The Fauber Hydroplane [1908]

Yankee Hydroplane a French Sensation

The Fauber-Designed Hydroplane
Yankee Hydroplane a French Sensation
The Fauber Hydroplane

Naturally the hydroplane type of motorboat flourished and waxes many in France. We say naturally because anything that is out of the ordinary appeals to the native Frenchman,--a trait rather to be admired than to be despised. However, on Saturday, August 1st, an American, W. H. Fauber, treated the French enthusiasts to a little in the sensation line, according to the Paris Bureau of the New York Herald. This sensation came about through a number of experiments, which Mr. Fauber carried on with his gliding boat on the River Seine, at Nanterre. In the issue of Motor Boat there was printed a picture of this craft. it is not an out-and-out hydroplane, for it has a bow very much like an ordinary boat, although it is built on the principle of gliding, or skimming planes, so that the boat rises as the speed increases, until at top speed she apparently skips over the surface, like a flat stone from the skilled hand of a youngster. A correspondent of the Herald, who was on board the craft, describes his experiences in this fashion:

"There were three of us on board with Fauber at the wheel. The water was calm, and presently the `60' Antoinette motor began to revolve, and in less than a dozen yards the boat had shot to the surface and was rushing toward Argenteuil at a speed of nearly forty miles an hour. The sensation was exceedingly novel. The river ahead looked like a long French road, and the hydroplane might have been a racing automobile rushing along it. On either side of the craft thin walls of water shot up at the point where the foremost plane touched the surface, and shut us in so that the sensation of the man who was in the stern was that of being encompassed by a solid block of ice."

(Transcribed from MotorBoat. Aug. 10, 1908. p. 45)

[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page –LF]


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