year now introduces new aspirants to the Blue Ribbon fame of the
well-established 5-ton class, and though few methods, if any, had been
resorted to up to this time for the purpose of cheating the tonnage
rule, which then took the length on deck between stem and sternpost as
its measure, instead of the length along the L.W.L., still the year
1878 saw a notable tonnage-cheater launched from the Cheshire side of
the Mersey in the formidable 5-tonner 'Lorelei,' designed by Mr. Wynne
Eyton, her owner, and built by Messrs. Buckley & Sherlock. The
'Lorelei' was a yacht worked out purely and simply on the wave-line
theory, as defined by Mr. Colin Archer, of Christiania, and her
counter was partly submerged, not only to enable the lines of her
after body to be carried out fair, but at the same time, without
adding to her tonnage, to give her a foot and a half more length on
the L.W.L., since she was 31 ft. 6 in., whether the measurement was
taken on deck or along the L.W.L. Her beam was 6 feet, and she drew 5
ft. 6 in. Like the 'Vril,' her ballast, 4 tons in all, was on her
keel, and her sail area 770 square feet, or 30 square feet less than
that of the 'Freda.' The displacement of both these yachts was almost
identically the same; yet the 'Freda' would have had a very hard
struggle to keep within sight of the 'Lorelei' on an ordinary 5-ton
yacht course. Frequently the 'Lorelei' very nearly beat her 10-tonner
competitors on even terms, and was always fit and ready to save her
time. In the smaller class, such as she would race in at Kingstown or
Liverpool, there was not one boat that she could not beat. Mr.
Richardson designed for the Messrs. Anderson, who used to own
Hatcher's old crack the 'Queen,' 15-tonner, a 5-tonner called the
'Urchin.' She was intended to beat the 'Lorelei,' but she never could
do anything when sailing against her. The 'Lorelei' carried rather a
deep bilge, and her keel was well rockered. After Mr. Wynne Eyton
parted with her, she went up to the Clyde, where she has done little
or no racing, but has proved herself a first-class little cruiser. Her
fittings below, when she was in the height of her racing career, were
very good and rather unique. She had no bulkhead, but was entirely
open fore and aft. She was flush-decked, and her main cabin was partly
divided off by a double set of rails made of 3-inch planks, which
formed an open, but double, partition to hold all her kites and other
sails. This open sail locker or pen stretched right across from side
to side, and was about 2 feet deep. It formed a good roomy receptacle
for the sails, kept the weight amidships, and sails well aired.
Something of the same kind of fitting has been applied to one or two
10-tonners, the open gratings in their case being carried right up to
the deck on the starboard side, leaving the door and pantry in its
usual place. The upper half of the grating facing the main cabin was
on hinges, and could be removed altogether to allow of sails being
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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