Mat 25, 1882.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



338 



MR. WARREN'S CUTTER MAGGIE, FIFTEEN TONS. 



MAGGIE. FIFTEEN TONS. 



IN addition to the record of this cutter, soon to show her fighting 

 flag in our waters, published in a previous issue, we this week add 

 an excellent article on the "fifteens" of Great Britain by the same 

 pen. The illustration, from a pen and ink sketch, will serve to give 

 many who have not seen cutters in all the beauty of reality, a very 

 fair Idea of their peculiarities of form and rig. It shows the ship 

 fifth balloon jib and apiiiaker, driving along to a quartering wind. The 

 Maggie la one of the handsomest and fairest ever bell eld. She is a 

 "professional beauty" indeed, and we are much mistaken if her 

 graceful lines, exquisite sheer, plump midships, bold side and dainty 

 fantail do not speedily win the. hearts of many in Boston, and soften 

 even unto meltuig the hardened inveterate whe now spurns such 

 craft, simply for' the bad name idle myth and provincialism have 

 conjured up in a fit of national jealousy against a type so downright 

 able and meritorious as the cutter appears with prejudice once laid 

 aside. As in hull, so in rig, Maggie is sweet to the eye, a picture of 

 jaunty pose and saucy "tackle-me-if-you-dare," the artist will dwell 

 on with lingering thought, and in build and fittings the just pride of 

 the sailor, who glories in the staunchness of his ship and her evident 

 ability to pull him through the roughest and the worst. 



Her rig is one fit for the gods, the fastest, most weatherly and 

 smartest in looks ever bent to sticks and stays. We have an inkling 

 that Boston will take kindly to Maggie, and improve opportunities bv 

 adopting what is worth copying from a flyer, full-blooded from keel 

 to truck, from nose to archboard. Should Dan Hatcher's prettj 

 lassie fail into bauds who know her whims and foibles, we warrant 

 her record will be as brilliant in American waters as it has been about 

 her rugged native coasts. 



Haggis is 45ft. stem to post on deck; beam 8ft, Sin. ; depth of hold 



8ft., and draft 8ft. 6in. She had upon launching 5 tons of lead on the 

 keel and ten tons inside, as "King Dan" was somewhat averse to out- 

 side weights, a peculiar exception in this respect to the prevailing 

 customs in England. Since then we believe the amount outside has 

 been considerably increased. Her spars at launching were as fol- 

 lows: Mast, deck to homids.asft.6in.; topmast 2t)ft., bowsprit out- 

 board 21ft., mainboom 37ft. , gaff 25ft, fiin., topsail yards 25 and 36ft., 

 spiuaker boom 39ft, Flush deck with grand accommodations below, 

 not so wide as in a sloop, but with ample headroom, (dear fore and aft 

 from the eyes to the sail-locker in the stern, affording almost twice 

 the available length to be found in an ordinary sloop. Her burgee is 

 a black filled with yellow cross. Built by Dan Hatcher, of South- 

 ampton, in 1878. Sails by Lapthora and "llatsoy. Originally owned 

 by .Mr. Wheeler, then by Mr. Francis Taylor, of London, and at pres- 

 ent by Mr. Warren, of the Warren line of Liverpool and Boston 

 steamers. Photos of Maggie may be had from Durrant, Torquay, or 

 from Charles Wilson, 15B Minories, London. 



LIVE STARTS. 



"TjvmEST AND STREAM having brought into prominence before 

 J? the public the necessity of replacing the juvenile methods of 

 staniug now in vogue by something more manly and sailorlike, an 

 estimable but antiquated turf contemporary tardily falls foul of the 

 same subject. As might, have been expected, it makes the usual 

 mess of things, confounding anchor starts with the simultaneous fly- 

 ing get-away to one and th'e same gun. As no one has ever proposed 

 reviving the ancient New York custom of clearing from moorings, 

 our contemporary's belabored effort at filling space at the expense of 

 such a start is of no consequence, and not worth nottoe, For the 



benefit of such poorly informed journals the following explana- 

 tion is vouchsafed. It has been given before in these columns, 

 but some of the smooth-water manners are so slow to learn, that 

 repetition in the interests of a clear understanding is justifiable. A 

 warning gun is fired five or ten minutes before the time set for the 

 start. All yachts, fully underway, and therefore under control and 

 able to prevent fouling and collision, make for the line, intent upon 

 ing at or as nearly after the fire of the second gun as they may 

 be able to, all their times being counted from that gun, without any 

 Indulgences or allowances for the laggards bringing up the rear. 

 Hitting off gun fire with precision then becomes a question of good 

 management, seamanship and quick wits. As all these contribute to 

 the decision of the day throughout the race, there can be no good 

 reason for debarring their display in the start anymore than in any 

 other part of the race. 



It Is very manifest that a start as described is far more conducive 

 to wide-awake smartness aboard the contestants and far more, intelli- 

 gible and interesting to the onlooking public than the usual cumber- 

 some, tedious, sloth-encouraging, nursling methods of granting a 

 period of grace often giving unfair advantage in the way of flukes 

 while sh ufflin g across, Indian file like a string of geese. 



Wherever the one gun or simultaneous flying start has been tried it 

 has met with approval from all but those who have to stop to think, 

 and from hired crews who have to hustle about and earn their pay. 

 The East has again taken the lead in this as in many other matters of 

 reform, and jUSt as New York has been content 'to follow several 

 years later in keels and outside ballast, we expect to -co the less 

 energetic yachtsmen of the metropolis take their cue in the manner 

 of starting from their live brethren in the East. Neither the Dor- 

 Chester Y. C. nor the English start or propose to start from an aoohor 



