May 24, 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



8B9 



The desirability of such a body is beyond question, but the only 

 doubt is whether it is yet, practicable; whether the 'iineisyet 

 ripe for the serious attempt to establish an American Yacht Rac- 

 ing Association? The time bas come when it is badly needed, but 

 it is bv no means certain that it can be permanently organized. 

 In addition to the difficulty which always exists of awakening the 

 average club member to an interest in anything which does not 

 directly affect his own boat, there are three serious obstacles in 

 the way; the conservative yachtsmi.n who are directly opposed to 

 any change or improvement, the jealousy existing between the 

 yacht clubs themselves, and the indifference of the larger clubs, 

 as well as ihe owners of large boats, to the interests of the smaller 

 clubs and of small craft generally. The first obstacle is becoming 

 smaller each year, as fresh recruits are enlisted in the fleet and 

 the real aims and requirements are better understood, and it 

 must ultimatele disappear before the advance of knowledge. 

 The second obstacle has been in the past, and still is, a serious one; 

 and bas made itself felt whenevei any combination has been 

 attempted. There are some clubs whose jealousy of their sup- 

 posed importance leads them to oppose any movement originating 

 outside of themselves, and in most cases in the past they have been 

 successful. Fortunately the number of thinking and intelligent 

 yachtsmen is increasing, their influence is already strongly felt 

 m many clubs, and these clubs stand ready to back the effort for 

 improvement as soon as it is fairly started. Once the fighl is 

 begun, it will easily be seen who are working for the common good 

 and who for any special club or faction, and if the movement be 

 property organized and presented to the great body of yachtsmen, 

 no single club will he powerful enough to oppose it from mere 

 selfish motives. 



With this removed it might be possible to establish an associ- 

 ation of the larger clubs, that would do much for yachting, but 

 still would leave the smaller clubs to shift for themselves, as at 

 present. There has always been a, di -position on the part of the 

 large clubs to ignore the small ones as of no importance, and to 

 look only after the interests of the large craft; but if a truly 

 national association is to be formed, it must be on no such basis 

 as this. There is really no opposition, no clashing of interests, 

 between the large and small craft: they can live and flourish to- 

 gether, the smaller even aiding the large, but many clubs and 

 yachtsmen have not been disposed to take this view, they look 

 upon the small craft as beneath their notice. In a complete and 

 comprehensive scheme of national yachting the small ciat't must 

 be at lea3t as important as the large ones, it is in them that are 

 directly and personally interested the great body of yachtsmen, 

 and in them that a very large part of the cruising and racing is 

 done. A dozen yachts like Volunteer would not of themselves 

 make a pleasure navy of really national proportions, but they 

 must, be accompanied by the smaller craft, whose functions, 

 though apparently insignificant, are just as essential. Of course 

 the racing of yachts above SO t. must always be the most prominent 

 feature of yachting, to be encouraged in all ways, and the rules 

 must be suited first to the wants of these boats; but at the same 

 time the small yachts, the clubs in which they are enrolled, aud 

 the men who sail them, must be recognized as having rights of 

 their own, and in no way beneath the notice of an association, 

 however large and powerful it may be. 



The work to be dono we have already outlined; and, while there 

 are many intricate details to be arranged, it is not difficult to say 

 what shbuld.be the leading characteristics of a national associ- 

 ation. It must be above all devoted to the promotion of American 

 yachting in all localities and including all branches of the sport; 

 its organization must be such that, while laying down certain 

 fixed standards, as before indicated, it shall allow the greatest 

 liberty of action to the clubs composing it in all local mat ters: 

 and, finally, it must include a legislative and executive body or 

 representative yachtsmen from all classes and sections, which 

 shall consider the best means of advancing a truly national 

 system of yachting, with power to enact and enforce such laws 

 as it deems advisable. The scheme is in no way visionary or Uto- 

 pian; it has been done for years on the ball field, the cricket 

 ground, the tennis court and in other branches of land sports; 

 there is a national association of amateur oarsmen, a body with 

 recognized rules and laws and with a strong and vigorous policy, 

 which has labored successfully for years for the extension and 

 elevation of rowing; and, last of all, there are the canoeists doing 

 exactly what should be done by yachtsmen. The beginning of the 

 prosperous growth of American canoeing dates from the founda- 

 tion of the American Canoe Association by thirteen men in 1880, 

 and to-day a common system of ruleB for building, racing and 

 classing canoes is recognized throughout the United States and 

 Canada. The success of the canoeists is the more remarkable 

 from the fact that it is the work of young men with no experience 

 in rules or racing. Under the rules and the general management 

 of the Association a very large fleet of fine canoes has been built, 

 races are held every week from May to November, and the work 

 of enlisting new men and organizing clubs goes on steadily from 

 year to year. On the other side of the Atlantic there is the Yacht 

 Racing Association of Great Britain as an example of what may 

 be done in yachting itself; a body that is recognized by all the 

 clubs, and whose efforts have done so much to promote harmoni- 

 ous action among yachtsmen and to advance yachting in the 

 British Islands. 



If this is practicable abroad, if it can be done in other sports at 

 home, there should be no reason why it is not possible in yacht- 

 ing. The pressing need of such a body is beyond dispute, the good 

 that it might at once accompliah is plain to all; the only question 

 is whether the time has yet come for an earnest effort toward the 

 establishment of an association, or whether the obstacles men- 

 tioned are still strong enough to defeat such an effort. If this 

 question were settled favorably there are many who would he 

 ready to push the work. The Seawanhaka C. Y. C. has already 

 started it by the resolution just passed, in which the matter was 

 intrusted to a special committee of active and enterprising 

 yachtsmen, and other clubs are ready to take it up. Whether or 

 no anything will be done at present depends on the different clubs 

 as well as on individual members, as it must be through the latter 

 that the matter is canvassed and discussed iu the clubs and in the 

 papers, and the attention of the great majority of yachtsmen 

 called to its imnortance. The latter task is no easy one, as it is 

 always difficult to awaken in the majority of men any deep 

 interest in abstract principles, or anything tuat does not immedi- 

 sstely concern themselves, but a little well directed missionary 

 woi'k in the clubs and through the press can accomplish a great 

 deal in this direction. In spite of its grand achievements and its 

 present condition, yachting iu America is still notably lacking in 

 unity of purpose, in character, and in a definite and progressive 

 policy; with these assured, its growth in the immediate future 

 will he rapid and prosperous to a degree that will leave in .the 

 shade even the great progress of the last few years. 



DICKENSON'S PATENT SCREW PROPELLER. 



THE accompanying illustrations, for which we are indebted to 

 Engineering, show a new form of propeller invented by Mr. 

 B. Dickinson. As will be seen, each blade is divided into two or 

 more arms, each of which acts more effectively on the water than 

 the corresponding portions of one solid blade. The different 

 sections are fitted separately to the shaft, so that one may be 

 easily removed or replaced. The wheel shown in Figs. 1 and 2 

 was lately tested against the one shown in Figs. 3 and 4, being 

 fitted to sister ships, each of 3'.'5 tons register. In a trial on the 

 Thames the vessel with the new propeller made the same speed 

 with a greater load at a saving of 11.3 per cent, in coal. 



THE DEED OF GIFT AGAIN. 



SINCE it became evident some time since that no challenges for 

 the Cup could be had under the new deed of gift and that the 

 action of the New York Y. C„ if adhered to, must seriously injure 

 the club in addition to the harm already doue by its unsportsman- 

 like actions, there has been some conjecture as to when and how 

 the club would attempt to remedy its blunder. This was set at 

 rest last week by the following resolution, offered at the club 

 meeting by Fleet Captain Kortright, one of the chief sponsors of 

 the new deed. After letters from the Yacht Racing Association 

 and the Royal London Y. C. condemning the terms of the deed 

 had been read, Mr. Kortright moved as follows: 



Whereas, The secretary of this club has received letters dated 

 Nov. 26, 1887, from the Royal London Y. C. and from the Yacht 

 Racing Association, representing the principal yacht clubs of 

 Europe, and dated Feb. 22, 1888. regretting that the terms of the 

 new deed of gift of the America's Cup, presented by Mr. George 

 L. Schuyler, and dated Oct. 28, 1887, are such that foreign vessels 

 are unable to challenge; and 



Whereas, In this deed of gift by which the cup is now held by 

 this club, any mutual agreement may be made between the chal- 

 lenged and challenging party; therefore 



Resolved, That the terms under which the races between Genesta 

 aud Puritan, Galatea and Mayflower and Thistle and Volunteer 

 were sailed are considered satisfactory to the club, and a chal- 

 lenge under ttiese terms would be accepted, but with the positive 

 understanding that if the cup is won by the club challenging, it 

 shall be hell under and subject to the full terms of the new deed, 

 dated Oct. 28, 1887, inasmuch as t, His club believes it to be in the 

 interest of all parties, and the terms of which are distinct, fair 

 and sportsmanlike. 

 The motion was carried., there being 13 voters at the meeting. 

 While the offer seems on the face a fair one it by no means 

 settles the main issue of the merits of the present deed of gift, 

 but makes it a matter of chance, a mere toss up, which side shall 

 be favored by the peculiar clauses of that much criticised docu- 

 ment. As the resolution reads, the club will accept a challenge 

 from a foreign club under the second deed, all other races to be 

 sailed uuder the new deed. If, then, a British yacht comes to 

 race next season she has just one chance, if she wins she takes the 

 Cup home under conditions which should make it almost a cer- 

 tainty that it cannot be regained. If on the other hand she loses 

 as in the past, the present obnoxious deed remains in force for all 

 time, or until the New York Y. C. finds another pretext for 

 further departure from the plain intentions of the men who 

 gave the Cup. Most yachtsmen will agree with us that there is 

 very little chance just now of a British yacht coming here with 

 success where Thistle, Galatea and Genesta have failed; a yacht 

 would have to be built, and thus far there is nothing to indicate 

 that the faults of Thistle would be corrected and others perhaps 

 as serious avoided in her, or that she would be able to win from 

 Volunteer if- the latter be kept in form, much less from the 90 

 footer which would be built to take her place as a defender. The 

 challenger must put all his eggs in one basket, with the chance 

 that he mav lose them all, and on the other hand a much smaller 

 chance that by one grand stroke he may come out far to wind- 

 ward of his antagonist and hold the Cup under the most favorable 

 terms. This is a sort of juggling which is unworthy of the high 

 office of the America's Cup, bringing it down to a game of toss 

 for best position rather than starting each competitor on pre- 

 cisely the same terms. Whether or no it really represents the 

 sentiment of the New York Y. C is a difficult matter to decide, as 

 out of a club of some 700 members only 13 who were eligible to 

 vote were at the meeting. 



The New York Herald of May 31 ptiblishes the following inter- 

 view with Gen. Paine. The question was asked of him: 



"What is your idea of the intention of the New York Club in 

 passing the resolution offering the terms of past years to chal- 

 lengers for the America's Cup?" 



"I have not examined it carefully, but should say that it was 

 meant to apply to all challenges until the Cup was won from the 

 club. This action shows that the club adopted the new deed of 

 gift as a protection to the cPallenger rather than the challenged, 

 for it certainly favors the former, if anything, though fairer all 

 around than the old deed. What was there in the old deed to 

 prevent us from building a 100ft. boat to beat the Thistle or any 

 other challenging craft after we knew her measurements? There 

 was nothing to prevent such a course except the spirit of fair 

 play, and the length provisions were made in the new deed for 

 that reason." 



•'But the criticism has been made," was suggested, "that the 

 limit was made at 90tt. for single stickers, so as to bar out a pos- 

 sible challenge from a 70ft. cutter?" 



"If there was any such idea prevailing I never heard it ex- 

 pressed, but if the new deed practically compels challenges from 

 boats up to the limit of length it does a good thing, for how ab- 

 surd it would be to see two 70ft. boats racing for the Cup that 

 represented the yachting supremacy of the world when naif a 

 dozen boats that could beat either of tlem were lying at anchor, 

 When countries contest for the championship in any sport they 

 select the best men, and not a second or third class player or 

 athlete. Why, then, in yachting should a second or third class 

 boat be taken when it is not the fastest? You must remember, 

 too, in connection, that the Cup represents more than it did at 

 first, and that since so many races have been sailed for it by the 

 fastest boats the contests in future 3hould also be by the fastest 

 ones." 



"It has amused me greatly," continued the General, to read 

 the criticisms on the deed. It has been attacked on all points, 

 but I have never seen a criticism that did not uphold some por- 

 tiom of it, so that among them all they have sustained the action 

 of the club in every point. I presume this is why the club has 

 made no public reply, and really it has had no need of so 

 doing." 



As to the number of challenges that the club will receive under 



the second deed, the resolutions given indicate that one chance 

 only was to be given. Of course if it is intended to offer the Cup 

 for an indefinite time under the old, with the right for the winner 

 to hold it under the new deed, the offer would be fair enough, but 

 it would indicate that those who manage the New \'ork Y. C. 

 were even more foolish than they have yet shown themselves to 

 be. If, as Gen. Paine states, it is absurd to see 70ft. boats racing 

 for the Cup with a fleet of 90ft. boats at anchor, then the same 

 reasoning must apply to the 90ft. boats. What right has this in- 

 fallible committee to say that yachts shall stop at that size rather 

 than 100ft. or higher? A few years ago yachtsmen would have 

 opened their eyes at the idea of an 80ft. main boom on a sloop; 

 now the limit of 87ft. has been reached in Volunteer, and no one 

 is able to say that it cannot be exceeded in larger boats and 

 with improved materials and mere skillful engineering. There is 

 no doubt that the desirable limit of size has been exceeded, and 

 the practical limit of size, for the present, has been reached in 

 Volunteer; but who can speak positively of the possibilities of 

 the future? Besides, there are the schooners to be taken into 

 account; as a mere spectacle Volunteer is insignificant beside a 

 racing yacht as large as Yampa, how absurd then it is to race for 

 the Cup with yachts of 90ft. and less, when tar faster and grander 

 craft aie in the fleet. If Gen. Paine is correct iu this, if speed is 

 the sole end and object of racing, then it is time that all rules of 

 time allowance be swept away, and a return be made to the good 

 old days when boat raced against boat, whim the biggest won, re- 

 gardless of model. The great aim of yachtsmen for manv years 

 has been to eliminate the recognized advantage of mere size", and 

 to make good racing possible in all classes, to promote the sport 

 in all sizes of craft, and not to limit it to a few large vessels owned 

 solely by wealthy men. To this end rules have been devised and 

 improved and allowance tables made up and corrected, the amount 

 Of labor expended being something enormous; but if the ideas 

 quoted above are correct, this work has been all in vain. Should 

 such a view prevail it must mean the end of yacht racing as far 

 as sail is concerned; what pleasure can there be in jogging along, 

 in calms part of the time, making at best ten or eleven knots, 

 when one can travel at a speed of twenty-six knots or more, with 

 no care for the wind or calm? How absurd it is to race for a great 

 national trophy in tubs that may lie motionless for hours at the 

 will of the wind, when the whole length of the Sound can be 

 traversed in four or Ave hours. It is no uncommon thing to 

 waste three days in trying to sail a race of forty miles, when with 

 si earn the same distance might easily be covered in an hour and a 

 half. 



The inroads of steam on the racing fleet are already so serious 

 as to lead all friends of yacht racing to consider carefully the evil' 

 and its remedy, but this will not be found in the exclusive foster- 

 ing of the largest size of vessels obtainable; rather must it be 

 sought in the promotion of racing in the sizes that are within the 

 reach of yachtsmen of average means. 



YACHTING IN JAPAN. 



THE Yokohama 8ailing Club held its first annual meeting on 

 March 19, 1888, the committee making a very full report, from 

 which we extract the following; "The first and leading idea of 

 the club, that it is 'for the promotion of sailing and sailing races 

 only,' seems thus far to be sufficient to give it life and strength 

 without the necessity of frequent meetings, a club house, or the 

 introduction of any purely social element. 



"Notwithstanding the small annual subscription of $2, the large 

 and increasing list of members has provided for the necessary ex- 

 penses. The membership list now contains eighty-two names, 

 and twenty-eight boats are enrolled on the club's register. Prizes 

 to the amount of $500 have been given for the 15 races sailed. 



"L^ght entrance fees and prizes of small money value, prized 

 only for the honor of winning, called out good entries, and caused 

 keen competition last year and give good promise for the coming 

 season. 



"The matter of time allowance is one which, so far as your com- 

 mittee can ascertain, has never in any vaeht club been perma- 

 nently or satisfactorily settled. 



"The club's record for the season shows the absolute necessity 

 of dividing the boats into classes, but, so far as time allowance 

 between the various boats of the same class is concerned, the 

 figures are somewhat puzzling, showing, as they do, that in the 

 instances where the smaller boats won, it lias generally been with- 

 out having to take account of their allowance and when the larger 

 craft have won it has usually been by so wide a margin that even 

 double the present allowance to the smaller craft would not alter 

 the result. 



"Notwithstanding the somewhat contradictory nature of the 

 club's record your committee are of opinion, froni observation of 

 the general working of the 'sail area and length rule.' which in 

 some form is now almost universal, that, as at present adopted, it 

 fails to charge a sufficient penalty for increase in size, especially 

 in the matter of sail area, and we believe that the scale of allow- 

 ance or the importance of sail area in the formula for rating 

 could be somewhat increased with good results. 



"The matter of time allowance and measurement, however, is 

 one of great importance and should be very carefully considered 

 before changing the rules for the coming season." 



The club is purely Corinthian, and its great success thus far 

 gives additional evidence of what may be done by the proper en- 

 couragement of small craft. This season the following prizes 

 will be offered: 



A pennant to be provided for each class, to be held by each suc- 

 cessive winner in the regular club races. A cup to be provided 

 for each class, to be known as the "record cup for 1888." In each 

 regular club race the first and second boats in each class to receive 

 respectively, two points, and one point. At the end of the season, 

 but prior to the final club race, the boat in each class having the 

 highest number of points to become the owner of the "record cup" 

 inner class. Any ties in number of record points to be decided 

 by the relative positions of the boats so tieing in the final club 

 race. A cup to be provided for each class, to be known as the 

 "champ. on cup for 1888." In the final club race of theseason only 

 winners of the "champion pennants" to be allowed to enter in 

 Classes A, B, C, aud the winner in each class to become the owner 

 of champion oup and pennant in her class. No boat is entitled to 

 win the champion pennant or to receive points for record prize in 

 any but the class she is entitled to enter by her actual waterlino 

 length. Course of final race to he decided by the committee. 



Two special prizes will be offered this season. First— A copy of 

 the handsomely illustrated work "Small Yachts," by C. P. Kun- 

 hardt, for the fastest rime over the club course in any club race 

 during the season of 1888. Second— A copy of the illustrated work 

 "Yachts, Boats and Canoas," by C. Stansfiehl-Hicks, for the second 

 fastest time as above. The conditions are, over the club course 



