The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-22
MORE MACHINE THAN BOAT.
HAS wATsdN BUILT AN AMERICAN
CRAFT FOR THIS RACE.

VaIkyrfe's Rroad Beam Suggests the
VigiIant, while Her General shape
Is Like THAT of Defender-The
british Mag Hunter Viewed by
Crowds in. the Dry Dock at Eric
BasIn-sDeeulations rs TO the Prob
able Winner.
New York. Aug. 2.-The Vallxyries lines
we're exposed TO the gaze Of the American
public to-day. and from early morning
until dark crowds thronsed the Boston
drydock at Erie Basin and specialized as
to The ehances of the British boat taking
away the cup. The observers found many
things to surprise then. and pretty nearly
every one went away with a better opin-
ion of British eleverDess. and an Increased
respect for Watson as designer, than
they had WHEN they came. A great many
yachtsmen expressed the opinion that the
Defender VIII have no walk-over. The
air Of confidence of all on board the
British boat made more'or less of an i'm
preston on the crowd and talk of weak
ness shown by the Defender in yester-
days race was not without effect.
scafoldings were rugged at her sides
and a gang of men began scraping and
burning away the white paint on. her sides
and the patent enamel paint of her under
body The lower part of the fin keel,
where the lead ballast is located, is sheath
ed with copper. but her I'M
derbody above is. not plated.
nor will it be. It is planked over
the steel frames, and the planking will
be coated with a composition Of black en-
amel similar to pot lead. This black coat
ing will be continued up to her rail, and
the white Valkyrie, which left Scotland
three weeks ago will become a black Val
kyrie while she races for the Americas
cup.
Like the Defender and vigilant, the
Valkyrie III. is more Of a racing machine
than she is a boat. She resembles the
American more than the English ideas
in her design. She is as far removed from
the English cutter as the Defender is
from the American centerboard type.
The English boat has fin keel similar
to Defenders and breadth of beam
that suggests Vigilant 1t is plain that
Designer Watson has taken American
ideas. as shown in Nigilant, NaYahoe and
Jubilee and carried them out in some
respect further than has been done on
this side. The shape of the bow is al
must lldL OF GtlEnQGfs DuL Win u TRUE
more curve. The stern is cut more than
any of our boats, and has a greater over
hang than Defender. The underbody
forward tumbles in at a well defined
angle from the wafer line, and is cut
away more than either Defender or Wig
liant The keel Is not shaped like De-
tenders but has a decided pitch aft, and
the bulb which Defender carries at the
bottom is missing. The make Of the
rudder post Is about the same as De-
tenders. Valkyrie's draft is said by
dock men to be between 10 and 20 feet,
and greater than Defender. Her beam
IS very close to 20 feet or a little more
than Vigilants, and esme three feet
more than Defender. There is an easy
turn in the bilges, where Vigflant and
Defender have strong lines. The dead
rise shows about the same angle aR Wig
ilants and is more abrupt than Defender.
This makes her upper body suggest the
centerboard model, and the amount Of
dead wood in the keel carries out the
idea that space is reserved for center
board. The rongh planking of Valkyrie's
botteRls IS. a. decided contrast to the
bronze hulls Of the American boats.
Workmen were busy on the hui almost
all day. The narrow strip Of wood which
served as bulwarks on the ocean voyage
was removed and the sailor lads will have
nothing to cling to on deck. Mr.. Kearsey
said that the yacht will remain in the dock
uHAAL AAOAAddg anu VIII lAlHll DS Audltu anu
go to, the Horseshoe, where she will an
Choir.
Her sails viii not be bent until she leaves
the dock. The spars and rigging of Valky-
RE look far stronger and more capable of
standing severe strains than those of the
Defender. The mast is 25 inches in diame-
ter at foot and "a inches at the masthead.
The bands at the hounds and the cap and
all the metal work aloft is galvanized
steel stouter than is employed on-the De-
fender. The main rigging shrouds are of
steel, the blocks aloft are all of steel.
There is pine gaff on board which will be
used until the new steel one arrives. The
boom is of galvanized steel, octagonal in
shape and looks more like pillar for an
elevated railroad than spar for yacht
II is the ugliest looking thing on board OF
Nalkyrie, but at the same time it may
prove to be of great value.
Its weight is said to be far less than a
solid pine boom and instead of buckling
downward as did the Defenders hollow
wooden boom yesterday, it has a slight
upward curve to counterfeit tendency
to sag. Its length, as near as can be
judged without using tape line on it, is
LOG feet. 1t projects aft of the stern fully
twenty-five feet. Standing on the dock
and looking at the distance between the
end of the boom and the tip of the jib
boom and at the altitude Of the topmast,
the amount of sailspread to be carried
seems enormous. That she will have
more canvas than Defender seems GER
tain. Whether she will carry it or not re-
mains to be seen. Her breadth of beam.
and the eighty-seyen tons of lead in her
keel may enable her TO stand up under it,,
but 1T viii not be at all Surprising if the
reports cabled from the other side that
she is tender are confirmed.
NIsgpI.rryys TFTxrTs EvORGERIEs.