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
A design of this remarkable craft, and an interesting article upon her
by Mr. Mollett, appears in the 'Field' of January 10, 1891. Mollett
took the centreboard out and substituted a fixed keel with 5 cwt. of
lead on it, which he was sanguine enough to say rendered the boat
practically uncapsizable. She has, however, capsized several times
since then. He afterwards removed the keel and returned to the
centreboard, with which he thought the boat was faster and handier.
Since then a succeeding owner has reverted to a sort of heavy
fin-keel, but the boat has not done so well in racing as formerly. Her
canvas is, however, worn and stretched, which may have something to do
with it. We hope, for the sake of her owner and his companions, that
she will disappear somehow or another before any fatal accident
results from her use.
Noticing how cleanly our flat counters leave the water, Mollett
thought--What is the use of having a sharp bow to divide the water?
Why not have a double-sterned boat, and let the bow slide over the
water instead of through it? Something of this idea was present in the
building of the 'Gossip,' but in the 'Castanet,' lately built for Mr.
Russell Colman, the idea has had full sway. There is a broad, flat,
spoon bow, differing very slightly on deck from the stern, and not
differing at all on the water-line, so that it is practically
immaterial which end is selected to go first. There are the same
segments of large circles for buttock lines. The load-water-line is 17
ft. 3 in., and on deck 29 ft., the overhang being very nearly equal at
each end. The beam is 7 ft., and the extreme draught of the short
fixed keel, which is spiked to the bottom of the spoon, is 3 ft. 2
in., with 23 cwt. of lead. The latter is disposed at the bottom of the
keel in a triangular bulb.
If you take an ordinary tablespoon and press it into a soft substance
at different inclinations, the water-lines which it will mark are much
the same. The principle is the same in the 'Castanet.' The water-lines
lengthen and narrow as she heels over, and the length at which she is
measured when upright is considerably exceeded at both ends. The spoon
comparison is only to a certain extent applicable, as one end of a
spoon is smaller than the other, while in the case of the 'Castanet'
both ends are large ends. There is no deadwood except what is
necessary for the keel, and the rudder is a projecting one. Mollett's
theory is that it is better to cut away every inch of deadwood which
is not absolutely necessary for preventing leeway. He finds the boats
so constructed sail faster in every way. As to whether a fin-keel or a
weighted centreboard is the better, he has not yet made up his mind.
[Illustration: Hull of the 'Castanet.']
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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