Materials: For the stem, keel and general framework, birch is as good as any timber. The knees and fittings are best made from holly or some fruit tree, such as apple or pear, the knees being naturally grown. For the ribs either Canadian cheese tubs, which can be bought at any grocer’s for a few pence, or hazel rods split down and planed to thickness, are as good as anything.
After the masts and yards are finished, the
masts can be stepped and the yards rigged.
For purposes of inter-club racing it has now become an essential feature for clubs to employ the above rule. A yacht competing under this rule must be measured by the process shown here.
The art of designing vessels—that is, of drawing their forms upon paper—is old, much older than most people suppose. This books is the first one written on the subject that is intended for t"hose who take up the art for amusement and not as profession."
Model yachting, like all other sports and pastimes, has been infused with the spirit of the age. Both in the building and sailing of model yachts, skill and science have raised this pastime from what formerly used to be considered as one most suitable for juveniles to what is now acknowledged to be one of the most clever branches of model-‘making, requiring to be followed with knowledge of nautical matters, some acquaintance with mechanics, the laws of motion, opposing forces—as wind and water resistance, an important part in yacht designing.
Now, when a boat is hard pressed, the heeling of the boat, combined with the "twist" of the sail, results in the sailcloth being more horizontal than vertical: and then the pressure on the sail is more downward than sideways.
A simple plan for building a model yacht of
extreme lightness, I think, will be of use to
any readers of these pages. a style of
boat is not untried, for my own boat, Shark built from these lines last year.
It is always advisable to use a single headsail. There are, of course, some theoretical advantages obtained by the use of the two headsails; but the chief one, namely that the wind will not collect in the belly of a smaller sail, is scarcely applicable to a model.
Model yachting is flourishing in San Francisco, centered around Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. Despite being only six months old, the San Francisco Model Yacht Club has gained such popularity that the city allocated $22,000 for a dedicated new lake.
