The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-04-25

The Width of the Yacht the Same
A. That OF the CoIumbin-PIated
with Aluminium Above Wafer
and manganese Bronze Below.
NEW YORK. April 25.-There has been
a great deal of speculation here during
the past two months concerning the Lip
ton challenger for the Americas Cup,
Shamrock II. The correct measurements
Of the Shamrock's hull have at last been
asCeTtained-
Among the dimensions now made
public two have been published here. The
others are new. The most important item
is the boats beam. concerning which no
one seems to have devoted more than
hint, and that a wrong one The chal-
lengers width is exactly the same. to an
inch, as that of the last victor the Co
lumbia-nameIy. p feet Her draught of
water is about ! foot inches Iess-name-
", 70 feet. In over all length the new
Shamrock is 49, feet. and not 134, as has
been published Her waterIine is intend
ed to be close to the 9O-foot limit
Above water she is plated with alumni
mum. and below the surface the plating
is of manganese bronze. All the plating.
both above and below. has the contact
edges tapping each other. This gives
been avoided by the designers Of the Con
stitution and the Independence, who have
believed In making their hulIs as smooth
as glass all over The thin nickel plating
which is used in the construction Of the
decks is covered with a light planklng OF
pine. over which there Is painted can
vas. to make all more waterught
The mast is stepped far out from the
forward part of the keel. being closer
than IN the other boats to the stem-head,
beyond which the horn extends g feet out
from the CANNON iron The mast which
was stepped Yesterday Is of steel, ana Il
has a wooden topmast that houses down
inside of it. instead OF a pole mast Of steel
including both top and lower stick in one.
as reported. It VIII be the same arrange
ment as viii be found for the topmast on
the steel spar of he Crowninshield hide
pendence- There viii be no hounds on the
Shamrock's mast. The CrosstTees. which
viii spread % feet, will be found > feet
from the masthead
There are no bulwarks to the boat, but
an angle iron runs around the outer edge,
and inside that there is d foOtrest made OF
wood running most of the length Of the
decks The ballast has been poured inside
molten on the plan first intended but
afterward abandoned. for the Indepen-
dence. The after OveThang is longer than
the forward one, and the boat trails out
considerably aft, the general bearings
flniug away in beautiful tapering lines
both above and below, so that her after
overhanE is 50 shallow as measC+ !
through from deck to floor that it might
be called the after platform
An c5sts region IS of great beauty and
refinement, and Watson has plainly and
with intention given up some saiI-carry-
ing power which could be gained in this
region in order to avoid the drag Of wa
ter, which, as the tank tests proved 10 him,
was always detriment that promised TO
be fatal to hopes of great speed In this
way the Shamrock II viii not call upon
the beariEg-up power of her quarters and
after overhang as quickly as other fast
craft, such as the Columbia and Sham
rock, and when she does lie down she viii
not put nearly as much hull in the water,
In this way she is a marked departure
from any craft that is now racing in
America or that viii be produced in
America this year
Even more IS her great difference to be
noted at her forward end, where the ex-
cessive carrying forward of her beam has
already been described. The only part IN
which she resembles the Columbia is in
her centre section, and here, although the
I'm IS shallower, there is similar fine
ease OF turn which tells that the new
light wind which is frequent of Sandy
Hook in summer weather The floor Is. If
anything, Aatter than the Columbia s, but
al the turns are Very. sweet, and If all
else goes well IN the balance and sail ef-
fort she ought to be q witch in light airs.
Compared with the last two contestants,
she is a lighter powered craft than either
Of them, with practically similar canvas
area, so that much viii now depend on
the question as TO whether the SuggeS-
tons Watson received from the tank tests
have been properly used in the sailing
yacht he produces The Constitution, be-
ing reported to be 70 feet wide TWO feet
wider than the challenger, seems to sug-
gest that some Of the differences which
were suggested to be owing TO the first
ShamrOcks excessive beam may be re-
peated this year Watson and CrOwnin-
shield arrived at the same conclusion as
TO beam when both yachts produced by
them for the Cup contests were designed
at a feet In the fuIlness Of floor for5ard
the Independence is more ike Shamrock
II than the Columbia is. but the Watson
boat is drawn finer and more artistica IIv
than either Of them. and is one foot mar
rover at the taffraiI than the IndeDend-
ence. Another account makes her three
feet narrower, the Shamrock being an
nOunced as feet at the taffraiI. On this
point there mas probably been a mistake
II transmission Of the cable dispatches.