FOREST AND STREAM 
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$)<uhtimj and Ranting. 
nrair 'water for the week. 
Date, 
Boston. 
Nhw York. 
Charleston. 
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li. m. 
Dec. 13-- ... 
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Dec. 21. 
3 
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Dec. 22.. _ 
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Deo. 23 _ 
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Doo. 21. 
3 
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3 50 
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TEE PAST YACHTING SEASON. 
SECOND PAPER. 
fel'BCIAI.l.Y COMPILED POO POHliST AND STREAM.J 
I N my first notice ol the deeds of our yachts in the now 
dead and gone season of 1870,1 had got as far as the 
middle of June, and was away up on Lake Ontario, mer¬ 
rily sailing a ten-ton race with the Bay of Quinto Yacht 
Club. I see I omitted to notice the Empire Yacht Chib’s 
racing on the ltth of the month, when fourteen starters, 
two of them those nondescript catamarans, came to the 
lino, and II. IK. Needier won the prize in cabin 'class : 
Martha M. in the second ; Mary Gibson in the third, and 
Peter O'Brien, a twenty-foot boat, which was splendidly 
sailed in a hot squall which diversified the proceedings, 
in the third. The catamarans outsailed everything, the 
famous Tarantella putting her best hull foremost and 
waltzing round in grea t style. Some people admire these 
craft. I don't wonder at it, for with us the attainment 
of speed lias always been a primary consideration, and so 
long as wo get that we are content to sacrifice every other 
quality. That is why I like the catamaran—it is the ne 
plus ultra of our national model; it is the reductio ad 
absurdumat the sloop ; it is the antithesis of the seahoat, 
and the more it exhibits its great speed, under certain 
conditions ol' wind and sea, and its total lack of accom¬ 
modation and comforts under all circumstances, the bet¬ 
ter am I pleased, as it leads me to hope the principle on 
which, along with the sipop, it is based will he con¬ 
demned. But of that, more anon. A new sloop, the 
Hector, contended at the East Boston Yacht Club Re¬ 
gatta on the 14th, when in a stiff southwest breeze, and 
suffering moreover under all the disadvantages inherent 
to a new and untried yacht, she landed first prize for 
keels and .T.iilic that for boards. Sunbeam was beaten 
by Clara and Lottie, the former neatLy securing the first 
prise in second class, and Elsie got that in third. There 
were new hoate also in the Beverly Yacht Club Regatta 
on the same day, at Nahant, and in the second class, 
twenty-foot boats, tliero occurred a very interesting con¬ 
test between Peri, of yore champion; Fancy, built to 
beat her, and now meeting her for the first time ; Josie, 
built la to the year before, and which had a victory over 
1‘aney on record, and finally Hoiden, a brand, new 
craft, turned out by Pierce Bros., and which proved too 
good for the lot, as she came in a winner. There was 
plenty of wind and the sailing was in general very true. 
The Hth waB the day selected by the Royal Nova Scotia 
for its opening cruise, and a good turn-out there was, 
with twenty-one yachts answering the Vice-Commo¬ 
dore's signals and working in the fierce rallies of south¬ 
west wind in a way to compel admiration. The Chicago 
Yacht Cluji had expected to enjoy the sight of a battle 
royal between Cora and Greyhound (nee Annie Guthbert), 
and the Chicago Yacht Club was muchly disappointed, 
the rivals not turning up, and leaving to Ina and Frolic 
the task of keeping up the interest, which they did, Frolic 
beating Ina on tune. 
The most remarkable thing about the racing at Phila¬ 
delphia on the Itith was the enormous amount of work 
the crews of the contending yachts had to keep the water 
out, and the exceedingly neat manner in which a couple 
of the yachts capsized a VAmerieaine. 
The yachts at Chester, Pa., on the same day, sailed a 
good race, Minerva and Whiteioing securing first and sec¬ 
ond prizes respectively. In a soldier’s wind from north 
the prizes at the Newport Yacht Club races were carried 
off by Dauntless in the first class, Mr. W. C. Thompson’s 
new Glylic in the second, and by Keturah in the third. 
There was enough of the northwest wind at the Jersey 
City Yacht Club Regatta to induce the majority of the 
cabin sloops to wind instead of jibing round Robbin’s 
Reel’ buoy ; and as, with the exception of one short stretch 
to windward, the direction of the wind made it a reach 
both ways, the race was very quickly sailed, Linda being 
first, in first class, with Pilgrim 11m. 15s. belvind her. 
Knight Templar sailed over in the second class, and in 
the 'third Jessie Payne, having turned the buoy on the 
wrong side, was disqualified, and the prize went to 
Willie. 
Great bodies move slowly, especially on this side of the 
Atlantic, and this is perhaps the reason why the races of 
the New York Yacht Club are never started on time. 
On the 10th June, the start was something like a couple 
of hours late, for no earthly reason that one could see. 
I, for one, believe in starting a race sharp, being careful 
to give just the right interval between preparatory and 
starting signals that has been announced. Nothing is 
more thoroughly annoying to a genuine racing yachts¬ 
man than a long delay, or a short one either, when he is 
all ready for the word “Go.” And the habit of. delaying 
starts soon grows into a tremendous nuisance, and is 
often the cause of a race being spoiled. Of course, some 
men, when in charge, and seeing an entered yacht in the 
distance trying to get up to the line, feel an inclination 
to " give her a chance,” and postpone the signal till she 
has arrived. That is a very unfair proceeding to those 
yachts that are ready, and 1 have seen the destination of 
the prize changed by it, ns wind fell or strengthened, and 
favored the late comer. If you mean to start at noon, or 
1 o’clock, don’t advertise tea or eleven as the hour; if 
you do, stick to the hour, make your signal, and send off 
the racers present, and let the late birds bear the penalty 
of their own neglect, There is at least one club hi New 
y,,rk waters which sets a good example in this respect, 
and a good many at other points on the coast. The re¬ 
gatta was open only to yachts belonging to the club, quite 
in the Royal Yacht Squadron fashion, and in accordance 
with a custom which has hitherto obtained too largely. 
However, the New York Club can even thus get up a 
good race, unlike the swell R, Y, g., which, on more than 
one occasion, has had hut a poor lot of vessels to contend 
for its splendid prizes. An entry comprising such schoon¬ 
ers as Rambler and Intrepid among the keels ; Tidal 
Bkirc, Estelle, and Peerless, among the centre-boards; 
and such sloops as Vision, Regina, Vixen, Psyche, Glance. 
and Volanie, is good enough in point of quality, even if 
it does leave something to be desired in regard of num¬ 
bers. There was not a great deal of wind, hut what there 
was blew steadily until the end, so tliat the horrors of a 
drift wore avoided. The contest between the two big 
keel schooners was exceedingly interesting, Intrepid, 
conned by Mr. A. Carey Smith, losing, it" is true, to 
Rambler, but not until she had made an example of her 
turning to windward, as well as of the smart Estelle. 
The latter was not good enough for Peerless, which sailed 
in first-rate form, and gave her larger rival such a view 
ol’ her counter as must have indelibly stamped its shape 
on the minds of all her crew. Tidal Wave met no foe- 
man worthy of her, hauled down her colors, and made a 
pleasure sail of the race ; while Vision, similarly circum¬ 
stanced, Bailed over and took the prize for first-clas3 cen¬ 
tre-board sloops. Regina and Vixen made a very close 
match of it all day, Vixen winning by twenty-one sec¬ 
onds on time, her opponent not sailing quite so fast, many 
thought, under her sloop as under her cutter head-rig. 
Cutter-rigged Volanie walked away from Psyche all day, 
and had Glance well-beaten when Mr. Ferris struck his 
flag. One would think that the all-round advantages of 
the cutter-rig for single masters would by this time ho 
apparent to most racing men, and perhaps next year we 
may see genuine large cutters, not mere adaptations and 
imitations. A few good contests, in both smooth and 
rough water, would do far more to settle the question of 
relative merits, than all the imaginary descriptions of 
performances of sloops versus cutters, which some people 
mistake for convincing arguments. 
A very encouraging feature of American yachting is 
the growth of the Corinthian element, which has been 
sedulously and judiciously fostered by the Sewanhaka 
Yacht Club, au association that I take leave to consider at 
the very top*of tire tree. It has done for us what the 
Royal Alfred, the premier Corinthian club of Great 
Britain has dono in tlie old country—shown that gentle¬ 
men can handle large and small yachts as well as the 
tarrie3t tar. Corinthian matches are wonderfully popular 
among English, Scotch and Irish yachtsmen, and not 
only the Royal Alfred, but the Royal Clyde, Royal Mer¬ 
sey and other clubs have encouraged, them. Single and 
double-handed matches have often been sailed across the 
‘ ‘ herring-pondand nothing could better show the skill 
of amateurs than sailing, single-handed, such crafts as 
Peri, five tons, Naiad, ten tons, Queen, fifteen, and 
Siren or Madcap, twenty, all of them cutters, and two- 
handed, Wavecresl, twenty-five, and Phantom, twenty- 
seven tons. It was in a single-handed match sailed on 
1st of June, 1S72, under the auspices of the Royal Alfred, 
that poor Dan O’Connell, one of the best yachtsmen that 
ever trod a deck, lost his life. It was blowing freBh 
enough for reefed mainsails, and there was a good deal of 
sea outside, when five yachts started. They were Petrel, 
ten ; Mocassin, ten ; Madcap, twenty ; Torment, five ; and 
Peri, five, thelatter with O'Connell on board. Mocassmwas 
first to return, having given up, and 6he was followed 
into harbor by a sixty-ton cutter, with topmast 
carried away, and an eighty-ton yawl, with her gig 
washeduvmiy from the davits. This sort of thing boded 
ill for tlie Corinthians, and a steamer was despatched to 
look for them, Madeap being met running back, with 
head sheets carried away, the Torment liaving been 
driven to Howth, and the Petrel alone able to go round 
the course, Peri having foundered. Yachts all the way 
up to one hundred tons have wholly manned by Corinth¬ 
ians, and bave won well-contested races, and on the 21st 
of Juno of this year the Seawanhaka turned out Peerless, 
Kate, Vision, Regina, Vixen, Scheme!', Wave, Blanche, 
II. W. Beecher, Midge and Julian, with Corinthian 
skippers and crews, and right well did each yacht bear 
herself in the fight. There was a jolly whitecap breeze 
from the eastward and a lump of a sea to try gear, and 
the yachts were started sharp on time, so that the late 
birds found themselves handicapped, and learned practi¬ 
cally the advantage of being at the line in good season. 
Regina and Vixen were at it again, hammer and tongs, 
just as two days before at the New York Y. C. regatta, 
and VLcen saved her time all the way to Spit buoy, 
where, just as she was rigging out her spinnaker boom, 
it snapped, and pitched one of her hands clean over¬ 
board. T’iajmwas uncommonly well handled, and the 
duck picked up in short time ; but the delay gave Regina 
the race. But for the accident, it was a moral for 
Vixen, and as far as tlie result of the two races went, she 
proved herself the better craft. Vision came out with 
cutter head-rig, and sailed like a witch, and made better 
time over the course than big Peerless ; and II. IK. 
Beecher, among the third class sloops, fairly astonished 
everyone by the way she travelled, actually giving 
Blanche the go-by. In this class, Wave got the prize, and 
deservedly, Schemer coming in second. Julian came to 
grief, her weather rigging parting, and had to give up, 
leaving Midge to complete the course, and take the prize. 
A regular good race, taken all round, and justice done to 
the yachts by tlie Corinthians. 
On the same day the Boston Yacht Club held its first 
“annual union regatta," throwing open its races, instead 
of confining them to yachts of its own members. This is 
undoubtedly a good plan, and tends not only to increase 
the interest of the regatta by bringing together cracks 
that would not otherwise meet, but it also conduces to 
the prosperity of the club itself, and the Bostonians will 
ere long reap the benefit of then- liberal policy. Open 
regattas have come into favor this year, and to mo this 
is another sign of healthful progress in the noble and 
manly sport of yachting. Our racing yachts will in 
future have a chauce of “ going the round of the re¬ 
gattas,” and the comparisons which can then be drawn 
between the different vessels will promote improvement 
not only iu construction, rigging and equipment, but 
also in handling. It is simply.wonderful wbat difference 
half a dozen hard-sailed races make in the discipline and 
smartness of a crew. Of course, with the Increase in 
the number of such regattas will arise the necessity of 
harmonizing the fixtures, so as to enable yachts to visit 
a,s many of tlie ports as possible ; and hero the proposed 
National Yacht Racing Association will come in most 
usefully. The Boston Y, C. Club offered twelve prizes to 
Beven classes of yachts, and the smallest entry in any 
class (the first class sloops) was three, some forty yachts 
being engaged in the races. The wind was light from 
southwest at the start, but improved as the day wore on, 
though a “howling fluke," in the shape of a fresh pipe 
after a flat calm, materially filtered the prospects of the 
leewardmost boats, and destroyed those of the late wind¬ 
ward crafts. Mr. Pfaff’s new schooner Adrienne saved, 
her.time off Mr. Little’s smart Brenda, the latt er being 
heavily handicapped in the prevailing wea ther, having to 
allow the round time of twenty-five minutes—over one 
minute a mile—to her fleet opponent, on whom, how¬ 
ever, she rapidly gained as soon as the breeze came out 
at all strong — actually reeling off nine minutes of the al¬ 
lowance in a quick burst ®f two miles and a half—a per¬ 
formance which is, consideringthe reduction of Brenda’s 
spare, nearly as remarkable as that extraordinary bit of 
sailing performed in August by Enchantress at Cowes. 
The sudden shift of wind—the increased weight thereof— 
proved too much for the spars and gear of some of the 
contending craft, schooner Elfin losing her topmast, and 
Bloop Thistle her topmast backstay, wliichbelped to make 
her lose the race to Syren, the latter taking the handsome 
silver cup. Eugenia parted some gear,ami gave up, and 
Muriel performed the national feat of turning turtle, her 
crew being picked up by Posy. Lawlor’s sloop, Vilcing, 
Mr. W. H. Gorman, snowed well among the second class 
keels, netting first prize. She is undeniably a fast boat. 
By the way, Ihear Lawlorhas designed a schooner for a 
Canadian yachtsman, Mr. W, H. Brookfield, Royal Nova 
Scotia Y. S., and the new craft is building at Port Met- 
way, a place where they know how to turn out fast and 
handsome schooners. She is to be some thirty-seven feet 
on the keel, which is rockered, and will have a lot of the 
“ precious metal” bolted on to it; flush deck, low and 
short cabin trunk, housing topmasts, and altogether an 
able seagoing craft. It will be interesting to compare 
her performance alongside Seafaam , at pvesentthe crack 
schooner on the Halifax station. 
The Hab'faxmen had their first innings on the 21st, too, 
that being the anniversary of the settlement of the place. 
The Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, which repre¬ 
sents the yachtsmen of the maritime provinces of Can¬ 
ada, naturally provided the prizes for the three races, all 
of them sailed under the rules of the Yacht Racing Asso¬ 
ciation, which, I am informed, have given unqualified 
satisfaction during the season. In the first class the 
famous little clipper sloop Hebe, entered at a higher ton¬ 
nage, won after a good fight with Petrel (twenty) and 
Seafoam (twenty seven) tons, Petrel, formerly a very 
successful racer, had her day — smooth water and a good 
topsail breeze—but she could make nothing of the small 
chap, and the difference of model told with a vengeance, 
tlie twenty-tonner having a bluff bow, and Butler’s sloop 
an entrance like a knife, clearly proving that the cod’s- 
head and mackerel-tail style is no match for the fine bow 
and clean line. In the second class Psyche, which had 
been very unlucky, or rather, very badly handled, all the 
season before, came to the front again, winning as she 
pleased, with Phantom, a new-comer, second. In the 
third class Muta, the Nova Scotian Freda, bar the hard 
weather qualities, disposed of all her rivals without any 
difficulty. 
The Columbia Yacht Club, which iB fast assuming a 
place among our smaller clubs similar to that occupied by 
tlie Corinthian Yacht Club on the Thames, held its 
twelfth annual regatta on the 23d of June, Corinthian 
crews and no shil'ting]baliast being evidence of the sport¬ 
ing spirit of the members. The wind was light, flukes 
from southwest, and the prizes went to Peerless among 
the cabin sloops, to Journeyman in first class open yachts, 
and to Lydia F. in the second class. 
I am afraid my readers will think me as discursive as 
Tristram Shandy, for I am apt to wander away from ac¬ 
counts of races to remarks on half a dozen different sub¬ 
jects, steering a very wild course indeed, and having to 
bear up constantly, in order to “return to my mutton,” 
but for the life of me I can’t help it. As anything occurs 
to me, why off 1 go, and having said my say, once more 
take up the thread of my narrative, disconnected though 
it may be. With this apology for all my sins past, pres¬ 
ent and future, 1 premise some remarks on classes. There 
are two things which especially bewilder any student of 
American yachting records—laws of measurement and 
classification, Of the former I need not now speak, re¬ 
serving it for a future digression. The latter is an ever- 
resent nuisance to me and, I doubt not, to many others, 
t is absurd to talk of first class yachts when there are 
half a dozen first classes, ranging from schooners of 200 
tons to open boats twenty feet long, and second and third 
classes equally mixed up .and undistinguishable, It is 
veiy much to be desired that a single, uniform system of 
classification should be adopted for all yaohts sailing; 
under the Stars and Stripes, either on the principal of 
leugth or of tonnage, the latter preferably, if a sensible 
rule of measurement can he devised. If all the clubs 
would unite in supporting the proposed National Yacht 
Racing Association, that body might well undertake the 
double task of devising a sound measurement ride and an 
intelligible system of classification, in which first class 
yachts would mean large yachts and not skiffs. In this 
respect our British friends are undoubtedly ahead of ns, 
with their tonnage classes, and it is as easy to follow and 
compare tbe performances of British yachts, numerous 
though they are, as it is difficult and frequently impos¬ 
sible to do the same with American crafts. 1 commend 
the idea to the dispassionate consideration of all my 
“ brethren of the wave" who have the success of Ameri¬ 
can yaobting at heart, and who can therefore rise supe¬ 
rior to local considerations. 
The 24th of June saw the two cracks— Regina and Vixen 
— meet for the third time in the season, in tlie race for 
the Bennett Challenge Cup for sloops, over the New York 
Yacht Club course. The Vixen had won it the previous 
year and repeated her former success, beating lier rival 
right through, and so far settling the vexed question of 
superiority. The wind, at first light, freshened up and 
came out true and good from south. Regina, under full 
sloop rig, and not sailed at first as she should have been, 
gave away a lot of chances, making a very poor start, 
being 2m, 12s. to the bad when she crossed the line. 
There are few things more important in a race than mak¬ 
ing a good, clean start, and it is surprising how few 
yachtsmen, comparatively, pay sufficient attention to this 
fact; relying, apparently, upon their ability to overtake 
then competitors, and, instead, finding themselves all in 
a mess under the lee of a slower boat, while their portae- 
