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World's Fastest Canoe
Posted by: Jim Merrick (IP Logged)
Date: December 22, 2004 01:00PM
<HTML>The article on the Stanley Ormond Beach Racer and its connection with the Robertson Canoe works of Newton, Mass., which was published in the journal WOODEN CANOE 25:1 (Feb. 2002), is now on their website at [www.wcha.org]. An interesting article on the Stanley Rocket from the canoe historians' perspective. They spent quite a bit of effort trying to figure out if Robertson used some existing molds for forming the racer's body (and if so, from what model of canoe) or if he went to the expense of producing a special mold for the racer alone. Given the story that Stanley tested the aerodynamic drag of specific canoes by towing them around attached to a spring scale, and then selecting one that suited his purposes (good drag characteristics and capable of fitting over a 30" boiler?), it seems likely that the author has got it right, and that Robinson built the racer's body on the molds used for an existing canoe. Still left unanswered is the question as to who was responsible for the flat bottom of the racer - the customer or the canoe builder? A number of articles have attributed this design to the Stanleys, based on little or no evidence as far as I can tell - mainly the presumption that the racer's body was built entirely to the customers' specifications. This may be one of those questions that can't really be answered by the evidence alone, although it is interesting that the Robertson Co. doesn't seem to have to have tried to publicize its involvement in building the Land Speed Record car, especially after the crash in 1907.</HTML>
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