Page:Yachting wrinkles; a practical and historical handbook of valuable information for the racing and cruising yachtsman (IA yachtingwrinkles00keneiala).pdf/83

 *poses, fishing and class-racing affords lots of sport. A modern fin-keel for racing only cannot be surpassed. So out of these various types you have only to choose. It is not necessary in this connection to sing the praises of the keel type. It speaks for itself. For speed and safety it is equally adapted. In war and in commerce as well as in yacht racing it has made its mark.

There are a number of yachts which without exaggeration or affectation may well be characterized as epoch-making vessels. First comes the schooner America, which revolutionized yacht naval architecture in Great Britain. Then follows Evolution, the parent of the bulb-fin type of to-day. Next comes the Scotch cutter Madge, which was responsible for the decline and fall of our unwholesome "skimming-dish" type. Puritan is next—a compromise between the two extremes of deep cutter and shallow centerboard. It should be remembered in connection with this boat that she combined the factors of outside lead, moderate draught and ample beam, and was in every way a new departure, reflecting great credit on her talented designer, Mr. Edward Burgess. Gloriana was as pronounced a departure as Puritan, her famous spoon-bow and immense overhangs arousing all the British designers and causing them to steer a new course. Her influence was quite as great as that of America. She made Nat Herreshoff famous.