460 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. 35, 1898. 



Tis a nice question of ethics "whether such a course is to be considered 

 fair and sportsmanlike. This much may safely be said, that had it 

 ibeen Valkyrie instead of Vigilant that thus took advantage of a plain 

 defect in the rules, there would have been a greater clamor than was 

 raised over the alleged over-length of Thistle in 1887; and further, that 

 it is one of those tricks -which can be played just once. It is quite 

 probable that before next season a flxed limit of crew will be incorpor- 

 ated in the rules; or if this should not be done, every designer will be 

 awake to the privileges accorded him in the tacit indorsement by the 

 club of Vigilant's action ; and she will no longer have a monopoly of 

 this "unmeasured increment" of power. 



Those yachtsmen who first took an interest in the keel yacht 

 through the lively controversies of 1S79-80 will remember well a 

 peculiar type of English yacht which attracted much attention on. 

 this side from the fact that it possessed quite a large amount of beam; 

 the "Itehen boat," commonly called, or "lengther," at that time racing 

 very actively about Southampton water. These yachts were unique 

 among British craft in being one of the two exceptions to the then 

 universal tonnage rule, the other being the racing yachts of Lake 

 Windermere, and both were raced under a waterline length rule. 

 Another pecuhar feature of the Itehen boat was its rig, many being 

 semi-sloop rigged, with mast very far forward and a single jib. 



These yachts, to which the Yachtsman alludes in an article quoted 

 elsewhere, were most excellent examples of the evil of great power 

 on a limited length, being of great beam and draft, with a large area 

 of midship section, excessive sail area, fast in smooth water, bad in a 

 sea. and at all times hard to steer. Their beam, however, commended 

 them to Americans, and several were built in Boston about 1880, others 

 were imported, and the type has played an important part in the 

 evolution of the present American keel cutter; Pappoose is directly 

 related to the Itehen family, though of later and better design, and 

 both Liris and Kathleen are closely related to Curtsey, Lil and Eclipse, 



The'earliest of the Boston keel yachts, ante-dating even the Itehen 

 boats, though different and more crude in model, had much in com 

 mon with them, a great beam, a hollow midship section, the hull be- 

 ing that of a wide centerboard boat, and an excessive draft, made up 

 by a deep oak keel with an iron keel below. 



Whether in its crudest form, of the primitive Boston keel, built 

 from centerboard moulds, and with a midship section resembling a 

 draftman's T square, or in the more elaborate work of skilled de- 

 signers, with a beautifully curved section of the "wineglass" form; 

 the type was marked by certain strong characteristics. The beam 

 and draft were great in proportion to length, the section was very 

 hollow, giving a minimum of accommodation below, the weight was 

 hung very low, the sail area was excessive, requiring a large crew, 

 the boat was very fast under normal racing conditions— smooth water 

 and moderate breezes— but .'expensive to build and run, hard to steer, 

 and a poor seaboat. 



In the general features of her design Vigilant is closely allied to the 

 Itehen boat, and the experience with this type on both sides of the 

 Atlantic, shows pretty clearly what may be expected from her and 

 others like her. While various circumstances, such as the defects of 

 IJrls's rig and the perfection of Minerva's design have operated at 

 times to restrict the development of this type, there is no question 

 that it is diretly favored by local conditions in America and existing 

 American rules, and we do not for a moment question the right or the 

 wisdom of a defigner, who, after studying these conditions and rules 

 produces an extreme example of the type to race under them. One 

 question we would raise, however, at this time, and that is whether it 

 is best for the clubs either actively or passively to continue to encour- 

 age through the rules a type which is so expensive, unhandy, and, 

 we believe, detrimental to the best interests of yachting. No doubt 

 the experiment has paid, and paid well, this year in the defeat of the 

 fastest yacht which has ever challenged for the Cup, but now that the 

 whole yachting world is awake to what was but six months since the 

 exclusive secret of Blr. Herreshoff. this great advantage of the de- 

 fender has largely disappeared. This being the case, would it not be 

 to the advantage of all parties, in view of the prohibitive expense to 

 which racing has been raised this year, to impose certain reasonable 

 limits on crew and sail area, if not to make an eif ort to transfer the 

 principal racmg to a smaller class than 87 or a possible 90ft. 



In mentioning the Itehen boats, the Yachtsman endeavors to prove 

 thatthe value of beam was fuUy realized in England before the suc- 

 cess of Puritan and Mayflower. This, however, was very far from 

 being the case, even the victories of the Itehen boats over some of the 

 fast tonnage cutters of the day failed to make any serious impression 

 in England, and it is quite probable that but for the visit of Genesta 

 and Galatea to America, and the success of the yachts built to meet 

 them, the narrow cutter and the lengther would still be racing in Brit- 

 ish waters, It was the defeat of Genesta by Puritan which grave a ful- 

 crum to the lever which a few yachtsmen had been using ineffectually 

 for some time to overturn the old tonnage rule. 



As THE various quotations show, the lessons of the races have been 

 studied with considerable care on both sides, and the erroneous im 

 pressions published just after the last race are likely to have little effect. 

 It may do no harm, however, to recapitulate the more salient points 

 developed by the races, some of which were only visible when the ex- 

 citement was over, and there was time for a cooler and clearer view. 



In the first place, the radical and deciding difference between the 

 two yachts laid neither in the size nor in the centerboard, but in the 

 type, as indicated in the midship section. That of Vigilant approached 

 the T square or the "wineglass" form of the old yachts already dis- 

 cussed, and of tlie still greater extreme of the modern fin-keel; while 

 Valkyrie showed in her section the greater area and the fair and easy 

 S curve of the modern cutter as found on both sides of the Atlantic. 

 The inequality in this respect was most marked, far greater than in 

 any other. 



As regards actual size or power, let us assume that Vigilant could 

 be reduced in dimensions and sail area, of course preserving all pro- 

 portions, until her sailing length and rating exactly coincided with 

 those of Valkyrie, and what would be the result. On the basis of 

 Valkyrie's actual measurement, apart from the excess of spinaker 

 boom, the reduced Vigilant would be about 83ft. l.w.l , 10,500sq. ft. of 

 sail. All time allowance being thus eliminated, we believe that Vigilant 

 would still win under any conditions that are favorable to her in her 

 present size. The best and fairest conditions in all of the races were 

 those of the triangular course, and the very large margin which can- 

 not be explained away out of the lead of 12m., would more than 

 cover the reduction of Tigilant's size to Valkyrie's ratmg. 



As regards the centerboard, if we assume that, while stUl of the 

 same rating, Vigilant is robbed of her board and deepened in propor- 

 tion to Valkyrie's draft; or, on the other hand, that Valkyrie has her 

 lead raised to Vigilant's draft and a centerboard inserted, there still 

 exists a difference in beam, form of section and ratio of sail to 

 length, which experience tells us must make Vigilant the faster 

 Doat. 



Several minor points present themselves before we leave the hull; 

 the all-metal construction of Vigilant and the elaborate composite 

 build of Valkyrie are nearly equal in the matter of weight, while the 

 copper-sheathed bottom of the latter was probably as good or nearly 

 SO for the ten days following the last docking as the bronze bottom of 



: her rival. The triangular form of Valkyrie's lateral plane aided her 

 greatly in all the maneuvering as opposed to the long, straight keel 

 and sluggish movements of Vigilant. Tbe question of wheel vs. tiller 

 is a hard one to decide, but even many American yachtsmen concede 

 a certain superiority for the tiller in racing. 



Going now to that portion of the yacht above the deck, many inter 

 esting points present themselves. In the novel and original disposition 

 of her rigging Vigilant was unquestionably superior to Valkyrie, the 

 latter having the old mechanical details of the conventional cutter rig, 

 such as all shrouds to the hounds, while three of Vigilant's ran to the 

 upper cap and but two to the hounds, Vigilant's mast was also stayed 

 fore amd aft by two wire rope stays, from upper cap to a point just 

 above ttihe deck, set up with turnbuckles, and strained over an A. 

 shaped hrace, acting like the bridge of a fiddle, just where the thrust 

 of the gaff came. The rigging throughout was more complicated, and 

 made up of more parts, each demanding an exact amount of careful 

 a,djustmpnt, but it was at the same time lighter and gave better sup- 

 port to the spars, than the conventional shrouds and runners of Val- 

 kyrie. 



No doubt there was a certain element of weakness in the experi- 

 mental nature of the rig, and also in the fact that a failure of one of 

 the many members would be likely to:result in a general wreck, but the 

 fact is that Vigilant's rig kept her spars in her under the tremendous 

 strain of the last bad quarter of an hour. The comparison of the two 

 rig8,as seen through the series of races, is likely to lead to the general 

 adoption of theHerreshoff rig, and it is more than likely that Valkyrie 

 will profit by a similar arrangement of shrouds and iron work next 

 season. 



In sail, so far as material and making goes, the advantage was mani- 

 festly with the English boat, the cotton of course is no better than 

 that used here, but the duck is more carefully made, and driven up 

 harder in the making than in American mills. So much lies in the 

 bending and using of the sails that it is a hard matter to say whether 

 the blame for a poor sail lies with the maker or user; in this case it is 

 only necessary to say that Mr. Eatsey's work was as perfect as one 

 would wish to see, while every sail bore the evidence of tender and 

 careful manipulation in bending and working out to its best form. 

 Vigilant's sails were well made, and of a special grade of very fine 

 duck, but they by no means set as well in use as those of Valkyrie. 



In the matter of sail area. Vigilant had some advantage in the pre 

 vailing light weather, in being over-canvassed; while Valkyrie would 

 probably be materially improved for American racing by more can- 

 vas, with possibly a htte more. 



In the sail plans, however, as worked out by the designer, there was 

 a marked difference, and all in favor of American practice. This dif- 

 ference was in the jibtopsails; In the first place, as in all American 

 cutters, the bowsprit extends beyond the cranse iron, in the case of 

 Vigilant, just over 2ft., thus throwing the topmast stay well forward 

 and keeping the jibtopsail well clear of the jib and mainsail, while on 

 Valkyrie the topmast stay comes down to the cranse iron. With no 

 pole outside the sails carried on this stay are different, the British 

 fashion being to carry ordinarily a "No. 1 jibtopsail" extending the 

 whole length of the stay, but cut high in the clew, hke the American 

 "large jibtopsail." This sail was set on Valkyrie whenever the spina- 

 ker was used, as in the final race. The same sail was used on Vigilarjt, 

 but only in reaching or on the wind; in a strong breeze with spinaker 

 set and also in reaching in moderate breezes, she relied on a "balloon- 

 jibtopsail," improperly called by most yacht skippers a "balloonjib,"a 

 very large sail of Irish linen, extending the whole length of the top- 

 mast stay and sheeting aft well beyond the mast. 



This very useful sail was carried by Vigilant at all times save when 

 on the wind, and for windward work in very light airs she had a 

 special "balloon jibtopsail," considerably smaller, a sail not com- 

 monly used. Valkyrie had indeed a sort of "balloon jibtopsail," her 

 "spinaker jib" or "bowsprit spinaker," as the English t<;rms go, but 

 she used it very little, and never as Vigilant used one or the other of 

 her "balloon jibtopsails." 



When dead before the wind Vigilant had her main boom well off, 

 her spinaker with the sheet carried around the fore/stay, her jib and 

 staysail lowered, and her balloon jibtopsail set, the wind from the 

 spinaker being spilled into the latter saO. Valkyrie, on the contrary, 

 had her boom further in, the spinaker was can-ied square across the 

 deck, the balloon foresail was set, also the jib, and only the No. 1 jib 

 topsail. 



In connection with the spinaker two other points remain to be 

 noticed, while Vigilant'is spinaker boom was just off the length allowed 

 by the rule, Valkyrie paid for an excess of no less, than 6ft. oE spinaker 

 boom, a penalty of nearly half a minute in 30 m/.les; a most extraor- 

 dinary and unusual handicap for a designer to assume voluntarily for 

 the sake of a little more speed down wind. 



The difl'erence in setting light sails, spinakers and jibtopsails, was 

 also very great; on the British boat they were set flying, no matter 

 how hard the wind, while on the American they were as invariably set 

 in stops and broken out. No doubt on short liourses there is a certain 

 advantage in being trained to set these sails without the delay and 

 trouble of stopping them up, but in anything more than a very hght 

 breeze the advantage is entu-ely on the side of the American plan; and 

 in fact, in any weather it is the better. The actual handling on Val- 

 kyrie was far better than on Vigilant, but there were times in the 

 races when it would have been an advantage in coming around a mark 

 to have the spinaker mastheaded and hauled out before the turn was 

 made, leaving only the breaking of the stops when once on the new 

 course. The disadvantage of the Bnghsh plan was plainly shown on 

 the last day, the spinaker being first torn on the foot in setting it flying 

 in the strong wind. 



Apropos of this setting in stops, the Yachtsman remarks: "British 

 skippers do not care to risk their spars by such a sudden and tre- 

 mendous jerk as the breaking out of a stopped spinaker is bound to 

 cause," This, however, does not explain the fact that the spars never 

 break under the same conditions on an American yacht, and that 

 spinakers and balloon jibtopsails are invariably set in this manner 

 without damage to the sails or spars. 



In this point of setting light saOs in stops Valkyrie's crew was at a 

 serious disadvantage, enough often to offset their unquestioned 

 superiority in drill and quick working. 



This drill and discipline of the English crew was shown in many 

 ways, the quick handling of the spinakers, and the machine-Uke 

 regularity and quickness with which the head sheets were handled in 

 tacking, but it was by no means the case that the handlmg on Val- 

 kyrie was uniformly better tha n on Vigilant. As long as everything 

 ran properly in the accustomed routine, the EngUsh crew was the 

 better, but under adverse conditions and in emergencies it did not 

 show up as well as the crew of Vigilant. The finest work done in the 

 whole series of the races was that on board Vigilant in the run of the 

 final race; her mixed crew of Norwegians and "Sou'wegians" turned 

 to with a will and shook out a reef and packed on sail in a way that 

 made one forget all about their slow and clumsy work a Uttle before 

 in setting the spinaker. 



It may be assumed that after weeks of trial and careful working up, 

 Vigilant was in very perfect form, and sailed as near to her best as 

 any yacht does in her first season. So far as stability goes, Valkyrie 

 probably lost nothing by the reduction of weight and ballast on this 

 side, she was at all times a stiff boat, and even in the last race would 

 have carried her whole mainsaU easily to windward, and at no time 

 did she show the need of the ton of lead put aboard before that race. 



I ' ~ 



t is most likely, however, that the experiment of putting her in a new 

 and very different trim at the last moment, and sailing hex m the Cup 

 races without a trial, resulted as such a venture usually does, to the 

 yacht's disadvantage, and that, while stiff enough, she was off her 

 fore and aft trim, and acted differently. Whatever the loss in this 

 way may have been, it was not enough to influence appreciably the 

 final result. 



Looking now at the performance of the two yachts, that of Val'kyrie 

 in the windward work of the last race has been generally over rated 

 by British yachtsmen. In the first place, neither yacht was canvassed 

 according to the weather conditions existing at the time of the start, 

 but on the basis of telegraphic reports of a heavy gale coming up the 

 beach and timed to reach Sandy Hook at noon. It may be said now 

 that this "gale" proved far lighter off New York than was anticipated, 

 and moreover it did not begin until the race was over, reaching its 

 height about 10 P. M. instead of at noon. With a falhng barometer 

 and the telegraphic reports, both yachts shortened sail more than was 

 necessary, but with different results, 



Valkyrie turned in a small reef, setting her No. 2 jib, forestaysail 

 and jibheader. This disposition of canvas was one she was accus- 

 tomed to, and she balanced and handled perfectly under it; she could 

 have carried the whole mainsail and jibheader easily, though it is 

 possible that she might have gone no faster to windward. Vigilant, 

 contrary to all American usage, followed Valkyrie's example in a cer 

 tain way. She, too, turned a reef into her mainsail, but her first reef 

 is nearly twice as deep as Valkyrie's. With this serious cripplmg of 

 her driving power she still carried her No. 1 jib, it being hanked to the 

 Stay and difficult to shift. Her foresail was set and a jibheader over 

 the reefed maujsail. The result of this morfydite reefing, which was 

 strongly opposed by some of those in charge was that the yacht was 

 robbed of the driving power of the big mainsail, so essential to the 

 speed of a wide craft, and at the same time the big jib paid her head 

 off continually, causing her to work in a manner never seen before. 



Had she followed the usual Americon practice of carrying whole 

 mainsail and headsails, without a topsail, she would have gone faster 

 and easier, and would have been at the outer mark from three to five 

 minutes sooner. Much has been said about the poor working of her 

 centerboard, but the loss from this item was probably very little, on 

 and off the wind, the reduced mainsail and the very bad balance, how- 

 ever, was a far more serious matter. 



Added to this error in canvassing came other evils as usual in its 

 train, and Vigilant was never worse handled than in the first half of 

 tliis race; she made a miserable start, and when she had made up a 

 part of this loss by hard footing she was robbed of it all by the seri- 

 ous blunder of the first off shore tack, which placed her back again 

 right under Valkyrie's blanketing. 



The handling of Valkyrie in this part of the race has been justiy 

 praised, she won the start by sheer sklU at the stick and quickness of 

 turning in the boat herself, and she wassailed beautifully, keeping her 

 rival under her lee. 



In strong contrast to this, however, is the work of the two boats on 

 the run in; the good work on Valkyrie ended when she set her spina- 

 ker, and the bungling stopped on Vigilant with the tardy breaking out 

 of the same sail. With her spinaker once drawing, though with two 

 bad tears in the foot, Valkyrie set her large jibtopsail and balloonfore- 

 sail, still carrying the reefed mainsail and jibheader, and apparently 

 settled down to a quiet afternoon sail home. Her crew worked 

 briskly and skillfully in shifting spinakers later on, after the first one 

 tore, but apart from this incident she sailed along in a leisurely, go- 

 as-you-please fashion, making no effort to set more sail. 



Vigilant, on the other hand, although the wind was steadily freshen- 

 ing, no sooner had her spinaker drawing than all hands were at work 

 on the balloon jibtoptail, the larger one of the two, and this sail was 

 set, after some trouble with a fouled hook, which made it necessary 

 to send a man down the topmast stay. While this was doing, men 

 were at work along the boom casting oft' the reef, and at the mast- 

 head and gaff end lashing up the jibheader and sending down the 

 halliard and sheet for the second clubtopsail, which was set over the 

 smaUer sail. All of this work was difficult and dangerous, and in the 

 rising breeze carried with it a serious risk of losing everything; but 

 to all appearances the only thought on Vigilant was to win. On 

 board Valkyrie no effort was made to prevent Vigilant from passing 

 to windward, but she steered a straight course in, regardless of her 

 dangerous opponent, the latter passing her easily at the last. 



By way of excuse for the apparently slack work on Valkyrie, it is 

 said that her mast was sprung on the last of the windward work, and 

 that no more sail was set because it might carry away and kill some- 

 body. There is every reason to doubt that the mast was damaged at 

 aU, but If it wer»^ an occasion like this, the last possible chance after the 

 work and outlay of a whole season, is one that justified almost any 

 risk, and to racing men, in default of conclusive proof of the weak- 

 ness of the mast, the excuse wUl seem a poor one. Froiy what we 

 know personally of the men on Vigilant, we feel safe in saying that 

 had they been in charge of Valkyrie, with but ^Os. to save, as events 

 proved, and in the leading berth, they would either have .saved tbe 

 time or have been towed in dismasted. As the wind blew toward the 

 close of the race, the risk on Vigilant was no small one; but with larger 

 spars and sails than Valkyrie, a mast smaller in diameter, and Ughter 

 rigging, and with whole mainsail, clubtopsail and balloon jibtopsail 

 set, besides the big spinaker, she was simply sailed to win— or to break 

 down— regardless of all ordinary considerations of safe saiUng. 



To us Valkyrie's work to windward was disappointing, from the 

 models and rigs of the two boats, we had looked to see Vigilant's supe- 

 riority lessen materially or disappear entirely under such conditions of 

 sea and wind as prevaUed in this race, and to see Valkyrie beat her 

 decisively to windward. So far as we can see, Valkyrie was canvassed 

 and sailed perfectly, from tbe start to the weather mark, while 

 Vigilant was very badly canvassed, poorly sailed, and possibly 

 hindered somewhat by the derangement of her centerboard. Under 

 these conditions Valkyrie's gain is very much less than we looked 

 for. 



Apropos of the final race and that "sprung" mast, the Pield of Nov. 

 4 speaks as follows: "With regard to the Valkyrie not having set her 

 clubtopsail on the run home, Lord Dunraven informs us that it was 

 not done because so much time would have been lost in hauling down 

 the jibheader and setting the l,700sq, ft, topsail, and Valkyrie was 

 rolling so much more than Vigilant that he did not like to risk sending 

 a man out to the gaff end to lash the clew of the jibheader, and so be 

 able to use the sheet without hauling the sail down. The masthead 

 had shown some signs of weakness, but that had nothing to do with 

 the non-shifting of topsails." This is a rather humiliating confession 

 as in effect it admits that the British tar, with his heart of oak, 

 stopped short at a job that was done, and done well, by good Yankee 

 sailors born in Norway and naturalized on Gowanus mud and Krom- 

 bach's beer. Working at the ends of these long spars is neither safe 

 easy nor pleasant, but if it is done on one boat it must be done on the 

 other, and the failure to do it is a strong admission of the superiority 

 of the opposing crew. While Valkyrie rolled more than Vigilant, the 

 work on the latter was dangerous enough to involve serious risk to 

 the men in the very probable event of the topmast going; but there 

 are times in a great race where a heavier risk is justified by the cir- 

 cumstances, and this was apparently one of them. The setting of 

 corresponding sails on Valkyrie, even after Vigilant had shown tha 

 way, would have changed the result of the race. 



