The bowsprit is cut from spruce two inches and a half by four inches, and tapered at the outer end, where a withe having three eyes is driven on. The top eye receives the forestay and the side ones the bobstay cables that run to the corners of the boat, where they are drawn taut with turn-buckles. The shoe-blocks F F are twenty-four inches long and three inches square, and are bolted to the timbers A and B as shown.
At the stern a triangular block is mounted between the ends of the timbers B B, through which the rudder-post will pass. The decking planks G are then attached to the frame with screws or steel nails.
The mast-step is made by attaching two twelve-inch pieces of plank eighteen inches long and an inch and a quarter thick to the inside sides of timbers D D. Across the top of them attach another plank, and in the middle of it cut a hole three inches and a half in diameter, or large enough to receive the mast. In the bowsprit, directly under the large hole, make a small one to receive a three-quarter-inch pin. This iron pin is to be driven in the bottom of the mast so that six inches of it projects beyond the bottom of the stick. These will form the mast-step, and when the mast is in place and held by the forestay and shrouds it cannot jump out. Iron stanchion-rods are attached to the top of the mast-plate and to the inside of timber A as shown in the illustration.
The shoes are of tire, steel and will have to be made by a blacksmith. The front ones are thirty inches long, curved up at the front, as shown in Fig. 3 A, and bevelled at the bottom so as to form a gripping or cutting edge. When mounted the lower edge is at the outside of the boat. Shanks with bolt-tops and collars pass through the holes made in the shoe-blocks F F, and are securely held with nuts screwed down on washers so as not to cut the wood.
The rudder (Fig. 3 B) is a chisel-edged piece of steel twelve inches long turned up at both ends and mounted at the foot of a shank C, which is provided with a collar, a square shoulder for the tiller D to fit on, and a threaded top so that a nut will hold the tiller in place. The shoes can only be made of steel or iron, as wooden ones are useless.
The mast is twelve feet high and three inches and a half or four inches in diameter, slightly tapered near the top. The gaff is six feet long and the boom twelve feet in length. The main-sail measures eight feet on the mast, five feet on the gaff, eleven on the boom, and the leach is thirteen feet long. The jib is ten feet on the forestay, six feet at the foot, and eight feet on the leach. This sail area will present a good surface to the wind, and with an ordinary breeze the boat should make from eight to twelve miles an hour with two or three boys on the deck.
The rigging is done in the same manner in which boats are fitted out. The spars should be varnished and the boat can be painted or varnished, as a matter of choice. All white wood-work with black metal parts, or a red frame with cream-colored deck and black metal parts, are pleasing combinations, but a boy’s own ideas can be carried out with the paint-pot and brush.