Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 165, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 July 1915 — Hydroplane a Freak. [ARTICLE]

Hydroplane a Freak.

The hydroplane of the day is a freak in every sense of the word. The various types of underbody construction are designed to give the boats lifting power, to lessen the draft under speed, and, consequently, the displacement —in other and plainer words, to lessen the amount of water that has to be pushed aside in the endeavor to make high speed. The hydroplane is the outcome of years of study by the best naval architects and marine engineers in freak-boat construction. Thousands of dollars are spent annually on these freaks, but many are thrown on the junk pile and the effort repeated. All of these boats are overpowered, as one would consider the needs of an ordinary boat. But extra power is added to gain a little extra speed. Thus one of the Atlantic coast owners is this year duplicating his power by adding a second motor to a 45-miler with the hope of adding an extra ten miles an hour to the speed. This may be termed freakishness, yet in the quest for the 60-miler all sorts of freakish things are being undertaken.