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Comet (dinghy)
The Comet, sometimes called the Comet OD or Comet One-Design, is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by C. Lowndes Johnson as a one-design racer and first built in 1932. The design has evolved over time via modifications.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 66-67. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. The design was intended as a smaller version of the Star keelboat, making it easier to transport. Production The design was first shown in an article in ''Yachting'' in 1932 and was initially built from wood by the Skaneateles Boat & Canoe Co. Later builders included the Lippincott Boat Works, Customflex and Siddons & Sindle. The current builder is Whitecap Composites of Peabody, Massachusetts, United States. It remains in production, with more than 4,100 boats completed in total. Plans for the design remain available for amateur construction. Design The Comet is a recreational planing sailboat, built pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houghton Mifflin Company
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Boston Financial District. It was formerly known as Houghton Mifflin Company, but it changed its name following the 2007 acquisition of Harcourt Publishing. Prior to March 2010, it was a subsidiary of Education Media and Publishing Group Limited, an Irish-owned holding company registered in the Cayman Islands and formerly known as Riverdeep. History Ticknor and Allen, 1832 In 1832, William Ticknor and John Allen purchased a bookselling business in Boston and began to involve themselves in publishing; James T. Fields joined as a partner in 1843. Fields and Ticknor gradually gathered an impressive list of writers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. The duo formed a close relationship with Riverside Press, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transom (nautical)
A transom is the vertical reinforcement which strengthens the stern of a boat. This flat termination of the stern is typically above the waterline. The term was used as far back as Middle English in the 1300s, having come from Latin ''transversus'' (transverse) via Old French ''traversain'' (set crosswise). The stern of a boat is typically vertical. It can be raked such that there is an overhang above the water, as at the bow. A reverse transom is angled from the waterline forwards. Transoms can be used to support a rudder, outboard motor, or as a swimming and access platform. Gallery File:The Bermuda cedar (Juniperus bermudiana) transom of Spirit of Bermuda, 2016.jpg, The Bermuda cedar transom of the Spirit of Bermuda File:Sea Scooter transom.jpg, Flat transom on a dinghy with mount points for a rudder. File:Coble on shore at Boulmer (2) - geograph.org.uk - 1381157.jpg, Raked transom with rudder mount points. File:CS 30 Sailboat Kelsea 0297.jpg, Reverse transom with rudder m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raked Stem
The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to the gunwale of the boat. It is part of the physical structure of a wooden boat or ship that gives it strength at the critical section of the structure, bringing together the port and starboard side planks of the hull. Plumb and raked stem There are two styles of stems: ''plumb'' and ''raked''. When the stem comes up from the water, if it is perpendicular to the waterline it is "plumb". If it is inclined at an angle to the waterline it is "raked". (For example, "The hull is single decked and characterized by a plumb stem, full bows, straight keel, moderate deadrise, and an easy turn of bilge.") Stemhead Because the stem is very sturdy, the top end of it may have something attached, either ornamental or functional in nature. On small ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chine (boating)
A chine in boat design is a sharp change in angle in the Cross_section_(geometry), cross section of a hull (watercraft), hull. The chine typically arises from the use of sheet materials (such as sheet metal or marine ply) as the mode of construction. Rationale of chines Using sheet materials in boat construction is cheap and simple, but whereas these sheet materials are flexible longitudinally, they tend to be rigid vertically. Examples of steel vessels with hard chines include narrowboats and widebeams; examples of plywood vessels with hard chines include sailing dinghies such as the single-chined Graduate (dinghy), Graduate and the double-chined Enterprise (dinghy), Enterprise. Although a hull made from sheet materials might be unattractively "slab-sided", most chined hulls are designed to be pleasing to the eye and hydrodynamics, hydrodynamically efficient. Hulls without chines (such as Clinker (boat building), clinker-built or Carvel (boat building), carvel-built vessels) u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Headstay
Stays are ropes, wires, or rods on sailing vessels that run fore-and-aft along the centerline from the masts to the hull, deck, bowsprit, or to other masts which serve to stabilize the masts. A stay is part of the standing rigging and is used to support the weight of a mast. It is a large strong rope extending from the upper end of each mast and running down towards the deck of the vessel in a midships and direction. The shrouds serve a similar function but extend on each side of the mast and provide support in the athwartships direction. The object of both is to prevent the masts from falling down but the stays also prevent springing, when the ship is pitching deep. Thus stays are fore and aft. Those led aft towards the vessel's stern are backstays while those that lead forward towards the bow are forestays. "To stay" is also a verb: to bring the ship's head up to the wind (to point the bow upwind). This is done in order to go about (to tack; tacking is sometimes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Backstay
A backstay is a piece of standing rigging on a sailing vessel that runs from the mast to either its transom or rear quarter, counteracting the forestay and jib. It is an important sail trim control and has a direct effect on the shape of the mainsail and the headsail. Backstays are generally adjusted by block and tackle, hydraulic adjusters, or lines leading to winches. Types Backstays may be ''permanent'' or ''running''. A permanent backstay is attached to the top of the mast. Running backstays appear in pairs attached about two-thirds of the way up the mast (sometimes at multiple locations along the length of the mast). In general, most modern sailboats have a permanent backstay and some have a permanent backstay combined with running backstays. Backstays are not always found on all vessels, especially smaller ones. A permanent backstay is attached at the top of the mast and may or may not be readily adjustable. In a masthead rig, tensioning the permanent backstay directly te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has a great affinity towards oxygen, and forms a protective layer of oxide on the surface when exposed to air. Aluminium visually resembles silver, both in its color and in its great ability to reflect light. It is soft, non-magnetic and ductile. It has one stable isotope, 27Al; this isotope is very common, making aluminium the twelfth most common element in the Universe. The radioactivity of 26Al is used in radiodating. Chemically, aluminium is a post-transition metal in the boron group; as is common for the group, aluminium forms compounds primarily in the +3 oxidation state. The aluminium cation Al3+ is small and highly charged; as such, it is polarizing, and bonds aluminium forms tend towards covalency. The strong affinity towards ox ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth. The plastic matrix may be a thermoset polymer matrix—most often based on thermosetting polymers such as epoxy, polyester resin, or vinyl ester resin—or a thermoplastic. Cheaper and more flexible than carbon fiber, it is stronger than many metals by weight, non- magnetic, non-conductive, transparent to electromagnetic radiation, can be molded into complex shapes, and is chemically inert under many circumstances. Applications include aircraft, boats, automobiles, bath tubs and enclosures, swimming pools, hot tubs, septic tanks, water tanks, roofing, pipes, cladding, orthopedic casts, surfboards, and external door skins. Other common names for fiberglass are glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), glass-fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) or GF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology has varied across history, many terms have specific meanings in the context of modern yachting. A great number of sailboat-types may be distinguished by size, hull configuration, keel type, purpose, number and configuration of masts, and sail plan. Popular monohull designs include: Cutter The cutter is similar to a sloop with a single mast and mainsail, but generally carries the mast further aft to allow for a jib and staysail to be attached to the head stay and inner forestay, respectively. Once a common racing configuration, today it gives versatility to cruising boats, especially in allowing a small staysail to be flown from the inner stay in high winds. Catboat A catboat has a single mast mounted far forward and does not carr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planing (boat)
Planing ( ) is the mode of operation for a waterborne craft in which its weight is predominantly supported by hydrodynamic lift, rather than hydrostatic lift (buoyancy). Many forms of marine transport make use of planing, including fast ferries, racing boats, floatplanes, flying boats, seaplanes, and water skis. Most surfboards are planing or semi-planing hulls. Beyond planing, fast vessel designs have seen a transition to hydrofoil designs. History The earliest documented planing sailboat was a proa built in 1898 by Commodore Ralph Munroe. It was capable of speeds of more than twice the hull speed. Planing a sailing dinghy was first popularised by Uffa Fox in Britain. In 1928 Fox introduced planing to the racing world in his International 14 dinghy, ''Avenger''. That year he gained 52 first places, 2 seconds, and 3 third places out of 57 race starts. This performance was noticed by other designers who further developed them. Over the years many dinghies have acquired the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homebuilt Machines
Homebuilt machines are machines built outside of specialised workshops or factories. This can include different things such as kit cars or homebuilt computers, but normally it pertains to homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes. Homebuilt aircraft or kit cars are constructed by amateurs. Homebuilt computers have been built at home for a long time, starting with the Victorian era pioneer Charles Babbage in the 1820s. A century later, Konrad Zuse built his own machine when electromechanical relay technology was widely available. The hobby took off with the early development of microprocessors and, since then, many enthusiasts have constructed their own computers. A homebuilt vehicle is a wider concept than a kit car. A homebuilt vehicle is a motor vehicle (car, truck or motorcycle) built by an individual instead of a manufacturer. These machines may be constructed "from scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits. Outside of the United States (for exampl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
