New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-10
VIRTUES AND DRAWBACKS OF THE FIN KEEL
From Tho Boston Advertiser.

The races Of the present season have been nterS,g
tocouse OF the trials of speed between The Ems Keel,
. "otrn5n,,,s especially in the 81 - ard 30 foot
cias,os The victories OF the 3Cf'ot liand el a.d IT,
as foot Wasp have been Of great general intrTe.''
bu, The CHEF object OF the study Of racing men na'
perhaps been the races In the ll"cr cH'Se,, IT. IT,
wnrx n, the 81 footors has been studied carefully ~
thc races Of the present season. The interest which
ATTACHES 10 the performances OF the III io"'cis
largely due 10 the fact that the different styl 3i ya'
iuildnr have been adapted 90 that class and The con
nes between those vessels expected 10 snow inc
merits and dement's Of the fins; hSo en-, sna mr. The
cNpcIincn, because the boats Themselves are nov :.
expensive 70 build ne%se n nSS can a be n srT can be
raced under almost any weather conditions, IN,
contest between The nS Reclt a mo ales ot iT biz
hoo,s what the assay is 10 the sncer work In metal
urgy or the working model Is to the finished machine
show that the fin kee' has not as yet clearly proved
#. superiority rs many cxpected Il would do
Tine naao eS Sre oi nn" Rees and centre
boards The keel and centreboard types are nov
about racing the centreboard feing movable keel,
which can be let down into the water or drawn ont
IRON at hd%cver and was devised With tie dea
Of presenting easy lines to the water as possible.
nearly the same place In yacht that would BE given
up % keel or cent s, d. sa1s sSt Of :ns
pended pcrpcndlcnlarly from the bottom Of canoe
and weighted 1s s at the n ss s9a Il. @"a
answer ans CNh hoG hs s enYy arshapd lead pig which
is bolted on to lis liver edge and which baasts the
Vaclft. The lines OF the In Keel boat nr yer!
easy and drawn with view 10 Offering as small 4
sailing resistance possible below The witrrline, ana
are in fact quite similar 10 those OF racng canoe
The advantage offered by the Keel which Is thin,
weighted and fixed centrcbOard In point OF fact, is
that II change its course with wonderful ripdlty
and can thus beat against the wind with but little
loss OF time, while lis friction IN the water Is quite
small compared with that Of other types Its weighted
keel enables II TO fairly large snil area on
the other hand tho disadvantage Of the fin keel, a.
shown I'm recent l. that II Is apt 70 catch In
seawecd lobster-pOs and other floating substances.
although that difficulty NAV perhaps be remedel
by running "stay" from the bowspr1t 10 the front
Of the lead pig on the l)wer end, has been done
IN ar least instance. Another disadvantage
exists in the fact that the extreme depth Of the I'm.
which extends from ) 1.2 To 6 feet below the bottom
Of the hull renders II impossible to sail such boat
In the rather shallow inlets to DC found along the
coast
So far the racing Of the present year has shown
anything. 1t seems certain mat while the fin heel has
points In It's favor, II is not destined to cvoii
tonize yacht building The 3o.foot Herreshon
liandsel has made n good showing and the smaller
fms Ike the Reaper. Freak ana Vonesn have also
done we'll, when they have been In favorable con
dtons. Even the speedy Vanessa however has yet
to show that she is faster boat than the ccntreboard
Alpha, while the splendid showing made by the keel
40 foOtcrS like the Wasp and the Gorlana makes II
1t doubtful whether fin keel In that class would
prove their equal. Altogether. then unless the
Alpha fails TO show good a record throughout the
season as She has already made, the superiority OF
fin kccls may remain TO be demonstrated.