t the start of the 19th century, the United States began to build small fore-and-aft rigged sailing ships called A schooners, offering great manoeuvrability and elegance. The Virginia was designed in 1819 and launched the same year. She was equipped with a central swivel carronade and was lightly armed. Due to its high speed, the Virginia was employed as a revenue cutter, intercepting ships and inspecting cargos. TECHNICAL DATA: The Virginia Model no: 22135 Degree of difficulty: Length: 540mm (211/4in) Height: 500mm (19 11/16in) Beam: 120mm (4 11/16in) Scale: 1:41 Not suitable for children under 14 years of age. Model for collectors only. SCHOONERS 1 THE VIRGINIA The word ‘schooner’ is believed to be derived from ‘scoon’, a Scottish or English dialect word meaning ‘to skim’, a reference to the way these speedy sailing boats skipped across the water. The ‘sch’ spelling was later adopted from the Dutch. he first schooners were, in fact, built in the Netherlands Tin the 16th or 17th century, but the form was developed, and became famous, in North America in the 18th century. The first vessel to bear the name ‘schooner’ was built by a shipwright called Andrew Robinson, and was launched in what was then the British colony of Massachusetts in 1713. A schooner has at least two masts, flying fore-and-aft sails on both. On a schooner, the foremast is shorter, or the same height as the others. This distinguishes the schooner from the ketch, where the mainsail is flown DeAgostini from the forward mast (which thus becomes the mainmast). A two- masted schooner, on the other hand, Above: A 19th-century two-masted English fitted to a boom. This arrangement has the mainsail on the aft mast. schooner with full rigging sails serenely on virtually doubles the sail area that the waters off the coast of England. would be available if a triangular sail Doubling the sail area Below: Boats such as this three-masted were to be fitted to the same mast. schooner are expensive to build and Most schooners are gaff-rigged. This maintain. Racing them is a rich man’s Gaff-rigged schooners usually carry an means the sails are four-cornered, hobby and has been described as ‘ripping additional triangular fore-and-aft rather than triangular and controlled up 100 dollar bills while standing in the topsail above the gaff sail on the shower’. But it is popular, and races such at the head by a spar, or pole, known as the America’s Cup series capture the mainmast and sometimes the as a gaff, with the base of the sail public imagination when they are run. foremast. Some larger schooners have a square topsail added to the foremast for extra power. Most schooners will also have one or more jibs, a triangular sail set ahead of the foremast and fixed to the bowsprit. Multi-masted In theory, there is no limit to the number of masts on a schooner, and several examples with three or more masts were built in the USA as cargo ships, especially towards the end of the 19th century. Although they had large capacities, they lacked the DeAgostini speed and particularly the manoeuvrability of the two-masted version, which was by far the most popular. Two- and three-masted been estimated, for example, that The largest schooner – and largest schooners also had the economic more than 2,000 schooners were sailing ship without an auxiliary 2 THE VIRGINIA advantage that they could be sailed by under sail in the late 19th century – engine – ever built was the seven- a smaller crew than other sailing the heyday for this sort of transport – masted, steel-hulled Thomas W vessels of comparable size. carrying cargoes and passengers from Lawson, launched in 1902 and In the USA, in particular, and city to city across the Great Lakes and wrecked off the Scilly Isles in a especially in the 19th century, two- up and down the St Lawrence. Packet storm just five years later. masted schooners were preferred in boats, which carried mail, passengers, any situation where speed and the small freight items and even livestock ability to sail into the wind were along waterways in the United States cargo work. More thoroughbred paramount. In warfare they were were often rigged as schooners. versions were, however, developed in pressed into service as privateers, and Most schooners built were the 19th century as pleasure yachts, in the War of 1812 between the USA essentially workhorses. The scow particularly for racing. Many of the and Britain, and the American Civil schooner, for example, which most famous and speediest American War, among other conflicts, they featured a schooner sailing rig set on a racing yachts of the 19th century were used to run goods through to flat-bottomed hull, was developed in were schooners, including arguably blockaded ports. The same qualities North America for shallow-water the most famous of them all, America. also made them popular with smugglers, and those whose job it was to fight maritime crime, such as the US Revenue Cutter Service, were also equipped with speedy, ocean- going schooners in order to compete. Some were armed with cannon. Maritime workhorses Schooners were also used for off- shore and deep-water fishing, and were especially popular with the fishing fleets sailing from Massachusetts and the eastern seaboard of Canada, where a three- masted version, known as a ‘tern’ was favoured. They made excellent pilot vessels, and were used for this purpose in Canada, the USA and the ports of northern Europe, including Britain. Schooners of various sizes were used in North America as cargo boats on both coastal and deep-water runs, but really came into their own for this Above: The scow schooner Alma on San Francisco Bay circa 1900. (San Francisco purpose on inland waterways. It has Maritime National Historical Park) AMERICA America, a 170-ton, two-masted gaff schooner designed by George Steers, was built for a syndicate from the New York Yacht Club, who commissioned a racing yacht to take on and beat the best Europe had to offer. Steers based it on a pilot boat, with a concave clipper bow. Launched in May 1851, America sailed across the Atlantic and won the Royal Yacht Squadron's ‘One Hundred Guinea Cup’ on a 53-mile (85-kilometre) course around the Isle of Wight in August that year, thus inaugurating the America’s Cup. GENERAL TIPS 1 THE VIRGINIA: GENERAL TIPS ATTENTION! Assemble under adult supervision. Unsuitable for children under 14. To assemble this model we recommend that you follow the step-by-step guide. 1 4 8 1. Follow all assembly steps CAREFULLY. 4. To ensure the perfect adjustment of cast GLUES Take all the time you need. First look at the metal parts, go over the edges with a small Apply glue sparingly and in strict accordance photos and read all the documentation included file before fitting to eliminate possible burrs with the manufacturer’s instructions. There are in the kit, as it will help you assemble the and impurities. three types of glues that can be used to model correctly: assemble the model. •Parts list with Dimensions and Materials. White glue •Cut Sheet with precision-cut numbered parts. 5 This is also known as carpenter’s glue or PVA. •These instructions. It can be applied directly or with a brush to one of the parts to be glued. Clean off any excess glue immediately after joining the parts to avoid staining when fully dry. Contact glue 2 This glue can be applied with either a brush or a flat spatula. Apply a thin coat to both surfaces to be joined. Before joining the parts, leave for approximately five minutes. After joining the parts, apply light pressure and remove any 5. To give a more authentic appearance to excess glue. the ship’s sails, dye them in some tea. When Quick-drying glue completely dry, add them to the ship without Apply a tiny amount directly to the point where ironing them. the parts are to be joined. It is very important that the parts are correctly positioned as you will not be able to move the parts again to set 2. To remove the wood pieces (see Cut 6 them correctly. Sheets), carefully cut the tiny strands joining them to the sheet. Use the Cut Sheets to PUTTIES identify fully the precision-cut parts. Use regular stopping putty for wood. Read the After removing the parts from the sheets to manufacturer’s instructions carefully! use them during assembly, carefully sand them Applying putty before gluing in place. To fill holes or cracks in the ship’s hull, apply Given the nature and origin of the wood, the putty with a flat spatula. Allow to dry and there may be slight differences in the tone softly sand the entire surface of the hull to level or colour of some material. off the putty. VARNISHES 6. For parts that need bending or curving, Use clear (not coloured) stopping varnish. Read 3 dampen them in water for greater flexibility. the manufacturer’s instructions carefully! You can also use a tool called a bending press, Applying varnish which is highly useful during assembly. Use a brush to apply varnish to wood. Sand the surface and thoroughly clean the part before varnishing. Varnish as follows: 7 1. Apply a first coat and allow to dry. 2. When dry, sand and clean the part. 3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2. 4. Apply a third coat and allow to dry.