YACHT BUILDING. 



757 



counter acted. With the success of one or the other of these 

 plans, an ocean voyage, even in a rough sea, will become a 

 pleasure trip, like sailing in a painted ship upon a painted 

 ocean ; the wildness of a storm even may become merely an 

 exciting spectacle, like looking at the representation of a hur- 

 ricane in a theatre, with the further advantage of having it 

 real and life-like. 



Perhaps the change which has been brought about in our 

 feeling with regard to the ocean is shown more in the yacht- 

 ing of modern times than in anything else. The idea of mak- 

 ing a trip across the Atlantic is no longer considered an almost 

 foolhardy undertaking, but even our yachts have made it a 

 field for their races, and a match across the Atlantic has be- 

 come not an unusual thing. The owning of yachts has become 

 so general among our rich men, that yacht-building has become 

 a regular branch of naval architecture, and constant improve 

 ments are being made in their models, and greater luxury 

 displayed in their fitting up. George Steers, who has been 

 mentioned before for his improvements in the model of the 

 •steamship, made his first reputation by the construction of the 

 yacht America, which was sent over to England, and proved 

 the fastest vessel in the regatta on the occasion of the first 

 World's Fair in London. This yacht, after her victory, was 

 bought by an Englishman, and never used again, being left to 

 rot at her moorings. However, she changed the yacht models 

 of Europe. 



A yacht race across the Atlantic was one of the sensations 

 of the year 1866. Three yachts entered the contest, the Hen- 

 rietta, the Fleetwing and the Vista. They started from Sandy 

 Hook one day in December, and though the season had been 

 unusually stormy, and they encountered gales almost all the way, 

 so that frequently they were forced to sail under bare poles, 

 and the Fleetwing lost several of her sailors, who were washed 

 overboard, yet they arrived safe at Cowes on the same day 



