Edgar T. Holding's plans for a proper and rail-transportable sailing canoe.
From The Field, January 9, 1892
Edited by Dan Miller, Contributing Editor, Wynantskill, New York

SIR,- After some years' cruising on many of the larger waters of England and Ireland, the conclusion has been gradually forced upon me that for open water, where frequently something in the shape of a sea is running, the ordinary 15ft. by 30in. canoe is a wee bit small.

In such a boat (and a dry one at that) I have suffered many a wetting, and the waves have frequently pooped us in a manner that would have been impossible had the boat been a little larger. Hitherto the only alternative for one who prefers the canoe type of boat to the ordinary open sailing boat has been the canoe yawl - something about l7ft. or 18ft. long, about 5ft. beam, and as much as three or four men can lift.

For taking in a railway guard's van, or across country, or for single-handed camping work up river, such a boat as this is practically useless. I have, therefore, laid out the plans of what, I think, will be a useful compromise between the l5ft. canoe and the canoe yawl.

 It is a canoe 16ft. long, 3ft. beam, 18in. from gunwale to keel, and carrying sail area for cruising of not more than 80ft. Such a boat, fitted with centre-board, drop rudder, and sails, apart from camping gear, would not be of greater weight than a couple of men could easily carry for a short portage, and would with a double crew be infinitely more comfortable and drier than the 30in. beam. In her could be stowed with ease and dryness a tent and outside sheet for the same, tent poles, pegs, ground sheet for the tent, complete change of clothes, blankets, sleeping bags, towels, provender, and cooking utensils for a couple of men. These things, together with sketching, fishing, and shooting gear, I have been in the habit of carrying in a 15ft. by 30in. canoe with very little overcrowding, and such a boat as I am now describing will carry these things, of course, more easily, and leave a greater amount of room for the crew.

The watertight bulkheads fore and aft, the space for which one cannot spare in the smaller boat when so much gear has to be carried, can be comfortably fitted to this one, the watertight chamber being used only for stowing light articles to be kept dry. As shown in the plan, the tiller is placed so as to be worked by the member of the crew sitting aft. For single-handed work, the usual tiller fitting would have to be fixed on locker lid, as a one man crew would sit too near amidships to work with a tiller so far aft.