the keel vessel. In the ocean coasting trade it has been and still is a powerful factor for good; and in the local trade it has been a Godsend to the small farmer or miller or lumberman, carrying his product cheaply and safely from his own small creek or bay to a profitable market. In the face of such practical results all theories as to the initial weakness of the centerboard type or its inferiority as a sea-going vessel must stand aside; numerous instances of bad design and construction may be found, it is true, but they prove nothing against the type itself in capable hands."
This last extract gives a fair presentment of the whole question. It is by practical results that the centerboard yacht must be judged, as well as the centerboard coaster. I believe that the centerboard has been beneficial to the sport of yachting. I will go further, and will say that without the board yachting could not possibly have attained the great popularity it now enjoys in this country.
Viewing the subject broadly, I see no reason why the centerboard should not be good for centuries to come in honest cruising and racing, especially in classes of moderate size. The keel will probably bear off the palm in the larger classes of cutters and schooners, but for craft in the thirty-foot class and under, the centerboard has advantages which the bulb-fin in my judgment does not possess. Those who care for speed alone
