FASTEST BOAT IN THE WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 199, 11 January 1913, Page 1 (Supplement)

FASTEST BOAT IN THE WORLD

MOTim HOAT FO.lt SVDXFA'. Mr. J. 1)..' Williams, the energetic Atne-. rican who in a few yearn.has 'amassed a considerable fortune as the'pioneer of 'the moving picture show in Melbourne and Sydney,' proposes to introduce to Sydney 'harbor a- motor-boat whicu will tie the fastest craft, of any sort; in the world. Sydney motor-boat enthusiasts have already in commission launches capable of thirty knots an hour, but' 3. V. Williams' liver will completelv outclass them, being designed for a smoothwater speed of lil'ty-foiir miles an hour, or something a little faster than the fastest express trains in the- Southern Hemisphere, The boat, which is being built in Sydney, is a. hydroplane.- Moving at top. speed the hull will rise bodily out of the water, till only the stern, with the propellers and rudder, remains in actual contact with flu; sea. Tin; boat will be only twenty feet long, and most of the space aboard her will be occupied "by the engines, of which thereare two eight-cylinder sets, each developing .seventy-live horse-power. The engines are *aid to be the most powerful ever placed in a boat of the size. The little ship will not be exactlv a, comfortable and pleasant craft to lake a seat in. There are seats for a crew of two only, and the crew must -it in (he stern sheets, just abaft the exhaust pipes of the engines. When running at, high speed the boat will he about as cleanfv as the inside of a factory chimnev, but on speed craft cleanliness and comfort are not considered at all. The plans for the new boat were prepared bv Mr. Maurice M. Whitaker. of Xew 'York', clesignor of many successful motor-' racers. The cost of the craft will be something over CMOO, but, Mr. Williams' patriotic heart counts (his sum as nothing beside the fact that he is giving his adopted country the title to (he possession of the faste.it boat in the world.