388 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



|May 24, 1888. 



lachting. 



FIXTURES. 



May. 



30. Qgwegp Opening Cruise. 

 30. Wizard-Vivid Matcb, Larch- 

 mont. 



30. New Haven, Opening Sail. 

 30. Pavonia, Opening Sail. 

 30. Cedar Point, Open. 

 30. Fail River, Open. 

 30. Quaker City Opening. 

 30. Cleveland Squadron Cruise. 

 30. Seawanhaka Opening Sail. 



.Ill NR. 



2. Savin Hill, Club. 21. New York, N. Y. Annual. 



& Southern Annual. N. Orleans. 31. Oswego, Ladies' Day, 

 7. Miramiebi, Cup. 22. Great Head Moonlight Sail. 



34. Miramiebi. Spring Cruise. 

 24. Hamilton Y. C. 



26. Cape Cod, Club, Orleans. 



27. Yorkvllle Annual. 

 29. Rochester Opening Cruise. 



29. Quincy, Opeu. 



30. Atlantic Opening. 

 30. Great Head Trophy. 

 SO. South Boston Open. 

 30. Jersey City, Opening. 



». Larclunoui. Spring Pen. 

 D. Buffalo Club. 

 9. Groat Head Open. 



11. Shaekamaxon. Spring. 



12. Atlantic Annual. 



13. Columbia, Annual N. Y. 

 18. Jersev City, Annual. 



14. Rhode. Island Opening. 

 10. Quincy, Pen. 



to. Monatiquot, First Pen. 

 16. South Boston Club. 

 16. Cor. Marblebead Pennant. 

 16. Portland Annual Challenge. 

 16. Savin Hill, Open. 



22. Bay View Moonlight Sail. 

 22.; Savin Hill. 



22. Rhode Island, Ladies' Day. 



23. Seawanhaka Annual. 

 83. Hull, Hull Pennant. 

 2T. Pleon, Club. 



27. Cape Ann, Gloucester Cup. 



27. Yorkville. 



28. Eastern Annual. 



28. Eastern Annual, Marble- 



head. 



29. Quincy, Ut Cbam. 



30. Cor. Marblebead, 1st Cbam. 

 30. Great Head Pennant. 



16. Brooklyn Annual, N. Y. Bay. 30. Monatiquot, Club, Fort Pt. 

 16, Cape Ann, Gloucester Pen. 30. Dorchester Club. 



30. Savin Hill, Club. 

 30-July 2. Quaker City, Cruise 



Up River. 

 30-July 4. Portland Cruise. 

 30. Hull, Club Cruise. 



July. 



19. Miramiebi, Cup. 



20. Savin Hill, Moonlight Sail. 

 20. Great Head Moonlight Sail. 

 20. Bay View Moonlight Sail. 

 20. Monatiquot Moonlight Sail. 



17. Chelsea, Dorchester Bay 



18. Bay View. Club. 

 18. Quaker City Annual. 

 18. Dorchester. Open. 



18. West Lynn, Annual. 



19. New Jersey Annual. 



2-12. Seawanhaka Cruise. 



3. Miramichi, Club Cruise. 



4. Larchmont Annual. 

 4. Buffalo Annual. 

 4. Beverly, Mou. Beach Cham. 



4. Quaker City, Cor. Regatta, 20. L. Y. R. A., Oswego. 



7 Beverly, Swampscott Cbam. 21. American, Steam. 



7* Cor. Marblebead, Club. 21. Quaker City, Club Day. 



7 South Boston Club. 21. South Boston Club. 



7 New Roehelle Ai.uual. 21. Cor. Marblebead, 2d Cham. 



9-16. Interlake, meet and races, 21. Beverly, Mon. Beach 3d Open 



Put-in Bav. 21. Cape Ann, Gloucester Cup. 



10 Southern Cruise, N.Orleans. 23. Rhode Island Cruise. 

 VL Pleon, First Cham. 23. L Y. R. A.. Rochester. 



]3. Monatiquot. First Cham. 25. Pleon, Club. 



13. L. Y. R. A., Kingston. 28. Cor. Marblebead, Ladies' 

 14 Great Head 1st Cbam. Race. 



U Beverly, Marblebead, Open 28. Hull, Hull Regatta. 



Sweep, 1st and 2d. 28. Beverly, Mou. Beach Cham. 



14. Hull, Hull 1st Cham. 38. Great Head Club. 

 28. Bay View Club. 

 28. West Lynn, Club. 

 28. Cape Cod Clnh, Cape Ann. 

 28. L. Y. R. A., Hamilton. 

 30. L. Y. R. A., Toronto. 

 30. Quincy, 2d Cham, 



14. Chelsea, Dorchester Bay. 

 14> Savin Hill, Opeu. 

 14. West Lynn, Cham. 

 14 Cape Cod, Club, Brewster. 

 14. Atlantic Cruise. L. I. bound, 

 16 L. Y. R. A., Belleville. 



16 Quincv, Ladies' Day, Review 3L Monatiquot, Third Pen. 

 16! Rhode Island. Cham. 31. Dorchester Club. 



17. Monatiquot, 2d Pen., Inside. 31. L. \ . R. A., Toronto R.C.Y.C. 



18. Bav \' iew, Ladies' Day. 



August. 



— Larchmont Oyster Boat. 18. South Bostou Club. 

 1 Hull, Hull Ladies' Day. 18. Cor. Marblebead, Cup Race. 



4' Hull Hull 2d Ohampionship. 20. Great Head Moonlight Sail. 

 4' Beverlv, Nahar.t, 2d Cbam. 20. Miramiclii, Cup. 

 8* Pleon. second Cham. 22. Pieon, Third Cham. 



22. Cape Ann, Open. 

 25. Savin HiU, Club. 

 25. West Lynn, Ladies' Race. 

 25. Beverly, Marblebead, Open. 

 25-Sept, 8. Quaker City Cruise 



to New London. 

 27. Rhode Island, Open. 



27. Quincy, 3d Cham. 



28. Dorchester Club. 



29. Bay View Club. 

 29. Great Head Club. 



I. Monatiquot, Open Sweep. 



11.' Savin Hill, Club. 

 11. West Lynn, Club. 

 11. Beverly, Mon. Beacb Cham. 

 11. Cor. Marblebead, Open. 

 U-20. Buffalo Cruise. 

 11. Quincy, Open. 

 15 Great Head 2d Cham. 

 15. Monatiquot, Ladies' Day. 

 15. Pleon, Open. 



17. Bay View Moonlight Sad. 

 18 Bay View Annual Cruise. 



18. Monatiquot. 2d Cham, Ft. Pt 



P EPTEM B 1SH 



1. Cape Ann, Gloucester Cup. 8. Quincy^Sail-off. 

 L Savin Hid, Open. 

 L Hull, Hull Open Race. 

 1. Larchmont Fall. 

 3. Newark Fall. 

 3. South Boston Open. 

 3. Beverly, Marblebead Cbam, 

 3. Cor. Marblebead Cham. 

 3. Cape Ann Cruise. 

 5. Pleon, Sail Off. . r as 

 8. Cor. Marblebead, Sad Off. 



12. Great Read Club. 

 12. Pleon, Sweepstakes. 

 15. Buffalo Club. 

 15. Beverly, Mon. Beacb, Open 



Sweep. 

 15. Dorchester Club. 

 15. Savin Rill. Club. 

 18. Chelsea, Dorchester Bay. 

 20. Savin Hill, Moonlight Sail. 

 — . Miramichi, Cup, Final. 

 8 West Lvuu, Sweepstakes. 22. West Lynn, Cham. Sail-off. 

 8 Htdl Cham. Sail-Off. 29. Quaker City Cruise, Review. 



THE COMING YACHTING SEASON. 



I. — YACHTING AS A NATIONAL SPORT. 



IN spite of the cold and backward weather the pleasure fleet is 

 now nearly ready for the formal opening of the season on 

 Decoration Day; another week will see the fleets of the Atlantic 

 and Pacific coasts, as weU as the lakes, afloat and iu commission; 

 while a few weeks more will inaugurate a racing season that 

 promises to be the most active and instructive that has yet been 

 seen in American waters. True, the. exciting events of the last 



.1 . ^..^c^,,c. +>,£. fnf.£vimn.+.ifYtifl,1 raitofl for the. Amerien's Oiiti will 



and British, for the present season at least the ill results are not 

 likely to be serious, as the impetus of the races will be felt for a 

 time 'in a renewed interest in home racing. The substantial bene- 

 fits that have resulted to both sides from the three series of inter- 

 national races are disputed by none; abroad the success of the 

 Boston craft has hastened the abolition of the old Y. R. A. rule 

 in favor of a far more liberal one; it has shown that narrow 

 beam per sc. is not an element of speed in sailing yacht"; and it 

 has greatly weakened a number of time-honored traditions and 

 preiudioes. At home it has done much more in that it has en- 

 abled many to accept gracefully ideas which, though proved to be 

 correct were long denounced because of foreign origin. 



The vigorous fight which Forest and Stream and a small band 

 of "cutter cranks" begun and carried on from 1878 up to 1885, 

 had resulted in man v substantial victories, in the, acceptance by 

 many intelligent yachtsmen of the lead keel, the deeper hull, the 

 added displacement and the cutter rig; but there was still a large 

 number who were Arm in their adherence to the old sloop and 

 their hatred of any imported idea. So far as technical arguments 

 or established facts could prevail against a deep-rooted prejudice, 

 thev would probably have been as obstinate to-day, had not the 

 white Burg ass racers proved to them sugar-coated pills in winch 

 thev could gracefully swallow the bitter truths of science they 

 had' so long and loudly denied, and enabled them to accept in 

 Puritan what they condemned in Genesta, There are too many 

 live issues now before yachtsmen to allow any waste of time over 

 dead oiks, and we do not propose to discuss the question whether 

 the Burgess boats are sloops or cutters, it is sufficient to know 

 that their advent hastened the. end of the old American sloop and 

 opened the way more fully to the general adoption of a safe type 

 of yacht. This result alone is a sufficient ground for congratula- 

 tion and Mr. Burgess it entitled to the thanks of every friend of 

 American yachting for his double victory, not only over the for- 

 eign challengers who would take the Cup, but over the many 

 enemies of safe vachts in the home camp. Not within the last 

 three years only have American yachts been euceessfulin defend- 

 ing the Cup, but never since the original race have the results 

 been in overv way so satisfactory. Though victorious in the past 

 many of the American yaohts were of a type now generaUy con- 

 demned; and though faster they were inferior in many points to 

 the eturdv ships that crossed the Atlantic to sail over the New 

 York Y. C. course. In the late races, however, the challengers 



have rcoresented the continued advance in design and construc- 

 tion of twenty years of keen racing, and yet they have been de- 

 fen ted by honest boats of a type hurriedly adopted to meet a sud- 

 den emergency, the yachts themselves being built in the greatest 

 possible baste. The victories over Genesta, Galatea and Thistle 

 signify not only the possession of the fastest yacht, but the abil- 

 ity 01 the American, when confronted with an obstacle or an 

 emergency, to surmount them through pluck, ability and ingenu- 

 ity, in short the new type represents not alone speed, but a sub- 

 stantial advance in yachtdesigning. 



Before the regular work of the racing season begins it is worth 

 while to review the present condition of American yachting, to con- 

 sider its tendencies, its faults, and the means of remedying them. 

 First, then, as to racing. The successes of the new yachts have 

 placed the American racing fleet at the head of the. list and en- 

 dowed its movements with an importance which they never pos- 

 sessed before. In schooners, in single-stickers, in large and in 

 small craft, the achievements of the last three seasons have 

 claimed the attention of yachtsmen in all countries, and have 

 transferred the arena for yachting contests from the English 

 Channel, the Thames and the Clyde to Marblebead, New York 

 aud Newport. Only four years since the racing of Marjorie, Irex, 

 Genesta, Samoena, Vanduara, Erycina and Wer.dtirwas watched 

 and studied eagerly by yachtsmen the world over; while no one 

 outside of New York cared a rap whether Gracie beat Fanny or 

 Fanny beat Gracie. To-day the interest has been transferred to 

 American water*-, and the performance of Volunteer, of Sachem 

 and of Pappoose are as well known abroad as at home. While 

 this alone is flattering to the national pride, it should awaken all 

 American racing men to a full sense of the responsibility imposed 

 on them, and should unite them in the effort to improve and ele- 

 vate still further the national yachting. 



Its place in racing we have already noted. In cruising it is not 

 far behind; the flag is seen each year in more foreign ports, while 

 the yachts which carry it are far in advance of their immediate 

 predecessors. Last year Fortuna held her own with credit about 

 the British coast, though through no fault of hers she was not in 

 the racing; and this year the new Yampa will follow her across 

 and show what sort of a cruising yacht Americans are now build- 

 ing. Up and down the coast, from Labrador to the West Indies, 

 in winter as in summer, the cruising fleet is ever in commission, 

 from the largest schooners and steamers down to the 30-footers 

 that dodge from port to port. Ocean cruising has become a per- 

 manent feature of American yachting, and the standing of the 

 cruising fleet, both in personnel and equipment, is as in the racing 

 fleet, rapidly improving. 



A practical evidence of this is in the great interest taken in navi- 

 gation by amateur sailors. The School of Navigation conducted 

 by Capt. Howard Patterson in New York lias numbered on its 

 rolls for home time the leading yachtsmen, non-owners as well 

 as owners; but this year anew impetus has been given by the 

 Seawanhaka C. Y, C. Other clubs, notably the Dorchester, of 

 Boston, have followed this example, and lectures and instruction 

 in classes have served to occupy many yachtsmen through an 

 unusually trying winter. 



Closely connected with this subject of practical instruction is 

 that of a Naval Reserve, another scheme originating with the 

 Seawanhaka C. Y. C. and now- favorably reed ved by all 1 he leading 

 clubs. After much preliminary work the subject has been pre- 

 sented in such shape that it has received the heartv approval of 

 the" 



yacli__ 

 is still 



of a lar-ge body of naval volunteers, as well as the bene- 

 fits to yachting from such a stimulus, are recognized by all; and 

 the success of the scheme is only a matter of time. An impor- 

 tant step toward it is now under way, the placing in commission 

 of a vessel to be used as a training school for yachtsmen; in 

 which a cruise will be made during the summer and the regular 

 course of instruction kept up under Captain Patterson. 



Looking at the condition of yachting in a general way, it has 

 never been as prosperous as at present, with over 100 clubs in 

 the United States and Canada, and with a larger and far better 

 built and equipped fleet than ever m the past. Not only is it pop- 

 ular with the class from which recruits must he looked for, but 

 the late races have brought it prominently before tire general 

 public; the patriotism of the people has been fluttered, and the 

 result is a widespread interest in yachting, such as never before 

 has existed here. This in itself may not be of much account, but 

 at the same time anything which brings into prominence the salt 

 water interests of the country, whether of trade or pleasure, is 

 doing a good work. Americans as a nation have never been dis- 

 tinguished as a nautical people, there are too many square miles 

 of prairie, too great an area remote from maritime interests; and 

 from the ilrsc these have been slighted and neglected until the 

 result is a national disgrace. To-day not an American flag flies 

 over a trans-Atlantic steamship, and the merchant marine, ex- 

 cept in the coasting trade, is totally dead. Railroads traverse 

 the land in every direction; mdlions of dollars have been lavished 

 on them by the people, hut ships have been utterly neglected. 

 Such a condition of affairs must some day bring its own punish- 

 ment and the remedy cannot be sought for too soon, but it must 

 come through an awakening of the whole country to the vital 

 importance of its marine iuterests, and perhaps the entering 

 wedge may be found in the excitement and enthusiasm over the 

 victories of Puritan and Volunteer that have penetrated to every 

 corner of the land. It is a long time since this country has had a 

 naval war (or even a na vy), and at a small dist ance from the coast 

 the interest in maritime matters is dead; the names of Hull, 

 Lawrence, Preble, even of Farragut are forgotten. It is this pride 

 in its navy, its merchant marine and its yacht fleet, with the love 

 of the sea' that accompanies it. that has made England what she 

 is, and the same feeling should tie fostered and encouraged in 

 America. In so far then as yachting awakens and strengthens 

 this feeling, as it undoubtedly has done of late, it rises above the 

 plane 01 mere pleasure and recreat ion and becomes an important 

 factor in the national prosperity. 



Looking first at the general condition of yachting; along the 

 Atlantic coast, trom Maine to the capes of the Delaware the sport 

 flourishes at its best, over sixty clubs and the finest vessels being 

 included in the North Atlantic fleet. Along the coast further 

 down yachting is less developed, but are a number of active 

 citibs, some of them newly formed, are carrying on the work with 

 increased vigor each year. In Florida yachting is growing, largely 

 through the presence of many Northern yachts in winter, and the 

 visits of Northern yachtsmen who use the smaller classes of boats 

 in the shoal waters that abound there. In New Orleans, Savannah, 

 Wilmington, Charleston, Mobile, St. Augustine and Palatka there 

 are established clubs, and though less advanced than in the 

 North, the interest is growing. On the St. Lawrence and Lake 

 Ontario are some of the most active and energetic clubs, both 

 American and Canadian, aud in point of organization and system 

 the L. Y. R. A. is the only body of the kind in the country, save the 

 New England Y. R. A., which deals only with small yachts. With 

 a good system of uniform rules aud a fixed round of races each 

 year, the growth of yachting has been most satisfactory within 

 the last four years, new clubs being formed and the old ones 

 strengthened. Further west, on Lake Eric, less work has been 

 done, the task of organization is less complete, and a good system 

 of rules and classification, with a special effort to encourage a 

 better type of vacht are still needed. On the other lakes yachting 

 is found only in the bands of isolat ed clubs, and much preliminary 

 work is yet to be done. In Chicago, great city as it is, the older 

 clubs nave declined sadly, and the best hope for better things lies 

 in the voung Corinthian Y. C, which is starting in the rignt way 

 to train up the nucleus of a future yacht fleet in the racing of 

 small craft. On the Pacific coast the same state of affairs pre- 

 vails; the once active Pacific and San Francisco clubs are practi- 

 cally dead, the fleet of large schooners is scattered, and if it were 

 not for a small band of sailors in the Corinthian Y. C, with a club 

 of hardy canoe sailors. San Francisco Bay would be practically 

 deserted. As it is, the Corinthians are going to work in the right 

 way, with plenty of racing and many sociable outings, their num- 

 ber's are increasing, their boats improving, and some day they 

 will far surpass the best efforts of the old clubs. Yachting, how- 

 ever, is not confined entirely to the broader waters, and small but 

 flourishing clubs are scattered throughout the country, many as 

 yet hardly aspiring to the name of yacht club, but with the sail- 

 ing element coming to the front each year with more and better 



r *iurning now to the yachts (a fleet of somewhere over 3,000 

 craft, large and small), the prospect is most encouragiug. Com- 

 pared with but a few years back, the yachts of to-day are emi- 

 nently safe, fast, commodious and well built, rigged, equipped 

 and manned. A chance search through some old papers the 

 other day brought to light a letter from Mr, A. Gary 

 Smith, written in the fall of 1880, and containing the fol- 

 lowing prophecy: "And the timo cometh when the keel man 

 shall stand on one ear and point the linger of scorn at the flat 

 man, when he hideth his head when the wind blowetb." Cer- 

 tainly the prophecy has been fulfided many times and oft. the 

 flat boat has disappeared, and the keel has supplanted it every- 

 where. One instance is specially noticeable, the boat built last 

 year to prove the value of inside ballast, flat model and single 

 lib, and that failed so signally when the wind blew at Larchmont, 

 now she has changed to the double rig and added a lead keel, and 

 with her die forever the theories embodied in the old sloops. 



Depth is found everywhere in the new boats, lead keels are uni- 

 versal; and it must be admitted that the present type, represented 

 by Sachem, Sea. Fox. Volunteer, Mayflower, Puritan, Katrina, 

 Shamrock, Cinderella, and other similar boats, is in many ways 

 superior both to the old centerboard sloop and the six beam 

 cutter. 



Compared with other types that have proceded it the deep, lead- 

 keeled yacht, with improved cutter rig, wide beam, flush deck, 

 handsome topsides and good accommodation, is an excellent boat, 

 especially for racing; but this is by no means the whole length 

 and breadth of the subject. The great question id not how good 

 the present type is; but whether it is the very best possible for the 

 good of yachting? Safety can be left out now that the necessity 

 for it in any yacht is so generally recognized that it is not likely 

 to be neglected again as in the past. With plenty of depth and 

 lead the yachts of the future are at least sure to be safe; but 

 there are other important qualities to consider. In speed the new 

 craft arc certainly equal to the best that have preceded them 

 wide or narrow, shoal or deep; but do they give the maximum of 

 comfort and accommodation with a minimum of cost, both in 

 first construction and in maintenance? These vital questions 

 are not readily answered, but lead directly to other points of no 

 less importance. 



The business side of yachting has never received the least 

 recognition in this country. There is an investment running up 

 into the millions, presumably to secure some return, with added 

 expenditures every year, and yet there has never been the slight- 

 est attempt on the part of any club or association of clubs to direct 

 and regulate this expenditure so as to attain some definite end. 

 Thousands of dollars are spent each year in the addition of new 

 yachts to the fleet; and yet no one cares whether the rules under 

 which these, yachts are built are such as to produce a good or a 

 bad boat. American yachtsmen are as a class successful business 

 men, and not for a moment would they allow any enterprise with 

 which they are connected to wag along in the shiftless, aimless 

 and unsystematic manner that has ahvays characterized yacht- 

 ing. Each man's interest in racing rules extends to his own craft 

 and no further, as long as she is unmolested he cares nothing for 

 rules; but let a measure be proposed that is in the least detrimen- 

 tal to her, and, no matter how essential it may be to the general 

 good of yachting, be is up in arms at once. Attempts have been 

 often made in the past by a few spirited and far-sighted yachts- 

 men to int roduce some system into yachting, but they have met 

 with apathy at first and finally with active opposition from those 

 who should have been first to help. 



The period from 1878 to 1888 has been the most important that 

 American yachting has ever passed through. At its beginning 

 the shoal, wide, badly rigged and ballasted crafr, of light dis- 

 placement, was in universal use. Since then the narrow, deep 

 cutter, with lead keel and great displacement, has attacked the 

 home boat iu its own waters; and as a result the old yacht fleet 

 lias been completely wiped away, and a new type has come for- 

 ward in its place. To-day this type has been very generally 

 accepted, and the work has just begun of building a larger and 

 more costly pleasure fleet than the country has ever seen. This, 

 then, is the time, before another keel is laid or another nail driven, 

 to consider well and carefully what this new fleet is going to be; 

 how the immense sum that it will cost is to be best expended. 

 The characteristics of the coming fleet is determined mainly by 

 two factors— measurement and classification; but in what condi- 

 tion are both of these to-day? Each club is a law unto itself, inde- 

 pendent, aggressive, and too often proud and jealous of its own 

 supposed importance to a degree that makes any common effort 

 impossible. The vital question of the day, measurement, is of 

 itself working toward better things; but every effort to secure the 

 adoption of a common system has thus far failed through the hos- 

 tile efforts of some of the leading clubs and the active opposition 

 of the older and more conservative yachtsmen to anything that 

 savors of change or improvement, A year ago the Forest and 

 Stream took up the next important question, classification, and 

 made a strong effort to arouse the large clubs to uniform action. 

 Some good has resulted, bur the way in which the matter has been 

 handled gives little hope for any harmonious action among the 

 clubs in the future, except of the sort of the lion and the lamb 

 who laid down together— with the lamb inside. 



The whole character of the future fleet, the question whether 

 the money to be expended on it shall be well spent or wasted, de- 

 pends now on three points: the adoption of one uniform system of 

 measurement and classification of all American yachts; the deter- 

 mination of the proper ratio of sail area to wateiiine length in 

 the measurement, and the proper method of determining the sail 

 art a for this purpose. The necessity for the first is obvious to all, 

 a yacht built in New York will race along the coast from Maine 

 to Delaware, and is not unlikely some day to find a home on the 

 lakes: and, in order that owners and designers may build with 

 certainty to any class, that class must be precisely the same in all 

 waters in winch the boat is likely to race. As it has been in the 

 past, and is even now. a yacht built in Boston for certain clubs 

 there is worthless for racing in New York, the same relative con- 

 ditions maintaining in other places. The measurement rule, too, 

 is concerned, as well as the classification; a yacht built for a club 

 that rates by length and sail area is likely to be shut out from a 

 club that rates by length aud one-third overhang. In the past, 

 with yachts identified mainly with but one club, the trouble was 

 comparatively small, but it is increasing each year as the racing 

 becomes more extended, and yachts are sold from one port to 

 another. Not only is a uniform system needed, but it must be the 

 very best possible for the development of the perfect yacht. 



The system of measurement by length and sail area has made 

 great progress within the past six years; it has driven out the old 

 rating by length alone, and iu somewhat different forms it is 

 now adopted by the leading yacht clubs of the world. Wlule 

 open to some objections it is by far the most practical method 

 yet devised, and it will probably be a very lonsc time before any- 

 thing radically different and at the same time better will be laid 

 before yachtsmen. This rule is extending every year and is likely 

 soon to be generally adopted in principle, but the two questions 

 of detail, on which the results depend, aro still unsettled. The 

 first of tnese is how to measure the sail accurately, a somewhat 

 difficult matter, but capable of fairly satisfactory solution when 

 once thoroughly studied. The second and more important point 

 is the ratio that sad area should bear to the length. The clubs 

 have differed on this point and various proportions are now in 

 use, but of late the opinion has been very generally advanced 

 that the rule of the New York Y. O. does not tax sail heavy 

 enough. Mr. Burgess has declared himself of this opinion and 

 the Eastern Y. C. have just backed him up by abandoning the 

 New York Y. C. rule for that, adopted in 1882 by the Seawanhaka 

 C. Y. C. A look at the spars of any of the new yachts will show 

 that the step is in the right direction, the only question being 

 whether it goes far enough, and we hold, with many competent 

 yachtsmen, that it does not; that a still heavier tax on sail would 

 give a yacht, of at least the same speed and internal accommoda- 

 tion arid less costly to build and run. The step from Galatea to 

 Volunteer is a big one, from 15ft. beam to 23ft. 8m., and though 

 the wide boat has been prov ed the better of the two, it has not yet 

 been proved or even intimated that she is the best boat possible. 

 Thistle, indeed, with all her shortcomings, shows what may be 

 done on more inodera'e proportions in the way of accomodation 

 and general good Qualities. 



With all the good points of the new type, the possibilities are 

 not a little alarming, m each new boat is seen larger spars, while 

 the displacement ot some these so-called sloops is already far 

 in excess of anything yet seen in the cutters of similar length; 

 and yet no man can say where under the present rules the end 

 will be reached. Certainly the cost of this type, both in building 

 and running, has already reached the limit; whale, however fast 

 itmav be, the question of its seagoing qualities is as yet hardly 

 broached. As matters stand now, however, many of these boats 

 will be built with further increase of sail and displacement. 

 They may prove all their friends expect or they may not; but be- 

 fore it is too late, before vested interests make a change impossi- 

 ble, the question of the best type to encourage, and the best rule 

 by which it may be done, should be determined as nearly as pos- 

 sible. 



Such a task as this can only be properly handled by a national 

 association representing the different yachting interests and 

 numbering in its council the wisest and most progressive of 

 American yachtsmen. The need of such a body has long been 

 felt and steps have been taken in the past toward its formation, 

 but all without avail. Each year, however, with the growth < f 

 yachting.it becomes more and more evident that thisgrowtn 

 must be properly governed and directed. The work to be done is 

 plain enough, a permanent system of classes must be laid down, 

 covering all sizes of yachts from the smallest upward; a single 

 rule of measurement must bo adopted that will directly foster 

 types that, first being safe, shall possess a maximum of speed and 

 accommodation with a minimum of cost; a thorough system of 

 racing rules must be compiled, in such form that they may be 

 adapted to all American clubs; a body must be provided to decide 

 all questions arising under the rules on appeal from the decisions 

 of the club committees; and most of all it must fuse into one 

 harmonious and disciplined body the many conflicting elements 

 that are now found in American yachting, it must give to it a, 

 backbone and a character, and it must lay down a qeflnite and 

 progressive policy for the future. 



