Deo. M, 1891. FOREST AND STREAM. 461 



Jtily 11.— St. Lawrence 1. C— 39ft. class. Wind flawy. Valda 

 second, Ohaperone takiner first. 



July 35.— Valois Annual Special Handicap.— Wind fresli. Sin- 

 gle reef. Pour starters. Valda beaten 2m. by Viking of 35ft. c.l., 

 by the same designer. Valda should get 8m. from Viking but in 

 this race was scratch. 



Aug. 29.— Special unclassified race over special cnurse.— All 

 classes combined. Lower sail breeze. Valda led the fleet by 4m. 

 32s, elapsed time but had to give 16m. 42s. to Thora, a St. Law- 

 rence River skiff of 19ft. 1. w.l., and that boat won the first prize by 

 lm.30s. 



In her two seasons, therefore, Valda has started thirteen times, 

 winning nine firsts and four second places. She has but once 

 been beaten by a boat of her own class and has beaten the first 

 class boats five times of the eight that they hapnened to start to- 

 gether. 



Of the four first places lost, in one she was actually first by six 

 minutes corrected time, but lost on handicap. One was lost to a 

 boat of 35ft. Sin. c.l. in a fresh breeze and another on time to a St. 

 Lawrence skiff Avhich got from Valda 16m. 469. on a ten-mile 

 course through a carious result of the approximate measurement 

 of sail area, Val(Ja having 660 sq. ft. actual sail on 31ft. l.w.L.while 

 the skiff had 400 sq. ft. actual sail on 19ft. l.w.l. Valda, being 

 84.1ft. c.l., would under the club rules allow Thora, 19.3ft. c.l., 

 tout 4m. 27s. in 10 miles. 



RACING RULES FOR OPEN BOATS. 



THE annual meetings of many yachting clubs will take place 

 the coming month, and the question of new measurement 

 rules is sure to come tip in the clubs which are composed of the 

 smaller class of boats. For years it has been the cry of the small 

 boat owner and clubs that they have been crowded by the larger 

 clubs and have not had fair play If the members of the small 

 clubs knew it, they are standing in their own light, and by their 

 unreasonable rules are preventing yachtsmen from building a 

 type of small boat which their present rules prevent. 



One thing is certain, the club which puts the least restriction on 

 the design is sure to succeed in the end, and new boats of the 

 radical type will be built as experiments. 



The taxing of overhangs is inconsistent with speed, because it 

 affects the elements of a design greatly and prevents public 

 spirited yachtsmen from going forward. Nobody wants a slow 

 boat and all want the fastest, whether she be cruiser or racer. 



The Corinthian Club stands oat as a success, because its mem- 

 bers are progressive, and its rules are so bro id that boats of all 

 kinds may be developed with but little hindrance. 



The time has gone by for the "sawed off" constituency to control 

 much longer. The races between the Tartar, Mabel, Queen Mab, 

 and other old boats have ceased to be interesting, from the very 

 fact that nothing is to be gained from the results. 



The American yachting public want new ideas tried, and they 

 do not believe in standing still. Tiie "sawed off" has almost 

 reached its highest development, and the question to be decided is: 

 Can the 31-footer or other class length of the cat or jib and mainsail 

 boat be improved, if restrictions are taken off the design? 



The catboat of to-day is, with a few exceptions, practically the 

 same boat that it was 20 years ago. The Qaeen Mab and Mabel 

 were racers over 15 years ago, and the writer well remembers the 

 match races between the Mabel and Ionia on Dorchester Bav over 

 10 years ago. The races then created more interest than they do 

 now. 



There is a healthy feeling growing up in the small clubs in 

 regard to broader rules for measurement. The thinking men of 

 the clubs have come to the conclusion that restriotions.must be 

 tfeken off designs, and in this they coincide with designers. 



Something must be done to create a new interest in the smaller 

 classes and this means a radical change in the rules. 



Cliibs tliat tax overhangs both forward and aft will not be 



"VALDA" SAIL PLAN. 



patronized, while those showing broader ideas are bound to suc- 

 ceed. 



A boat with overhangs runs the risk of being barred out for ex- 

 ceeding the leneth, while the square ender can be sunk to her 

 planksheer and still bold her length. 



The regatta committee of the small boat clubs would do a good 

 thing by coming together and talking the matter over. An inter- 

 change of views is sure to be beneficial, and yachting in the end 

 will be benefited.— Boston H&rald. 



CORRECTED LENGTH AS AN ALTERNATIVE 

 RULE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It seems to me that your suggestion that the leading yacht clubs 

 establish one or mora classes with a corrected length limit as 

 alternatives and experiments is the most sensible and practical 

 one which has been made for some time. It appears to me that 

 there is a capital opportunity to do so at present. Rumors of a 

 53ft. class are in the air. Why cannot half a dozen of the leadiig 

 clubs offer prizes for a class of 55ft. sailing length? A 4e-footer 

 with 4,000ft. of sail would fit into it qaite handily. And judging 

 from the performance of that class with the Clara, it would not 

 be an easy matter to beat them with more length and less sail. 

 At the same time, it would be open to any one to try with sav 50ft. 

 length and 3 600ft. of sail, or even 53ft. of length and 8,250ft. of 

 sail. If the larger boat proves the faster, why is she not also the 

 better in other respects? She would cost little more to baild, less 

 to handle, have more acoommodatioa and probably be a better 

 sea boat. It seems to me that the notion that a classification by 

 I corrected length would produce an undesirable type of boat is a 

 pure bogy, born mostly of ignorance and misrepresentation. I 

 cannot see why au English SO-rater of 46ft. is not. so long as you 

 keep her at the sail area for which she was designed, a more con- 

 venient, comfortable, good all-round boat than an American rac- 

 ing craft of the sama length, but with the sail area of a 40-rater 

 59ft. long. But admitting that she is not, there is not much pros- 

 pect that she would prove a winner in American waters under 

 corrected length. The generally lighter winds and smoother 

 waters render it almost certain that a shorter boat with larger 

 sail area would prove superior. Even in Great Britain the differ- 

 ence in length between tQe winners at Siuthampton and on the 

 Clyde, where the prevailing winds are lighter, is quite marked. 



At any rate, nothing will ever be learned without experiment. 

 The establishment of a 55ft. c. 1. class would give an opportunity 

 to make sach an exparimsnc in the most interesting manner be- 

 tween the46-footers and any longer boat that would fit the class. 

 Now is the time to try it, b=sfore a lot of 53-f ooters with monstrous 

 sail plans are called into existence. C. L. 



D. J. LAWLOR. 



THE many friends of the veteran naval architect. D. J. Lawlor' 

 of CHelsea. will be pained to leara that he is confined to his 

 bed, dangerously ill with cancer of the stomach, and there is but 

 little hope of his recovery. A visit to his home in Chelsea yester- 

 day found him very weak and steadily failing, and Ms demise 

 may be expected at any time. Mr. Lawlor was born in St. John, 

 N. B.. in 1824, and came to this city whea fifteen years old. He 

 procured employmeat and served his apprenticeship with Whit- 

 more & Holbrook, well-known slilpbuilders at that time. On 

 learning his trade he went to Gloucester, where he carried on 

 boat buuding for some years. He returned to Boston about this 

 time, and for forty years has taken a most prominent part in ship 

 building and yacht designing. Soon after his return to this city 

 he designed the brigantine News B ly for Dabney & Go. of this 

 city, and she was a wide departure from the then prevailing 

 type of merchant vessel. The News Boy attracted world wide at- 

 tention, and was favorably comraQated on in. Qri^^^s Nemtiaat | 



Magazine. This was his starting point. He was always a good stu, 

 dent, and by close application became very ape ia his profession " 

 No man on either side of ths water can claim a wider experience, 

 for he has designed and built more vessels than any of his co- 

 lab arers. Over 150 merchant vessels were built from his designs, 

 and these include ships, barks, brigs, schooners, of two, three and 

 four masts. He has also dssignei qaite a number of towboats. 

 Among the fishing vessels were the Sarah Pryor, John H. Mc- 

 Manns, Sylvester Whalen, Susan R. Stone and others. When the 

 steamship Meteor was projected, the late R. B. Forbes requested 

 him to make a design and model, and the prize was won by Law- 

 lor against the field, among whom were Messrs. Webb and Steen. 

 The veteran designer has a fleet of nearly 500 vessels to his credit, 

 and in nearly all cases he both designed and laid the vessels 

 down. Many of these he built at his yard, corner of Condor and 

 Meridian streets. East Boston. In steam yachts he clearly has the 

 lead, for the steam yachts designed by him number 117. The 

 Adelita and the one now building in Providence are among the 

 number. Mr. Lawlor designed and built the schooner vaoht 

 Gitana, and there is not a better sea-going vessel afloat. It is a 

 remarkable fact in his career that he has designed the last ves- 

 sel built at Hingham and also at Medford. In the pilot boat fleet 

 Mr. Lawlor has fifteen vessels. Among them are the Hesper , 

 Phantom and D. J. Lawlor. Mr. Lawler is a self-educated man 

 and his success is due to his own efforts. He came here a poor 

 boy and had no one to help him. His departures in naval archi- 

 tecture were as radical in their time as those of to-day. He had 

 ideas of his own and was not afraid to carry them out. He in- 

 vented the double topsail on square riggers, and also the cut of 

 head saUs. Before the late Mr. Burgess went into naval archi- 

 tecture as a profession, he often visited the veteran, and from 

 him gained many a good point. Mr. Lawlor represents faithfully 

 the old school of mechanics, well up in all branches of the trade. 

 The cost of the fleet designed and built by the veteran would 

 reach well up into the millions. The gap left by the late Edward 

 Burgess and removal of Mr. Lawlor from active work is one that 

 cannot be easily flUed. Both were clever in their specialties.— 

 Boston Herald. 



HARLEM Y. C. ELEOTION.-The annual election of officers 

 of the Harlem Y. O. took place on Dec. 17 at the club house, 519 

 East 131st street. The officers elected were: Com., T. H. McDon- 

 nell; Vice-Corn., Mortimer P. Lee; Rear-Com., Julius Greenbaum; 

 Fleet Capt., P. Natterer; Treas., S. J. McCauley; Meas., W. D. S. 

 Hyer; Fm. See'y, H. B. McAllister; Rec. Seo'y, E. L. Fellman; 

 Cor. Sec'y, T. B. Bites; Fleet Surgeon, Dr. H. M. Cos; Steward, 

 A. Borst; Board of Directors, Geo. W. Fuller. Jas. F. Lalor, T, W. 

 Jackson, Wm. Towner, A. Johnston, Robert H. Wiley, A. M. Steb- 

 bins; House Committee, W. A. HaU, A. G. Austin, W. Scardefield, 

 J. T. Kennedy, T. J. Hendry; Membership Committee, H. L. Ful- 

 ler,. H. G. McCord, John Traugott. 



LIEUT. HENN.— Ib a letter this week Lieut. Henn informs us 

 that he has been compelled to give up his projected visit to 

 America in consequence of the serious illness of Mrs. Henn, and 

 they will spend the winter in Scotland instead of Florida, a matter 

 of regret to both. Galatea is laid up at Dartmouth. We have re- 

 ceived a remarkably fine photo of her, made from a painting by 

 Admiral Beechy, R. N., showing her under trysail, storm jib and 

 staysail, on the return voyage across the Atlantic in 1887. 



ALTERATIONS.— Hope Laslie. schr., has received a new stern 

 at Frisbe's yard, Salem. Charm, F. S Ketchum, New Jersey Y. C, 

 has been raised 6in. and lengthened. 



CONQUEROR.— The case of the steam yacht Conqueror, owned 

 by F. W. Vanderhilt and recently seized by C jllector Fassett, of 

 the port of New York, was before the Supreme Court at Wash- 

 ington last week, but no decision was reached. 



SAGAMORE, steam yaeht, W. A. Slater, will sail shortly for 

 tJxe Meditexraueaa viith. h»£ e wner aud fautU? on bo^ d. 



