The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-16
FOUR CREWS In HOYLE BOATS
CORNELL BUILDERS WORK POPU-
LAR IN OTHER COLLEGES.

Po~UGHKRRPsIB, June l5.-If either An
napolis, Cornell, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin
wins in the varsity eight cared race OIL
the Hudson or June 20 the winning eigh
viii be seated in a Hoyle boat That is
oil course, unless the Annapolis men change
to Ward boat, which idea they had a short
time ago. John Hoyle has been more thai
ever in demand this year as a builder fol
tile colleges in general. He has been doing
business all over the country.
The boat in which the University Of
Washington defeated the Stanford crew
on Washington Lake only u short time
ago was built by Hoyle for the Cornell
crew of 1900 originally. His product hat
been greatly fancied everywhere.
Hoyle is nc less interesting n char
actsr to visitors to the Cornell training
quarters than Coach Courtney himself,
He is one of the quietest men imaginable,
and like many Of the quiet men, when he
breaks silence it is worth while to listen.
He began bodybuilding in Philadelphia in
1890, 30 that for seventeen years he has
been engaged in the trade OF setting the
lines of water craft of the racing type
and putting them together. Every de-
vice known TO the experienced builder Of
boats in this country is in the hands OF
Hoyle, and he ranks with Davy and Ward
II not above them. Every experiment in
American bodybuilding has been passed
on by Hoyle in the course of his work and
what he mas rejected has been pretty uni
versally not worth while.
When Hoyle started out he was engaged
in working mostly on the craft used by
Pennsylvania and some of the Philadelphia
rowing clubs. After a time he branched out
n began building for other universities.
In 1893 the idea Of having aluminium boats
was started in the colleges, Both Penn
s~ylvania and Cornell tried these craft,
Hoyle being the builder Of both.
The Cornell craft was used in u race on
Lake Minnetonka, in which Cornell won.
Tit Quaker craft went ashore on a rock
somewhere on the Schuylkill and hattened
out like a pancake, as Hoyle put it. Both
boats were retired from service not long
after they were first tried They were not
n success
when | was building those aluminium
boats said Hoyle II day, sitting in the
Cornell boat house up here, there was
one thing that puzzled me a lot. Some
days the weather was colder Than others,
The loft was rather open and the place
often was cold | often went away with
the boat all fair to the bolts, and Just as
even as could be. In the morning the next
day I'd find it all out of true, | couldn't
imagine what was the trouble. | didn't
fad out until ] went up to Ithaca"
i showed him what was the matter"
said Coach Courtney, but was not able
to discover the true i~uwardness of things
for a while myself. One day in the winter,
after We had had the boat some time, |
found the ends Of the boat all curled up. |
thought sure someone had been in there
and had been fooling with the craft. /
took a pencil and marked the outlines at
bow and stern. NNt day it was warmer,
and when | Caine down the boat was all
right again. That struck me. and | reasoned
out that the only thing that could cause
due to heat and cold. Watching the boat
from day to day convinced me that that
was right"
Some days said Hoyle, that boat
would draw every bolt out the very day
after the framework was all right. The
only thing that could be lone was to put
In a framework strong enough to hold
the aluminium in place, and that meant so
heavy a boat that it was no advantage over
the regulation cedar shells. So that de-
vice proved TO be useless"
Hoyle continued TO build boats for all
over the country at his shop in Philadelphia,
About eight years ago he went up to Ithaca
to build two boats for the Cornell navy,
a job that was to have taken four months.
He was 10 leave after he did that job to
return to Philadelphia. And I've been
there ever since said Hoyle. The Cornell
association offered him a salary
70 remain there as boat builder. and he
remained on those terms for some years.
Eventually be set up a shop of his own in
Ithaca and went into the business of building
boats for every one. The Hoyle boats are
different from the product Of every other
maker, and they have served their time
very well. The college men are accus-
toned TO get a new boat every year for
their races. and most of the old Cornell
boats have been sent out 10 the institutions
which wished to purchase Il Hoyle boat,
even second hand.
There are very few Of the historic Cornell
boats left at Ithaca, Even the shell in which
the fou mile record of is minutes SO l-5
ecoonds was created in 1901 has been sent
out West. The only old boat still in active
is that in which the crew rowed
on the Hudson in 1905. That boat held
winning crews and is still highly priced.
II is used now for the rowing Of the Cornell
varsity eight here.
Singularly enough the Cornell fresh
man boat this wear is identical in every
measure ment with the shell made for the
Annapolis crew. Tho length was first
reported ms being 80 feet II inches. but
Hoyle saws that it is 80 feet 5 inches. The
is -OTg llUlIlfF ptdll bllb " lilNiltN uttD
amidships. II is a sweetly built boat, with
very trim lines and has every appearance
~ speed.
That and the varsity boat nave about
the same breadth and depth, but the Cornell
varsity shell is something like 81 feet in
They used to build the college
shells longer. some being as much as OF
'eet long. Cornell had one about ten years
go that was as long as that. Columbia
a shell in 1905 hat was 83 feet long.
was the Van Am in which the Columbia
rev defeated Harvard this year. What
out a stop to the building Of the extra long
boats was the difficulty in getting cars
ong enough to pack them on. Now there
Ire cars Of about seventy feet in length.
70 that there may be a return 10 the longer
Doats.
However, the coaches point out that length
ordinarily can be had onlv at the sacrifice
q a certain amount Of stability In the boat.
The Hudson course sometimes IL so rough
Il the time Of the races that n boat has
o be stdrdily built and rather high out OF
he water 10 weather all the m~ischanoes.
n the Toug hneSs does not proceed from
he wind itself there often is a steamer
which has no business TO, which is on the
course kicking w swells, or else there il
ZONE long roll, which may start from the
North about five miles up the river and