APril 24, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



279 



A. O. A. MEMBERSHIP.— Atlantic Division:, 



James W. Dun- 

 Allan H. 



Heiirv C. Oblmever. West Hoboken, N. J.; Clark Cooper, Trenton, 

 N. J. Northern Division: II. F. Molson, Capt. W. H. Bcnyon, J- 

 A, Benyon, W. A. C. Hamilton and W. H. Cottingham, Montreal; 

 F. G. G. Cottle, Kingston. 



FIXTURES. 



Kniekerbocker,Opening,N.Y 

 30. South Boston, Annual, City 

 Point, 



30. Pall River, Annual, Fall 

 River. 



30. Harlem, QpeO, New York. 

 si. Cor. Navy, Open, New York. 



31. Corinthian Mosquito Fleet, 



Larchmont:. 



MAY. 



1G. Larchmont, Open, Larchm't. 



15. New Rochelle, Opening. 

 17. Corinthian Mosquito Fleot, 



New Rochelle. 

 24. St. Lawrence,Open. Montreal 

 30. Atlantic, Opening-. N. Y. 

 29-June I. Portland. Cruise. 

 30. Cleveland, Squadvon Sail. 

 30. Brooklyn, Opening, N. Y. 



JUNE. 



3. Savin Hill, Moonlight Sail, 17, Atlantic, Annual, New i'ork 



Savin Hill. IS. OoJumbia.Annual Opan.N.Y. 



5. Seawanhaka, Special. 18. Pleon, Pennant, Marblehead 



7. Larchmont, Spring. 19. New York, Annual, N. Y. 



7. Quincy, First Club. 31. Quincy, 1st Cham., Quincy. 



7. Massachusetts, Club, Dor- 21. Corinthian, Marblehead, 



Chester. Club. 



7. Savin Hill, Club, Savin Hill. 21. Seawanhaka, Annual, N. Y. 



7. Great Head, Annual Open, 21. Great Head, Pennant, Great 



Great Head. Head. 



9. Hudson River, Open, N. Y. 21, Ynnkers Cor., Annual Open, 



13. Corinthian, Annual, N. Y. Yonkers. 



12. New Jersey Annual, N. Y. 21. Savin Hill, Club, Savin Hill. 



14. Beverly, 1st Cham., Marble- 38. Settwauhaka, Special. 



bead. 37. Corinthian Mosquito Fleet, 

 14. Brooklyn, New York. Staten Island. 



16. Portland. Challenge Cup. 38. Hull. 1st Guam.. Club House. 



17. MaBsac]uu8etta,Open,NaBant 28. Beverly, Cup, Marblehead. 

 17. Corinthian, Mar bleb earl, 28. Cor. Navy, Spring Regatta, 



Pennant, under 31ft. New Rochelle. 



17. West Lynn, Annual. Lynn. 30. Great, Head, Moonlight Sail, 

 17. American, Annual Pennant, Great Head. 



Newburyport. 



JULY. 



2. Pleon, 1st Cham., Marbleh'd. 19. Quincy, 3d Cham,, Quincy. 



2. Savin Hill, Moonlight Sail, 19. Beverly, 2d Cham., Marble- 

 Savin Hill. head. 



4. Larchmont, Annual. 19. Sippican, Open, Marion. 

 4. Boston City, Annual, City 19. West Lynn, 1st Cham., Lynn 



Point. 19. Great Head, 1st Cham.,Great 



4. Beverly, 1st Cham., Mon. Head. 



Beach. 33. Quincy, Ladies' Day. 



5. Savin HilhLadies'Day, Savin 23. Pleon, Club Cruise. 



Hill. 26. Hull. 



5. Beverly, Sweep, Marblehead. 26. Corinthian, Marblehead, 

 5. Quincy, 2d Cham., Quincy. First, Champ. 



5. New Rochelle. Annual. 

 5. Cor. Navy, Regatta, New 

 York Bay Squadron. 



7. American, Annual, Milton's 



Point. 



8. Massachusetts, Club, Dor- 



chester. 



9. Hull. Point Allerton. 



26. Great Head, Club Cham. 



Great Head. 

 26. American, ClubCham.,New- 



buryport. 

 26. Beverly, 21 Cham., Mon 

 Beach. 



26. Cor. Navy, Regatta, East 

 River Squadron. 



10. Eastern, Annual, Marbleh'd. 26. Corinthian Mosquito Fleet, 

 13. Eastern, Cruise. Greenwich. 

 12. Corinthian, Marblehead, 26. Marine and Field Club, Bath 



29. Great Head, Moonlight Sail, 

 Great Head. 



29. American, Moonlight Sail, 



Newburyport. 



30. Pleon, 2d Cham., Marbleh'd. 



31. Savin Hill, Moonlight Kail, 



Savin Hill. 



Club, under 31ft. 

 12. Beverly, Open Sweep, Mon. 

 Beach. 



12. Cor. Navy, Regatta, Hudson 



River Squadron. 

 12-20. Larchmont. Cruise, Long 



Island Sound. 

 16. Pleon, Club, Marblehead, 



AUGUST. 



2. Beverly, 2d Cup, Marblehead 23. Quincy, Club, Quincy. 



2-9. Cor. Navy, Cruise, Long 22. Pleon, Kd Cham., Marbleh'd. 



Island Sound, 23. Hull, Cham., Hull. 



3: West Lynn, 2d Cham., Lynn. 23. Fir3t day of the midsummer 

 6. N. Y. Cruise, New London. series for 30 and 40-footers. 



6. Great Head, 2d Cham., Great 23. Larchmont, Oyster Boats, 



Head. Larchmont. 



ft. Savin Hill, Club, Savin Hill. 23. West Lynn, 3d Cham., Lvnn. 



9. Corinthian, Marblehead, 23. Beverly, 2d Sweep, Mon. 



1U, JJ 



Club, under 21ft. 

 18. Hull, Ladies 1 Day. 



13. Pleon, Club, Marblehead. 



14. Massachusetts, 30 and 40ft., 



Dorchester. 

 16. Sippican, Club, Marion. 



Beach. 



23. Savin Hill, Cham., Savin Hill 

 33. Great Head, Sail-off, Great- 

 Head. 



23. American, 2d Cham., New- 

 buryport. 



ul! Beverly, 3d Cham., Marble- 30. Cor. Havv Regatta, West 

 head. Long Island Sound Squad. 



18. American, Open, Newbury- 39. Savin Hill. Moonlight Sail, 



port. Savin Hill. 



20. Hull, Cham.. Pt, Allerton. 30. Beverly, 3d Cup, Marblehead 



2. Corinthian Mosquito Fleet, 30. Sippican, Sweep, Marion. 



Cruise. 30. Savin Hill, Cruise. 



1. N. Y. Y. R. A., New York. 

 1. Lynn, Open, Nahant. 

 1. Beverly, Open, Marblehead. 

 1, Corinthian, Marblehead, 

 Second Champ. 



SEPTIfiMUEK. 



6. Savin Hill,Sail-off, Savin Hill 

 6. Beverly, 3d Cham., Mon. 

 Beach, 



(i. Massachusetts, Club, Dor- 

 cheBter. 



3. Beverly, 2d Open, Mon. Be'ch 10. Pleon, Sail off, Marblehead. 



6. Larchmont, Fall Regatta, 10. Eastern, Special, 40 and 46ft. 



Larchmont. Marblehead. 



6. American, 3d Cham., New- 13. Corinthian, M arblehead, 



buryport. Champ. Sail-off. 



6. Great Head, Annual Club, 20. Beverly, Sail-off, Mon. Beach 



Great Head. 30. West Lynn, Sweep, Lynn. 



THE NEW DEED OF GIFT. 



ONE result of the letter of the special committee of the New 

 York Y. 0., which we published last week, will be to bring 

 up for a more thorough discussion than it has yet undergone the 

 now famous third deed of gift passed immediately after the Vol- 

 unteer-Thistle races. Although the prompt and vigorous protest 

 of the Fobtsst and Stream against both the matter of the new 

 deed and the manner of its adoption created a good deal of com- 

 ment, at the time, most American yachtsmen were not then dis- 

 posed to question or censure any actionpf the men who had just 

 carried out a most spirited ana successful defense of the Amer- 

 ica's Cup; they declined to consider the document on its own 

 merits, and disposed of all troublesome questions on specific 

 points by the sweeping conclusion that any action of Gen. Paine 

 and the officers of the New York Y. C. could not be other than 

 fair and above criticism. Now, however, that the practical work- 

 ing of the new deed has been made evident by the withdrawal of a 

 bona nde challenge, that of Mr. Chas. Sweet in 1887, the general 

 condemnation of the deed as unfair and unsportsmanlike by 

 foreign yacht clubs and yachtsmen, and by the substitution of 

 squabbles and disputes in place of matches on the sea, the occa- 

 sion seems a fit. one for a new and more thorough examination of 

 the document in question. 



The history of Che original deed of gift and its repudiation pre- 

 sents a number of very interesting points; the legality of any 

 change from the spirit and letter of the original deed; the pro- 

 priety of any violation of a trust which should have been 

 sacred, even though such change were not distinctly illegal; the 

 legality, granting that the club had the right to make changes, of 

 the manner in which the last change was made by a few men, 

 without being submitted freely to the votes of the 700 members of 

 the club. Important as they arc, we do not propose to discuss 

 them now; but, merely to take up the new deed itself on its mer- 

 its as affecting international racing. 



The first point that strikes the careful reader is that the subject 

 is dealt with, not as the original words of the five donors dictate, 

 but according to the very different method of procedure that has 

 been followed from the first by the New York Y, C. The first 

 consideration, in the original deed, is the amicable arrange- 

 ment, on all terms, at no specified date, between the holder and 

 challenger; failing it'/i(c7i,.and in such a case only, the sis monthB 

 clause eomes in, to secure at least one race to the challenger. So 

 far from inviting, or even permitting such an amicable agreement, 

 the New York Y. 0, started out wrongly in 1870 by refusing to 



allow the Cup to be sailed for on any other terms than those laid 

 down in this supplementary clause, even going further than this 

 in placing a still more stringent interpretation on terms already 

 severe. From that time down it has refused every overture 

 for an agreement that was not entirely one-sided, and have ex- 

 alted this same six months clause, from a mere adjunct, to the 

 main provisions, into the governing principle of each successive 

 challenge; even when it worked manifestly to the club's disadvan- 

 tage. 



So far ha>, this idea been carried that when the second deed was 

 framed in 13S3 the challenger was compelled, in order to get even 

 a civil reply from the f lub, to send his challenge with not more 

 than six nor less than seven months' notice. Although it is ex- 

 pressly provided in the second deed that the holder has the power 

 to waive this six months' notice at will; in the case of the Royal 

 Clyde challenge of Sept. 31, 1886, to mention only one. instance, the 

 same six months' clause was twisted int o a subterfuge, to avoid 

 making a fair and open agreement with the challenger in October, 

 be being forced to wait until March before sending a challenge, 

 and then being forced to take whatever the New York Y. C. 

 chose to give, including one race over the inside course, or else to 

 have no chance, for the Cup. 



When the history of the various races is studied, and one sees 

 how this prime idea ol the donors, a mutual and amicable agree- 

 ment, has been constantly kept in the background, and the sup- 

 plementary six months' clause has been put in its place, it is no 

 supprise to find that in the new deed all idea of a mutual agree- 

 ment as to the vital points of size and class of yacht is entirely 

 eliminated; in order to challenge at all the challenger must 

 humbly send, nearly a year in advance, a minute description of 

 his yacht, and from this the club can decide how dangerous a 

 competitor he is likely to prove, and jnst what "generous conces- 

 sions" it can safely make to him. The challenger has no rights 

 except to three races with a 90ft. cutter or llSft. schooner, with- 

 out time allowance, he is at the mercy of the holder from the day 

 his design is begun, and once committed to a challenge be must 

 either back down completely or subscribe humbly to auy "mutual 

 agreement" that the holder chooses to dictate. This is the guiding 

 principle on which the new deed is based, and as we shall see the 

 details are thoroughly in accord with it. While some of the pro- 

 visions of the deed are excellent and highly necessary, such as 

 that concerning the rights of centerboard yachts, they are of 

 small importance compared with the mischievous Dature of other 

 clauses, notably the 4th, 5th and 7th. 



The fifth clause completely obliterates all idea of a mutual 

 agreement as the preliminary step lo a race. It insists on a sur- 

 render Of all the rights of the challenger to the holder before he 

 can be entitled to any recognition; he must come, not as any equal, 

 having certain rights guaranteed him, but as a suitor for certain 

 privileges. What the inalienable rights of every challenger are 

 can easily be settled by the ordinary usage of all club regattas and 

 private matches. A fair course is guaranteed, not obviously in 

 favor of the home boat, the yachts are matched according to the 

 recognized classes of the club, and the established measurement 

 rules and allowance tables are applied to all contestants. Every 

 man has the right to trim his boat as he pleases, to alter her in 

 any wav not conflicting with the one or two requirements of the 

 rules, all being on a par, and no stranger is compeUed to divulge 

 all the dimensions of his yacht long enough in advance to permit 

 her to be outbuilt. 



That portion of the 5th clause relating to the dimensions is 

 probably the meanest restriction ever known in yacht racing. 

 The demand is made on the challenger for the waterline length, 

 the beam at Wo places, at the waterline and at the point, of 

 greatest breadth, and the draft of water. The plea that all these 

 dimensions are needed to identify the yacht is so palpably false 

 as to need no argument. Challengers are not turned out by the 

 gross like buttons or buckles, and very few men own more than 

 two or three 90ft. racers of the same name. To any one who re- 

 members the amount of guesswork and speculation over the 

 dimensions, especially the draft, of the late challengers, the reason 

 for thiB demand is clear; what is wanted is a kuowledge of the 

 model and power of the vessel in order to outbuild her or to deter- 

 mine the best type with which to oppose her. It goes as near as 

 it possibly can to a demand for the lines of the yacht in order to 

 beat her, something that every true sportsman must despise. The 

 holder has certain important rights; he is entitled to know the 

 rig and the class, by his rules, in which a challenger will come, 

 leaving to him the task of devising a. boat of the same class under 

 those rules to beat her. What a challenger's yacht draws is abso- 

 lutely no more the business of the holder than whether the former 

 pays bis steward and his meat bills. Given the class and rig of a 

 yacht, it is the challenger's right to take such beam and draft as 

 he pleases, together with freeboard, overhang and ballast. The 

 whole talk about outbuilding the holder, springing challenges at 

 the last possible moment when time is too short to build, and 

 similar yarns that have been advanced to support this objection- 

 able demand, vanish as soon as a holder is vviiling to accept over- 

 tures in good season for a mutual agreement. 



Had this been done in the case of the Royal Clyde Y. C , the 

 common length of waterline or corrected length of both Volunteer 

 and Thistle intent have been settled by November, giving nearly 

 a year instead of six months to build the former yacht. Similarly 

 in the case of Mr. Sweet's challenge, which was so meanly treated 

 in 1887, the entire derails of the race, including all that the holder 

 had any right to know, could have been put in black and white, 

 by the middle of October, before Messrs. Sweet, Yorke or Watson 

 left the country, giving a year in which American designers and 

 owners could have worked together. 



There can be no doubt but that the framers of the new deed 

 intended to do a very mean thing when they drew up this clause, 

 but it is reasonably certain that none of them realized at the 

 time what a very foolish thing they were doing as well. What 

 they ask for are the actual dimensions of the yacht as laken by 

 designers or the official club measurers: that is with a steel tape 

 to the hundredths of a foot; not as a tailor measures cloth or a 

 ship chandler rope, but as closely as measurements can be made 

 on a deBign, or on the vessel itself. If then this paragraph be 

 construed literally, and in accord with the whole tenor of this 

 pretentious "deed," the designer must, at least eleven months 

 before the race, have decided all details on paper, without the 

 privilege of varying from any one by a quarter of an inch. In 

 defense of this demand it has been urged that he is at liberty lo 

 understate his dimensions, by what margin is not specified; but 

 such a plea will not hold good. The New York Y. C. is not taking 

 all this trouble to get approximate or fictitious dimensions; what 

 it receives in the winter will be verified by its measurer before 

 the first, race; and while it may, byway of "generous concession," 

 shut its eyes to an inch less of draft or beam than the challenge 

 gives, it may make as much trouble over two inches difference as 

 was made on all sides over Thistle's waterline. The only; safe 

 construction that a challenger or his designer can put on this de- 

 mand is that he must foUow it to the letter, not varying from it 

 more than the finished vacht varies from a design on the mould 

 loft floor. 



If Messrs. Watson, Fife or Richardson can do this, build a yacht 

 to a designed waterline with the absolute Certainty that she wiU 

 be at her best in such trim, needing neither more nor less ballast, 

 they will do a great deal more than Messrs. Burgess, Gardner, 

 Smith or MeVey are in the habit of doing. Examples of changes 

 of trim, such as are absolutely prohibited in a foreign challenger 

 after his challenge has left England, may be found in nearly 

 every new yacht afloat in our waters; Puritan was tested with 

 various weights before her best trim was found; Mayflower had 

 her ballast plan materially changed, a shoe being added aft, be- 

 fore she could carry her sail; Volunteer was sailed at less than 

 her designed length and draft; Marguerite, schooner, had U tons 

 taken from her keel: Saracen in, her second season drew more 

 than in her rirst; Maraquita will be differently ballasted this year; 

 Gorilla was tried with some variations of three or four tons;Liris 

 and Kathleen are neither exactly at their designed draft, changes 

 in ballast and in contour of keel having been found necessary; 

 Titania had to be ballasted until she was out of the 70ft. class be- 

 fore she won her races; Helen was over the 40ff. limit before last 

 season closed, and so on through the fleet; every yachtsman and 

 designer expects to find some variation from the designed water- 

 line, either in depth or in fore and aft trim, before a yacht is at 

 her best; and to every one it freely permitted— save to a challenger 

 for the America's Cup. 



The final paragraph of the seventh clause is a fitting comple- 

 ment to the fourth clause; with it making the size of single-stick 

 vessel which may challenge for the Cup 90ft., neither more nor 

 Jess. In commenting on the new deed in 1887, we said: "It may 

 be that some Quixotic Briton, with mare valor than discretion, 

 will rush hastily in with a challenge, but one such attempt is 

 likely to be enough." Such has really been the case, but there 

 seems to be small chance of anv one following LoTd Dunraven 

 with another challenge from a 70-footer, or of any oue building 

 such a useless machine as a 90ft. racing cutter, to cross for the 

 Cup. It must be plain to all after the Valkyrie episode that the 

 New York Y. C. will put nothing smaller than Volunteer to de- 

 fend the Cup. even against a 66ft, yacht, and if it seemed neces- 

 sary a new 90-footer would be built. Under such conditions, even 

 though they are willing to build a 90-footer, to give her dimen- 

 sions, a year in advance, and not to vary from them in sailing, 

 and to cross the oceao in a safe and seaworthy craft to race under 

 a waterline length rule against any sort of 90ft, machine that can 



be designed to beat them; the chances of ultimate success are 

 hardly brilliant enough to tempt British yachtsmen. 



The demand for the challenger's dimensions and the practical 

 denial of bis right to alter the trim and draft of his yacht after 

 such dimensions are, filed are certainly bad enough; but they are 

 insignificant compared with the final words of the seventh clause, 

 "without any time allowance whatever." The power given to 

 the holders by these half dozen words is readily seen from Valky- 

 rie's lyase. Suppose that the challengers had subscribed to the 

 new deed, the preliminary terms had been settled and Valkyrie 

 was in New York harbor ready to sail three races with Volunteer 

 under the present time allowance of the New York Y. C. Even 

 then it is perfectly possible for the New York Y. C. to Insist on 

 some, condition to which the other side cannot acceed, and on re- 

 fusal to call at once for three outside races "without time allow- 

 ance." If no other convenient pretext should appear, it would 

 only be necessary to measure the challenger accurately, some 

 discrepancies are certain to be found between the actual measure- 

 ments of draft or beam and those given a year before in the chal- 

 lenge. The matter is revealed to the papers, the American heart 

 is fired with just resentment against perfidious Albion or Scotia, 

 and the luckless challenger is at the mercy of his enemies. 



Of course it has been said that the New York Y. C. is incapable 

 of such unfair dealing, that neither the present nor future com- 

 mittees would consent to it; but even if this be so, there is another 

 side to consider. Granting for the sake of argument that, after 

 carefully securing to itself the power to do a mean and unjust 

 action, the New York Y. C. is too magnanimous to use this power, 

 the clause still remains in the deed. Should the Cup by any- 

 strange chance be won from the club, the new holders may not 

 possess the same delicate scruples, the same yearning for "gener- 

 ous concessions," and the same love for "mutual agreement"; it 

 may have a long memory and a keen appreciation of the power it 

 holds from the new deed, and may use the latter accordingly 

 against all American challengers. To be sure nothing has been 

 left undone to keep the Cup in New York and to limit and restrict 

 aU racing for it, but in the course of years tlie chance of the other 

 side may turn up, and then at least American yachtsmen will be 

 ready to give a candid opinion of the famous efforts of the com- 

 mittee- of 1887. 



The framers of the deed, their supporters in and out of the club, 

 the daily papers and quite a body of yachtsmen at large have been 

 for three years examining the beautiful and intricate breech 

 mechanism of this gun they have prepared and loaded for the 

 purpose of keeping the America's Cup within the limits of Union 

 and Madison Squares; but if the time ever comes when, by any 

 diplomatic mishap, they are compelled to look in at the muzzle in 

 search of the Cup while some live British yacht club presides 

 over the business end of the gun— may we be there to write down 

 truthfully their remarks. 



The memory of mauy r who are still active in yachting 

 Will go back tit the time, when of necessity the racing fleet was 

 made up of all sizes and rigs clasred together, with such time al- 

 lowance for difference in size as was considered the best at the 

 time. By slow degrees the character of yacht racing has changed 

 to its present state of perfection, in which racing yachts are built 

 closely to the limits of the various classes, as Sea Fox, Grayling, 

 .SaChem, Merlin in the schooners, and Titania, Katrina, Grade 

 and Shamrock, or the large fleet of raciug forties and thirties. 

 The result of this change is well understood by all who witnessed 

 the close and exciting contests between the picked fleets in each 

 class last year, and compared it with the mob of boats of all sizes 

 that once made up the two or three classes in a big regatta. A 

 still greater refinement of racing is now at hand, and in a very 

 few years will be seen each racing boat built to the top limit of 

 its class, so that no time aUowance between the members of a 

 class is called for, as is now the case in the 30, 10 and 2^-rating 

 classes in England. This is the highest perfection in yacht, racing, 

 and if it adds so much to the interest and importance of ordinary 

 club races, it is still more vital in the case of the great, interna- 

 tional coutests. Let the question of class and rig be determined 

 by the contracting parties, with the absolute proviso that the 

 class limit shall under no circumstances be exceeded, leaving 

 challenger and holder free in the choice of model and details, and 

 a fair race must be forthcoming. 



Even then the great advantage rests with the holder; the chal- 

 lenger is limited to but one vessel, the holder may select from a 

 well-filled class the winner of the season or of the trial races. It 

 has been fully proved by every international race that there need 

 be no dearth of entries for such trial races. Let the New York 

 Y. C. name any one class for the Cup races, from 61 even up to 

 90ft„ and new keels wiU be laid within a month, or within a week 

 if the time be short. All the leading American designers have 

 now ready more or less finished designs for Cup defenders, center- 

 board or keel, either 70 or 9l)£t., and it is within the power of the 

 New York Y. C, by a return to the ordinary principles of fair 

 play as practiced every day by all yacht clubs, to set afloat under 

 its flag next year the finest racing fleet ever known. 



That under the present, deed nothing of this kind is possible has 

 been fully demonstrated in the. last two years, and is equally plain 

 to all who read it over. The challenger places himself and his 

 yacht unreservedly in the hands of the New York Y. C, to do 

 with him what they will. While all concerning his craft is known 

 to them, he is utterly ignorant of what may be placed against 

 him, but with the certainty that no point will bo wasted in out- 

 building and perhaps outmatching aim as well; nor can he be 

 sure until the first race is started that he may not be compelled at 

 the last minute to accept some absurd restriction or to forego all 

 time allowance. Such a burlesque of fair play is a disgrace to th e 

 men who coucocted it, to the club that quietly sat stilt and failed 

 to protest at the abuse of the power which it had delegated, and 

 to the yachtsmen of other clubs who have lent their indorsement 

 to bolster it up. 



For mauy years the y T achtsmen of Great Britain labored under 

 an imputation of unfairness in the retention of a measurement 

 rule that was prohibitory to all but one type of vessel, and of a 

 second rule which barred the centerboard yacht; but with the 

 advance of modern ideas both of these hindrances to fair racing 

 have been swept away, being replaced by fair and equitable rules. 

 At the very time that the Y. R. A. was freeing itself from what 

 had been a standing reproach for years, the officers of the New 

 York Y. C. were busy in the effort to pass far worse restrictions 

 on fair racing, and to take the place just vacated by the Y. R. A. 

 as the sponsors and apologists for rules and conditions that are 

 condemned by all fair and unprejudiced racing men. How long 

 the club will be able to retain this position remains to be seen; 

 but the whole course of yachting history shows that such actions 

 always recoil on the heads of those, who father them. 



The fact that the old deed of gift was not adequate to modern 

 requirements, that some important additions were necessary, has 

 been admitted freely by the opponents of the new deed at home 

 and abioad, and had they been made openly and in a fair spirit 

 by the New York Y. C, they would have been indorsed by all 

 other clubs. What additional provisions are necessary need not 

 be considered now; the main fact is that the attempt of the New 

 York Y. C. to limit the Cup races to a class of each rig that does 

 not exist, to force aU challengers to give valuable information 

 long in advance, with nothing in return, and no guarantee that it 

 will not be used against them, to hamper the challenger in direc- 

 tions hitherto untouched by any club, and to make them beg for 

 what is theirs by right, has been a failure in every way, and that 

 the first step to the remedy is through the destruction of the 

 present worthless deed of gift and the recognition of the first and 

 only valid deed, as binding the club as strongly to-day as when 

 the ink was fresh on it from the hands of the four dead donors, 



1VERNA. 



THE launch of the new Jameson cutter on April 19 marks a 

 most important point in the history of British yachting, as 

 the new craft is the first centerboard racer of any size built in 

 British waters. One result of the important changes of rule made 

 in 1887 was visible last year in the increased beam of all the new 

 yachts, and now the repeal of rule 8, so long a reproach to British 

 yachtsmen, has led to a trial of the centerboard in the la rgest and 

 most, important racer built in five years, if Thistle be excepted. 

 The reputation of the Jameson yachts for a dozen years, Silver 

 Star, Samoena and Irex, gives a special importance to the new 

 craft, and lends additional interest to the fact that she is a cen- 

 terboard boat, lverna, as the new yacht has been named, is a 

 cutter designed by Mr. Alexander Richardson, of Liverpool, 

 designer of the three yachts mentioned above. She has the. clip- 

 per stem, slack forefoot, raking sternpost and long overhang of 

 the modern cutters, from Thistle to Minerva, being of the same 

 general type, and in addition a centerboard about 25ft. long and 

 comparatively narrow, being housed below the floor. The dimen- 

 sions previously given are probably correct, 84ft. l.w.l., 19ft. beam 

 and 13ft. draft. Her lead keel weighs 72 tons. The yacht is of 

 composite construction, built by Fay & Co., of Southampton, 

 builders of Valkyrie and Yarana, Her rating will be between 115 

 and 120. The following dimensions of her spars are given: Mast, 

 deck to hounds, 56ft,; topmost 47ft., boom 77ft., gaff 49ft,. bowsprit 

 34ft., topsail yard 44ft. There is no possibility of the new yacht 

 being seen in American waters this year, if ever, and her dimen- 

 sions indicate that she was built without regard to international 

 racing, and solely for the home courses, Uapt, Wm, O'Neil and 

 the old crew of Ires will man her. 



