The New York herald., 1870-04-14

SaIls ballasting aud Rigging-The
--latest Candidate for Victory.
Yachtnen may congratulate themselves upon the
birth OF another yacht, which, from its model. out
lines and specific principles OF design destined FOR
an auspiclous future. Commodore William voorhs
ON last November laid the keel Of q craft on the
q1!et beach OF Nyack, little town. perhaps, but one
which Is now the scene Of activity in this species OF
marine architecture. From this keel has matured
beautiful offspring. as fine yacht In graceful aad
delicate curves, In style aud pduancy. as could be
desired by the sternest advocate Of art. She has
been visited inspected and admired by the first
yachtmcn OF the country. ana though some
deny that the principles embodied IN her
construction ere sound, al! concur that sAs
Is "a thing or beauty" and, therefore "a
joy forever" Commodore voorhts, with com.
mendabie enterprise sfter an experience OF thirty
years, during which lie has built ten slooDs and one
schooner. has been spending his money freely in
daring and bold experiments in The pure science Of
construction, IN which the important problems Of
speed, displacement buoyancy, resistance sparring,
ballasting and working to wndward are such im-
portant and correlaiive elements. To say tnat in
this latest production OF els perseverance and inds
try he has succeeded, would be premature; for no
trial OF her qualities mas been had nor can she be
measured by any other standard than those prncl-
Piles which to an imperfect degree have been tested
before In the Maggie. Addie " and Gracieall built
and designed by Commodore Voorhs. and all Illus
tratng the same effective points which he claims
for hts new and magnificent schooner.
THE TIDAL WAVE.
The Oracle and his other yachts were sloops; but
the Oracle mas carried or many trophles-no less
than four prizes last season--that her speed and
facility OF movement have been universally con-
ceded
Commodore yoorhs. In building her successor,
the Tidal Wave, has believed that those desiderota
which made the Oracle triumphant as sloop
would, when fully developed In q schooner, render
the bold model invincibe and IA near perfection as
one can achieve after careful and laborlous exam
nation OF thirty years. Such commendablc spirit
deserves success and 1t Is to the credit OF C0mmo.
dore VOOrhs that he susans his designs by repeated
building, and embarks mis- money with the nam idea
to advance marine architecture.
In yachting as In general shpbuldin2 there has
been LOO much caution and too little daring. Oid
principles derived IRON Neptune are honored for
their noary antiquity and new ones find but little
favor, because there have been so many reckless
failures; but why should this drawback rear itself up
in the path OF progress and stay improvements
Why anchor to one model aud retard the glorious
march OF yachting, which begets advancement In
building and consequent increased pleasures Com
mOdOre VOorhis' action cannot be too highly ap-
plauded even should he fail TO realize his iondeSt
hope The Tidal Wave Is dnished IL Is well TO
HER CONSTRUCTION AND MopELLING.
She is a type Of the Gracic-exactly like her only
OF greater proportons-a schooner, and hence, oi
course oil much breadth OF beam In proportion
to her length OF keel. The Oracle was glorious
victory She outsaied nine or tweive scnoOners
the last season in a heavy sea way and behaved 80
admirably that Mr. Voorhts c0ntended thas her fine
points applied to u schooner would insure the sue
cess OF such u craft. He proceeded with his Idea
maintaining that by increased size comes
DECREASED SPEED,
and thafo q forn urht "A M mn
when their models, rig and bailastlng are the
Why, then. could he not with q schooner Improve IN
he has tried to sove-it Is hoped trlumphaEtly But
yachtmen have been incredu0us dubious ana head
shaking. II was SO with tho Oracle. They did not
believe IN her. Bur she won.
Commodore yoorhls, satlslied that he was right
however, went on; Up 70 acertain size ana tonnage
u large yacht would always overpower and outsail
small one. This he has fought Tor. Nov the tldal
Wave ready for her service. Her distinctive fea
lures are peculiar and are sustained by undeniabe
theory. She is built upon what Is caled
THK SHARP FLAT MODEL,
with nne bows, fat bilgc ana very considerable
dead rlse AIT hcr quarters are not dug out, nor
do her bows from the cutwater aft show any marked
concavity. Her lines are fiat, with tho exception
cavity Of the greatest depth Of three inches, and
when the examination OF the lines resumed as
ySs Ss swe Of the and o
this point aft to the quarters the sides below the
water line are perfect planes These planes rise ON
either side from the keel TO the water ne giving the
hull the character OF wedge with Its sharp edge In
the water aud its quadratural base above the surface
Forward Of this wedge-like section OF the Tidal
Wave are nne, sharp ana shallow bows, and abaft II
are quarters, which lie but short distance under
the surface 80 that the null In passing through the
ance, which could not he obtained were the stern
followed out, and the yacat therefore sunk into an
sstance. II VIII he seen, then that the Tidal wave
has nat lines dug out neither forward nor ais. The
now DOES THIS PRINCIPLE ACT,
Put barrel in the water set in m0tlon It rolls
over and over. Now cut 1t longitudinally leaving
semi-circles Tor its rounding heads In the water It
cannot roll over, but tr is unstable. Slice or the
bllges, aud. like wedge 1t viii stand stiff; 1t can
The bows or tile sern on yacht OF $50 tons, fifteen
ieet more or buoyancy forward can be had ana ten
feet more aft. Hence there is more iiiiInY power
MORE BOW FORWARD,
and hence, again, less pitch when the yacht Is
1t plunging through 1t. This insures speed buoy
ancy ana stability where generally each OF these quail
tiles must he sacrificed TO obtain the perfection OF
any one OF them In high degree.
No better illustration Of the practical value OF
this style OF model can be found than In the Oracle.
which rode the waves when o famous schooner
yacht went under at every sea- In the Tidal Wave
the effort OF Commodore VOorhis has been to place
the centre OF resistance nearly amidshlps and there
also. the centre OF applied oice thus allowing these
opposing powers 70 c9uateract each other.
IaE CENTRE Of BU0YANCY,
or the lifting force Is forward Of both and here we
find the three elementary powers acting 10 harmony
for stability, IN concert for speed IN concurrence to
produce swift movements In working to wlndward,
Here lot 1t be understood that stability, seaworthl.
ness, ready obedience to the helm ana light
ming suD0rdnation in stays are what are
demanded In modern yacht Probably
nothing IL more important than buoyaucy;
1t governs stability and in foul weather s the most
valuable OF all destderatd. BY moving It's centre
forward, when the craft draws more water aft than
at the bows the vessel Is kept on an even keel rides
we'll and plunges little, does not grippe the helm and
ID ODedient In stays she does not ny about, sneak
to windward or become generally unmanageabe.
The Tidal Wave has been
SPARED
upon new principles, or upon system confirmed by
the experience Of Commodore VOorhs ~ emf.
nently practicable and wise. The mainmast has
been stepped directly over the centre OF gravity OF
the vessel and the sail has been apportOned that
only ABOUT 200 feet In excess OF 0nehaf Is to he
abaft the malnmast. All told, tn Tidal Wave Will
spread ~, 81 feet OF
CANVAS
and the prepOnderance mentioned has been made
to Offset the situation OF the centre Of buoyancy,
which is a little forward or the centre or gravity,
Commodore XQQrllS has eudeaYQred to nIace his