[Illustration: "DEFENDER"]

About three months were required for the construction of _Defender_. She
was built at Bristol, Rhode Island. The plans were first fully discussed
by the owners and the architect and his assistants, and were then laid
out on paper to a scale, probably one inch to the foot--although this
would make a pretty large working plan. But still, the larger a plan is
the better, and in an important matter of this kind no pains are spared
to reach perfection. A model of a yacht under construction is
unnecessary, and is seldom made, except for the pleasure or curiosity of
the owner.

It was decided to give up the centreboard this year--much to the
disappointment of a great many patriotic yachtsmen, for the centreboard
is a purely American institution--and the plans were consequently
designed for a keel boat. _Defender_'s keel is of lead, and weighs 80
tons. It is 5 feet 6 inches high, 3 feet 6 inches wide, and 35 feet long
on top, and was cast in the shop where the yacht was built, for such a
weight as that could not very well be moved from one end of a ship-yard
to the other. A cross section of this lead keel would look very much
like the cross section of a pear cut lengthwise, with the bulge at the
bottom. Fore and aft it is shaped somewhat like a whale or a
cat-fish--that is, it is largest forward and tapers toward the stern.
This doubtless seems strange to a great many unobservant landsmen, who
know that ships are usually made as pointed and sharp as possible at the
bow. This is all very well for a body that is intended to cut through
the water, but for anything meant to travel under the surface the fish
shape is the proper thing. All fish are larger at the head than at the
tail, and yet they seem to find no difficulty in getting through the
water very rapidly. Following this natural phenomenon, the keel of
_Defender_ is bulging at the bow and tapering at the stern.

Just, as the size and position of every stone in a large building are
figured out before the work is begun, so was every part of _Defender_
designed and laid out in the mould loft at Bristol long before the
actual work of construction could commence. The mould loft is a very
large room, with a spacious floor and plenty of light. On the floor
every part of _Defender_ was sketched out in chalk to the actual size
required. Every beam and section was accurately laid down, and the
workmen made wooden moulds or patterns from these sketche