With regard to the proportion of beam to length there is evidence that the proportion is gradually getting less; there is no doubt that the lead keels and lead ballast are the cause of this, perhaps assisted by an apprehension that at some time or the other the boats will have to compete under the " tonnage " rule. However, the fishermen still patronise beam, without any such apprehensions, and one of the most successful boats in their class has 9ft. breadth to 21ft. length. * Until the last four or five years an Itchen boat was never seen with a counter ; now counters are becoming common, but, as the regular Itchen boats are square sterned, we have so represented them in the designs.
A counter would of course give them a more finished appearance, and would help hold the boats a little if much pressed. They however make very little back water wash off the lee quarter, as the transom is so high set. With a counter, the buttock lines would be dropped a little at the transom, according to the length of overhang. The transom would have to be a little wider, too, as otherwise the counter would be very narrow at the arch board.
In rig the Itchen boats have undergone very marked changes. A quarter of a century ago a bowsprit or a bumpkin was quite an innovation ; the common rig being foresail with tack fast to stem head, and sheet working on a horse ; mainsail without boom, with sheet working on a horse, and very frequently a mizen was added. The mast was long, and the gaff short, and the rig was generally commended because all the sail was in board. However, it would seem that the boats were lacking in head canvas, as " bumpkins " were introduced somewhere about 1851. In 1852, the best boats had what was then considered sharp bows, with a full midship section, a hollow floor, and square stern : the dimensions for a single -handed boat were, length 18ft. 6in., breadth 7ft. 8in., height out of water 1 ft. 9in. The stem
and sternpost were perpendicular, the fore foot being only slightly rounded off. Some of them had cast iron keels weighing from 2cwt. to 3cwt. The foresail was set on a bumpkin instead of at the stem head as formerly. The dimensions for the sails of a boat of the length given were : hoist of mainsail 17ft. 6in. ; boom 13ft. ; gaff 10ft. ; bumpkin 8ft. 6in. ; a bowsprit is also carried.
Excepting the length of boom and gaff, these dimensions are pretty much the same as would be given to a similar craft at the present time ; in fact the long mast is retained, and the boom and gaff is very much increased in length.
All the Itchen boats still have the bumpkin,* which is a small iron bar (see A, Plate XXII.) fitted to the stem head as shown at d ; the bumpkin has an iron stay (s) welded to it, and bolted to the stem at k. The forestay is set up to the bumpkin by a lanyard as shown at m. The boats have two shrouds a-side, a pendant and runner, topping lift, topmasts, backstays, preventers, and all the rest of the usual yacht gear, including, of course, purchases.
The dimensions for the sails given are large, and intended for a racing outfit. For a " fisherman's " outfit the mast would be reduced in length about one-ninth, and the boom and gaff about one-seventh. Com pared by length and breadth of water-line, the sail areas are about equal to those of the Windermere yachts, but probably one of the latter would be more than a match for any boat on Southampton Water.
For the 21ft. boat the same laying-off tables will be used, the sections being identical with those of the 22ft. 8in. boat. The spacing between the sections is, however, less.
No. 1 section is 2ft. 2in. from the extreme fore side of the stem; all the other sections are 2ft. apart, but the transom is only 10in. abaft No. 10 section.