Boats of 300 h.p. and upwards are being built; and the project has been mooted of holding a transatlantic race, open to motor boats of all sizes, which should be quite self-contained and able to carry sufficient fuel to make the passage without taking in fresh supplies. In view of the perils that would be risked by all but large craft, and in consideration of the prejudice that motor boats might incur in event of any fatalities, the Automobile Club of France set its face against the venture, and it fell through. It is possible, however, that the scheme may be revived as soon as larger motor boats are afloat, since the Atlantic has actually been crossed by a craft of 12 h.p., measuring only forty feet at the water-line. This happened in 1902, when Captain Newman and his son, a boy twelve years old, started from New York, and made Falmouth Harbour after thirty days of anxious travel over the uncertain and sometimes tempestuous ocean. The boat, named the _Abiel Abbot Low_, carried auxiliary sails of small size, and was not by any means built for such a voyage. The engine--a two-cylinder--burned kerosene. Captain Newman received £1,000 from the New York Kerosene Oil Engine Company for his feat. The money was well earned. Though provided with proper navigating instruments--which he knew how to use well--Newman had a hard time of it to keep his craft afloat, his watches sometimes lasting two days on end when the weather was bad. Yet the brave pair won through; and probably even more welcome than the sense of success achieved and the reward gained was the long two-days' sleep which they were able to get on reaching Falmouth Harbour.
We may now consider the pleasure and commercial uses of the motor boat and marine motor. As a means of recreation a small dinghy driven by a low-powered engine offers great possibilities. Its cost is low, its upkeep small, and its handiness very great. Already a number of such craft are furrowing the surface of the Thames, Seine, Rhine, and many other rivers in Europe and America. While racing craft are for the wealthy alone, many individuals of the class known as "the man of moderate means" do not mind putting down £70 to £100 for a neat boat, the maintenance of which is not nearly so serious a matter as that of a small car. Tyre troubles have no counterpart afloat. The marine motor dispenses with change gears. Water being a much more yielding medium than Mother Earth, the shocks of starting and stopping are not such as to strain machinery. Then again, the cooling of the cylinders is a simple matter with an unlimited amount of water almost washing the engine. And as the surface of water does not run uphill, a small motor will show to better advantage on a river than on a road. Thus, a 5 h.p. car will not conveniently carry more than two people if it is expected to climb slopes at more than a crawl. Affix a motor of equal power to a boat which accommodates half a dozen persons, and it will move them all along at a smart pace as compared with the rate of travel given by oars. After all, on a river one does not want to travel fast--rather to avoid the hard labour which rowing undoubtedly does become with a craft roomy enough to be comfortable for a party.