Page:The American Boy's Handy Book edition 1.djvu/327

There was a problem when proofreading this page.
294
Winter.

mile wind, they went at the rate of eighty or one hundred miles an hour." This sounds like an exaggeration, but when we remember that a good ice-yacht, well handled, can make a mile a minute or more, travelling much faster than the wind itself, the statement of the enthusiastic advocate of the Cape Vincent rig does not appear so improbable. In speaking of the speed attained by regular ice-yachts, Mr. Norton says:

"There is no apparent reason why a skate-sailor should not attain a like speed. Other things being equal, he has certain advantages over the ice-yacht. His steering gear is absolutely perfect, assuming, of course, that he is a thoroughly confident skater, and it is in intimate sympathy with the trim of his sail. This nice adjustment between rudder and sails is an important point. Again, there is no rigidity about the rig. Everything sways and gives under changing conditions of wind, and experience soon endows the skater with an instinct which teaches him to trim his sail so as to make every ounce of air-pressure tell to the best advantage."

A Country Rig.
Image missing
Fig. 196.Country Rig.

The two forked sticks from which the framework of this sail is made must necessarily be nearly of the same dimensions. After their ends have been firmly lashed together, as shown by Fig. 196, a sail made of an old piece of carpet, awning, hay-cover, or any cloth that is strong enough or can be made strong enough by doubling, may be lashed on at the four prongs of the forks. This rig will convey a crew of

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.