Types of Bows and Sterns
1—Straight bow. 2—Round bow. 3—Clipper bow. 4—Dory bow. 5—Whaleboat bow. 6—Canoe bow. 7—Spoon bow. 8—Square stern. 9—Overhanging stern. 10—Whaleboat stern. 11—Dory stern. 12—Round stern. 13—Sharp or “pinkey” stern.
The commonest and most important forms of bows are as follows:
Straight bows, in which the stem is perpendicular to the keel; round bows, in which the stem is curved or rounded from keel to deck; clipper bows, in which the stem is concave or hollowed in outline; raking or dory bows in which the stem is set at an angle to the keel; whaleboat bows which are rounded or curved and are also at an angle; canoe bows which are like the round bows but more convex, and spoon bows which have no true stem but sweep in a gradual curve from the bottom of the boat to the deck.
Among the more typical sterns we find: Square or straight sterns, in which the sternpost is perpendicular and the counter is broad and flat; overhanging sterns, in which the counter is carried out beyond the sternpost and overhangs the water; dory sterns, in which the sternpost is at an angle and has a V-shaped counter; whaleboat sterns which are sharp and shaped like the bow; round sterns, in which the sides are carried around in a curve or half-circle with no transom; and sharp sterns or pinkey sterns which are sharp like the stern of a whaleboat, but instead of being curved are merely angular or perpendicular.
Each of these forms of bows and sterns possesses qualities which adapt it to one purpose more than another and in selecting a boat you should bear this in mind. Straight or round bows throw a larger bow wave than the whaleboat or clipper types and have a tendency to bury the bows in heavy seas; whaleboat or dory bows cut through the waves, but give great buoyancy or lifting power to the craft, thus preventing it from burying the forward part in the water; while spoon bows pound and slap in heavy seas and are principally of value for racing boats or for use in calm waters.
Even the sterns have an important effect upon a boat’s abilities and seaworthiness. A square stern will drag a great deal of water behind it when traveling rapidly and with a following sea is liable to take in water, or to be “pooped,” as the sailors would say. Round sterns with an overhang are also bad in a seaway and often make a boat slow in coming about or turning; transom sterns with an overhang are better, while the sharp-pointed pinkey or whaleboat sterns prevent a following sea from entering the boat and leave a clean wake, but owing to the fact that there is no overhang and that the entire height of the boat is brought broadside to the water when turning, they are not so quick in maneuvering as a stern with a good overhang. Perhaps the best all-around stern is one with a good overhang, a sharp run and a small counter: in other words, a sort of combination of the common overhand stern and the whaleboat type.
In the planking, boats vary a great deal, and there are many different methods of making the sides and bottom. Even boats of the same form, for the same uses and with the same style of bow and stern may be made in very different ways. One method is to place the planks so that the edges join and there is a uniform, smooth surface, with all the planks running from bow to stern. This is known as smooth-skin or carvel planking. Another style is to let the boards overlap slightly; this is known as clinker construction or lap-streak planking. Other boats are planked with very narrow strips fastened one above the other, edge to edge, while still others are covered with two or more layers of thin boards placed diagonally from keel to gunwales and known as diagonal planking. For light racing boats the latter type is admirable for it is strong, light, tight and stiff, but it is difficult to repair, it is expensive and for ordinary use has no advantages. Clinker-built boats are excellent when new, but a broken or injured plank is difficult to replace, leaks are hard to stop and it has no advantages over the carvel planking which is the commonest of all forms of boat-building.
Still another matter to be considered when selecting a boat is whether you should use a keel or a centerboard craft. Every boat, in order to sail well, must have a portion which projects below the bottom and which will prevent the craft from sliding sideways or making “leeway” on the water when the wind is from the side or when sailing against the wind. This projection may be a keel, which is an immovable portion of the boat itself; it may be a centerboard which is a board which can be raised or lowered at will from the center of the boat, or it may be a leeboard which is merely hung over the side opposite the wind and is shifted as the boat tacks or goes about.
Leeboards are clumsy makeshifts and while they are used on large vessels in some countries, as in Holland and Scandinavia, they are a great nuisance and very unsatisfactory on anything but canoes and rowboats which are sailed occasionally and on which either keels or centerboards would be inconvenient.