CHAPTER VII

SOME SMALL, SAIL BOATS THAT CAN BE MADE IN THE WINTER, OR THAT CAN BE
BOUGHT WITHOUT MUCH MONEY


There is no small boat so popular or so generally useful as the
American catboat. The cat can sail into the very eye of the wind,
while before the wind she is a flier, and yet she is not the best sail
boat for a beginner. Let me tell you why: First, the sail is heavy and
so it is hard to hoist and reef. Second, in going before the wind
there is constant danger of jibing with serious results. Third, the
catboat has a very bad habit of rolling when sailing before the wind,
and each time the boat rolls from side to side she is liable to dip
the end of her heavy boom in the water and "trip herself up." When a
boat trips up she does not necessarily go down, but she is likely to
upset, placing the young sailors in an unenviable, if not dangerous,
position. Fourth, when the craft begins to swagger before the wind she
is liable to "goose neck," that is throw her boom up against the
mast, which is another accident fraught with the possibilities of
serious mischief.

Mr. Dan Beard, the famous American artist and author, and an authority
in such matters, thinks the sloop is the most graceful of all the
single masters. This is the type of our great yacht racers. Next to
the sloop, and very much like it, is the schooner rig yacht. This is a
fine boat, but beyond the pockets of boys; however, smaller sizes can