| Speculation An 18' Cat-Rigged Suicide Class Racer By William Atkin |
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| A Cat Rigged Class Boat | |
| Last summer the Huntington Yacht Club adopted a new class of racing craft and the boats that form this have somehow been named suicide boats; not that these craft are unsafe or unseaworthy, but because several of the fleet carried names like Noose, Poison, Hootch, and so on. At any rate the name for the class has stuck, and is not so bad anyway. Because of the class name it seemed appropriate to use a skull and crossbones for the insignia, with the number of the boat below and so these marks are painted or sewn on the sail. The idea of the class is to develop the fastest hull (within the limits of the rule) possible with 125 feet of sail.The fleet will number twenty boats at Huntington this racing season and there are three at Marblehead, the latter having been designed by L. Francis Herreshoff, so you see the idea is growing fast. | |
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| Speculation besides being a wholesome big boat will also sail well and should be fast. The rig is simplicity itself and while theoretically not as efficient as the tall jib headed mainsail with staysail, practically it works out remarkably well. In this connection it may be interesting to mention that the fastest of the Huntington fleet is rigged much like our little craft here and I am sure she will prove entirely satisfactory. | |
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| Speculation measures 18 feet in overall length, with a 4 foot 3 1/2 inch beam and a draft with the centerboard up of 6 inches. | |
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| Folks have asked me the significance of the name Speculation. Well that accounts for the wherewithall which made her building possible. And speculation is often suicidal. So there you are. | |
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| Plans for Speculation are $100 MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM SHIPS PLANS STORE https://store.mysticseaport.org/ships-plans/ shipsplanstore@mysticseaport.org
+1 (860) 572 5360 | |
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