The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-06-22
YACHT MODELS.


 two hundred and flfty-six in all, and there are about one hundred more full models. It Is not, however, the num- bers so much as the representative na- ture of the collection which constitutes the value of the display
 For instance, We have the Clean, de- signed by the elder Fife in 1884, and perhaps it will be @ surprise not only to- some of the younger generation, but also to some of the older yachtsmen, to learn that pleasure craft were built on the Clyde estuary over sixty years ago. The Clean, as befits her period, had the bluff bow and somewhat finer run which up to then, and for seventeen years later, was considered the correct model for speed How these ideas were all upset by the coming of the America in the exhibition year is a matter of well-known history; and, indeed, there could hardly be a greater contrast be- tween the Gleams "cod's head and mackerel tail' shape and the extremely hollow bow of the celebrated American schooner. This is we'll shown by the model of the latter vessel, which is eX- hibited in another part of the gallery.
 It has been said that her designers arrived by purely empirical means at the same conclusion with regard to the best shape for vessel that Scott Rus sell worked out by scientific deduction. This would appear to be the case--we know that science had very little to do with the America's design-for the model of the New York flyer shows a bow which has every appearance of a n now discarded all that kind of thing, as a glance at the models of the Britannia or the Valkyrie will at once show.
 The principle upon which yacht arch itects go at present Is to slither over the sea, while the older designers devoted all their attention to dividing the water by the vertical wedge If an amateur be ambitious to design his own yacht in the present day, he could not do better than get tablespoon, cut off the bowl close to the stem, and fasten to the un- derneath part something to represent a l fixed centerboard, to the bottom of which would be attached the ballast, in the shape of flattened bulb of lead. l Whether the lean entrance of the | America or the spoon bow of the mod | ern fashionable racer be the most de- | sirable for sea work may be a moot question, but certainly the yachts of an | intermediate type, such as the Florinda, | Jullanar or Galatea, to take three of the models shown at random, appeal more l to the yachtsman who, being not quite sufficiently up to date prefers making | a passage during a breeze with mode rately dry decks, or prefers his vessel | should be able to lie to with comfort if the weather gets bad enough to war rant such procedure. We have re- ferred to Flies Clean, but We ought to say that there is a still earlier model of a Clyde built yacht This is the old Co.,, a firm which in past times turned out so much honest work for the winds and the waves to prove.
 To glance down the list of models is to get a glimpse back through the vista of time, to see fighting flags aloft that have long been struck for good, and to remember ways and customs passed !, forever. That we have now faster and better equipped yachts than ever before is undoubtedly true: still, something | has been lost. The cost of a racer, her | upkeep and rate of deterioration are enormously in excess of what they were a generation back. Twenty-Five years ago We could race and cruise in the same craft season after season. and though we did not go so fast races were not less keenly contested A sue cessful yacht now is costly ephemera She wins everything for summer, and the next season is eclipsed and worth less.
 One of the most famous yachts of the Hast year or two is now being offered fol sale at price little, if any, in excess of what could be got at the marine store for her as lead and old junk She is a minute or two slower on a fifty mile course than a more recent production; and no one would think of fitting hel out Is pleasure yacht" On the oth. CT hand, out-classed racers of less re. cent construction are to be met every where, and, perhaps with their wings clipped a bit, form excellent eruisins yachts. The Jullanar, built in 1875, has just changed hands, and for many years will be, unless mishap overtakt her, an excellent sea-going boat. Tht once redoubtable prize winner FlyinS Cloud, Count Batthyany's gallant little
 
 schooner, built by Inman, we think il the sixties, is not only afloat, but is get ting her living by hard work as a fruit er and several other instances could bt given; but We do not think many of thu spoon modelled craft of the present day with their light scantliug and tons o lead fathoms under water, will be bat ting the breeze a dozen years hence. l is this more than anything which hai turned yachtsmen into boatmen, fo there are few who can afford to spent several thousands of pounds on bis craft that will be useless in two or thre seasons at most.
 In regard to hulls, our racing yacht are in some respects drier and In som wetter than the boats of the era whel sail area was not a factor in the ratint formula, and beam was severely penal ized, while depth went free. The ney style takes more loose water on board but that is largely the result of greate speed. "A fast boat is a wet boat ha ever been a true saying. With thei great overhang the modern craft ar not so apt to take green water on deck