The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-04-16
THE AMARYLLIS.
How the Yachting Wonder of 1876
Was Conceived and Built.

HRisroL r. l., April 10, 1877.
To THE EDiroR TIM HERALD
The appearance Of the Amaryliis on the waters OF
Now York Harbor In June, 1875, set motion great
river OF thought tending toward tho development OF
this new style Of crah which having cd viii
not cease for 10 Ia the right direction II
was strange to how people at loss namo
ior tho queer producon-no fewer than n dozen were
given her after tho Centennial Regatta-but stranger
than this werc tho many suggestions Of improvements
II called forth. bare sight OF the Amaryls was
sufficient One party OF fast thinking Americans
medately coniured up strange fanoies more or loss
mprnciicable. Some would have double boat with a
Nat side outward, and another With fiat side inward
while others would have tho boat arrangcd-no ono
knows how AL sorts of ways II the publication OF
tdens IS all that is required TO develop principle
tho condition OF tho double boat has arrived at It's
climax But how many or those persons who last
summer were eager to ventilate their opinions have
gone 10 work and practically demonstrated them? To
be sure, q good deal can be learned in talking
matter; but shavngs must be madc and nails DO
driven before principles be nrmly established.
During The summer OF 1915 had many applications
for description anu plan Of tho Amarylis to all of
which turned deaeDcd car chose to wait until
such timo when could faithfully lay before tho pub
lic fuIl account OF tho Amaryllis and my ideas
double boats generally ideas which had practical
basis and proved by actual experiment. have sailed
tho Amaryllis through calm and wind, over bay and
river, ocean and sound. with all sail with rccfcd
sail and jb, no sail AZ NIL, and with peculiar rig
which Will describe later; with smooth aud rough
sen. with sidoway aud hcadbeat chop, and sho
never failed mo- She Is iast, everybody knows, par
ticuary those who her the 23a OF last Juno In
Now York Harbor. She s safe, Tor she carries not an
ounce of ballast and tip her you cannot She
in Ost IN iort fnra
water. sho is easily managed, moro easily, perhaps,
than other boats, but quite differently.
HISTORY.
In the fall Of 1875 was thinking and thinking how
TO get great speed out OF single hucd boats or tho
kind in common use To got great speed, thought l.
ono must havo great pcwor. To have great power.
ono must have great sail, You must have something
TO hou II up and that something must be largo and
wide, and have large sectional surface and also
great deal OF trctional surface These properties In
hull TO give stability are not compatible with attain
ing great speed. Indeed, the tries to make
stif, able huh the less speed vii, DO attained even
II corresponding additions arc made to the sail. So,
thcn, there are two important principles Of speed
which constantly work against each other. II we in
crease the power to get moro spool Increase
the stability OF the hull corrcspondngiy An Increased
hull has resistance, both IRON sectional area and
surface friction. So what would fam gain one
way wc needs must loso In tho other WE'LL a boat
must have width, and tho wider she Is, generally
speaking. tho more stable she will DO. But a wide
boat cannot have great speed, apply what
power you will TO hor. the noxt thing
that TO be done to decrease the sectional and
the friconal area, and retain the stability which
width gives. thought would raise the keel and the
centre limo OF the boat, and make tho bgcs project
downward and outward from it--such thing ms a
mr.
crease the sectional urea aud In measure retain
stability; the boat would have power to lin ut dis.
lance each side OF the keel whsro 1t would do great
work. kept following this prinspie getting tho
keel higher and higher. until by and by the keel came
out OF water, when, 10 and behold there was tho
double boat Nothing else be done but take saw
and split her in two, spread It apart litllc way
and cover all with deck, and thcre you arc That
the rough road which travelled. and having ar
rived thus far 1 abandoned my il-shaped huils and
In thor place substituted two long, narrow, very light
boats and connected them al the bow, storm and mid.
die Tho boats must DO far enough apart 30 that the
water which they dsplacc moving will not crowd
against them on the inside To bold them apart
al such . distance r'gidv would DO difficult, and
only difficult but useless indood Just exactly the
thing which should not be dono. So the fore tic beam
and the after tie beam must DO connected to tho
the cen.re must DO joincd TO the hulls
n such manner as TO give them freedom In slight
lateral motion, for will DO seen that II The bow Of
one boat pitches she must pitch In u circle round
centre, and in doing that the two huIls are drawn
bodily together, slightly, to 10 suro but enough to
pull them to pieces II provision 10 not made Tor IL
THE SOUTH cATAMARAx.
OF oil names gwen the double boat the catanarau Ia
the avoritc, and endless comparisons have been made
between the Amaryiis and the strange craft OF the
IN MO nj hus
common, and Will probably DO adopted as a generic
name for TINS peculiar build, have examined with
care all data and Information which I could nnd
From sugl cston OF Mr. Megs OF Staten Island, cx-
amined the report Of the explorations OF Commodore
Wilkes in tho Southern Seas with little satisfaction
but IN the "Essa, Ia Construction Aapaie des
Ieupies extra Europeans; Coileciion des yarires
ct Iirogues Construn par les HabitanLs de pAse; du
Mddise sur e Grand Ocean Pendant les Voyages Auour
du Monde de pAarotobe la Fdrorife Il rIrtfmise-
Public par Ordre du Roi--is47-Se.s0.n presented to
Consul Forbes, 10 recognition OF services rendered TO
France, AND kindly loaned me by Captain X. Is. Forbes
OF Boston, the cainmarans and other strange craft
of the ancient MS well as our own times are treated
quito exhaustivrly. From these works only
gather that any comparison drawn between tho caia-
Of The Southern Seas and the Amaryls wholly
inappropriate. In the savage craft there are two
hulIs, which form, rs ono might say, a unity, and
there the comparison onds aud oven that 10 iutile
for, in tho South Sea boat, all tho crew, sails
and rigging, and everything appertaining TO them
carried and supported by large boat which has
ira stability given 20 It by another hull smaller
than the nrss. usually about oae-third Tho size TINS
little hull is r,gdIy attached to and parallel to- The
larger and held on from perhaps twelve or fifteen feet
and designedt 10 carry nothing Tho main boat mas
platforms extending outward IRON either gun
vale. presume Tor giving modatons Tor a larger
number OF persons They have neither keel nor
treb0ard At least mono Is represented so they must
make but sorry work 10 wndward. As tor thor sails
and rigging they OF tue rudcst description. With
the wind aJeam they VIII undoubtedly make fair time,
but yhor sails are too small tn reach extraordinary
spcedhat Is to say over twelve miles hour, except
In very heavy winds. Their rig somewhat resembles
that used on tho Mediterranean having the mast Ia the
may be depressed Their lacking Is a most curious
performance; thcy do about like Christian,
but they let tho clew and carry the forward
the yard toward the stern, outside the gunwale OF the
boat, and sometimes dragging II N tho water. The
clew thon shceted down to Tho OF the boat,
which now becomes tho stern; another steering APP
paratns is arranged ana the thing of In the o
positc direction. Ono can say, truly. that the sail
niy and not the boat, comes nbouL This Is to keep
the small hull always to windward IL is said some
times that hoy, In their queer manUuvrng, get