Talk:Ranger (yacht)

displacement/build

Hi, sorry for my bluntness in rolling back user:Palmeira's edit.

The construction process is fine, but the statement regarding Stephens' radical displacement philosophy should be clarified. Stephens' success with the wooden Dorade and Stormy Weather came in part from a distinct philosophy to use moderately sized boats with a lightweight displacement in an ocean racer. On the other hand, the design philosophy for both Ranger and Endeavour II, huge steel vessels in comparison, favoured the maximum waterline length allowed. Their performance was considerably improved over previous J boats, even though they took a huge hit on displacement (Ranger displaced 25 tons more than Rainbow). The actual displacement figure was not even changed as a consequence of a lightweight build process either: Any weight savings between design and build only served to increase Model 77C's projected 62% ballast/displacement ratio (discussed by Vanderbilt at model stage - No Ordinary Being page 326) to 66% (110 tons according the 1937 Pacific Marine Review, out of a total of 166 tons). At this point the remaining factor of importance was evidently the righting moment, not the displacement figure. So I fail to grasp where Dorade's radical displacement philosophy could have contributed directly to the design of Ranger. Can you discuss this?. signed:Donan Raven (talk) 23:21, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

I was lazy on a quick edit and did not go into other references. We probably agree and your explanation above should be added with one exception. There was a "weight" change as the Pacific Marine Review indicates. There was a shift from mast (welded aluminum) and hull (welded steel) to keel for that righting moment that had an effect on sailing capabilities. The welding itself, as naval builders had found, really added strength for weight and that itself was somewhat "radically" applied (I'd love to see the rudder design!). If you've the handy cites maybe you can integrate the above and clarify just what was going on from the engineering aspect. Dorade might be included as where some of his ideas originated. Meanwhile I'm going to look in some references, mainly concerning large ships, that may have more engineering details and maybe that rudder composed of "various steel shapes" in some detail. Palmeira (talk) 12:42, 1 July 2015 (UTC)

PS: An interesting bit of background here on pages 23—25. Ranger lost that special mast in tow and did the elimination with a make do mast until emergency replacement could be made for the third elimination race. Interesting, especially the description of the heat treating at the Philadelphia Navy Yard's special vertical furnace. Palmeira (talk) 13:02, 1 July 2015 (UTC)

As far as I remember, the makeshift mast was Rainbow's.

It was a Gilbert Wyland was the person to discuss the build process in detail. Once Bath Iron Works had won the bid (mainly because they offered to build 77C at cost, to keep their workforce), S&S hired Gilbert Wyland from New York Shipbuilding to be their on-site chief draftsman. It was he who would have proposed the arc-welded process to Vanderbilt in their correspondance together, This is briefly mentioned by Howland and/or Olin Stephens but obviously I donot have access to it. Otherwise I will get a hold of my chevaliertaglang bigbooks (ACYD+JCLASS) at home soon, where the build process is discussed quite precisely!. signed:Donan Raven (talk) 13:57, 1 July 2015 (UTC)