A Forgotten Innovation: The Strange Saga of the Roller Boats

Video from Sails and Salvos

A Forgotten Innovation: The Strange Saga of the Roller Boats

"When you think of a boat or ship images of large sleek vessels cutting through the waves. However, during the late 1800s and early 1900s several inventors attempted to create what they believed would be an industry changing idea, the Roller Boat. Join me as we uncover the forgotten story of these incredible designs and why they became buried by time." from the video introduction

Knapp’s Roller Boat: The Most Bizarre Vessel on Lake Ontario

"Anyone who has watched a logrolling competition must have wondered how such heavy logs can stay afloat, with people sprinting on top. The same phenomenon must have unlocked the creative impetus of Frederick Augustus Knapp, inventor of the infamous roller boat. In 1897, a crowd of bewildered Toronto residents witnessed the maiden voyage of Knapp’s steam-powered barrel, which promised (or threatened) to change maritime transportation forever. The Canadian inventor’s ambition was to reach 200 miles an hour on the open ocean, while almost insusceptible to the nauseating effect of larger waves. But the maiden voyage on Lake Ontario fell short of these goals, with speed only reaching a couple of miles an hour, before the bizarre apparatus ran aground shortly after departure...'

from the article: Knapp’s Roller Boat: The Most Bizarre Vessel on Lake Ontario

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