286 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



lOcT. 15, 1885. 



one race only, in the triangular match outside for the Vice-Commo- 

 dore's Cup, offered to single-stickers, did the bold and wholesome 

 ou«er catch the old style Americqn sioop as an entry, and then she 

 gave that sloop a drubbioET whicii will never be forgotten, for the 

 Genesta wiped orit the sloop (iracie far more effeetively than ever 

 Puritan accompliNhed. 



And what Qenesta did with the big ones, Clara, famous little Clara, 

 fresh from her splendid cro«i---seas record, demonstrated in her own 

 lot of small sloops at and about SOft. waterline length. Clara, the 

 narrowest of the narrow, the most "cutterv" of the cutters afloat, 

 after rather a poor get-away, ran and winded rtn Athlon, Daphne and 

 beamy Isis hand over fist, and won as she liked from a fleki at least 

 as good m their class as ever Puritan can cl»im to be among the 

 mon.sters stepping one stick. And srrantinK. for argument's sake, 

 that Puritan did win a pair of days from Gsnesra, tberel:)V "r-onclu- 

 sively proving," etc, etc., then how in the n ime uf sensp can wo im- 

 dei-take to overlook equally "conclusive proof" of a contrary sort; 

 more "conclusive proof," inasmuch as Clara is of still narrower pro- 

 portions than Genesta and beat a whole field of the choicest of com- 

 peting types in place of a sin.erle vessell Perhaps the patriot, the 

 person of all others blind to sense, to logical deduct,ions, thirsting for 

 naught but a chance to air his provincial ism in self-gloriflcation, may 

 find all the drink to quench the ardor of his feelings in the perform- 

 ance of the Puritan cross and deem it very convenient to evade such 

 a knock down blow as Clara's lunge against his self-deception. But 

 the expert, ibe technical mind, bestowing no thought to the mere 

 sideshow of bunting hung from the pealc, and valuing truth for 

 truth's sake and the enbghtenment it affords, most decidedly de- 

 clines to let his reason slip in behest to an uncurbed trans- 

 port born of that nari-ow spleen which places a temporary 

 political division in the world above and bevond aecm'ate reasoning 

 and common truth. Whatever the "faiths'" and "beliefs" instilled 

 by Ptiritan's two backs at Genesta may be, the logical mind goes 

 slow and preserves its balance, when next day the very reverse is 

 equally as clearly estahlishecl. Swing himself into wild ecst-asy aa he 

 likes over the meet between one so called sloop and one cutter and 

 Clara ri.ses before him the next instant to cry a halt to passionate 

 impulse and commands a fresh weighing of the evidence laid bare by 

 other events of equal portent, fraught with an influence he dare not, 

 in justice to himself, venture to cancel or overlook To him, Avhat 

 Puritiiu did Clara undid. To him, the respite granted the Ameiica 

 Cup on this side of the Atlantic means next to nothing. And. being 

 furthermore convinced, upon the unprejudiced testimony of his own 

 eyes, that the Cup retnains through no merit in Puritan not equally 

 shared by Genesta, but through luck, barefaced luck which could 

 not escape even an ordiuarj' observer, the recent international races 

 prove to the expert absolutely nothing with which he was not already 

 perfectly conversant. Nor do they prove anything to me. They do 

 not unfold any new lessons. I may quote the races, those of Genesta 

 and Clara as well, in .substantial support of the position I have all 

 along taken and in full justification of the cutter's continued exist- 

 once in American waters. But of that later on. Having made the 

 broad assertion that Puritan won through patent Ibike, the reader 

 will call for the facts and asJc me to maintain the stand I have taken. 



That I will now do. 



Through no evidence of my own, for some will insist that I am a 

 partisan. But through direct evidence from a source notoriously 

 prejudiced on record as an iograiued opponent to the cutter in any 

 ahape, as an enemy to all progress in American yachting, as a psalm 

 singer to the old sloop trap, a ser\nle upholder of all that is womunish, 

 puny, sickly, in the methods of pursuing the sport. Through evi- 

 dence from a source to which the Cross of St. George is a fiercer bait 

 than a crimson rag to a bull. Through evidence from a source at all 

 times grossly unfair to any and every departure from the antiquated 

 trap: from a source whicb has a thousand times born witness to an 

 utter inability to comprehend the cutter in any of her phases; from 

 a source which has for years displayed a constitutional failing to 

 misinterpret the truth concerning such vessels. From a souree which 

 nothing short of the heavens dropping could move. And if that 

 source has now been moved, if that source openly declares the so- 

 called victory of the so-called sloop Puritan to be a myth and re- 

 peatedly puts it in black and white, that but for Puritan's luck 

 Genesta would have scored, then have not the heavens fallen indeed, 

 and is not ray evidence unimpeachable? Have I not established be- 

 yond cavil my claim that luck decided the contests and not merit? 



The two abortive attempts to make races m fickle weather which 

 petered out entirely before the two racers could accomplish the turn 

 can be passed by as of little importance. On the whole these at- 

 tempts lead to the belief that in vei-y lisrht airs Puritan was a trille 

 better to windward than the cutter. And this I am ready to ac- 

 knowledge, though much of Puritan's apparent superiority "was due 

 to her being the most easterly vessel and fir>-tto catch the airs com- 

 ing in from the sea in succession, thereby lifting away from Genesta 

 in a fashion she could not have done in true winds," as subsequent 

 competition proved beyond question. But how did Puritan work 

 out on Genesta's weather in the first place, enabling her to reap 

 the benefit mentioned? Simply because Genesta was kept a rap full 

 trying to run the so called sloop's lee after crossing the starting line 

 well blanketed by the Puritan to begin with. Owing to a failure to 

 observe the preparatory signal, Genes'^^a's poor start obliged her to 

 resort to such tactics, and being unable to reach by the Bostonian 

 the inevitable consequence was that the cutter soon found herself 

 settled under the so called sloop's lee and the latter in her higher 

 position got the. advantage of each fresh air from the eastward, 

 slowly and steadily lifting away from the Genesta through this 

 good fortune, with which merit of design had nothing to do. I 

 quote, in support of Genesta's bad start, from the London Field, 

 Sept. 26: 



"At the five-minute signal GenesDa was a little too far from the line, 

 under the lee of the Puritan. With the crowd around the committee 

 boat, neither yacht appeared to have seen the fifteen-minute prepara- 

 tory signal. On the starting signal she hove round clear of the line 

 to reap the benefit of the two minutes allowance to cross, the out- 

 come of which was that both the yachts crossed the line on starboard 

 tack, Genesta Im. 35s. behind and under the lee of Puritan " 



The view I have given above of Genesta's loss at the very start is 

 sufficiently corroborated by the foregoing quotation. As to the 

 erroneous deductions from subsequent proceedings that Puritan was 

 considerably the better of the pair to ndndward in light airs, let me 

 again quote from the same paper, and ask whether any competent 

 yachtsmen would venture to reach a po.sitive decision" from a drift 

 under circumstances which resolved the whole of the business into 

 MTBtched fluking without affording a fair show for accurate compari- 

 son. Says the Meld: 



""With her wind once clear, Genesta appeared to headreach and 

 weather on Puritan." 



This is exactly what I observed at the time. As long as the true 

 wind lasted Genesta showed to better advantage than the so-called 

 sloop. And now, what did the rest of the day have in store? The 

 Field says: 



"Atone moment the wind would break them off two points, Gen- 

 esta would appear to gee a lead, and at another the wind would free 

 them and Puritan would appear to be gaining. * * * From 4 to 6 the 

 wind dropped off very fast and came in streaks, making the yachts 

 break: off three or four points one minute and luff up the same num- 

 ber another." 



Remembering that the yachts were sailing in different water, what 

 conclusions can such a fickle state of the weather justify? Certainly 

 it is rash to deduce superiority for one or the other w^hen the amount 

 to which each competitor was benefited or interfered with by all the 

 breaking off and hauling up is altogether beyond correct estimate? 

 The first attempt summed up only went to prove that Gene.sta in 

 light winds was at least as good as the Puritan, and that in the fluking 

 in which the day wound up Puritan came out ahead. iTor my part, 

 with all the experience I have had in observing and sailing in- 

 numerable matches, I should hesitate to pass any verdict at all and 

 remain content to abide Jby the demonstrations of a more suitable 

 day. Yet the patriots sought to convince themselves and the verdant 

 public in general that Puritan had shown herself far and away the 

 better of the two, and the Herald and other journals treated us to no 

 end of twaddle about the ".stiperioiity of the centerboard over the 

 keel" when not the ghost of superiority there was. 



The second trial was equally abortive of final results. The start, 

 Sept. 11, was made in a nice whole saU breeze and a suspicion of a 

 sea. Genesta at once outran and outwiuded the Puritan in most un- 

 mistakable style. In fact, the cutter just romped away from the 

 .sloop and looked a winner with all ease, when the breeze fell paltry 

 and we were served up with another lot of fluking, dm-ing which 

 Puritan, in the rear, brought up the breeze with her, caught the 

 cutter and then fluked out on her weather as in the day previous, I 

 quote in support from the Field. Sept. 26: "Genesta went through 

 tne line with a clear wind lOOtt. to leeward of Puritan and seven sec- 

 onds astern." 



It will be seen that again did the cutter cross to leeward and astern 

 of the sloop, but she did not remain there very long, for, as the Field 

 has it: 



"Ere they had sailed half a mile it was plain that Genesta was 

 headreaching the Puritan and on the whole weathering out on her, 

 making a steady gain." Now mark, the Field says it was "plain" 

 that Genesta was the better of the two and that her gain was 

 "steady." At the end of an bom- the superiority of the cutter was 

 even more apparent. Says the Field: 



"The cutter had eaten out and forereached so far that she -was 

 dead ahead of the sloop and still leaving her." Listen to that, "still 

 leaving the sloop" after an hour frotn time of starl. But this is not 

 all. The jPieW continues: 



"At the end of two hours Genesta had a lead of a mile and a half 



and was one point on the weather bow of the Puritan. Suddenly the 

 wind shifted some three points easterly." 



That is to say for the two hours the wind held true, the cutter was 

 beating the so-callod sloop hand over fist, footing better and holding 

 a better wind. Surely that was test enotigh to satisfy a reasonable 

 person. Then began a series of shifts and backing, the wind blowing 

 with caprice, favoring first one vessel, then the other, and varying in 

 strength, gradually dropping away to nothing, while the Puritan 

 through fluke of the most evident sort, plumped out on the weather 

 of a yacht which for tw^o hours on a stretch tiad fairly and .'-quarely 

 beaten the so-called sloop about as she liked. But, Puritan happen- 

 ing to be ahead when the race was declared off', the newspapers next 

 day, incapable of judging the sailing of the boats fi-om a technical 

 standpoint, gave way to pages of screachiug and screaming, and the 

 general public cleared out imbued with the nonsensical notion that 

 once again the so-called sloop had "conclusively proven her superi- 

 ority," etc., etc. All the old stock of fables and all the stuff and 

 gabble about centerboards and beam were rehashed to the intense 

 satisfaction of the ancient school of barnacles and to the hilarious 

 amusement of the "cutter men" who had seen the races and could 

 read between the linos and note a thing or two which escaped the 

 hay makers "writing up" the matches for the land.smen readers of 

 landsmen's publications. 



We now pass on to the race sailed Sept. 14 over the inside course of 

 the New York Y, C. During this race the Genesta was so outrage- 

 ously bothered by the huge fleet of accompanying steamers that the 

 prejudice abroad against such a confined "duck puddle" course was 

 found to be only too well grounded. It is not likely that a foreign 

 challenger will again consent to put himself at the mercy of the ex- 

 cursionists who through inexcusable ignorance or witli deliberate 

 intent bothered the life out of Genesta and contributed toward her 

 defeat. I hope that Galatea will insist upon outside races, free from 

 annoyance and in keepins with the size of the contestants. Though 

 the New York Y. C. cannot be blamed tor the action of steamboat 

 captains, one dilig-once to keep iha course clear was not exhibited by 

 those in authority. But the committee with ju.«tice presumed upoii 

 the intelligence and fair play of the steamboat men. In this they 

 were sadly disappointed, and the only way to assure Galatea a fair 

 fight is to appoint all mntches olT shore, where they ought lo be 

 safied. Says the (''iekl, Sept. 2Q: 



"Once clear of Sandy Hook, the steamers kept along on Genesta's 

 lee bow and left a terrible wash behind, literally making the wbolc 

 sea boil in the line from the point to the Lights-hip. This was very 

 hard on the English cutter, as her lee decks were continually filled 

 with water, and she of com'se yawed about badly. It proves con- 

 clusively that no satisfactory race for the America's 'iup can take 

 place over the New York Y, C. course so long as the steamers foUov.' 

 in such crowds, resembling a town afloat rather than a fleet of 

 steamers out for the da.y. * * * Genesta was bothered by sailing- 

 vessels and yachts working down the shore. •* * The steamers 

 rushed away aftet Puritan and churned up the water for Genesta. * 

 * * Now began the steamboat bother, as all the fleet, 

 intent on seeing Pui'itan round the lightship, began steaming 

 away at their best pace, rega'^dless of Genesta, one and all 

 went steaming through her lee. The majority came much too 

 close, and many, after passing her, steamed ahead of her and crossed 

 her bows, and in consequence, for a time, she had their wash all 

 along her deck, which made steering her, to say the least, difficult 

 work. * * * The Genesta, as before, was treated to the wa.sh of 

 the returning steamers. * * * It was useless for Genesta to 

 persevere, as the enthusiastic fleet of steamers cared for nothing but 

 an opportunity to cheer the Puritan," 



I have quoted enough to show that a close race would have been 

 decided against the Genesta through the interference of the steamers. 

 So notoriously did one caijtain behave that the name of his steamer 

 called down upon him universal indignation in the press next day. 

 Now to the race itself and the proof I have to offer that it was won 

 through luck and nothing but luck. C. P. Kunhaedt. 



[to be continued.] 



AN ENGLISH VIEW OF THE RACES. 



THE London Field reviews the late races in a very fair and sen.si- 

 ble article, which we give below, omitting only the two deeds of 

 gift, which we have published before. There is hai'dly a point in 

 connection with the deed of gift, the challenge, the two boats and the 

 conduct of both parties, that has not been made by the extremists on 

 one side or the other the ground for complaint and condemnation; 

 and most of the points made are fairly answered in the following 

 article by u recognized authority. Most yachtsmen will agree with 

 the Field in its recognition of Puritan's strength and seaworthioess, 

 which some have questioned, and also with its conclusions in regard 

 to the conditions of the matches. The t<vo point? tbat have been ad 

 vanced in Genesta's favor— that she is not a fiti ing representative and 

 that the allowance is against her— are akso finally disposed of: while 

 the rash conclusions of some, that English yachtsmen must at once 

 build wide boals, is also an.swered. On l;he whole, the conclusions are 

 the fairest that have yet appeared on the subject, and will do a good 

 deal to clear away the rubbish with which it has been befogged by 

 ignorant writers on" both sides, and to prepare the way for ah intelli- 

 gent study of the races in all their bearings: 



If the matches between the Genesta and the Puritan did not excite 

 much interest or .speculation on this side of the Atlantic before they 

 wei-c sailed, they have provoked enough criticism since, and of a very 

 diversified character. One paper insinuates that the owner of the 

 Genesta must have been somewhat of a simpleton to have gone to 

 New York at all, to compete under such conditions as are imposed on 

 the challenger for the Cup in the "deed of gift;" and. further, that 

 he was "generous to a fault," or, in other words, simple, not to have 

 accepted the offer of the comuuttee to sail over the course after the 

 Puritan had carried away Genesta's bowsprit. It is pointed out that 

 Puritan evidently intended to have gone alone had she not been 

 brought up with a round turn by the committee, and her owner is 

 said to have first claimed the race because it was Genesta's bowsprit 

 that hit Puritan. This reminds one of the Ii-ishman who knocked a 

 man dowm, and then upbraided him tor running against his fist. 

 Touching this incident, one corresi)ondeut from America writes: "So 

 far as Genesta is concerned, they (the Americans) think it was foolish 

 not to take the offer t j sail over, although they admit the English 

 would never have heard the last of it had SirHichard Sutton done so." 



Now, we are inclined to think that Sir Richard Sutton, instead of 

 exhibiting any child-like simplicity in not sailing over, showed a good 

 deal of shrewdness; for, as tne writer we have qiisted from admits, 

 the English would never have heard the last of it. Beyond this, it is 

 by no means certain that Genesta could have got round the course in 

 the stiptdated seven hours, and, if she had not, a more ludicrous situ- 

 ation could not be well imagined; and so, on the whole, we think that 

 the people on this side of the Atlantic have every reason to be satis- 

 fied with the course adopted by the owner of Genesta. 



Now as to the conditions. Tney may or may not be exactly as we 

 should have drawn them, wuth the knowledge that we had to he the 

 challenging parties; and, on the whole, they, as might be expected, 

 put the challengers in a worse position than the challenged The 

 conditions under which a challenge could be made were thus laid 

 down in the original deed of gift. 



*********** 



It must be borne in mind that these conditions were made with a 

 full knowledge that the Cup at some time or the other would be won 

 and that American yacht owners would become placed in theposition 

 of the challengers; yet laiowing this, they have, with the greatest 

 propriety, stipulated that the challeiighig yacht must sail to New 

 York on her own bottom. A more wholesome condition could not 

 have been mtroduced, and the fireside stories that a yacht like Gen- 

 esta is obliged to be exceptional in form and strength in order to cross 

 the Western ocean, while the Yankee yacht need only be a mere 

 skimming-tlish, with timbers like a skiff and plank like veneer, are so 

 much twaddle. Judging from the proportion of ballast which Puritan 

 has to weight of hull, she is a heavier built vessel than Genesta, the 

 difference in weight of material and equipment amounting to pretty 

 nearly 30 per cent. 



Then as to the form of Puritan. An opinion seems to prevail that 

 she must be utterly unseaworthy, and quite unfit to cross the Atlam.ic; 

 but the probability is that if she and Genesta started to race from 

 New York t^> the Lizard, that Puritan would make the faster run, 

 although she might not in going the outward passage. It must be re- 

 collected that Piu-itan has witlun a few inches as much underwater 

 depth of body to the rabbet of keel as the famous America herself, 

 is by no means the shallow craft that an American centerboarder 

 usually is, and such draft as she has is nearly all body and not mere 

 deadwood and lead keel; and it must beremembered that at the date 

 when the America first visited us, she would have passed muster as 

 quite a deep bodied craft. Here are some dimensions of yachts which 

 existed at that period: 



Draught 



Name. Pig. L.W.L. Beam. to Rabbet 



Mosquito Cutter 59 _ 15.3 8.8 



Peari... Cutter 66 19.5 8.0 



Dream Cutter 68 18.8 7.8 



Fair Rosamond Schooner 76 2J..0 7.5 



Xarif a Schooner 90 -^.Q 9.0 



Erminia Schooner IfJ 22.7 9.6 



Novice Schooner 66 16.0 6.8 



It must be remembered that none of these vessels bad lead or iron 

 keels, or any lead baUast at all, yet they managed to keep the sea. 

 Most of these yachts did the blue waters of the Mediterranean, 

 including the little Novice when owned b.y the late Andrew Arce- 

 deGkne;'but we must not forget the Christopher Colum bus sloop, of 



about 25 tons, that crossed from New York to Cowes in 1857, and the 

 Alice, about the same size, which came over about the year 18C0: or 

 the Vesta, centerboarder, drawing only rft. of water, which raced 

 across before the westerly Efales of Dec'erober, tsui; frou' New York 

 to the Needles, in 14 days 4 hours, the Henrietta doinf the' same dis- 

 tance m 53 days 22 hours. Recollecting all this, and a'greatdeal more 

 of the same kind, we are inclined to laugh when we see it Kravely 

 questioned if Puritan could keep the sea. AVhether or not she oonld 

 beat Genesta ou the western passage would be veiy much a matter of 

 chance, as it was when Cambria beat the DaimiJess in }n:v hut 

 coming the other way the chances would be largely in favor of the 

 Yankee, 



Beyond the question of seawortliiness, a point has been raised as 

 to the fairness of making a keel yacht compere with a centerboarder 

 as the latter can skim over the shallows of New YorK Bay. There 

 need be no apprehension about this, as the deep channel is «-eli 

 buoyed, and it ■\vas a part of the condition.'-, that, for tlie nvAV-h sailed 

 from Staten Island to Sandy Hook, the vacbts u ere t-i kpep on ihe 

 channel side of the buoy.s. It is true, between the Hook and the 

 Lightship, it is just possible that some advant.age might be taken, as 

 Columbia took m the Livonia races of IS'"], bv working over the flats 

 near No. n and No. H}4 buoys, but it would not be great. The other 

 Two matches were to be sailed in deeri water outside Sandy Hook, 

 Under these conditions we see no objetaion to a centerboard'er com- 

 peting with a keel yacht, especially -when the former is a kind of 

 half-breed like the Pui-ilan. Whether or not there is. on the whole, 

 any advantage in a centerboard. is a moot point; but,' looking at all 

 the Circumstances, most of us on this side the Atlantic would be dead 

 against any such contrivance. 



Exception haj been taken to the conditions, because sis months' 

 notice is required from the challenger, in order that tbf^ dnlj holding 

 the Cup may, if necessary, have time to build a boar, to meet the 

 challenger. The object of this condition is ohjecteti to, and the fact 

 that it the Puritan had not been built, Genesta would have won the 

 America Cup, is pointed out ns conclusive evidence that the condition 

 must be all wron^,'. But a nioirient's rehection will convince any one 

 that it is "all right," and without it any club'hnlding the Cup would 

 be placed at a great disadvant.-ige. This is clearlv sbown bv the easy 

 manner Genesta defeated the Graeie and othi'rs; a:-d. as before .said". 

 It must not be assumed that the New York V. O, will .always be the 

 holder of the Ctip. 



We last wrek referred to the J'emarks which have been made as 

 to whether Genesta has a right to be considered a fit exponent of the 

 excellence of Enclish cutters, and writers continue to comfort them- 

 selves thai, although Puritan beat Genesta, she could not beat I rex. 

 Into the relative merits of Puritan's and (ienest.'i/s perform-' iices we 

 wUl not now enter, because we know little or nothing;- about whfit was 

 reall.v the test match— that sailed on 1 he last dav-excejit that Genes.- 

 ta ran the Puritan dead to leeward iiart of the course. But that 

 proves nothin?, as the Cambria could run the Sappho witli the wind 

 dead aft; but we all know the cause of the speed beine pr'^tty uniform 

 between yachts, large and small, wlicn runninp away trrnn'thr- wind 

 But whether Genesta did or did not show better speed than Pni-ii ;ui, 

 there can be no doubt, judsrcd by her last year's pertoruianee alonor 

 that she is good enough to try the merits of the yachts of America, 

 and this is proved by the easy victory she had wirii Puritan out of the 

 way. Beyond this it is miserably poor s.atisfacl ion to comfort our- 

 selves by belittling the prowess of our adversary. 



One curious outcome of the fortuitous success of the Puritan is that 

 a good many, both on this side of the Atlauric and on the other, 

 have hastily concluded that the English type of yacht is all wrong 

 and that we must at once break them up, altfr our "tonnage rule and 

 build yachts like the Puritan. Another set of critics sees nothing in 

 the defeat of Genesta but evidence that the ICnglish tvpi* of ynchi is 

 right and that Genesta actually won the race, because by the f.R.A 

 tonnage rule one is eighty tons and the other MI ton.s, ecpial to nine 

 or ten minutes in a forty miles' course. We do not agree with the 

 formernor vet with tlie latter, and, so far as the contention that our 

 type of yaehi is wrong is concerned, we feel sure that the American 

 type will never, even m the .\nglo American true repre.sented by the 

 Puritan, be adopted in this country. 



As to the Puritan being 1(1 tons and the Gene.sta only 80, there 

 would be some reason in pointing to this differeuee if the Y. R. A. 

 tonnage rule were a sort of natural and unerring lasv by which the 

 merits of sailing could be mea.sured ; but the fact is the Y'. R. A. could 

 frame a tonnage rule to make Puritan a thousand tons and Genesta 

 only forty if they like, and when we come to sum up tlie merits of the 

 two. we must look at them throutch a meduim very diltcrent from the 

 Y. R. A. tonnage rule. If we say that the Y. R, A'. I 

 be right because it happens to i)euabza Puritan loi' i 

 the {ireater sail .spread, the inevitat-ile and logic.ii 

 be that the British type of yacht is all wrong ijoea. 

 about ,35 per cent, ttie greater underwater body, an 



saihog is rated by the V, R. A. rule, andapparencl.y ■ 



as an inferior boat. It should be noted, however, ihat, in tin,' mateli 

 sailed in a good breeze. Puritan took down her topsail, while Genesta 

 did not, , so the sail spread |jer ton 01 displaeement woidil h:).v(_- Ijeeu 

 pretty nearly equal in the beat to windward. The eouelusion to ar- 

 rive at is, so far as pariie-ulars have yet come to hand, that the V. K. 

 A. rule absurdly ovcrestituatcs the value of beam, and that a "com- 

 promise" between the sloop and the cutter must be very much more 

 "cutter" than even Puritan is to compete with anything like success 

 against British yachts in a whole sail. 



Our special correspondent expresses an opinion that there is noth- 

 ing afloat which can touch Puritan in a light breeze. This can be 

 readily under.<«tood when we consider the small wetted surface she 

 must have to sail spread, and the trouble which -was taken to get that 

 surface into the best possible condition of snmothness. He further 

 makes it clear that the Genesta had the advantage to windward so 

 long as there was enough wiml to make tliem bend and a slight heave 

 of sea; how it was that, under such conditions, Puritan managed t<3 

 beat Genesta, we must wait our correspondent's fm'ther report. 



In the last issue the Field also adds: "A. good many of our yacht- 

 ing readers appear to have formed the opinion, because Puritan can 

 heat (icnesta in a light wind and on a reach in a strong wind, that we 

 must imediatety alter our tonnage rule in order that beamy yachts 

 may be built on this side of the Atlantic, The fact is, however, that 

 the achievement of the Puritan tells us nothing ijoyond what wo 

 knew before, and has emphasized what we ad know, that the Y. P. A . 

 rule alisurdly overestiuiates the value of beam lor ordinary match 

 saihng, especially as centei-boards are veti.ed We should be ^-ery 

 sorry to say that a yacht like Puritan would l.ie useless on this side of 

 the Athmtic and that she 'could not gel round our coast,' and such 

 like nonsense; but we think that with a fixed keel .she would stand 

 very little chance against our vessels if rated by the Y, &. A. tonnage 

 rule, to allow a yacht like Genesta a quarter of an hour over a BO-mile 

 course. 



"So far as regards altering the rule, before that is done we 

 should like to see if a yacht of 49^ beams. t-Oft. on the loadline, could 

 not be built to beat those of about 5^2 beams, on the same length. 

 We think the experiment quite worth trymg, although there would 

 not be much chance of its succeeding in the small classes. Such 

 yachts would have 2ft. mere beam than Genesta (that is. 17ffc.). and 

 would have to allow her Imin. flsec. over a 50-mile couise. This pen- 

 alty does not look more than she ought to be able tu do: and adding 

 2f t~ to such a craft as Genesta would make in many ways a very much 

 improved vessel, and especially in a seaway, a I thouj^h occasionally 

 there may be a pai-ticular kind of sea met with wUinh the narrower 

 boat wou'ld get through the faster. Examples of thishave occurred 

 over and over asrain in yachting experiences, and they have rather 

 tended to mask the fact that for any given tonnage a yacht is not 

 always what may be termed an efficient performer iu a sea simply 

 because she is narrow, but itecause she is long and deep. If, how- 

 ever, a yacht has a beam much in excess of two-tentlis of her length 

 ou loadline, the beam will bc^in to tell atjaitist her u: a head sea, but 

 she will not necessarily be a bad sea boat." 



rule must 

 iii.^ 7 percent, 

 -lusion woidd 

 Genesta has 

 et f.ir match 

 1 some fcasou. 



THE SUPPLY OF TEAK —This wood, so liberally tiaed in the deck 



fittings of all English yachts, probably has no superior for the pur- 

 pose, as'it is strong, dui able, takes a good polish, and is practically 

 unaffected by the weather. Thus (aj- it has been difficult and expen- 

 sive to obtain here and is little known. This year the English .-upply 

 has beea smaller than usual, and will eonlinuB so for at least a year, 

 according to the latest reports. The su]iplies to come from India and 

 Burmah are not only smaller iu quantity, bur the wood is of poorer 

 quality than usual, and ilic- loi;s smaller m size, averagiuK .37 to 3S 

 cubic feet per log in ij la. -e , .f Ju to i:m.. the refrular average. We 

 believe there are no dealers m New York who keep teak wood regu- 

 larly in stock; if there are we shall be pleasf>d to know of tt, as some of 

 our" amateur bud lers would he glad to try it. That used on the cut- 

 ters built here has been specially imported fi-om England, or has 

 been oljtained in small quantities from spars fitted to ships in East 

 Indian ports. 



A FAST PASSENGER STEAMER.— The new stdewheel steamer 

 Ireland, built by the Lairds, of Bu-kenhead, for the route between 

 Holyhead and Dublin, has proved very successful, making an aver- 

 age of 2014 knots on her trial trip between Holyhead and i-:mgstown._ 

 Her engines are 8ft. fiin. in diameter, with the same stroke, making 

 27 turns. With forced draft her indicated fl. P. was the speed 



being as stated ; wliile on another trial with natm-al draft the engines 

 indicated 5,111 H. P. and the average speed was 18 9 knots over the 

 same course. Her draft is 13ft. ihn. It is evident that the Messrs. 

 Lau-d have lost none of the skill for which they were famous when 

 they built the Anglo-Rebel privateers and blockade inmners of 186»- 

 65. 



