H 



h ^ ^! ^ ]! f ; 





111! 



1 1 1 t 1 













diacing the huge sails; it was simply a question of weight of crew 

 vs. propelling p 3wer, the sheets being eased olt only when there 

 was a dangerous amount of water on board. Once on a wind the 

 boat was kept fairly buoyant and well under control: but when it 

 came to easing oil the sheets the amount of water that came on 

 board was really even alarming, and in fact at times one might as 

 well have been sitting in a sluice of salt water. 



"The pace can be imagined from the fact of our overhauling 

 and passing to windward all the European racing craft, men-of- 

 war cutters, etc., some of which had started three-quarters of an 

 bour ahead of us, but before they had got up to the third flagboat 

 (Ave miles). I was much amused at the astonished looks of t lie 

 Curacaos, peeping over the weather gunwale of their cutters as 

 we went by them at a steamer's pace with our array of human 

 bodies poised out over the side. 



"Having raced in 10, 20 and 90-tonners in English waters, I must 

 admit that this sort of racing, where every man is so thoroughly 

 a component part of the boat, the sustained pitch of excitement, 

 as well as the pace, beat any of my previous experiences. Taking 

 the Malays in their own waters, coupled with tbeir exceptional 

 dexterity as boat sailors, I really think that they would run away 

 from vessels of a similar length— even Ulidia and Buttercup— ex- 

 cept, perhaps, in a case of a hammer to windward in a seaway, 

 where the depth of hull and lead would, I think, prove the victor, 

 a conclusion I should very much indeed like to see tried. Un- 

 fortunately the yacht club here possesses nothing that can come 

 near the Malay 'sampan panjang,' as when competing with any 

 of our local yachts, the native craft came in fuUy half to three- 

 quarters of an hour ahead. 



"Having a fine breeze outside, and beine able to fetch the fourth 

 flagboat in one tack, we soon reeled off the first round, a good 

 eight miles, in a little over the hour; our boat being heavier 

 manned and ballasted, the Tigress, in the run in with the lighter 

 wind along shore, was able, with a favorable puff, to run up to 

 and overhaul us. This led us, as it unfortunately subsequently 

 proved, to pitch overboard a lot of our ballast, for when once 

 more outside on the second round we met with a harder breeze 

 coming in more from the eastward, necessitating this time a lot 

 of tacking— the loss of ballast here telling, as we had hard work 

 to overhaul the other boat. The breeze hardening, every one was 

 out to windward, and we had frequently, even then, to let all 

 sheets 'go flying' before we could spare a hand to bale out. 



"Once or twice I quite thought we should never be able to get 

 rid of all tbe water on board, and, as a finishing touch when 

 hauled close up to the flagboat before the first run in, with no less 

 than twenty men out on the gunwale, a sudden whirlwind, caused 

 by some heat eddy coming off shore, caught us 'slap aback.' This, 

 with the huge lateen [settee ?] sails, tacks bard down to the masts, 

 all hands out on the one siae. near as a toucher finished us, the 

 only expression escaping the Malays as some went into the sea, 

 while others snrang across to the opposite gunwale, being 'this 

 time swamped !' Luckily, the gust swept over us as suddenly as it 

 came, leaving us filled right up to the thwarts; while the Tigress, 

 profiting by our mishap— for, strange to say, they escaped this 

 sudden gust— just managed to weather the flagboat, and was off 

 flying, leaving us with all hands hard at work bailing, there luck- 

 ily being a large stock of bailers always carried on board. It was 

 nearly ten minutes before we got sufflcieutly clear of water to en- 

 able us to bear away after our opponent, who, however, had got 

 too far away by this time, and ran in any easy winner. 



"The Malays said that in all their experiences they bad never, 

 while in a hard breeze, been caught in a similar violent eddy. 

 The Unco told me that he thought that nothing could have saved 

 our swamping, and made sure that we were all in for at least an 

 hour's floating about before the masts could have been unshipped 

 and all the sails and gear got clear. 



"For my own part I did not at the moment think much of the 

 danger of being swamped, having such confidence in Malays 

 and their mode of treating such a mishap, having so frequently . 

 seen them racing in their kolehs— a smaller canoe-shaped craf i; 

 and when quite swamped the crew, generally of four hands, going 

 overboard immediately, holding the boat upright, while one hand 

 re^iesid i^iboard agd baled away, tUp others thm goraiabUng 



m, and were off sailing again, all in the space of a few minutes. 



"This, however. I learned could not have been so readily done 

 in so much largei a craft as ours. Unco Khalid significantly re- 

 marking that he invariably took care to get well into a sail when 

 overboard, i. e., to avoid any undesired attention on the part of 

 the numerous and inquisitive sharljs, of which he told me the Ma- 

 lays invariably have a great dread when overboard anywhere 

 beyond the harbor limits: and just now the water police report 

 an unusual number of sharks about tbe roads, the late heavy 

 monsoon weather having probably caused them to leave the China 

 seas for smoother waters. With a knowledge of this, and the 

 constant risk of having to swim for it, I shall in future most de- 

 cidedly venture with less confidence in a race in a 'sampan pan- 

 jang.' " 



The following dimensions of the two boats have been taken 

 from the drawings: 



DIMENSIONS OF HULI. AND BIG. 



Length over all., 

 l.w.l 



Masts, from stem. . 



Boom. . 

 Sprit.. 



Sampan 

 Panjang. 



Koley. 



Pi.In. 



Ft.In. 





34 6 





30 





5 1^ 



•■ If 



4 5 





1 4 





1 



r 





1 8 









9 8 











94 



25 4 



., 14 9 





26" 



35 8 







533sq. ft. 



loTsq. ft. 





,l,086sq. ft. 



e90?q. ft. 



33 



26.27 



. 86.88 



28.00 



9.00 



3 45 



^Ka 



Corrected length, S. C. Y. C. 

 Rating, Y. R. A. rule 



The crew of the larger boat would include 8 men on the ropes, 3 

 to bail, 3 to tend sheets, 7 general hands and 1 steersman. Judg- 

 ing from tbe midship section, the displacement would be under 

 3 5 long tons, while the crew would probably weigh 1.5 tons. 



The second drawing sbows the "koleh" or "koley" mentioned 

 by Mr. Dare, a smaller boat, the one shown carrying 13 men, 

 while some are but 16ft. long with a crew of two. 



The construction is as novel as the other features of the boats; 

 they are carvel built, with sawn frames, natural crooks, spaced 

 some 3ft. apart in the larger craft. The planking is of syriah, a 

 coarse variety of cedar. The garboards are steamed by laying 

 them on horses over a fire until they are quite hot. when water is 

 poured on, steaming and softening the wood. The planks are 

 dowelled to each other on the edges. The dowels being Sin. long 

 and about 6in. apart. Before the planks are finally put in place 

 after being fitted, a narrow strip of palm bark or pith is laid on 

 the lower plank, the upper one being driven down on it. After 

 the planks are on, a number of cross beams are laid across tbe 

 boat at every 3 or 4ft., and ropes of vine or cane are run under 

 the boat, the ends of each rope being fast to a cross beam. 

 Wedges are then driven in so as to tighten the ropes and bring 

 the planks together; and the hull is left for a month to allow the 

 planks to shrink, the wedges being constantly tightened. When 

 thoroughly dry, the plants are fastened to tbe frames witU tr^e» 

 884iii very lew i»etal ^aeteningg being «sed atwut the bQftt, 



The two boats are by chance of a length familiar to American 

 yachtsmen, the larger being hut 9in. over the 40ft. class, while the 

 smaller is just .3t)Et. l.w.l. The sail areas, however, correspond 

 very closely to these of canoes rather than of decked and ballasted 

 yachts of the same length, tbe ratio of the square root of the sail 

 area to the l.w.l. being from .80 to .85, while in a racing canoe it is 

 from .75 to .80; the corresponding figures for a modern racing yacht 

 running from 1.30 to 1.50. The probable performance of t^ese 

 boats beside the decked yachts is the merest conjecture, but if it 

 were possible to bring one beside the present 30ft. class, the larger 

 boat, under a corrected length classification, would just sail on 

 even terms with Kathleen, giving a little time to Mildred, Saladin 

 and Hawk. If there is anything in the bugbear of a large canoe 

 m the yacht classes, which has been used to hinder tbe adoption 

 of the new classification, these boats would be the ones to realize 

 it; but it seems hardly possible that they could make their way to 

 windward without the addition of a centerboard. 



The most remarkable fact in connection with these craft is the 

 close resemblance to various typical boats of widely different eras 

 and countries. There is a very close resemblance to the noted 

 Viking ship which was dug up in Norway in 1880, after a burial of 

 probably little less than ten centuries. Tiis vessel was a war ship, 

 designed to carry a large crew, and propelled by oars rather than 

 sails, consequently she is wider and of fiatter section that the fast 

 sailing sampan panjang, but the close relationship of the two 

 models is very plain. 



DELAWARE RIVER OPEN RACES.-The Cooper's Point Y. 

 C, following in tbe wake of the P. Y. C, gave tbeir first open race 

 on Sept. 26. Every yacht club on the Delaware was represented, 

 save the Trenton, 40 miles away, and no fault of theirs either; 33 

 boats crossed the line, and tbe winning boats received their prizes 

 promptly. The C. P. Y. C. antedates even the old reliable and 

 time-honored Riverton Y. C. A class has been opened for tuck- 

 ups; five boats have already entered, Mr. O. W. Gale, of the 

 Annie, P. Y. C, being the first with an entering wedge well driven 

 home. This is encouraging to a club reorganized this year, es- 

 peciaUy so when Wm, L. Grant, Jr., Riverton Y. C, offers a prize 

 for the boat making the quickest time over the Reedy Island 

 course nest year (sixth annual). Open races bring yachtsmen 

 together with an exchange of opinions nautical, and fraternally 

 breaking up the odious clannishness often existing, and establish- 

 ing among yacht clubs a brotherhood of jolly good fellows well 

 met. I promise wherever the C. P. Y. 0. flag is fiown it will be 

 respected. Good men make a good club. In this connection I beg 

 to thank the Fobbst and Stbbam for the interest taken in Dela- 

 ware River yachting, so far as we are from the great center of tbe 

 sport.- R. G. WiLKiNS (Cooper's Point). 



\VADENA.-Tbe new steam yacht Madena, owned by J. H 

 Wade, of Cleveland, is now on ber way from that port to the sea 

 by way of tbe St. Lawrence River. As she draws lift, she will be 

 pontooned through the canals. She will fit out at Portland, Me., 

 for a voyage to the other side, where her owner will join her for 

 a trip around tbe world. 



UTOWANA, steam yacht, Mr. W. W. Durant, has shipped a 

 new crew at Cowes, commanded by Capt. F. Blow, late of the 

 Pandora, steam yacht, and her owner and family will rejoin her 

 in the Mediterranean. 



NEW YACHTS.-The Herreshofl Mfg. Co. have an order for a 

 35ft. cutter for Vice-Com. Morgan, and also one for a ^ rater for 

 the Clyde. Stewart & Binney have an order for a 30ft. cutter 

 similar to Fancy. 



"'West India Hurricanes and the Great March Blizzard.^' By 

 Everett Hay den, U. S. Hydrographic Office. Large quarto, vMh 33 

 lithographic plates. Price $1, Contains full history of the great 

 storm of itforeft, 1888, vMh practical information how to hanidl( a 

 wmei n a eu^nei v^s (tf oUat §m, etc. 



