800 



YACHTING IN 1901. 



his numerous and well-armed crew, set up a prin- 

 cipality at ISarawak, where his nephew, Sir 

 Charles Brooke, still reigns in his stead, and is 

 recognized by the world at large as the head of an 

 independent state. This is probably the most dis- 

 tinguished incident of a yachtsman accomplish- 

 ing the conquest of a foreign land, and, indeed, 

 Sir James Brooke was at one time in danger of 

 a parliamentary investigation, the charges against 

 him bearing a very strong resemblance to charges 

 of piracy on the high sea. He succeeded, however, 

 and was largely instrumental in suppressing the 

 Malayan pirates who in the middle of the last cen- 

 tury were the terror of the Eastern Archipelago. 



It is undeniable that a vast number of Ameri- 

 cans look upon yachting with complete indiffer- 

 ence, not to say" disdain, as a phase of modern 

 luxury interesting only to the very wealthiest 

 classes, who alone can afford to engage in it. This 

 view is not unnatural considering the extent of 

 our inland territory, nor can it be denied that 

 many persons calling themselves yachtsmen con- 

 tribute by personal example to the cultivation of 

 seamanship. It should in fairness be admitted, 

 however, that the modern yacht squadron affords 

 a most efficient training-school for a considerable 

 army of seamen and engineers, and even in its 

 luxurious features it is of direct advantage to a 

 large class of workers. 



It is within the memory of the generations now 

 approaching middle age that the United States 

 navy possessed not one single vessel capable of 

 meeting on anything like equal terms any 

 efficient member of the European squadrons then 

 in commission. Prior to that time the predomi- 

 nant interests of the country were absolutely in- 

 different to our standing as a naval power, the 

 coastwise States alone recognizing its importance. 



It is not intended here to claim overmuch honor 

 for yachting as a factor in the growth of the navy. 

 Many other things contributed to it, notably the 

 publication of Capt. Mahan's works on the de- 

 velopment of sea power, as well as the limited but 

 efficient influence of some few far-seeing states- 

 men. It is perhaps worth while to note that it be- 

 came possible to secure adequate congressional 

 appropriations for naval purposes only after 

 yachting interests on the Pacific coast had shaken 

 hands with those of the Atlantic across the con- 

 tinental divide. Interest in American seamanship 

 spread at first along the line of the Great Lakes, 

 and thence to the smaller ones that dot the mid- 

 dle West, until now almost every inland lake of 

 navigable size and depth has its prosperous clubs 

 of sailing yachts, and it is no uncommon thing 

 for ambitious inland yachtsmen to send their fast 

 boats by rail to the seacoast to try conclusions 

 with their sisters of the salt ocean. Their records 

 in these races are not by any means discreditable. 

 They have not always been victorious, but have 

 carried off many honors, and have certainly 

 trained a large number of sailormen who, if not 

 equal to the exigencies of ocean navigation, have 

 at least taken the initial steps that should fit 

 them to serve the country afloat in case of need. 

 It is not too much to claim that the love of 

 adventurous seamanship cultivated by this means 

 had much to do with securing the legislation that 

 gave us the nucleus of a navy when we found our- 

 selves suddenly confronted by Spanish fleets of 

 unknown powers in 1898. Since then there has 

 been no question in the popular mind as to the 

 necessity of a navy, and few will deny to the 

 yacht-clubs such credit as may be their due as 

 training-schools for the practise of seamanship. 



And not only this, when the sudden call came 

 for all vessels that could be made available for 



Avar service the Government found between 20 and 

 30 large steam-yachts that could readily be con- 

 verted into gunboats and despatch-boats, and 

 which, in fact, did distinguished service in the 

 war that followed, one of them, the Gloucester, 

 commanded by Lieut. Richard Wairiright, not 

 hesitating to encounter single-handed two of the 

 dreaded Spanish " destroyers," both of which were 

 sent to the bottom of the sea, mainly if not alto- 

 gether by her impetuous attack. 



There were no organized yacht-clubs in this 

 country until about 1842, when one was estab- 

 lished at Hoboken, which subsequently developed 

 into the New York Yacht-Club, and sailing races 

 began to attract the attention of all people who 

 were interested in nautical affairs. In the British 

 Isles yachting had long been firmly established 

 as a popular recreation among the aristocracy and 

 the moneyed classes. In those days transatlantic 

 travel was as nothing compared with its present 

 volume, and to say that in 1850 a dozen British 

 yachstmen were aware that such a thing as a 

 Yankee yacht was afloat would probably be in 

 excess of the truth. 



Certain it is, according to the testimony of Mr. 

 George R. Schuyler, that no official invitation was 

 sent to American yachtsmen to compete in any 

 regattas, and it was not until the America was 

 nearly ready to launch that the Royal Yacht 

 Squadron, through its commodore, offered to the 

 owners the hospitalities of their club-house, a 

 vague rumor having reached England that a 

 schooner was building with a view to visiting 

 British waters. 



Such invitations as were sent out to the few 

 yachtsmen in the rest of the world to try con- 

 clusions with their British brethren were more 

 like invitations to come up to the Solent and be 

 beaten than like anything that contemplated the 

 chances of an equal contest. The British yachts- 

 man not unnaturally considered himself the only 

 yachtsman in existence, for then even more posi- 

 tively than now the belief that Britannia ruled 

 the wave by divine right was prevalent in Eng- 

 land. During the year that elapsed before the 

 opening of the exposition rumors reached the 

 Royal Yacht-Club at Cowes to the effect that the 

 schooner building in America was on the lines of 

 the famous New York pilot-boats, with all the im- 

 provements that could be devised by her famous 

 designer and builder, George Steers. 



In due time she appeared, having made a swift 

 passage across the North Atlantic, and anchored 

 a few miles from the rest of the fleet off the Royal 

 club-house at Cowes. A cutter was sent down 

 to welcome her and offer the hospitalities of the 

 club, and the next day Commodore Stevens, who 

 was in command, made sail to go up to the an- 

 chorage. Most unfortunately for his purposes he 

 did not hold his boat, as it were, in leash, and the 

 result was that she simply ran away from every- 

 thing that came near her, and when she dropped 

 anchor in the downs all British experts who had 

 watched her performance were so thoroughly as- 

 tonished thereby that they would have' nothing 

 to do with her. No opportunity could be found to 

 race until the day fixed beforehand for the great 

 regatta, and although Commodore Stevens was 

 very much annoyed by this lack of enterprise on 

 the part of his antagonists, he decided at the 

 last moment to enter the race. After all the rest 

 of the fleet had got under way the America made 

 sail with great smartness, and in the course of 

 an hour or two had passed through the entire 

 fleet, leaving everything behind her, and at one 

 time was so far in advance of the squadron that 

 not another vessel was in sight. After this she 



