Aug. 36, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



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NOTE. 



Coxav' <f Yachts mx^Trect 9ftM 



THE NEW YORK YACHT CLUB COURSE. 



tlieir heads, for she never received justice the rest of the day' 

 Various pointless maneuvers were essayed and as speedily 

 dropped, any one of which was enough to account for the twenty 

 seconds wanting at the finish. But to crown all, she hove about 

 to starboard, plump for Priscilla's broadside for the fl^i'st 

 tack oif Sandy Hook, the iron sloop having right of 

 way. Puritan being imable to look across her opponent's 

 how, had to be brought into the wind again with steerage nigh 

 gone, and await the passing of Priscilla before she could be paid 

 away on her course. Five minutes were sacrificed by this unac- 

 countable blunder. Nothing but a state of desparation on board 

 can explain such reckless tactics. Upon rounding the Lightship 

 she was slow enough with her ballooners, though nothing like as 

 demure as the Mayflower. Both Boston boats sailed in on the 

 • wrong jibe. This error again was enough of itself to relegate Pur- 

 itan into third place. It is well-known that an easterly wind has 

 more southings in it as you approach the Hook and that the star- 

 board jibe is the proper one to try if it is at all possible. So Puri- 

 tan had to shift over spinnaker, as she found herself running by 

 the lee when half way in, and in doing this no great hurry was 

 manifested, though it was still an open question between herself 

 and Atlantic. Everything went well till the Spit was again rounded. 

 Then the balloon jib halliards parted and the clipper had to con- 

 tent herself with jogging home under plain headsail. Fifteen 

 minutes later she managed to show a small jibtopsail with which 

 she struggled iip to the finish against a strong ebb, only 20s. short 

 of putting Atlantic in her right place. This is the stoi-y in short 

 which accounts for the disappointment of her many faithful ad- 

 herents who were looking for better things from last year's cham- 

 pion. The boat did herself proud, hut the boat was "murdered" 

 hy her skipper and crew. 



Atlantic came to the line with her last trump to play. Ballast 

 had been promiscuously hove into her hold off and on to make her 

 stand up and hold a better wind, until all reckoning as to Avhat she 

 had in her was lost. Failing to show any improvement, a turn the 

 other way was inaugurated. She was drifting back to the begin- 

 ning with no more hope of succeeding than in the earlier days 

 when she was also in light trim. But har failures then having 

 "been forgotten Avith the lapse of time, the same old faitli to which 

 the Bay Ridge amateur still clings was revamped to prophesy great 

 things for this wonder of the "both wide and deep" school. Ballast 

 was hoisted from below and hove ashore this time, the avowed 

 object being to make the Atlantic lighter for a race in light winds. 

 Strange, unaccountable as it may seem, with the victorious careers 

 of Bedouin, Clara and other heaN'v displacement boats in light 

 winds right before their eyes, there" still exists a smaU school of 

 irreconcilables whose creed is summed up in the oft disproven 

 fallacy that light weiglit and speed must need go hand in hand 

 without regard to form. Iii deference to this ancient kiln-dried 

 dogma, tons of lead were hove over Atlantic's side till the crew got 

 tired hoisting it out, whereupon it was surmised her right trim 

 had been struck. Just how much was passed ashore nobody knows. 

 Just how much remains below the cabin floor is a matter for con- 

 jecture. 



Atlantic came to the line in all her ungainliuess and lubberly 

 adaptation of the cutter rig. Three things about her deserved 

 notice. She had been slicked up smooth outside and shone in bur- 

 nished potlead. If any difference could he detected in the smart- 

 lltting sails of the big quartette, the Atlantic would be chosen as 

 having the smartest fit. This thanks to the splendid workman- 

 ship of the famous Sawyer loft. In regard to rig and spari'ing, At- 



lantic's sponsors have yet much to learn, as a glance at the head- 

 hooms of the Galatea and the Boston clippers m comparison with 

 Atlantic's clumsy contrivances will show without more comment. 

 Finally, Atlantic had the skipper of the day. Needless here to 

 give Joe Elsworth a patent of indorsement. Up and down the 

 coast "Joe" is known as the first among pilots and fore-and-aft 

 skippers. Needless, too, to add that a good skipper is half the bat- 

 tle won, and almost needless to remark that but for Joe at the 

 wheel Atlantic has at no time a ghost of a show with Puritan, far 

 less any chance against the superb beauty now famous as the May- 

 flower. And this was clearly enough proven in last Saturday's 

 race. After driving across the start to windward of all her com- 

 petitoi's, Atlantic, free from blanketing by others, had the choice 

 of her own water. Magnificently she was handled from go to 

 wind up. Not an error of judgment ever so trifling, not a flaw in 

 the management of her sails can be charged against her in this 

 race. What little luck there was going fell to her share. She got 

 the best of the breeze out through the Narrows and once again be- 

 low the Hospital Ship. This, with the bee line Skipper J oe pre- 

 scribed from Lafayette down to the Spit, sent her flying ahead and 

 enabled her to show a good quarter of a mile between herself and 

 the iron sloop at the Spit elbow in the course. In her case it was 

 not the boat but the crew. With Puritan it was the boat despite 

 the crew. Now shift all hands over. Put Elsworth or his equal 

 at Puritan's wheel and the relative position of the two yachts 

 would have been reversed at the first turn. 



No sooner had the Boston twins paid the penalty for bad sailing 

 by a long stern chase and overcome the gap created through tlieir 

 own negligence, than both had Atlantic an easily beaten victim. 

 Mayflower did not throw away her chances and Puritan did. 

 Mayflower turned up altogether too much for the Bay Ridge 

 notion, and Puritan— well, Puritan's case has already been fully 

 considered. The lead of Atlantic down to the Spit may turn the 

 heads of the superficial or sympathetic critic, but to the unpreju- 

 diced spectator, Atlantic has no business in company with either 

 of the Burgess emanations. The performance of Atlantic in the 

 moderate roll over Sandy Hook Bar was anj^hing but inspiring. 

 She fell to leeward like a crab. She failed to point. She failed to 

 foot. Every sea picked her up and deposited her sideways in the 

 trough. Mayflower weathered on her and left her like a shot out 

 of a gun. Puritan was rapidly coming up and soaking out on 

 Atlantic when she took it into her head to ram Priscilla, changed 

 her mind and was left well astern for having lost her head. 

 Atlantic pitched heavily in comparison with the other so-called 

 sloops. But cutters pitch likewise. Galatea pitched almost as 

 much as the Atlantic. But Galatea has the form to pitch -wdthout 

 detriment to her speed and Atlantic with her bulging hips has 

 not. Therein lies an important difference. 



Down to the Spit it was noticeable that Atlantic heeled to a 

 greater angle than Galatea in the same wind, and of course the 

 Bay Ridge idea heeled much more than the other three contest- 

 ants. "\Vlien all the sloops had scuppers awash, the stately 

 Galatea came along with several feet of lee side out of water. 

 Atlantic was not improved by lightening her hallast in deference 

 to the amateurs pulling the strings behind the scene. She has 

 been held in reserve as a sort of terror of terrors In heavy weather 

 with a hollow sea. Just what she is likely to do in a sea can be 

 judged from her beha\dor last Saturday. When she piled into the 

 long and comfortable swell on Sandy Hook Bar, she lost her grip 

 at once and appeared at her worst. Given a blow and steep jump, 

 and Atlantic would sufEer in footing by the reduction of her can 



vas more than the other sloops of easier body. She would plunge 

 and heel, audit may even be questioned whether she could be 

 counted on to stay without hacking herself round. Besides, the 

 sponsors of this craft have all along been singing a different tune. 

 We have been told that Americans do not want to go to sea. That 

 only "idiots" want to go to sea. That we have no business building 

 boats for heavy weather. That "our waters" and "our winds" 

 demand a light weather boat. How is this to be reconciled with 

 the hollow pretense that Atlantic was intended to forfeit all claims 

 in "our weather" in order to excel in the kind of weather we are 

 never supposed to have, and ought to shirk when we do get it? 



The fourth of the hig sisters now claims attention. Of the 

 whole lot, Priscilla, bar cutter rig, is the only one which can claim 

 pretty close resemblance to the genuine iVmerican sloop. She 

 carries her ballast inside, and sails witliout any "newfangled no- 

 tiou" appropriated from the English racing cutter. It is with 

 considerable reservation that we speak of tbls sloop. "Sympathy" 

 had buUt up an artificial reputation for Mr. Canfield's vessel, 

 upon the strength of some cups landed by fluke pure and simple 

 and a liberal stretch of kind imagination. Hard facts are ruth- 

 lessly knocking the card houses of fancy to the four winds. 

 Priscilla's evanescent fame has vanished. Priscilla is the slowest 

 of the four. She always was. While pitted against Puritan her 

 extra length sent her down hill smartly enough by comparison. 

 Now that she has to deal witli others of her own leadline, Priscilla 

 is never in the hunt. Why should she be? It is not right to expect 

 it. She has her ballast inside and a rig to correspond. With the 

 center of her lead dropped 15 to 30in. and rig increased in propor- 

 tion, who, in the light of modern experience, can say that her 

 possibilities have been exhausted? The old school which drew a 

 distinction between "inside" and "outside" ballast, because the 

 first was "carried" and the latter "dragged" through the water, 

 is dead. Even the general public has learned that the value and 

 effect of ballast is governed by its quantity and depth, and that 

 the mere structural attribute of H s being inside or outside the hull 

 has nothing whatever to do with speed or performance. The man 

 who still prates about the "drag" of outside ballast has no longer 

 any standing in court. Inside ballast is out of date. Priscilla being 

 out of date in this respect, one of primary importance, cannot in 

 equity he compared with yachts having their weight in the lowest 



filace possihle. Of course she fails to turn up with the rest, and 

 ails also in doing herself justice in footing for want of rig enough 

 to foot. Priscilla, with her present sail plan, is the stiflest of the 

 four. She is too stiff for her own good in light to moderate weather. 

 She is stiff enough when it blows. Lower her weight and clap on 

 rig to correspond. Then it -will be time enough to reach positive 

 convictions concerning the form of her hull. Meanwhile, giving 

 her owner credit for his enterpi-ise and liberality in the efforts to 

 improve and for his manliness in sailing so many losing races 

 against a foregone conclusion, the repeated defeat of the Priscilla 

 by all the outside ballast boats is rather a matter for congratula- 

 tion. The day of fallacies has passed and Priscilla serves to en- 

 force the new lessons in a way so conspicuous that she may he 

 hailed as negative evidence in behalf of the new school. With her 

 defeat before the public, all first-class yachts will henceforth have 

 the bulk of their ballast incorporated with the boat's body or keel, 

 a measure of safety which ought to be welcomed with delight, in 

 view of scores of people drowned every year out of old-fashioned 

 traps. While no one can foretell the extent to which Priscilla can 

 be bettered, the experiment suggested cannot fail to have bene- 

 ficial eflfect if carried out by a person who understands his busi- 

 ness, and the designer of the Priscilla is quite equal to the task. 

 He is not responsible for the type Priscilla represents, but schemed 

 her out to meet the order of other people. That she has been well 

 planned and is a very fast boat of her kiad requires no further 

 assertion. 



The match was started on time, the committee, Vice-Corn. 

 Haight, Rear-Com. Barron, Mr. Smith and Mr. Krebs, aboard the 

 tug Luther 0. Ward, taking up position east of Buoy No. 18 off 

 Bay Ridge. Course through Narrows down to Spindle Buoy No. 

 8J^, around Black Can No. 5 off the Hook, and around Sandy Hook 

 Lightship, returning same way. Flynn's Knoll and False Hook 

 Shoals barred, and black buoys on West Bank to be left to the 

 westward, red channel buoys to the eastward. Ten minutes were 

 allowed to cross the starting line. Blanketing and luffing matches 

 were to be avoided, as the test was to he one of speed and not of 

 maneuvering for place. The wind had been light all morning, hut 

 picked up to fair working strength as the hour of start approached. 

 The usual number of yachts and a dozen small excursion tugs 

 were in attendance. Notable in this gathering were Galatea and 

 the English-huilt schooner Miranda, purchased and sailed over 

 recently hy Mr. Hill, of the Varuna, N. Y.Y. C. Both came in for 

 highly flattering indorsement, and whether fast or not, were gen- 

 erally conceded to he the boldest and most ship-shape yachts in 

 the harbor. Miranda gave an unintentional demonstration of her 

 speed with boom over the quarter, for when running home under 

 plain lower sail and small gaff topsail over the main, she held the 

 long schooner Dauntless ^^'ith spinnaker and all kites set to best 

 advantage. Galatea boxed about all day under her short cruising 

 rig, and estimates of her comparative speed are only wild guesses 

 not woi'th serious attention. She never approached the racing 

 yachts near enough, knowing the amenities of common courtesy 

 too well to seek a brush with vessels engaged in racing. Miranda 

 is certainly a model of exceeding beauty in every respect. She ex- 

 cels in appearance every schooner in American waters, not even 

 excepting the new Sachem, of Providence, R. I., and that is saying 

 a good deal. 



The four semi-sloops got their canvas sweated up by degrees and 

 hig clubtopsails, more or less square-headed in style, over the 

 gaffs, with jibtopsails hoisted in stops. With foresails lowered 

 they leisurely collected above the line, hauled their wind and 

 came down to the start tolerably well bunched, Mayflower lagging 

 a few lengths in the rear. Atlantic, or rather Joe Elsworth, liad 

 the weather berth, as might have been expected. Joe also led off 

 the dance, which was equally as much to be expected. The flood 

 was making, and Joe knows what "weather-bowing" the tide 

 through the Narrows imports with the wind in the east. With 

 balloon foresail sheeted inside the rigging, still one more innova- 

 tion "servilely copied" from J. Bull, and jibtopsail, Atlantic filled 

 away for the line, crossing with a rush on the port tack and the 

 committee close aboard. Puritan speedily followed, almost abreast 

 and three length to leeward, this being one of the very few occa- 

 sions upon which the plump white clipper failed to inaugurate the 

 ball highest up of the lot. Third over was Priscilla, four lengths 

 under Puritan's lee, and going away with a rush under large jib- 

 topsail. She was pinched for a moment or two, but then wisely 

 kept away rap full to clear her wind from the other two. By so 

 doing she burst Puritan's lee and fetched into second place. May- 

 flower kept a good luff over the line several lengths astern of all 

 hands. The following details and times are applicable in this 

 connection: 



PARTS OF THE VESSEL. 



May- 

 flower. 



Puritan. 



Pi-lsclUa 



Atlantic. 



Galatea. 



Length over all 



100 



93 



95 



95.1 



100 



Length on waterllne (ft.) 



85 



81.1^ 



84 



83 



86 





23. 



32.7 



22.4 



23.2 



15 









8.7 



10.6 



13.3 





9.6 



'8.5 



7.9 



9.3 



13.6 





82 



83 





103 





Mid. section tvom bow (ft.).. . 





.58L. 





.66L. 







68' ■ 



60 



59 



63 





Topmast (ft.) 



46 



44 



48 



47 





Bowsprit, outboard 



38 



38 



39.3 



38 







80 



76 



77 



76 





Gaff 



50 



47 



48 



48 





Tons of inside ballast 



11 



13 





32 







37 



27 



45" 



33 



so" 





110 



105 



U2 



108 





Sail area by rule 





7370 



7881 



8013 





Mayflower. Puritan. Prisoilla. Atlantic. Galatea. 

 Designer. .E. Burgess. E. Burgess. A. C. Smith. J. Elsworth. J. B. Webb. 

 Owner. .. .C. J. Paine. J.M.Forbes. A.C.Caniield. A. Y.C. Lt. W. Henn. 



The times of crossing: 



Atlantic 10 13 07 Priscilla 10 13 30 



Puritan 10 13 50 Mayflower 10 14 36 



Without serious attempt at running Atlantic's lee, which could 

 have been successfully accomplished, Puritan tried for the weather 

 gauge by a losing move. Lufiing sharp across Atlantic's wake 

 she lost her way, and when full again found herself left by a good 

 many lengths in Joe Elsworth's wake, no doubt just the move that 

 wily yacnting "sharp" had foreseen from his hot-headed adver- 

 sary. Priscilla, keeping about her own business, unmindful of 

 the rest, romped along meanwhile into a good second, but without 

 holding anything like Atlantic's weather. All the leaders had 

 gone away with balloon foresails, Mayflower strangely enough 

 contenting herself with working staysail only. She found out 

 her mistake off the old Murphy mansion and shifted for ballooner, 

 wasting a good deal of precious time in so doing, and losing some 

 water in consequence. She was then starved of her wind, and 

 headsheets kept lifting in an exasperating way, the big beauty fail- 

 ing to foot and dropping steadily into a poor fourth. Smart puffs 

 off the Hamilton bluffs sent Atlantic ahead flying, and both Boston 

 boats suffered from spring^ing their luffs too much and hugging 

 the shore. After getting scuppers well soaked the wind lightened 

 for the two sternmost racers and they were dropped still more by 



