The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-07-24
ON A FLYING MOTOR BOAT.
Described by Yachtman Who Made a
 Trip on One.

Described by Yachtman Who Made a
 Trip on One
 The sensations experienced on riding in one os the fastest motor boats yet produced are thus described by a yachtman who made the trial trip on the Napier II on the Thames a few weeks ago, in which a speed equivalent to S1.26 miles an hour was attained al- though the boat is only forty feet long:
 AS the boat gained in speed fiatten- ing her passengers against her pack supports, as the propellers gripped and fairly hurried her forward, the hllla roar of the engines ascended to a shriek' ,is ; the sounds of her eight eXhausts smote the ear like the continuous reports or machine gun, mingled with the scream of inc river water, while the shore, dimly seen through veil Of powaereu spray, flew by like a train.
 There was no swell or plunge no lurch or roll. The grand little craft ploughed on her way on an apsolutely even keel, and we had no sense or, pe- ing driven, but feeling as if the boat and crew were flying. There was abso- Iutelv no sense of Notation, no water borne feeling whatsoever If one smut ones eyes it was not difficult to imagine ones self on some tearing vehicle running swiftly on small rollers over a smootb steel road Sustained for the first time, it is like no other eA- perience to be had in the world but after the first half minute or less there settles upon one a quite delightful sense of security and safety so evenly and so truly does she run" .
 The successful trial ot the Napier II took place over a measured nautlcal mile under adverse conditions, there being a strong wind and choppy sea Her time for a nautical mile agalnst the tide was minutes % seconds, and, with the tide, ? minutes 12.6 seconds. This corresponds in the one ease to 3 speed of PAS knots, or 299 land miles an hour, and in the other to FILA knots which Is equivalent to S1.26 miles an hour. The previous best record III European waters with this style oi boat was a trifle under 25 knots and IT American waters 29.3 knots. This speed was made by the Challenger at, Lake \ Worth in February. Since the Napier made her record a French boat, the alaisoto II. has equalled it on the Seine
 The Napier II is in her second season having been failure breakdown. Ila first. She is but forty feet long Sht has twin screws, driven by two 45
 horsepower motors. as .g.
 The bow has flare to turn off tht crest of the bow wave, splash guard, o
 "whiskers,'' being fitted on an extension of this flare. , -.....,.. ,s,l1,. g
 The Napier II is an excellent exampl Iof the marvellous results that hay, been attained in providing high spee' Imotor boats. '
 She must be, seen at full speed to D Iappreciated. Ordinary steam craft sh
 passes as a dragon fly darts by dron ling beetle. She seems to fly over tn
 water A roar as of rapid fire artillery a smother of foam, white streak, an lshe Is a mile away: Seen approachinI stem on, driven at full power, wit
 great cascades of snowy spray gushinI from each side of her bow, she look like some monster, shrieking. whit winged butterfly of the paleozolc iag skimming over kthe .surface.-Londoi l Chronicle E6h x sEs <