Dec. 11, 1890. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



42© 



No. 



Date. 



Club. 



$ 



5 



'a 



ea, 

 M 



Knots. 



Palmer, K. I 



o 



i 



pa 

 rj 



o 



ft 



cS 



m 



Mayflower, C.B. 



Marguerite, CB. 



Iroquois, 0,B, 



1 



CEnone, K. 



Quickstep, CB, 



Viator, C 



Azalea, C.B. 



Gevalia, C.B. 



pq 



u 



i 



<J 



M 

 5 



03 



Leona, C.B. 







L WL 







104. 



39 t? 



89 5 



85. 



80. 



80. 



75. 



65. 



62. 



61.4 



58. 



53.11 



48. 



46.4 

































1 



May 31.. 



Larchmont, in 



CL. 



81 





















1 d. 





3 







3 



June 7. . 



Larclvmont, Spring. . 



O.L. 



20 























1 



3 





3 



June 17. 



Larchinont, m 



CL. 



20 































4 



July 4... 



Larchmont, An. 



CL. 



SO 



















4 



2 



1 







1 



5 



July 4... 



Larchmont, m 



CL. 



20 



















2 



1 











fl 



July 7. , 





CL. 



20 



















1 



« 









-7 



July a . 



NewRocbelle, An... 



W.L. 



32 























8.0. 

 1 









'k 



July 11.. 





VV.L. 



24 





l 



2 



4 







. 3 

















9 



Aug.l.. 



N. Y. Goelet Cup.... 



W.L. 



30 



■w. 



i 



3 



j£ 



n.t. 





I 1 

















10 



Aug-. 5.. 



N. Y. Cruise 



W.L. 



34 



S.O. 



1 



i 





3 





1 



2 



8.O. 



1 















11 



Aug. 7.. 



N. Y. Cruise 



W.L. 



37 





i 





n.t. 



2 





n.t. 

 2 



1 



s.o. 



1 















12 



Aug. 8.. 





W.L. 



34 











3 



2 



1 



























81,100 



8100 









$150 



$200 



















Starts 









4 





4 



2 



3 

 1 



5 

 1 



3 

 1 





4 

 3 

 1 

 4 





















s.o. 

 1 



4 







3 

 3 



2 

 1 



2 



2 

 1 







Seconds, 











1 



: i 



























1 



4 



1 



1 







1 



1 







1 







































1 



Wind and 

 Weather, 



Mod,, clear.., . 

 Mod., clear... 

 Mod., clear.. . . 

 Light, clear.. . 



Fresh, clear... 

 Strong, clear, 

 StroDgto mod. 

 Light, clear... 

 Strong, clear.. 

 Light, clear... 

 Light, clear. . . 



Azalea lost fore topmast. 

 Agnes wins by 18m. 41s. 



Lotus finished tMrd. 



Postponed match decided on result No. 4, 



Azalea wins by 7m 24s. 



Mean length rule, l.w.l. classification. 



Rough water. Merlin wins by 7m. 30s. 



Sow and Pigs course. 



Run from Vineyard Haven to N. Bedford. 



Calms, run— New Bedford to Newport. 



Special race— Newport. 



Full faced figures indicate prizes. 



e&ter1n d e^b r -uop?i Z r e? 8 ° f NeW Y ° rk *' C ' Crui8e ' 0Onnt aS one race ' Mevlin wins flPst and Mayflower second prize in 90ft. class; CEaone first in 80ft. class; over 90ft. and under 70ft. have but 

 S ' ~' a A; C " L " classed by correc ted length; W. L., classed by waterline; s.o., sail over; g., grounded; cL, disabled; w., withdrew; n.t, not timed; p., disqualified; m., private match. 



reached; but Gordon was bound to have it. By the aid of an en- 

 twining errape vine, after reneated efforts, be at last succeeded in 

 getting t he squirrel down and himself wet into the bargain. 



, x 2J e! £ ot our tri P had b e«er not be told. "The rain descended 

 and the floods came." We drove ahead at our best speed, but 

 not so fast but that wo landed in Avon in a driving rain, Th"re 

 we stowed the canoe, and there it remained until the grass and 

 the leaves replaced the ice and the snow. But. we never regretted 

 our journey. It afforded us novel experiences and showed us 

 that while less approachable nature is beautiful in winter as well 

 as m summer. The reverse side of the picture has many colorings 

 which tell as much of the artist as the completed work, carefully 

 prepared for the indolent eye. Ralph K. Wing. 



NEW \ORK C C— The annual meeting of the. New York C C. 

 was held on Dec. 3 at the residence of Com. Nadal. The new con- 

 stitution lately drawn up was adoptei. The following officers for 

 1891 were elected: Com., William Wilier.! Howard, Vice Com., Dr. 



B. F. Curtis, Secy-Treas. Charles J. Stevens, Board of Trustees, 

 William Whitlock, Schuyler Schieffelin, M. T. Bennett, Jr. Com. 

 Nadal has perfected a plan for a series of meetings through the 

 winter, and a committee was appointed of which he is chairman, 

 to carry out the scheme. The first meeting was held on Dec. 5 at 

 Capt. Nicolas' fencing rooms. 19 West 24th St., about 25 canoeists 

 being present from the New York, Brooklyn. Yonkers and other 

 clubs. Mr. C K. Munroe, one of the old members of the club, was 

 also present. The evening was passed in discussing various points 

 of canoe sailing, a light supper being served at 10:30. The enter- 

 tainment was a decided success. 



ROCHESTER Y. C— The officers elected at the annual meeting 

 last week were: Com., J. R. White; Vice-Gun., E. N. Walbridge; 

 Fleet Captain, William Wood; Sec'v., C. S. Davis; Treas., G. H. 

 Briggs: Surgeon, Dr. F. H. Sawers; Meas., J. H. Pillow; Executive 

 Committee, George H. Newell, R. K. Dryer, A. T. Hagen, J. F. 

 LtClaie. A vote of thanks was tendered to the retiring officers 

 for their successful management of the club for the past year. H. 

 h. 1 outer on behalf of the club presented to Com. Newell a hand- 

 some yacht gun suitably inscribed as a token of tlie esteem and 

 regard in which he is held by the members 'of the yacht club. 

 Among the new yachts for next season are a schooner of 48ft. l.w.l., 

 purchased m Boston by Com. White, and three new yachts 31ft. 

 over all from a Burgess design, building by J. J. Leary. 



PASSAIC RIVER.— The canoe clubs have taken up tug-of-war 

 since the season has closed. The team of the lain he C. C. has lately 

 taken part in several contests with teams from the Passaic row- 

 ing clubs, and has now challenged the team of the Orange C. C. 

 The Ianthe C. C. has also purchased ground for a new club hou-e. 

 Its first smoker was held on Dec. 6. The Arlington C. C. housed 

 its float on Nov. 30. The Bayonne C. C. has two new Ruggles 

 canoes, Mr. F. B. Collins having purchased the Wraith from Mr. 

 D. D. Gessler, and Mr. J. L. Collins having anew 18x30in. built for 

 him by Capt. Ruggles. 



ATLANTIC DIVISION. -Vice-Corn. Dorlaudhas appointed the 

 following committees: Regatta, M. V. Brokaw chairman, H. E. 

 McCormick, F. E. Moore; camp site, B. H. Nadal, chairman, W. 



C. Lawrence, R. N. Peebles. Suggestions as to suitable camp 

 sites are invited from members of the Division as an aid to the 

 committee. 



BOWDISH CANOES.—On Oct. 9 Mr. E. R. Bowdish severed his 

 connection with tbe Bowdish M'f'g Co. as designer. We under- 

 stand that he proposes to establish a new plant for the building of 

 fine canoes and boats in season for the spring trade. 



MASSASOIT C. C.-The present address of the secretary is J. J. 

 -Brooks, 218 Tremont street, Boston. 



A. C. A. MEMBERSHIP.— Atlantic Division: Chas. Lane Poor 

 New York. 



ptcllting. 



Yachtsmen who do not see what they want under this heading 

 will please lookunder the hatches of ihe Ganoe, peep into the 

 Kennel, squint dosvn the barrel of the Rifle, open the Fish Car and 

 Oame Bag, inquire of the Sportsman Tourist, and if their yearn- 

 ings are still unsatisfied, push their explorations into the Editorial 

 and Advertising Departments. 



YACHT PORTRAITS.— Mr. N. L. Stebbins has now ready a 

 supplement to bis book "Yacht Portraits," published last year. 

 It consists of 10 new plates, intended for insertion. in the book in 

 place of the blank leaves now there. The price is $1.75. 



A NEW SCHOONER.-Oo Dec. 2, the new schooner Orinthia 

 was launched at Bedell's yard, Glenwood, L. I. She was designed 

 and built by Joshua Bedell for Mr. Wm. Walker, of New York, 

 and is a keel boat 65ft. over all, 16ft. beam, 9ft. hold and 8ft. 6in. 

 draft, with an iron keel. 



CORINTHIAN NAVY — A lecture will be delivered at the 

 Hotel Marlborough, Broadway and 30th street, on Dec. 11, at 

 8 P. M. by Com. Robert Center, S.CY.C 



CHOCTAW.-Mr. Arnold Thayer has sold his Burgess 40 to 

 Messrs. C. F. Brown and H. C. Higginson, of Newburg. Mr. Brown 

 formerly owned the Burgess boat Bonita. 



AWA.— This Burgess 40, built in 1889 for Providence yachtsmen, 

 has been sold to Mr, Frank Benson, of New York. 



SULTANA, steam yacht, Mr. T. L. Park, sailed from Bermuda 

 on Nov. 24 bound for Madeira. 



FLEUR DE LYS.— Mr, George Trotter's new schooner arrived 

 at New York lastweek. 



SCHOONER RACING IN 1 890, 



WHEN, some four years since, as a side result of the America's 

 Cup contest, the 90ft. schooner class blossomed into life 

 with such, buds of promise as Sachem, Sea Fox, Merlin, Mayflower, 

 Elrna and Alert in quick succession, with the remodelled Gray- 

 ling and the imported Miranda, there seemed good reason for the 

 belief that schooner racing, which at one time hell a monopoly of 

 yncht racing, was to regain some of its old-time glory, and that 

 the fame of America, Sappho, Magic, Fleetwing,' Henrietta, 

 Columbia, Idler, Montauk and Halcyon was to be dimmed in a 

 measure by these newer celebrities. Unfortunately these roseate 

 anticipations have fallen very far short of a realization, and in the 

 course of two or three seasons the promised schooner revival has 

 not only run out entirely, but left a dreary void. In 1885, the l wr 

 year tnat the old boats had the entire field to themselves, the 

 racing seemed poor enough, but it was lively and exciting to a de- 

 gree compared with the past season, or, so far as is now probable, 

 w > Tl ' th ? coming one. At that time there were still signs of 

 vitality m the class, and while none of the boats were really up to 

 the times, they at least entered the races and furnished a fair 

 amount ot sport to contestants and spectators. Though shorn of 

 a part, of their former glory, the great club regattas still made a 

 goodly showing in the way of lofty spars and acres of kites, and 

 had by no means reached the very low ebb of the past vear. 



The most noticeable thing about the accompanying table of the 

 year s races is the lack of well-known names, the few boats that 

 raced are tar surpassed in numbers, and especially in tonnage, by 

 those that were tied up at their docks or spent the summer in 

 doing houseboat service; Mohican, Fortuna, Alert. Montauk, 

 grayling, Lima, Ramona, Sachem, Constellation, Miranda and 

 bitana. Of the dozen that made all the racing, nearly half were 

 small or ancient craft; while of the cracks not one started more 

 than four times. The programmes of the various clubs included 

 over 2tj separate events open to schooners in nearly all of them first 

 prizes of about $150 to .$~ ; 00, and second prizes of about half these 

 amounts being ottered for schooners in ayroe . i;---^. , y 



prizes m some cases being of greater value. Of these regular 

 club events but 9 received any entries at all, the dozen others, in 

 which were included the annual regattas of such clubs as the 

 New lork, beawauhaka and Atlantic, the fall regattas of the 

 Mew York and Eastern, and other equally good opportunities for 

 racing and prize winning, being abandoned entirely for lack of 

 entries. 



The promise of the early season was not had considering tbe 

 general dullness of racing in the larger sizes of yachts; Merlin 

 was ready for the fray. Sea Fox and Mayflower had both changed 

 ownership, going to the east of Cape Cod and into good hands, 

 marguerite had been purchased by an owner who proposed to 

 race her, and who expended considerable money in various alter- 

 r J 0 ?? ' ^i. ral ^ a a \ so had been over hauled, and proposed to renew the 

 fight. That Grayling was out of the racing for one season promised 

 rather to help the sport, leaving the field free for a new champion. 

 Just how it happened that after all there was no schooner racing 

 is even now a hard thing to describe; the Eastern yachts did not 

 care to come to New York, Marguerite's alterations were greatlv 

 delayed, and the big craft, such as Montauk and Ramona, 

 though still plenty good enough to make sport with their fellows, 

 had no stomach for racing. One hy one the spring regattas went 

 by without a schooner race, the only bona Mc starter coming to 

 grief at the start of the New York Y. C. regatta bv drifting stern 

 first on to the West Bank before the gun fired. 



The usual prizes were offered, and if it had been a mere matter 

 of money the club would have gone further in this direction to 

 secure entries. The work undertaken by the various regatta com- 

 mittees in the way of a personal canvass of owners is not gener- 

 ally known, but no effort was snared to induce men to enter for 

 the sake of the clubs; but to no effect. No one wanted to race, and 

 no one would enter to please the committees, so there was no 

 racing. The only club which made any showing at all was the 

 Larchmont, the racing atmosphere which pervades the locality 

 of the club house being stimulating enough to induce half a dozen 

 races which made good sport for all concerned, albeit the craft 

 were noted rather for a flavor of age and respectability than for 

 speed or good looks. 



The first race of the year was a match over the Stamford course 

 of the Larchmont Y. C. between Azalea and Agnes, in which the 

 former won easily, though losing her foretopmast. Following 

 this was an amusing race between Agnes, Leona and Elfin, the 

 sequel to which was a match between tbe latter pair, which was 

 chiefly remarkable for the numerous mishaps which befel one of 

 the competitors and the dire straits to which her crew were re- 

 duced in the efforts to repair damages. So far as these little races 

 are concerned, they show that if men really care for sport they 

 can get it il Ot c- Li ilia i , i < U i i fl.'S>-r.J^s,~:v.j: ; ; j 

 the owners of many of the larger and really fast boats, which are 

 considered out of the racing, might still find plenty of sport if 

 they wished it by entering in some of the many races where none 

 of the new cracks are present. There were enough schooners in 

 the Lower Bay on the occasion of the New York Y. C. regatta, not 

 one of them of them of the modern type but all on a fair plane of 

 equality, to have made a fine sight for the spectators and a cred- 

 itable showing for the club, had their owners possessed the spirit 

 to enter them. It is perfectly natural that the owner of an old 

 boat after being defeated by a new one should decline to race 

 further; but the case is very different when no new boats are 

 present, and when a boat is no worse off because she has no lead 

 keel nor white topsides than half a dozen of her old competitors. 



It was not until the middle of July that the small surviving 

 fleet of modern schooners really essayed a race; the occasion 

 being the annual regatta of the Eastern Y. C, when, after a day 

 lost in a drift, the fleet started out with a strong N.E. breeze and 

 a tumble of a sea to sail the short twenty-four knot course 

 to Harding's Ledge and back. As far as a test went this was 

 most unsatisfactory, a short course for 90ft. yachts, a start under 

 spiuakers followed by a reach part of the way out, and a long leg 

 for most of the way home, with hardly any real windward work. 

 The race was chiefly remarkable for the poor pilotage on nearly 

 all of the boats, Sea Fox and Mayflower losing considerable on 



the way home. Merlin won all the more easily on that account, 

 beating the Fox by a margin of 7}4 minutes. 



It was intended and expected that the annual cruise of the 

 New York \. C. would make amends for the dullness of the 

 spring racing, in fact many have ascribed the decline of the re- 

 gattas in part to the influence of the New York cruise, which has 

 certainly gained much in importance of late years. While noth- 

 ing was reft undone on the part of the regatta committee and the 

 pincers ot the club to make the cruise a success, it wa^ apparent 

 long before the rendezvous to every careful observer that there 

 was little more life and interest in racing than had been shown in 

 June, and that the cruise was likely to fall below rather than to 

 surpass its immediate predecessors. The fleet assembled at New 

 London was a tme one in point of number as well as in the 

 character ot the yachts, but it was not a racing fleet as was 

 evident, from the first. The sudden death of Mr. Schuyler in the 

 middle of the fleet, and on the eve of the first race, robbed the 

 cruise of what vitality it had; several of the races were abandoned 

 the yachts sailing at will from New London to Newport on the 

 day atter Mr. Schuyler's death, and from Newport to Vineyard 

 Haven on the day of his funeral in New York. This left but two 

 runs m place of four, destroying the interest in one feature of the 

 cruise, though it does not appear that in any event the racine 

 would have been up to that of 1889. 8 



The Goelet cups were sailed for off Newport, over the famous 



bow and P.gs" course, but in a light wind that carried the forty- 

 toot Gossoon out to the Sow and Pigs, 18 knots, ahead of the 

 schooners; m tact. Volunteer and Gossoon monopolized most of 

 the honors, the schooner racing being very tame. Merlin winning 

 without an effort. Palmer started in the race, but in such weather 

 was soon hopelessly out: Marguerite also started, but on the run 

 from New London she had grounded and injured tier keel so that 

 the board could not be lowered, and in spite of her lift, draft she 

 was now r here to windward in such weather. 



The best day's soiling of the year for the spectators was on Aug. 

 i, when the fleet, 50 odd yachts, ran across from Newport to Vine- 

 yard Haven, over as fine a sheet of water as there is on the coast, 

 and with a strong S.b.W. wind driving on the quarter. It was a 

 real pleasure to see the hypochondriacs hump themselves and get 

 oyer the ground, proving that some of them could race at times if 

 they only knew it. While the new ones, Merlin and Volunteer, 

 led the way, Montauk huug to their heels in a way that must have 

 astonished herself, while Palmer, Noma, Crusader and Intrepid 

 were withm hailing distance of the leaders. As they sped through 

 Vineyard Sound, with balloon sails, both jibtopsails and maintop- 

 mast staysails, all drawing, they made a picture such as is seldom 

 seen now. The keenest and most exciting form of yacht racing is 

 a struggle between two or three picked and evenly matched boats 

 such as Puritan and Genesta or Minerva and Gossoon; the size has 

 nothing to do with the interest so long as the boats are closely 

 matched. At the same time such a duel can never present the 

 imposing spectacle of a fleet of racing schooners under balloon 

 canvas, such fleets as were once common on both sides of the 

 Atlantic, but are now seldom seen here and never abroad Un- 

 fortunately, as before stated, this run was not timed, and does not 

 go on record as a race. 



After such a day as this it is disappointing to find that on the 

 morrow, with the same fine S.W. breeze to order, the mere name 

 of a race frightened over 40 of the fleet through the short cut to 

 New Bedford by the way of Quick's Hole, leaving but 15 to make 

 a, race by way of the Vineyard Sound Lightship. Sea Fox gave 

 Merlin a rub for a time, but the latter shook her off when beyond 

 Nobsca Light, beating her in by 15m in. Mayflower was beaten 

 another 10mm. on top of this. Miranda had met with a mishap 

 m Newport, her boom dropping on the wheel and crushing it, so 

 uhat she missed the Goelet Cup race, but she started on this run 

 though making but a poor showing. Iroquois did some very 

 good work, beating CEnone very handily all day. The second and 

 nnal run was on Aug. 7, a drifting match without any decisive 

 result, Merlin winning, however, while Marguerite again went 

 ashore. 



The final race of the cruise, and as it proved, of the year, was on 

 AtW. 8, the classes and prizes being: Keel schooners, open to all, 

 $m. first class $200, second class $200, third, fourth and fifth 

 classes $200. The day was clear and bright, with a light wind, 

 nothing to frighten the most timorous racer, the course being but 

 U knots to windward and return, but out of the fleet only three of 

 the smaller yachts started, Quickstep, CEnone and Iroquois. The 

 former won easily, beating CEnone over 20min. This ended the 

 schooner racing; the fall regatta of the Eastern Y. C found 

 nothing larger than the 46ft. smglestickers at the line, the Larch- 

 mont Y. O. fall regatta fared as badly, and the projected fall re- 

 gatta of the New York Y. C. was finally abandoned at the last 

 moment, after all preparations were made, because no one would 

 enter m any class. 



It is not possible to obtain a full list of prizes won, as the values 

 are often not announced in tbe race programmes, and in the ease 

 of the schooners it makes little difference. We give in the table 

 several amounts. A table of all prizes offered, but not raced for 

 would be an interesting appendix, but we have not the informa- 

 tion. The table of starts and totals is based on positions in part 

 and not on actual prizes; the two runs of the cruise were separate 

 races, so far as the merit of winning goes, though but one first 

 prize was given in each class. We have credited each lirst place 

 as a wm and also each second place, when from the number of 

 starters, four or more, it would be equivalent to a second prize. 

 I he heavy-faced numerals in the main table show where prizes 

 were given. When we come to the records of the singlestick 

 classes it may be worth while to attempt some sort of an average 

 record, but such would obviously be impossible with so few races 

 as the schooners have sailed. So far as honors are concerned 

 Merlin conies out ahead, having beaten both Sea Fox and May- 

 flower m every race, though this of itself is not much, considering 

 the way the latter two were sailed at times. In the other classes 

 there were not enough entries to warrant any definite conclusions 

 save that Quickstep is a very fast little boat, which all knew last 

 year. 



In the races on the Lakes and in other localities than New York 

 and Boston the schooneria were hardly seen, on Lake Ontario Ori» 



