THE NEW YORK TIMES - Monday 19 August 1895
DIMENSIONS OF VALKYRIE -
Widest Beam of Any Cup Challenger - Figures for Experts - The Valkyrie III is the beamiest keel boat that has ever been built, either to defend or challenge for the America’s Cup, and she is also the most powerful one. She is also a foot wider than the widest centreboarder ever built to defend the cup
The Valkyrie’s draught is 18 feet 6 inches. The extreme beam is between the water line and deck. At the latter point the frame begins to tumble to the deck, where Valkyrie III measures 26 feet 6 inches. The midsection has a round, full, easy side to it, with a beam of 27 feet, two feet above the water line. It measures 26 feet at the water line. From this point the line is brought down, giving an easy curve yet powerful shape to the bilge. The lines then take on a little dead rise, and run down into the garboards in an easy curve, and then down almost perpendicular for eight feet to the bottom of the lead keel.
The lead keel on the top is wider than on the Defender, and is three feet in the widest part of the bulb. It is deep aft, and rises with a rake of eight degrees from a horizontal.
The Valkyrie has a sort of ballast fin midships section. The midsection is one of the most powerful ever put on a cup challenger or defender. It is a section showing great stability of form, a section which, while easy, offers great resistance to heeling.
The top of the lead keel on the Valkyrie measures 32 feet 6 inches, and she has an area to her lateral plane of 861.37 square feet. She has about 158 tons displacement.
Valkyrie’s power has been utilized to the best advantage. She will stand up, and her bilge will form an elbow when she is hard driven, and will prevent her sagging off to leeward.
The beam dimensions of the Valkyrie at 20 feet aft of the stemhead are 11.4 feet; at 40 feet aft, 20.2 feet; at 60 feet aft, 25.6 feet; at 80 feet aft, 26 feet, and at 100 feet aft, 24 feet 4 inches. The stern is nearly elliptical in shape.
The overall length of the Valkyrie is 129 feet. Her forward overhang measures 18 feet, and her after overhang 21 feet 6 inches. From the end of the water line aft to where the rudder post enters the boat it is 10 feet. Her least freeboard is 4 feet 5 inches. The lead keel at the midships section on top is 3 feet 9 inches, and its depth here is 3 feet 6 inches. It weighs about 80 tons. The draught of the Valkyrie at the midsection is 17 feet 6 inches, and her extreme draught is 18 feet 6 inches. At a point 27 feet forward of the after end of the load water line is the place of the greatest draught.
The approximate sail plan of the Valkyrie shows a mainsail of over 7,000 square feet, with a total area of working sails not far from 11,500 square feet, which is just about 1,000 square feet in her favour. This additional sail area gives the Valkyrie more sail to each foot of wetted surface, lateral plane, and to each ton of displacement.
The spar dimensions of Valkyrie are: Boom, 105 feet; mast, (over deck) 102 feet; gaff, 62 feet; topmast, 62 feet; bowsprit outboards, 20 feet; hoist of mainsail, 64 feet. Her mast is stepped 27 feet aft the face of the stem on the load water line.
The Valkyrie is built of wood, composite construction, steel frames, with the latter material for stringers, &c. She is flush planked. A patent covering has been put on over her planking. Her bulwarks are set in from the outside plank shear edge by over a foot at the midsection, and from this point aft, especially in the quarters, the bulwarks are kept in. This will prevent tons of solid water being held on deck, and will also stop the pulling of the bulwarks and the rail through the water when the lee decks are washed.
These are the concise figures of the yacht: Displacement in tons, 158; displacement in tons for each foot of water-line length, 1.75; area of lateral plane, 861.37 square feet; centre of lateral resistance from face of stem, 50 feet 9 inches; centre of buoyancy from face of stem, 49 feet 3 inches; centre of buoyancy aft centre load line, 4 feet 3 inches; centre of lateral resistance aft centre load line, 4 feet 3 inches; wetted surface, 2,800 square feet; sail area to each foot of wetted surface, 4.14 square feet; sail area to each foot of lateral plane, 13.92 square feet; area load water plane, 1,568 square feet; area midships section, 135 square feet; coefficient of midships section, .29; coefficient of displacement, .1373; tons per inch of immersion, 3.68; metacentre above centre of buoyancy, (in feet) 10.56; draught, 18.6 feet; extreme beam, 27 feet; water-line length, 90 feet; length over all, 129 feet; construction of hull, composite; sail area, working sails, 11,600 square feet.”