The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1914-06-23

Photo by American Press Association.
THE REsoLUTE, ONE OF THE AMERICAN
CANDIDATES FOR BIG YACHT RACE.
feet without board The next Ameri-
can boat, the Vigilant, although carry
ing centerboar1, was virtually a keel .
model, with a draft of fourteen feet |
Her bow was the embryonic spoon /
bow that became so popular later.
Metal yachts had begun to figure |
upon the lists of the cup defenders /
When iron and steel had gained suffi- /
cient tensile strength the builders saw
that it had many advantages over the /
common hull woods that had been gen
orally employed The Mischief was
the first metal yacht to race as a de
fender and the second metal yacht in
America. From her time on steel and
aluminium were more frequently en-
ployed in the bulls, the first hollow
steel spars, however, not coming into
vogue until after the race between the
Defender and the Jubilee in 1898, while
the first steel mast was carried by the
Columbia
The most marked change in any of
the American defenders was in the Re
lance, which successfully defended the
cup against the Shamrock III. in 1903.
The Reliance. like the present Sham
rock ", approached somewhat to the
type of racing scow that has been used
with much success on bodies of fresh
water. The Reliance had the largest
sail plan of all the yachts that engag-
ed in any Of the international con
tests, amounting to no less than 10, 100
square feet, which was as much as
the combined areas of the Mayflower
and the Puritan and also more than
twice as much as was carried in all
the sails of the schooner America.
Why Yacht Racing Is Costly.
Yacht racing is the most expensive
| sport, and it has been said on good au-
| thority that it will cost at least half a
/ million dollars this year to defend the
/ Americas cup. William Gardner. de
signer of the Vanitfe recently said:
/ in a cup defender expense is never
considered. The very best materials
are obtained, and everything that is
new in materials is used What was
considered the last word in materials a
| few years ago is commonplace now.
las every ounce of unnecessary
weight is a detriment to the boat. the
prime object of the designer is to re
duce the weight to the very minimum
so as to give the maximum amount OF
lead to the keel and consequently sal
carrying power
THE work of designing a cup de
fender entails five or six times the la
Dor of a regular boat of the same size
How Defenders Are Built.
The first step in the construction o
the modern cup defender is the mold
ing of the lead keel Some ninety ton
of lead are used. A wooden trough i
built of the size and shape required
into which the molten lead is run Th
moment the contract is signed hurr,
orders are sent out to firms who fur
nish steel, so that by the time the kee
is run some or all of the frames ar
generally on the way to the shipyard.
Being received in straight length:
! the steel for the frames is made hot a
the shipyard, placed on what is know
, as the bending platform and by mean
Of wedges and pins is bent to the shap
required by the designers plans.
long fat piece of steel, called the kee
son, reaching the entire length of tn
. yacht, is first fastened to the lead Ike,
by long bolts; then the stem and ster
! posts are set up, the stern post bein
the part of the frame to which the rue
7 der is later attached.
A captain and crew of some fifty me
are engaged and under pay long b
q fore the yacht is launched. Their pa
@ food and clothing go on from six I
!. eight months. Bills for towing and
t special steamer upon which to bert
;, the crew are among some of the heay
o expenses.