278 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sept. 26, 1808. 



SCUD. — 1 RATER. 



The British Half-Rating Class. 



THE OXFORD CANOE-YAWLS AND THE SOLENT RATERS. 



The class of yacht which is engaging public attention this week 

 through the international races of the Seawanhaka Corinthian Y. C. 

 at Oyster Bay is entirely new to this country, but is well known in 

 England under the title of the "Half- Rating Class." The limit of the 

 class, as we have frequently explained, is ^-rating by the Y. R. A. 

 rule— that is, the lengtn multiplied by the sail area and the product 

 divided by the constant, 6,000 equals the rating: 15ft. l.w.l. x SOOsq.ft. 

 of sail, divided by 6.000=3^. Though the Y. R. A. rating rule is not used 

 or recognized in the United States, it has been the fashion for several 

 years of some American yachtsmen to use the term "rating" as syn- 

 onymous with the American "sailing length" or "corrected length," 

 according to which faulty nomenclature a British half-rater becomes 

 a "15-rater" in this country. The correct designation of the class in 

 the Seawanhaka races is the "15ft. racing length" class, the under- 

 standing with Mr Brand and the Minima Y. C. being that the Seawan- 

 haka measurement should be followed; any slight difference between 

 it and the Y. B. A. rule being if anything in favor of a British rater 

 racing in American waters, allowing her to carry more sail. 



The half-rating class in Great Britain properly includes three differ- 

 ent types of small craft: the ordinary canoe-yawl, of both the keel 

 type, litre the Vital Spark, and the lighter centerboard type, such as 

 the many "Nautilus" canoe-yawls built by Mr. W. Baden Powell; the 

 Solent half-raters, mainly fin-keels; and the Oxford racing canoe-yawl, 

 a shoal draft centerboard craft of the sharpie type. 



It is from this latter class that Spruce IV. has been evolved, though 

 she is really a wide departure from the first models. We are indebted 

 to the kindness of Mr. Brand for much of the following information 

 and for a number of the photographs. The lines of the Oxford yawls 

 are from i he Model Yachtsman and Canoeist. 



The Oxford University Sailing Club, of Oxford on the Thames, is a 

 unique organization in that it begins its racing season in the fall and 

 continues all through the winter, ending in the spring; its races are 

 the first reported each year in the yachting journals, and also the last, 

 after all other craft are laid up for the winter. The Thames at Oxford 

 is very narrow and crooked, the club course is described as being 

 shaped like the letter Z. and only the most enthusiastic sailors would 

 think of racing over such water and in all sorts of winter weather. 

 There are times when the course Is wider, the freshets flooding the 

 meadows, but even when this happens the depth over the flooded 

 portions is barely three feet. Mr. Brand was at Oxford Univerxity 

 from 1885 until 1888, his ownership of a yacht beginning in the former 

 year with the open boat Pixie, a cutter rigged craft 20ft. over all, 17ft. 

 6in. l.w.l , 6ft. beam; and carrying, for sea work, two centerplates of 

 the ordinary form, and for river racing a single larger triangular 

 plate. She was built at Hastings, Sussex, by Tutt, the builder of the 

 famous old lugger, New Moon. With very full lines forward, but a 

 fine afterbody, Pixie was fast in a light and steady breeze, and though 

 races were not so numerous in those days, Mr. Brand won twenty-two 

 prizes in her in two years. In addition to the up-river work, Mr. Brand 

 has always spent much time on the Solent and about Dartmouth, and 

 Ptxie was used on the Channel as well as the river, finally coming to 

 an end by capsizing on Aug. 20, 1887, outside Dartmouth Harbor. 



The first of the Oxford canoe-yawls was Isis, built in 1888 for R. A. 

 Hinckley, owner of the very successful canoe Battledore, twice winner 

 of the R. C. C. challenge cup. Isis had but 4ft beam and was very 

 much rockered fore and aft, much of the American sharpie type. 

 What first suggested the adoption of this type at Oxford we have not 

 been able to learn, but in the course of a few years it was developed 

 into a very speedy class of racing canoe-yawls. Isis was very success- 

 ful, winning prizes at Bourne End and other places; following her 

 came Moor Hen, owned by Mr. Moore, a similar boat, but with le88 

 rocker and not so successful. The next two boats, Merlin and 

 Yankee, were larger and quite successful in the races. 



It was in the summer of 1890 that the Oxford canoe-yawl first at- 

 tracted more than local attention through the performances of 

 Shadow and Snake, both designed and built by T. O. Smith, a local 

 builder, the former for R. A. Hinckley and the latter for O. C. Lycam. 

 They were both 18ft. waterline, Snake being 4ft. lOin. beam and 

 Shadow 4ft. 6in. ; the difference in model being shown by the acconi 

 panying lines. Both boats have wide side decks and can be heeled 

 until the masts are almost in the water; having, in practice, with a 

 crew of two or three, a wide range of stability. Snake has a remark- 

 ably long and narrow well, right up to the mainmast. They are sailed 

 without ballast, carrying one lug mainsail of 200sq. ft. in racing, 

 though sometimes the main and mizen rig is used. Snake is built of 

 •cedar and her centerboard is y^va., iron. In details and fittings the 

 two were merely large canoes, using the drop rudder and deck steer- 

 ing gear. 



Shadow cruised down the Thames, then by steamer from London to 

 Southampton and later by steamer from Oowes to Teighmouth 

 spending a part of the summer on the Solent and about Dartmouth, 

 Iter owner living aboard for two months. She did some good racing 



on the South coast in light winds against the boats of the day. Snake 

 went to the British Canoe Association meet at Falmouth and proved 

 very successful, beating everything she met, beiner especially good in 

 windward work in close quarters. Next year, 1891, Torpedo was de- 

 signed and sailed very successfully by Walter Stewart, a canoeist 

 well known in this country, which he has twice visited, while Gipsy 

 and Spruce I. were added to the fleet. In 1892 two important modifi- 

 cations were made in the Oxford type; square sterns were introduced 

 and self-bailing cockpits. The new boats of the year were Serpent, C. 

 C. Lynam, and Ragamuffin I., H. Welch Thornton, both fuller in the 

 body and less like the sharpie; this change continued, with a shorten- 

 ing of the waterline and lengthening of the deck, in the boats of 1893, 

 Spruce It, Ragamuffin II , Snake II. and Free Lance, with Query late 

 in the autumn Both Spruce and Ragamuffin had bulb Ads, that of 

 the latter being fitted to lift. Next year there was a new crop; Spruce 

 III., Ragamuffin III., M, all with weighted centerplates, the first pair 

 having lug mainsail and a jib, the other, with Query, only one large 

 lugsail. 



It was in 1888 that Mr. Brand built his first boat, a 12ft. dinghy, 

 named Unique, for the existing Oxford dinghy class. She was built by 

 the Smith Brothers, the first of their boats with no deadwoode, but 

 with a great rocker to her bottom ; her beam was 5ft. She was suc- 

 cessful at Oxford, and won the championship in the dinghy class on 

 the Solent in 1889. She was the first boat at Oxford to use bamboo 

 spars, now so common there. Mr. Brand's next boat was the sloop 

 Coquette, 1888, 18ft. over all, 14ft. 6ln. l.w.l., 6ft. 3in. beam, and 2ft. 

 3in. draft without board. She was raced in 1888-9, but was too short 

 and wide 



In 1890 Mr. Brand built a 9ft. yacht dinghy to race against the late 

 Mr. Henry Emanuel's 9ft. dinghy, but Mr. Emanuel's death prevented 



a race; the boat, however, sailed four races and won three first prizes. 

 In the same year Mr. Brand raced in Shadow at Dartmouth and also 

 saw on the Solent two of the then new half-raters— Tiny, designed by 

 Herbert F. Ridsdale, and Humming Top, designed by Arthur E. 

 Payne— and determined, from his experience at Oxford, to bring out 

 a boat of the Oxford type for racing on the Solent; his expectations 

 being that in light winds and smooth water the shoal centerboard 

 boat would beat the deeper-bodied keel craft. The result was Spruce 

 I., designed by Mr. Brand and her builder, Theodore Smith, 18ft. over 

 all, 16ft. 2in. l.w.l., 5ft. beam. She has a centerplate dropping 1ft. 81n. 

 below the bottom and a deep drop rudder, and carried a lug mainsail 

 of 123sq. ft. and a mizen of 30ft., 153ft. in all; the crew being the only 

 ballast. The well is 6ft. long and but 8in wide, and fitted with a bucket ■ 

 well of oiled canvas, so that no water can get aboard, making her 

 capable of standing very hard weather. 



I Mr. Brand has been one of the most active of the Minima Y. C. from 

 its organization, and in his work for the club he has taken part in 

 amateur theatricals, among other plays in the comedietta "Sugar and 

 Cream." It was from a character in this play that the name Spruce 

 was first taken, and Mr. Brand has retained it for four successive 

 boats. 



Spruce I. was launched on July 16, 1891, and sailed her first race at 

 Hamble, on the 8olent, next day in the Minima Sailing Club race for 

 1-raters and half-raters, winning first prize, showing herself very fast 

 off the wind, but not as good to windward as the keel boats. Her rat- 

 ing was but .41, but she raced in the Solent for some time against both 

 1-raters and half- raters with great success and then went to Dart- 

 mouth. She sailed a fine race in the Torbay regatta in a very hard 

 wind, winning first prize easily. She ended the season by one success- 

 ful race on the Thames; her record belog: 34 starts, 20 first prizes, 4 

 second prizes, 5 other prizes; total value £50. 



Her second season began on the Thames, then she went to the Solent 

 in August and September and later to Dartmouth, where she sailed 

 some hard and exciting matches with Ragamuffin I. Her record for 

 1892 was: 44 starts, 12 first prizes, 10 second prizes, 7 other prizes: 

 total value £28. 



The second Spruce was a departure from the conventional Oxford 

 yawl, having a bulb fin, but unlike the Solent half-raters she has a 

 small centerplate forward of the fin. She was designed and built by 

 Theodore Smith, her over all length being 19ft. l.w.l., with crew of two 

 on board, 16ft. 6in., beam 5ft. 6in., rating .46. She is rigged with lug 

 mainsail and roller jib, the latter being clearly shown in the larger cut. 

 The jib rolls on a light wooden roller through which the jib stay runs, 

 this roller being revolved by an endless line on the lower end; it is so 

 hung in connection with a club which swings about the mast that by 

 means of an outhaul the whole rigging of the jib may be swung off 

 square to the keel, making a spinaker. The jib may be rolled up until 

 just a corner shows, or it may be unrolled to its full extent in reach- 

 ing. 



Spruce II. has some special features besides the jib, which is in com- 

 mon use in the half-rating class; she has two sliding seats, a folding 

 watertight bucket well, a special fastening to the bulb-fin by which it 

 can be taken off by unscrewing two nuts, a pivoted rudder which may 

 be lifted to clear weeds, etc., and a patent horse for the runners, so 

 made as not to buckle in the center; ber blocks, too, are of aluminum, 

 During Mr. Brand's ownership she won nine firsts out of sixteen 

 starts. The construction of the bucket well is as follows: 



This well is most useful, as it folds up and stows away under the 

 deck, and thereby gives full use of the boat in smooth water, and 

 when rough stuff is met such as coming down a river and going out 

 to sea it is fixed in its place in a few seconds. 



It is simple in construction, being made of watertight canvas in the 

 shape of a bag, which bag is attached to a wooden frame which is cut 

 in half at the forward and after end and held together by brass hinges 

 fixed on the under side at A A. The wooden frame fits outside the 

 coaming of well on the deck and is about }4in. above the deck level. ' 

 It is held in its place by six flat brass staples (three on a side, marked i 

 2?), which are fastened on deck, being raised up about }gin. above the f 

 deck; into these staples six tongues (c) slip, which are fast on under • 

 side of wooden frame. The under side of the frame has a ring of ' 

 india rubber (D), which is pressed down and the whole frame held in j 

 its place by the two buttons (E E), which are made level to the frame 1 

 by the blocks of wood (F F). All that has to be done to unship it is 

 to turn back the two buttons (E E) and lift the well out; by lifting j 

 the well out the two hinges close, which brings the brass tongues (O 

 out of their staples CB) ; they are also put in the same way. 



The whole bag is then shut together like a Berthon boat and put J 

 under the side deck out of the way; it is most handy, as with this j 

 well one is able to get at the stores, etc., when under way. The 

 rest of the bag is just the same as in Spruce I. ; the bottom of canvas 

 bag lies on the floor boards; at the bottom are attached the loop for 

 turning the water out and four thin floor boards held together by the 

 same waterproof canvas, so that they also fold up and stow away 

 with the well. They are a great preventative to the chafing of the 

 bottom of the well, and take up no room. There are fitted two 

 pockets, one at each end of the canvas bag, for putting lunch, pipe, 

 etc., in. 



Spruce HI. was built in April, 1894, by H. C. Smith, of Oxford; she is 

 24ft. over all, 15ft. 6in. l.w.l., 5ft. 6in. beam, the hull of cedar, with a 

 ■weighted centerplate instead of a fixed bulb-fin ; she has a lug main- 

 sail of 190sq. ft., but late in the season she was altered to sloop rig 

 and greatly improved. She began her racing in April on the Thames, 

 and after being successful there she went to the Solent; Mr. Brand 

 was taken ill with pleurisy and Mr. F. C. Keller sailed her until he re- 

 covered, after a month's illness. She was successful on the Solent 

 and later at Dartmouth and also at the B. C. A. meet at Salcombe. 

 During the season ot 1894 Spruce started 63 times, winning 19 first 

 prizes, 18 second prizes, 15 third prizes. 1 fourth prize, or 53 prizes 

 valued at £72, with three cups valued at £80. At the B. C. A. meet 

 she was steered by Miss Constance Bennett, winning first prize, besides 

 which she has won four other ladies' races. 



It was Mr. Brand's intention to build a fourth Spruce this year and 

 to sail a match with the new half-rater built at Clayton, N. Y., for Mr. 

 W. W. Howard, Miss Bennett to steer the new Spruce and Mrs. How- 

 ard the other boat; but after the visit to America was planned the de- 

 sign of the boat was altered, she being intended for racing on the 

 Sound rather than on the Solent; though of course neither owner nor 

 builder was familiar with American conditions and weather. 



Mr. Brand's adventurous and nomadic disposition has placed him 

 rather at a disadvantage in his many races, as, in a boat built for one 

 particular locality and to race with certain local craft, he has each 

 year visited several different localities and encountered the various 

 local fleets on their own waters. Under these circumstances, each 



