280 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[APEiL 2S, 18§i. 



YACHTING 



FRANCE. 



OF all peoples who have coDtended for the supremacy of the 

 Spas, in war, in commerce or In pleasure sailing, the English 

 speaking nations have always held the lead; the Anglo-Saxons 

 have proved their snperiority to the Latin races, and the battle 

 for first place has for the past century been between the United 

 States Eind Great Britain; the results in the main being decidedly 



THE BASIN AT AHGSNTEUIL. 



satisfactory to Americans. After these, the third place must be 

 conceded to France both in war and in pleasure sailing, and though 

 on the whole she has never led her two rivals, she has always 

 shovra a most creditable progress, and at times pre-eminence, in 

 some directions In the old days of wooden ships, France was 

 noted for the skil] of her naval architects and designers, and in 

 the matter of model she was often ahead of all rivals. Though 



PKOJ'lLES OF YACHTSITEN. 



her shipbuilding to-day will not compar'^ with that of Great 

 Britain, there are vards and shops and skilled constructors who 

 turn out vessels of the first rank. The strong point of the French 

 has been in the theory and practice of shipbuilding, in the more 

 complicated and abstruse branches of the science of naval design, 

 while the weak point has been in the handling of the vessels 

 afl^oat. While in yachting France is stiU a long way in the rear 



BOYAIi YACHT SQUADRON— COWES. 



of America and England, having always heen to a great extent, 

 dependent on the two, at the same time she has won an honorable 

 place as the third of the great yachting nations, and the possessor 

 of a strong and firmly established system of yachting. 



Unfortunately French yachting has thus far developed no 

 strong individuality, the inland waters are in the main very 

 eliofil, and the craft that navigate them have been imported f row 



the United States, while the roueher waters of the seaboard have 

 developed no national type, but the narrow racing cutter so long 

 in the ascendency in Brirish waters has been transplanted to the 

 French coast. In these two diiTerent types, each modified more 

 or less in time, but still prpserving its most distinctive character- 

 istics, a great deal of racing and sailing ha« been done by French 

 yachtsmen, the number of yachts, of yacht clubs and of individ- 

 ual yachtsmen having increased in a very gratifying manner; but 

 at the same time the fact that the boats are all practically of 

 foreign origin has proved a hindrance to the advance of yachting 

 to the place it should occupy an a national sport. 



This state of affairs has of late attracted cons' derable attention 

 among the leaders of French yachting, and as a result a most 

 practical and we hope successful movement has been started. 

 During the past winter a body under the title of the Committee 

 du Yacht has been formed, its object being to encourage French 



yachting on a home basis, to promote the designing and building 

 of yachts in France, to encourage French yachtsmen to ei ter 

 their craft in international races, to build up a pleasure marine 

 nf sk lled French skippers and sailormen to form the crews of 

 French yachts: and in short, to place French yachting in the same 

 indepen'dent position that the sport has long enjoyed in England 

 and the United States. 



Among the leaders in this work is Mr. Philippe Daryl. a French 

 yachtsman who has done much with his pen to enlist the aid and 

 interest of Frenchmen generally throueh the public press, and 

 who has also chosen this opportune time for the publication of a 

 most exhaustive and comprehensive treatise on yachting. This 

 work is a large octavo volume of nearly 400 pages, handsomely 

 printed and containing a number of excellent illustrations. 

 Though at the risk of giving a rather unfair and frivolous idea of 

 a work whose technical value and patriotic aims cannot be over- 



rated, we cannot refrain from reproducing some of the most 

 amusing of the many slsetches from the skilful pencils of Messrs. 

 Brun and Vallet. The former is well-known through his 

 work in the French yachting journal Lc YaeM, as one of the 

 cleverest of marine artists in pen and ink: while the spirited 

 sketches of the latter speak for themselves. 



Tho book opens with a hearty eulogium of yachting, which 

 should move the veriest landlubber to venture afloat; Mr. Daryl 

 is an enthusiast, and speaks most earnestly in praise of his favor- 

 ite sport. In the same chapter are some figures relating to the 

 cost of yachting and also to the French fleet, from which we learn 

 that the number of steam yachts is 337, with a tonnaee of 11,165 

 tons; the sailing craft number 712 vachts of a total of 8,970 ton?, 

 making in all L019 yachts and 20,135 tons. French yachting and 

 French yachtsmen each claim a chapter, and from the first we 

 learn that the word yacht is of French origin, though derived 



A PROFESSIONAr. 



from the Dutch "iacht," signifying chase. The auth9r discusses 

 rhe various modes of pronunciation, and decides in favor of 

 "yak" as in accordance with the best usage; but at the same time 

 he recognizes the claims of the English terms yachting and yachts- 

 man as well established by custom, though expressing a prefer- 

 ence for the form "yakting" as more logical. 



After describing the earlier vessels and the galleys of the 

 ancients, the author takes up the origin of yachting in France, 

 the date of which he places at 18^8, when the international re- 

 gattas of Havre were established. This date is very near the 

 beginning of organized yachting in America, beiner but a fpw 

 years prior to the foundation of the New York Y. C, 1S44. In 1817 

 the first American centerhoard was imported, proving very suc- 

 cessful and leading to the general adoption of this type on the 

 Seine and other rivers where draft was the first consideration. 

 An interesting chapter on racing yachts reviews the great racipg 

 events of various periods, following which are two chapters 

 descriptive of English and American yachts and yachting, each 

 fullv illustrated by views of the principal yachting stations, pic- 

 ture's of the yachts, and charts of the leading courses, such as 

 around the Isle of Wight and that pf the New York J, C, The 



THE PROPPafilOES. 



very spirited picture of the "man at the wheel" forms the head- 

 ing to the chapter on American yachting. The other picture, of 

 a "Yachtsman Yankee," was evidently taken at Newport on 

 Goelet Cup day, and not at Larchmont or Marblehead; we are 

 glad to say that the monocle has not yet come into general use 

 among genuine yachtsmen, but is confined entirely to the ele- 

 gantly attired gentlemen who ornament the decks of the larger 

 steam yachts on a few grand occasions in the height of the .=eason 

 if the weather is fine. The earlier American ra-^es, the develop- 

 ment of the centerboard yacht, and the progress of American 



A FRENCH YACHTSMAN. 



A FRENCH YACHTINf} LAt)Y. 



yachting are treated A^ery fully, while the America's Cup is 

 honored with a separate chapter with excellent portraits of the 

 most famous competitors. 



The next chapter deals with the purchasing and building of 

 yachts, the nationalization of foreign yachts in French waters, 

 the survey and registry and similar details. Chapters IX. and X. 

 take up in detoll the various rigs and parts of yachts and the in- 

 struments of na^igfition, the compass, los, lead, etc., the explana- 

 tions being very clear, and aided by many cuts, a chapter on 

 interior arrangements is also very practical. The cost of yacht- 



SOME PROFILES OF YACHTING LADIES. 



ing, the question of measurement and allowances, and the man- 

 agement of regattas are each treated at length in separate 

 chapters. Deep and narrow yachts are discussed in another 

 chapter by the aid of lines and diagrams. A chapter is also de- 

 voted to steam and electric yachts, and another to the French, 

 clubs and to Le Yacht, the journal which has done so much for 

 French yachting. The discipline of the ship and nautical educa- 

 tion occupy two other chapters, following them being an inter- 

 esting summary of single-hand sailing and canoeing. A special 



THE SCHOOSER ALINE. 



chapter, with many excellent illustrations, is devoted to the 

 steam yacht Sunbeam and rhe late L^dy Brassey, followed by a 

 chapter on "Some Famous Yoyages." 



The book concludes with an earnest and stirring appeal for 

 French yachting, in which the author not only insists on the ne- 

 cessity of action, but lays down a positive policy, which if carried 

 out is likely in a few years to place French yachting on an equal 

 basis with that of America and England as possessing distinctive- 



