| Show r IMPROVING ICE BOATS Wilt P Pond Describes Several Now Schemes for Increasing Their Speed Ice boat enthusiasts of the eastern clubs are anxiously scanningthe horizon for any signs of what Jack Frost intends doing for them in the future Lat year they were left completely in the lurch not getting one single day and even t he points farther west and north were wofully shorn of their accustomed fun The headquarters 4 i LATEEN RIGGED ICE BOAT I for ice yachting news is Pough teepsie and one of the best authorities is J ucob E l Buckhout designer and builder of many of the swiftest ice yachts in commission I For thepastfour years there have beiui few I important changes from what is kno vrn as the 1SSG model When this was introd need I and developed under extraordinary pndi I tions n speed of fifty miles an hour it seemed as if superlative excellence had 1 een I reached This belief proved unfonmiled Such a high rate of speed required nnntsn ally strong winds and so the SO motel satisfactory as it was over the old typts did not give the desired rate of speed in cvn ordinary wind which is the one great eti sential for success in club racing Recognizing this fact our designers turned turn-ed their attention to reducing the weight structural at the same time retaining the maximum amount of resistance or stiffness stiff-ness Tais would give the greatest speed with a ten knot breeze rather than with a fair sized gale The advantage of the change is best demonstrated by two skaters skat-ers one with the wind beliind him breaks the record and then meeting another man on a circular track is beaten by him and wonders why it is Many have been the devices tried skate blades have been ground different from the old straight edged blade and the under surface has been ground hollow with a view of diminishing the leeway in reaching which of course increases in-creases the speed by just so much Not here however do the improvements stop Hitherto the sloop rig has been deemed the latest and most satisfactory by ice yacht experts but this year there is promise of anew a-new rig to be tried which will awaken great interest in ice yachting circles A well known clubman during a visit to j the south of Spain noted the phenomenal speed of the feluccas with their lateen I j rig as they plied along the Mediterranean coast cad conceived the idea of adapting 1 tills rig with its immense tapering sail to the ice yacht Of course until it is practically prac-tically demonstrated no one can tell what the advantages may be but on paper it looks like a possible improvement If so it will come from the maximum spread of the sail being low down just above the hull which is another adaptation of the theory of what constitutes the advantage in speed of a sloop over a cutter The lateen rig consists of t stoat tapering taper-ing mast the sail being spread on a huge gaff or boom which extends in an arc from the bow of the yacht up to the top of the mast and far beyond the sail covering the whole space from stem to stern This is considered the fastest modern rig antI it will sail closer to the wind than a catboac Opinions on the subject are conflicting Mr Buckhout adhering to the sloop rigwhich he says pound for pound and foot for foot inan average wind will hold its own against inv other in the world Another novelty likely to be seen on the Hudson is u very light boat half boat h half toboggan which will bo on runners ella have two large bicycle wheels at the back These wheels will be fitted with spikes instead of the rubber tire and operated op-erated by the small engine of a naphtha launch The idea sdumls feasible the question of badly disposed weight and great lightness of structure being in the writers opinion the only obvious drawbacks draw-backs WOLF P POND |
