[Cot., 6. 1S78 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



216 



Volunteer soon came up to her, tacking at 2:25 just at the mark, 

 rounding, and starting: sheet., with boom to starboard. Her spin- 

 aker boom was hoisted after she tacked and some time was lost in 

 setting the sail, it being sheeted home seven minutes after round- 

 ing. Thistle fetched some distance to leeward of the mark, tack- 

 ing at 2:30 for the last time. She came up with spinaker boom on 

 end, droppiutr it neatly as she squared away and sending the sail 

 to the masthead and sheeting it home in three and a half minutes. 

 The times thus far were: 



Start. Outer Mark. Elapsed. . 



Volunteer 11 40 50% 3 36 p£ 8 45 49% 



Thistle 10 40 31 3 41 00 4 00 30 



Volunteer's gain was 14m. i9%s. in a heat of twenty miles. It is 

 a safe rule in yacht racing to miotrust the accuracy of the times 

 when seconds are split, as such close liming is seldom possible; 

 but in the present races, with but two boats and the markboat at 

 auchor, the times were taken with the utmost accuracy, the 

 sights on the Eleetra's compass being used to mark the line, 

 There wore at the mark about thirty vessels— steamers, tugs and 

 steam yachts— all of which gave the usual salutes to the facet's, 

 and then started for a race home. Only the faster ones arrived 

 in time for the finisb, unless, like Mohican, thoy did not run all 

 the way out, but watched the turn from a distance, starting home 

 ahead of the yachts. 



Volunteer set her balloon jibtopsail at 2:56, then lowered work- 

 ing topsail, leaving club in place. Thistle set her balloon libtop- 

 sail at 3:03. The difference in the setting of the sails on the two 

 boats was most marked. Volunteer had her spiuaker set so far 

 forward as to throw the wind into the balloon jibtopsail, the latter 

 being full and round like the spinaker. Thistle's spinaker was 

 closer in to the mast, while the balloon jibtopsail was sheeted well 

 home, like an ordinary headsail, not beliyiug to tho wind as Vol- 

 unteer's did. As they ran home at a round paco there was much 

 speculation as to which would, make the run in the least time, and 

 Volunteer's friends maintained that she was leaving the other, 

 though it was impossible to form any accurate judgment. At 4:07 

 Thistle took in her spinaker, as the wind had gone a little too far 

 to the south, and Volunteer followed about tour minutes after. 

 At 4:15, when Electra anchored off the Scotland, the wind was E. 

 byS. Volunteer came for the line with balloon jibtopsail and 

 both hcadsails, while Thistle had her balloon foresail set, hut jib 

 in stops, beside ballooner. Of course both boats were greeted in 

 the usual manner by whistles, guns, ensigns and cheers. The offi- 

 cial times were: 



Start. Finish. Elapsed. Corrected. 



Volunteer 10 40 60% 4 33 47 G 4a 50J4 5 4a m;i 



Thistle 10 40 31 4 35 12 5 54 51 5 54 46 



The times each way compare as follows: 

 Volunteer. Thistle. 



Out 3 45 49% 4 00 39 Gain, Volunteer. ... 11 40J4 



In 1 57 06!/ a 1 54 12 Gain, Thistle 8 54^ 



Volunteer wins by 11.48% 



After the race tho Haviiand took Volunteer in tow and steamed 

 for Bay llidge, while Thistle sailed on up to Staten Island. The 

 rain was falling again as the Meet started home, but the long sus- 

 pense was over at last and both sides felt the relief. Volunteer 

 was sailed by Captain Hall', with whom were Captains Terry, 

 Berry and Jeffrey. Captain Elsworth was not on board in either 

 of the races. In the first race Mr. Robert Wylie sailed on Volun- 

 teer to represent Thistle, while Mr. tieo. Clark took his place in 

 the secoud race. Captain Barr sailed Thistle with Captain Gibson 

 as pilot in the first race, but alone in the second. Mr. L. A. Fish, 

 of the Grayling, was on board in all the races as representative oi 

 Volunteer. During the races the steam yacht Oneida, owed by 

 Mr. J£. H. Benedict) did important service as a tender for Volun- 

 teer, lu the evening there was a jubilee at the rooms of the 

 New York Yacht Club, but Gen. Paine and Mr. Burgess were not 

 present. 



It is a subject for congratulation that tho races have passed off 

 without any hitch or disturbance or ill feeliug on either side. 

 Thai tney have been so well managed is due entirely to the spirit 

 and liberality of Com. Gerry, who has turned his steam yacht for 

 the time into a committee and xu'ess boat, and to the Cup and 

 regatta committees. This season has witnessed more races than 

 any previous one and the races too have been more important and 

 with larger outries, entailing an unusual amount of work, espe- 

 cially on the cruise. That all have passed off so well without dis- 

 putes or protests, is due to the thorough manner in which the re- 

 gatta committee has done, its work. 



One criticism has been made by the visitors on the conduct of 

 the Cap races which is decidedly unfair. The regatta committc has 

 been blamed for not starting the race at the hour advertised, wind 

 or no wind. The custom in England of sta rting a race at the adver- 

 tised time, no matter what the weather may be and then calling the 

 race later if there is no prospec t of a finish, has been quoted as a pre- 

 cedent, but tho committee had a far better one before them in the 

 races of the last two years. All the Cup races havo been sailed 

 with a timo limit of seven hours, a matter that lias even 

 been objected to on the ground that it unduly favored 

 the cutter by preventing a drifting match, and which 

 is certainly as lair for one side as the other. In order 

 to sail the race in this time it has been necessary to 

 have some wind at the start, and the custom has been to be 

 at the line at 10:30 A. M., waiting until as late as 3 or 2:30 and 

 tnen postponing the race to the nest day if there was no wind. 

 In this way it has often happened that a race is made in five hours 

 of the afternoon breeze which is apt to freshen late in the day, 

 w.n j, if started earlier, as per programme, three or four hours 

 would be spent in drifting, leaviug but an hour or two in which to 

 sail tne race. The English method, it followed here, would be the 

 most certain way of securing a drifting match, and would prevent 

 just what both sides wish to see, a fair race in a breeze. Had the 

 Urst race been started at 10:80 instead of 12:30 the yachts might 

 have drifted out of the Narrows with the last of tho ebb and 

 finally caught an air outside, but nearly two hours would have 

 been wasted m the drift, and the chances for a race would have 

 been much lessened. Had Thursday's race been started on time 

 there would have been a long and tedious drift, without result, 

 and nothing would have been learned of the boats. In adhering 

 to the present method the committee has merely followed a pre- 

 cedent which thus far there has been no reason and no authority 

 for changing, and which seems bettor calculated to guard the in- 

 terests oi the challenger which must make en ocean voyage of 

 three weeks than of a possible skimming dish built here to defend 

 the Cup. The present method places much more responsibility on 

 the regatta committee, as the question of the exact amount of 

 wind at anytime is api to be an open one, and their decision is 

 liable to be criticised by either party. 



There is no denying the fact that such a defeat of Thistle is a 

 serious disappointment to all friends of the keel boat, the side 

 which the Eorest ant) Stream has so long championed, but if 

 there is any satisfaction to be found it is in the fact that the 

 result on Friday was beyond question, there were no drifts or 

 flukes to make it uncertain, but the best keel boat yet built in 

 the large sizes has been squarely beaten to windward by a boat 

 with a centerboard. Not by a skimming dish, not by an American 

 sloop of light, displacement and no draft, but still by a boat in 

 which, in addition to a big keel, the board forms a most import- 

 ant factor in the matter of lateral resistance. We might seek 

 comfort in the fact that the skimming dish is no more, that the 

 days of tho American death trap have passed away, that the new 

 boats in themselves embody the great principles or safety and sea- 

 going qualities which we have, always fought for, but these points, 

 however important in themselves, do not fit the case just now, for 

 it is through them that the issue of board vs. keel has been 

 divested of outside considerations and fairly decided up to 

 this time in favor of the board. We are not now arguing 

 over the smaller classes, they can take care of themselves. 

 What we have to say relates solely to the great racing single- 

 stickers. No fight between different types could have been fairer 

 than that of last week, the two yachts were the recognized heads 

 of their respective classes, practically equal in length, sail area, 

 displacement, rig, build and method of ballasting, but the one had 

 a centerboard in addition to her lead keel, while the other carried 

 a keel alone, but some aj^ft. deeper. The centerboard boat won, 

 that is certain, aud it is just as certain that she won on her merits, 

 that no difference of area or perfection of sails, or any small im- 

 provement of trim or handling would have made no for the marked 

 difference in holding to windward that was visible from the start. 

 What little satisfaction is left to the friends of the keel is in the 

 fact that the result was clear and unobscured by side issues, noth- 

 ing was left in doubt, and we are all now squarely face to face 

 with the question, "What arc vou going to do about iff" There is 

 no feeling that Thistle is not the best of her kind or that she has 

 not done relatively iter best work compared wiih Volunteer, and as 

 for the possibility that she might have shown better on a different 

 • course with less windward work, whatever hearing it may have 

 on the ownership of the Cup it is entirely irrelevant as far as the 

 main point, the superiority of the keel is concerned; that depends 

 solely on windward work. No matter how fast on other points 

 she may be, the best boat must prove her way to windward before 

 the yachting world will accept her. 



Hard as the defeat is to American nutter men, it is not entirely 

 without precedent; they have been in the same place before, and 

 propose to keep on until either the luck changes or they get to 

 like it. On the other side, however, it has hit still harder squarely 



between the wind and water, If we can accept the comments in 

 the British papers as an index of the opinion there. IF it goes SO 

 far as to open British eyes to the fact that there is some merit in 

 the centerboard, that it cannot longer be denied a place in British 

 races .and that any future expeditious for the Cup will be anything 

 but picnics, it will do good but it is not impossible that it may 

 have a still more radical effect, and that the next step may be a 

 trial of a board rather than a determined effort toward the im- 

 provement of the keel, a result we should be sorry to see. Tho 

 work on Friday morning was a surprise and shock to many who 

 witnessed it: even yet they have not settled just how it all hap- 

 pened, but the point most impressed on all was the work of Volun- 

 teer to wind ward, the power of the 31ft. of draft decreased at will, 

 and the effect has been in no way lessened in tho transmission 

 under the Atlantic, 



In this sudden awakening to tho merits of the centerboard, it is 

 very possible that its advantages may be overestimated, and that 

 some earnest adherents of the keel may turn to the contrary be- 

 lief, that a centerboard is a necessity for speed, whatever its 

 drawbacks in Other respects. 



To us, however, familiar always with the good and had points of 

 the centerboard, and seasoned to defeats as bad as this by many 

 long fights in tho past for which we have in time been well paid by 

 substantial successes, the matter wears a different aspect. There 

 is no need of wasting time in idle speculations as to whether 

 Thistle must have a centerboard, or whether the next challenger 

 for the Cup must be a British copy of Volunteer, we are content 

 to acknowledge a fair beating, and without further loss of time to 

 look for a means of retrieving it. What we have to say is in no 

 way an excuse for the past, the keel boat has been beaten bv a 

 cenlerhoard boat. We admit it freely, now why was it, and can it 

 be retrieved? The two boats stand to-day the best efforts of the 

 acknowledged masters of the craft, and as such it is admissible <o 

 consider whether each represents the highest developemcnt of its 

 typo. In Volunteer we believe the highest, possible rfevelopement 

 of the type, as far as dimensions and elements go, has been 

 reached. On her length it is hard to see how any further continu- 

 ation of the process of evolution that has wrought her from Puri- 

 tan is possible. In depth and displacement no further addition can 

 be made without throwing her into the same category with Thistle, 

 but with a board added. One step there is, but' this it is very 

 unlikely that Mr. Burgess will take, aud it is to be hoped 

 that, he will not, a big Pappoose with great beam, light bilge and 

 the huge sail plan which the Now York ride would permit of, but 

 with the proportionate draft of Pappoose, somewhere near 18ft., 

 ion down to a practicable limit by the aid of aboard. Such a e rait 

 would be most formidable, but we should be sorry, in the inter- 

 ests of yachting, to see her built, it may be that Volunteer is 

 good enough to hold her own for at least a couple of seasons with- 

 out a new boat being built, but this is hardly probable; and if she 

 is to be outbuilt next year the only way would seem to be through 

 improvement in build and model. As to build, while she is far 

 from perfect in many respects, any possible improvements would 

 not. much increase her speed, while in rig and fittings the margin 

 for improvement has been cut down each year, until there is 

 comparatively little left to work on. The only other point for im- 

 provement, then, is form, and whatever maybe done here it will 

 hardly help her, to windward much, though it may off the wind. 

 It would seem, then, that the field for any grea t improvement in 

 Voluuteer is limited. No doubt another season in the hands of 

 General Paine and Mr. Burgess would see her in still better form, 

 or if they wero called on to beat her they might succeed; but the 

 task would be a far different one from that of last year in beating 

 Puritan and this year in doing the same with Mayflower. 



Looking at tho other side, if it were only a question of heating 

 tho Burgess boats and taking the Cup with a keel boat, it would 

 probably be possible to do it with a huge Doris, a ligfit steel shell 

 with luilimited draft, ballast and sail, but such a boat would he a 

 most useless machine, far beyond tho limits of practical yachting, 

 however fast site might be; and her construction and possible suc- 

 cess could serve no good end, and would be time and money 

 thrown away. The value of dept h has been already taught by the 

 smaller boats, aud such a vessel could teach no new lessons. 



Given unlimited depth and the thing can be done, but in hard 

 practice the problem is brought down to much narrower limits. 

 For aU the purposes that a yacht, must serve, even a racer pure 

 aud simple, the maximum draft may be taken at lift. If this can 

 be lessened so much the better, but it cannot be exceeded without 

 infringing on a fixed limit, the. few available harbors, the courses 

 usually sailed, the docking facilities, even of the larger ports; and 

 if the keel boat cannot do with this draft, then its inferiority to the 

 hoard in practice must be conceded. Applying this test to the 

 Thistle the question arises, can she be improved in the one point 

 in which she is lacking, and yet retain Iter good qualities? 



With rather less sail area than Volunteer, but carrying her sail 

 proportionately as well, Thistle is faster running and reaching, 

 and fully as fast through the water when on the "wind, or even 

 allowing that she profited any by bringing up more wind on the 

 run in, she held Volunteer in the footing to wind ward, and ran 

 her coming in free. Thistle then is the equal of Volunteer in all 

 respects but one, and though that is the vital one from a yachts- 

 man's standpoint, it may be capable of improvement. Instability, 

 in speed through the water, and in general performance, Thistle is 

 the equal of her rival; what sho lacks is the power to hold on. 

 Her draft has been variously stated as from 13 to 14ft., but the 

 former we believe to be ver y near the correc t figure. Genesta's was 

 13ft. with 5ft. less length, while Galatea's was 6in. more. Thistle's 

 performance has been such as to demonstrate that in cardinal 

 dimensions.in displacement, she is not radically wrong but that she 

 is a very fast boat, and the question of her possible improvement is 

 narrowed down to one point. A substantial addition to the area of 

 lateral plane is possible, either with a greater draft but still within 

 the limit we have indicated , or by an altered form under water with 

 little more draft. Thistle has one feature carried to an excessive 

 degree, the reduction of forefoot and of the mean draft of the 

 forebody. An increase of lateral plane here, perhaps helped by a 

 straightening of the sterapost, might give the required area with- 

 out too great an increase of resistance, or if this is not enough, 

 extra draft, to the extent of nearly a foot, might be combined with 

 it. If the required power can only be had by virtue of a greatly 

 increased draft, say 16 or 17ft., then it must be admitted that the 

 type represented by Volunteer is the best for racing, but the time 

 has not come to admit this yet, there is still a wide and clearly 

 indicated field for improvement, and Mr. Watson is not the man 

 which his work thus far would show him to be if he does not soon 

 push into it, without a thought of the adoption of the centerboard. 



Already, out of the indefinite rumors that havo been afloat for the 

 last few days, comes the certainty of at least one challenge for the 

 Cup and of another series of races for next year. Now, while the 

 liolder is in the present position of vantage after defending the 

 Cup with credit in the three successive encounters, is the time to 

 consider the conditions under which it is held, and whether any 

 change in them is desirable. Should it so happen that the Cup 

 changes hands aud the present holders are obliged to look at the 

 reverse of the deed of gift, it will perhaps appear iu another light; 

 but it will then be too Tate to make any changes. 



In the. days of the first challenges the old deed of gift was looked 

 upon largely as an instrument devised to keep the America's Cup 

 in' the possession of the New York Y. C, aud was interpreted 

 accordingly. Year by year, in deference to strong outside press- 

 ure, concessions have been made, precedents have been established 

 and the deed of gift itself has been remodeled by the only survivor 

 of the original donors, until the late races have been sailed under 

 conditions very different, vastly fairer, and more in accordance 

 with the increased dignity and importance of yacht racing than 

 ever in the past. The deed of gift has of late been interpreted 

 more nearly in the spirit of Its great donors, as the most potent 

 factor ever devised tor the advancement and development of 

 American yachting through the stimulus of international compe- 

 tition. Had the orignal conditions been retained aud tho contest* 

 limited to one race over an inside course against a fleet, the Cup 

 would have been safe beyond chance, for no modern vessel com- 

 pelled to cross the Atlantic under sail could hope to win from a 

 fleet of a dozen or more picked boats, both light and heavy 

 weather. The Cup would have been permanently retained, but it 

 would have been absolutely worthless in the estimation of the 

 yachting world, as much so" as a sister cup now held abroad under 

 restrictions which debar American yachts like Mayflower and 

 Volunteer. As more liberal terms have been made the America's 

 Cup has risen in value, until from a mere relic half a dozen years 

 since, it has become what its donors intended, the emblem of 

 national supremacy in yachting, hold for three years in succession 

 against the best that could be sent to take it. 



The benefits which have arisen from the late races ar. 

 question; the awakening from the old delusion that the American 

 skimming dish was invincible, perfect in aU respect; the con- 

 struct irm of a new and totally different type of vessel, infinitely 

 superior to the old; the extinction of the type whose fatal disasters 

 were a national disgrace, the awakening of a wider interest in 

 yachting, not. only among yachtsmen, but throughout the nation, 

 loading as it must to a stronger feeling of pride in the pleasure 

 navy, even in parts remote from the water, and fostering the 

 national interest iu water sports. All of these advantages are un- 

 disputed, but still it can do no harm to consider whether the Cup 

 is doing all that it is capable of, whether the altered conditions of 

 yachting within the last three or four years are fully met by the 

 present reading of the deed of gift. 



As far as the challengers are concerned, the late races have all 

 been conducted on a very fair basis, both sides have en- 

 tered the contest amicably and in a friendly spirit, and no 

 disputes of any moment have arisen. It is only from a 

 home point of view that the question should be considered in 

 order that the greatest possible benefit should accr ue to American 

 yachting. The old idea of a regatta is pretty well exploded among 

 en! the conditions of modern yacht racing call for tho 

 closest possible matches between picked boats, sailing on perfectly 

 equal terms, in all international contests; and the sooner the last 

 vestiges of the regatta idea are stripped from the Cup races the 

 better for all. Such a steamboat show as the first race is only 

 disgusting and disappointing to yachtsmen, however pleasing to 

 landsmen out for an excursion; what iB wanted is such a race as 

 on Friday, a clear field for the best boats; and as long as the Gup 

 is retained by such races American yachtsmen may well feel proud, 

 lu order to make the battle what it should be, a hght to the bitter 

 end between equals, it is evident that some arrangement is neces- 

 sary in order to insure a reasonable agreement iu the principal fac- 

 tors of speed. By chance this year the two rivals were of the same 

 corrected length, time allowance was eliminated from the contest, 

 and the interest and excitement were greatly enhanced thereby. 

 Had the Thistle been but 70ft., with a big allowance from Volunteer, 

 the Cup might have been saved as surely, but the race would have 

 lost interest and value. The tendency has been to outbuild each 

 year, Puritan 80ft., Mayflower 85ft., Voluuteer Win. longer, Gal- 

 atea and Thistle over S6ft., aud the indications are that the same 

 process of outbuilding will continue on each side, until the ex- 

 treme limit of size of singlestickers shall be reached. 



As long as the challenger must give his dimensions six months 

 in advance, the advantage is to a certain extent on the side of the 

 present holders, as they can at once outbuild him by a few feet. 

 This however is an advantage which every true sportsman would 

 despise, as a race won by mere size, or through crudities in rules 

 or allowance tallies must bring little honor. To eliminate this, 

 tho size should be a matter of mutual agreement, to be settled as 

 long in advance as desirable by the challenger and holder, a plan 

 thai is certainly as fair to ono as the other. This brings up the 

 question we touched on last week, the waterline length vs. ton- 

 nage. It is in every way desirable that such a document as the 

 deed of gift should be free from changes and meddling and as 

 nearly permanent as possible, and after some years of trial it- 

 would seem that it meets the case excellently, and that no 

 radical alteration in the wording is called for. If the points 

 we suggest are deemed desirable they can be adopted without any 

 alteration in the deed, as they arc clearly permitted by the fourth 

 article. By the provisions of this clause all conditions may be 

 mutually agreed upon by challenger and holder at any time, a 

 proceeding much more m accordance with all modern ideas of 

 sport than tho present unsatisfactory condition of affairs, one 

 sido waiting for the other to show its hand and then starting in to 

 outbuild, as tn 1881 with Pocahontas and Atalanta. 



If the present state of affairs continues each nation must main- 

 tain the, effort to outwit the other in the matter of size, unpleasant 

 consequences are likely to ensue, the value of the races must at 

 times be thrown away in consequence of a marked disparity in 

 size between the competitors, and much of the good results must 

 be lost to both nations. The contest thus far has resulted in the 

 production of a class which we believe is too unwieldy and ex- 

 pensive to be permanent, and in a year or two we shall see still 

 larger and more costly vessels if no measures are taken to limit 

 the size. It is settled that the club will at once have a new chal- 

 lenge on its hands. Before it comes would it not be weU to con- 

 sider fully the points here presented, t he mutual agreement in 

 good season on the class to be raced, aud the final settlement of 

 the question that has come up for the first time this year, whether 

 the waterline length is required? While for the reasons given 

 last week we believe that the waterline length was not included 

 in the term dimensions, it is perfectly plain that it should be, and 

 now there can be. no objection to demanding it, letting the ton- 

 nage clause stand as it is, a matter of no consequence either way. 

 Just now this would work to the advantage of the holders, as 

 what they most want to know is the waterline length, but the 

 challengers are little likely to make any objection to such a per- 

 manent change. Some day the same tiling may work to the ad- 

 vantage of an American challenger, for in spite of many defeats 

 it is tolerably certain that Britain's blood is raised, and that the 

 effort will be maintained until she regains the Cup. However 

 unlikely such a contingency may seem just now, it is easily within 

 the bounds of possibility, and if it does happen the interpretation 

 of the deed of gift by the Now York Y. C. must form the precedent, 

 for the new holders. 



In regard to an agreement to race boats of a certain size only 

 for any specified race, tho argument has been advanced that as 

 trustees under the deed of gift the holders have no option in the 

 matter, but. it is their duty to mest tho ohallenger with the boat 

 which is most certain of winning, regardless of size, or in other 

 words, if Thistle had been but 70ft. long, it would have been the 

 duty of the club to put Mayflower against her. However true 

 this may be from a legal standpoint it will find little favor 

 with aU true sportsmen, as the chances of a fair race would bo 

 entirely barred; and further, as a mere matter of policy it would 

 furnish a very bad precedent and place a premium on out- 

 building rather thau outsailing, something that no one wants 

 to see. 



From the yachtsman's point of view the deed of gift is capable, 

 of a far more liberal interpretation, one that is much more in 

 accordance with the spirit and patriotism of the men who first 

 won and then dedicated to its present woik the America's Cup. 

 The end for which the Cup was given is tho advancement of 

 American yachting; the means to this end is through interna- 

 tional contests. To retain permanently its value, it must be raced 

 for on equal terms and won fairly by superior sailing. Further 

 than this, however, it is the most powerful instrument for the im- 

 provement of its fleet ever placed in the hands of any club, and 

 however well defended, the club is not doing its full duty until it 

 so shapes the races as to secure the best results to its fleet. 



In times past the unstable condition of racing and the abseuce 

 of clearly defined classes made this point of little importance; but 

 yacht racing here and abroad is becoming more thoroughly sys- 

 tematized each year, and it is already a discredit to the clubs in 

 this country that they do not unite in an earnest effort to hasten 

 and advance the process of improvement that is now going on but 

 in a shiftless and indefinite manner. No better instance of this 

 can be found than in the case in point, the late races for the Cup. 

 It has so happened that, without design or coucerted action, a new 

 class has growu up from the Cup contests of the past three years, 

 a class which we believe was uncalled for, and which will not 

 become permanent. The class was called into existent e by a, 

 challenge from a yacht of 81ft., or larger than any American single- 

 sticker, so that it was necessary to build to that size, and now it 

 numbers five yachts. The necessity for its creation, in view of the 

 size of the challenger iu '85, and the reasons for its growth since 

 are apparent enough; but it is time now for yachtsmen to consider 

 whether it is a class that should bo maintained, or whether more 

 good to yachting at large will not result from a return to the 

 smaller classes. The immense influence of the international races 

 is seen in the fact that in three years live large and comparatively 

 costly yachts have been built, while since the previous contest in 

 '81 but five additions have been made to the former favorite, the 

 7flft. class. 



The new class is undesirable, first from the expense and time 

 required to race such boats in proper form. It means upward of 

 850,000 to bring such yachts as Volunteer and Thistle to the line 

 for the first race, aud after the expenditure of this or a larger 

 sum, by the end of the season the boats will not realize more than 

 40 to 50 per cent. There are plenty of yachtsmen who are well 

 able to afford the money, but there are very few who are willing 

 to do so. The. older and wealthier are little inclined to give up 

 an entire season to such hard and constant work as Gen. Paine 

 has put into Volunteer this year and Mayflower last, they go into 

 steam as a rule, or they take to a large schooner, in which room 

 and comfort are far more easily had thau in even Mayflower or 

 Volunteer and at much less cost, contenting themselves with 

 what racing there is in the schooner class. Of the five yachts 

 now composing the class some arc already outbuilt, and not one 

 can hope to win prizes from Volunteer under her present owner- 

 ship, so they are practically out of the racing. YV hat then is to 

 be done with them? The cost of keeping a trained racing crew, 

 of frequent docking and painting, of new sails and spars, is too 

 great in proportion to the races they are likely to win iu a season, 

 and if cut down to cruising rigs and crews they would be better 

 as schooners. 



It is becoming generally recognized that the fastest racer is not 

 the best cruiser, but still yacht racing has not yet reached a point 

 in this country whore a special racing class can be maintained, 

 and the yacht demanded now is ono that can be raced in the 

 regular events of the season, perhaps eight or ten races, without 

 maintaining all the time a large racing crew, and that offers at 

 the same time fair accommodations as a cruiser and for ordinary 

 summer yachting. The favorite yachts for this work have always 

 been from Mischief, 61ft., up to Bedouin and Gracie, 70ft., and it 

 would seem that one of these two sizes or somewhere near to it 

 was the most worthy of encouragement by tho clubs. Last year 

 tho mere chance of a challenge from a. boat in this class was tho 

 cause of the addition of two new yachts and the refitting of one 

 old one in it, and had the opportunity been seized then there might 



i 



