English Criticism Of Familiar American Type Power Boats [1905]
F. Strickland, of the well-known firm of Simpson, Strickland & Co., Ltd., of Dartmouth, South Devon, Eng., has the following to say in a recent article concerning what has become to be looked upon as modern power boat construction, especially familiar in America:
"The advent of the racing power boat has, to a large extent,
introduced what is generally considered a new form of hull. This type is one
with a deep, narrow bow and broad, flat stern, the width, in fact, being
about the same from amidships to right aft. They are, as a rule, decked
nearly all over, the deck being sloped down from amidships to the bow and
stern, the boat being, in fact, highest out of the water amidships. This
produces a very peculiar looking hull, but in principle there is nothing at
all new in it, as it is simply the old Thornycroft stern that was used on a
very great number of the torpedo boats of days gone by. In the majority of
the later torpedo craft it has been practically given up, though they are
still broader and flatter in the stern than most other boats.
"When first introduced, this form was intended to keep the stern
from sinking and the bows from lifting at high speeds. In fact, a hull of
something the same form as the Thornycroft has frequently been brought out
as a novelty and a claim made for it that it prevented `squatting.' At the
same time, in its most exaggerated form it has never come into general use
except for the present-day racing power boat, and its advantages even for
this seem very doubtful.
"That the French 40-ft. boats go through the water with very little
wash is evident, but I believe this is entirely due to their extreme
lightness. Taking the average of them, the weights given are about a ton.
Now, an ordinary 40-ft. high-speed steam launch would be about three times
this weight. Again, the thing that strikes one at first in watching an
ordinary boat running at high speed is the great feather of spray at the
bows. This, however, takes a very little power to make, and the power is
spent almost entirely in making the large traveling waves that follow the
boat. I have never been able to ascertain that these were any less in the
very flat-sterned boats than in those of more ordinary type. Further, I
believe they `squat' quite as much if the weights and speeds are equal.
"The main test is, of course, which goes fastest for a given power.
here we have great difficulty in getting enough data to come to any definite
conclusion, but the greater part of the evidence have seems to me to point
to the fact that the ordinary form is the best. In the first place there is
the fact that the excessively broad flat stern has been to a large extent
given up by the builders of torpedo craft (even those who introduced it),
and in these craft there is very accurate data as to the speeds secured and
the powers taken to get them.
"Then as regards the actual speeds of the racing boats, these are
hardly as high as one would expect from the very light and powerful
machinery pout into them. Lightness and power are always the greatest
factors in speeds in these boats, and the fact that a good speed can be got
out of a particular shaped boat by put- ting in very light and powerful
machinery does not prove it is a good shape of boat. On the other hand, by
far the best performance in high speed that has yet been done has been that
of Rapee, which, though only 26 ft. long, has done as good speed as
most of the 40-foot boats; in fact, to equal her speed in proportion to her
length, the 40-ft. boat would have to go 27 knots on a course such as the
Monaco one. Rapee seems to be far ore of an ordinary shaped boat than
most, and she certainly lifts her bows a lot and throws up a lot of bowspray.
Over 26-ft. boats are built on the broad, flat stern principle but do not
equal her in speed. In fact, it would appear that it is quite possible to
keep the bows of a high speed boat down, but only by spending power in doing
it.
"Another point to be considered is that the broad stern has more
surface in it, and therefore to build a boat of this type to the same weight
as one of the ordinary type, she must be lighter built. This is a very
serious point, as the tendency is to make the boats so light as to be
unsafe.
"On the whole, it would appear that the main thing that affects the
speed of boats in this class is the drifting power and weight. In this
connection the sloping down of the bow and stern will save a little weight
and so be an advantage. Of course, it makes the boats very inconvenient and
for most purposes practically useless, but the object of a racing boat is to
win, not to be useful. On the other hand, as to the peculiar under-water
shape, we have no real evidence of its being an advantage at all. Boats have
been built that have gone good speeds with it, but only when they are
dangerously lightly built. On the other hand, we have seen such boats as Dragonfly,
exhibited by Messrs. Thornycroft at Olympia last Spring, which was built
strong enough to be safe, but has so far, I believe, done no great
speed."
In this connection we would much like to receive expressions on the subject from American designers, who may or may not agree with Mr. Strickland.
(Transcribed from Power Boat News, Oct. 28, 1905, pp. 582-583.)
{I believe this article clearly shows the difference in American and European approaches to the purpose of power boat racing at this time in the world's history. The emphasis in North America was sport and pleasure, and the harnessing of the gasoline engine to accomplish the utmost ends of these two objectives. In Europe, however, with its national rivalries, the power boat was viewed as an extension of the military arm of these nations. Yes, there were high-speed pleasure boats, but the real money was being invested for national goals, not personal goals. For those interested look at the Monaco competitions and then compare the advertisements in Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships after World War I. You will see the prestigious names of Thornycroft, Saunders, Baglietto and Krebs linked to the light, high speed boats enlisted in anti-sub warfare. - GWC}
[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page. —LF]