Yachting, Vol. 2Dufferin and Ava, Frederick Temple Blackwood, Marquis of
History
Yachting, Vol. 2
Dufferin and Ava, Frederick Temple Blackwood, Marquis of
Yacht racing; Yachting; Yachts
The effect of the alteration has been to lengthen the keel, and
perhaps to round up the forefoot a little. It has been suggested that
it would be as easy to attain the quick turning by rounding the
forefoot and having the greatest draught aft as it is by the present
method of keeping the draught well forward and shortening the keel;
but there is this objection--the shores next the banks are frequently
shoal and muddy. When the boat swings round on her deep forefoot, if
that is free from mud the lighter draught stern is sure to follow; but
when a light draught forefoot is still free from the mud, the deeper
draught stern swings on to it and is caught, and the boat's head pays
off to leeward before she releases herself. Experience goes to show
that in the larger classes the boat with much drag aft is not suitable
for these shallow-margined rivers, and that to succeed in racing it is
necessary to be able to perform the feat of waltzing a boat round and
round in little more than her own extreme length, as the writer has
done by way of experiment. A boat which will only handle when she has
steerage way does not stand much chance.
[Illustration: 'Greyhound,' midship section.]
The yachts used generally to be built by that rule-of-thumb method,
the result of long and slow experience, which has often proved more
sure than the experiments of science; but of late years two
boat-builders have studied intelligently the principles of design, and
have applied them with great success to the building of the most
successful craft yet seen upon these waters. These two are Mr.
Brighton of Yarmouth, and Mr. Mollett of Brundall. The former has
confined his attention to the larger class of craft in use here, and
the latter to the smaller vessels. First of Mr. Brighton's boats to
attract attention was the 3-tonner 'Trixie,' then the 9-tonner
'Wanderer,' and then the 4-tonner 'Greyhound,' all in their time the
best boats of their class, although run hard by those of other
designers. The 'Trixie' is a boat 27 ft. 6 in. over all, 20 ft. 6 in.
stem to sternpost, 24 ft. on the water-line, 6 ft. 6 in. beam, and 3
ft. 9 in. draught of water; boom 25 ft., gaff 20 ft., bowsprit
outboard 22 ft. She carried about 4 tons of lead ballast. The
'Greyhound' was designed by William Brighton, but built by workmen of
the owner, Mr. John Hall, of Yarmouth. In design she is undoubtedly
the best produced by Brighton, and therefore the best boat of her size
on the rivers. Proportionately to size, she is a better boat than the
'Wanderer.' Since she was built, in 1889, she has won 175 first prizes
and 30 second, in addition to several challenge cups, and is also a
good little boat at sea, thinking nothing of making the 'outside'
passage direct from Lowestoft to Dover in fair weather. The design we
give is traced from the moulds off which the yacht was built. The
dimensions are as follows:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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