820 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 16, 1894. 



suit of the America's Cup races of last fall would have been terribly dis- 

 counted, and the success of the American yacht would have been laid to 

 her inferior construction prior to her recent strengthening, and to her 

 then unlimited crew. On the other hand, had Vigilant won the Cup, the 

 case would have been still better for British yachtsmen, in that the 

 long desired opportunity would have presented itself, of putting aside 

 the America's Cup and challenging for another Cup under fairer con- 

 ditions. With the R. V. Y. C. Cup once in New York, British yachts- 

 men would be in a position to laugh at the New York Y. C. and the 

 new deed, and Lord Duuraven's blunder in forcing a challenge last 

 year would have been to a great extent retrieved. 



The Royal Victoria Y. C. is likely in the future to hear enough about 

 its unsportsmanlike action in declining such a challenge; we are con- 

 tent, without adding further comments in that direction, to rest our 

 criticism solely on the stupidity and folly that overlooks such an op- 

 portunity. 



In the many disputes over the America's Cup, the New York Y. C. 

 has had more than one opportunity to thank its "friend, the enemy," 

 for help when hard pressed. Any one who will take the trouble to 

 jook over the Cambria-Livonia races in the light of what has since 

 been recognized as fair and right by the New York Y. C. will find that 

 Mr. A8hbury had both law and fair sporting usage on his side. Unfor- 

 tunately for him and other British yachtsmen, his manner and disposi- 

 tion were such as to hurt his side of the case, and to lend color to the 

 statements of his opponents. 



The position of the Royal Yacht Squadron and of British yachtsmen 

 in regard to the new deed of gift, was, up to the end of 1892, well-nigh 

 impregnable. The illegality, the unfairness and the impracticability of 

 the new deed had been proven; many American yachtsmen had con- 

 demned it, all racing had stopped under it, and the Gerry regime, 

 which had forced it on the club, was just at its end. It was generally 

 known that Mr. Morgan was to be the new commodore, and that, in 

 spite of the stout assertions of its defenders, the new deed's days were 

 numbered. The fact that it had to go was admitted, the only ques- 

 tion, and that a most difficult one, was how to climb down gracefully 

 from a position no longer tenable. 



It was just at this juncture that Lord Dunraven appeared as the 

 savior of the club, eagerly accepting the strained and ridiculous in- 

 terpretations of its various clauses, and opening the way for the back 

 down, not of the New York Y. C, but the Royal Victoria Y. C, and 

 establishing a most vicious principle in yacht racing— that minor con- 

 cessions and conditions may be accepted as atoning for unfair and 

 illegal acts. Through his action, backed later by the Royal Yacht 

 Squadron, the New York Y. C. was enabled to retain the semblance 

 of the new deed at the expense of certain details; and in a great meas' 

 ure to justify its position and discredit the charges of its opponents. 



Now comes the Royal Victoria Y. C. with every inducement to put 

 a broad and liberal interpretation on its rules, but on the contrary, 

 narrowing them down to the very letter, and in so doing shutting 

 itself off from the -very end it sought to gain, of establishing a success- 

 ful rival to the America's Cup. 



The Present Condition of the Measurement Question. 



Throughout its three years of existence, the Yachtsman has steadilv 

 and sturdily opposed the present rule of the Yacht Racing Associa- 

 tion, and the yachts built under it; and in the continued discussion of 

 the subject of a change of rule, it has of late quoted freely from our 

 recent writings, and commented adversely on some of our views. It 

 is impossible, from lack of space, to quote in full our original remarks 

 or the Yachtsman's comments, so as to answer the various points 

 which it has brought up; but we would remind our contemporary that 

 the question of a change of rule is a very different one in America 

 from that with which it is dealing at home: and further, that our 

 position with regard to the matter here, is necessarily different from 

 its position in England, Whether through our fault, or its own, the 

 Yachtsman is apparently in doubt as to our present position on the 

 question, and before touching on some other points, we hasten to re- 

 lieve it from further suspei.se. 



We may say frankly that we do not like the yachts of the last three 

 years, and we like still less the yachts that are promised in the next 

 year, if no change is made in the rules. While at one with the Yachts- 

 man in this, however, we differ on many miuor points, both as to the 

 cause and remedy of a most undesirable state of affairs. 



In discussing the question and in criticising the Forest and Stream 

 our contemporary has merely taken things as they have been for 

 three or four years, regardless of the past. So far as it is concerned, 

 this is all right and proper but with us the case is different; the 

 whole matter of measurement has been one long hard fight for over 

 fifteen years, and the present state of affairs is merely one incident 

 by no means as hopeless as many in the past. If we have hesitated to 

 express ourselves strongly of late on the measurement question, it is 

 not from either of the reasons which the Yachtsman has attributed 

 to us, that we are entirely satisfied with the present rule, or that 

 while unsatisfied we lack the courage to say so; and lest others may 

 have misinterpreted our position at the present time it may be well to 

 state it plainly and decidedly. 



At the time, about 1878, when the Forest and Stream first began to 

 hold and express opinions of its own on yachting matters, the con- 

 dition of affairs as regards measurement was about as bad as it could 

 possibly be. There were then in existence two standards, one of mean 

 length, used by nearly all American clubs and governing all the 

 smaller yachts, and one of bulk, the "cubic contents" rule, used by 

 the New York Y. C , and consequently governing the building as well 

 as the racing of all yachts of over 40ft. The mean length was taken 

 in -various ways, one club measuring one-half of the overhang an- 

 other near by measuring one-third and perhaps a third in the same 

 locality one-fifth, while some clubs used waterline alone and others 

 only the deck measurement. A further complication resulted from 

 the practice of measuring, in some cases, a fraction of the total over- 

 hang forward as well as aft, while others neglected the fore overhang 

 which was very small in most cases, and measured onlv the after one 

 Ut the bad points of the --cubic contents" rule, especially as aggra- 

 vated by the regatta courses of the time inside of New York Bay it is 

 needless to speak now; but the rule was capable of developing a very 

 poor type of craft. Not only were there no eood rules, but there was 

 an utter lack of uniformity among the many bad ones; and the result 

 coupled with faulty allowance tables and an endless variety of racin^ 

 conditions and rules of the road for racing, was simply chaotic 



As at the present time, it was far easier to condemn a score of the 

 existing rules than to suggest one better one; and at the start, while 

 pointing out forcibly the radical faults of the existing systems and 

 the need for a speedy change, our able predecessor, the late Mr. Kun- 

 hardt, directed his strongest efforts toward the establishment of one 

 uniform system of measurement, allowance tables and all the condi- 

 tions of racing. 



flrrfhJwS KEW**^ incisive analysis of the subject which 

 first infused a real lite into the interminable but pointless discussions 

 of the day over • three dimensions," "cubic contents," displacement 

 . f?^S., le ?Stbs, "tonnage," length x beam, length+beam and other 

 infallible formulas, that pointed out the essential weakness of each 

 and sought to discover and formulate the true principles which' 

 should underly a good rule. Inspired by a thorough love of the sub- 

 ject, and by the growing excitement of. the contest, his blows became 

 harder and harder and it is safe to say that the question of melsu?e!' 

 S n6 Ih'" m -f Wltl - a m ? r ! thor ° u e h . or in fact a more needed, over- 

 hauling than it received between 1878 and 1883 in the Forest and 

 .Stream, and consequently the other American journals which one 

 "fr W £ P0 l aD ¥' a on , the 8ide of the old rul es and conditions ' 



To Mr. Kunharat perhaps more than to any other writer, is due 

 the ; enunciation and demonstration of the vital principle that a tbeo 

 retically perfect rule or measurement must be based not on one or 

 two elements of speed in the completed vessel, neglecting all others 

 but on the sum total of the speed-giving elements at the disposal of 

 the designer in beginning a design. ^ uau ul 



The first suggestion of the joint use of length and sail area in a 

 measurement rule was made early iu 1SS0. by fir. Dixon Kerno and 

 was first put into practice by the Seawanhaka Corinthian Y C hi 1883 

 ™?« «f ? t, r n le T ori e inaU J r suggested, Mr. Kunhardt was an advo- 

 cate of a btilk rule as superior to the various length rules, nor was he 

 attracted to the new length and sail area rule until after it had been 

 adopted by the Seawanhaka Cor. Y. C. through the efforts of MWs 

 John Hyslop. A. Gary Smith and the late 0. S. Lee; the support of 

 Forest am, Stream was however, given to the new rule f rom tbe time 

 ft« ™lt P tT- la tie /P™? of im the mle was altere d to practical 

 vJt T^'T 1 !' same time it was adopted by the New 



h^tS'oVlenSr PrOP ° rUOn ° f *" tW ° 



When, about this time, the Lake Yacht Racing Association was 

 organized on Lake Ontario, it was induced through the Forest and 

 Stream to adopt the Seawanhaka rule, making it one of the first or- 

 ganizations which did so. 



In succeeding Mr. Kunhardt just at this time, the present writer saw 

 no occasion to depart from the general policy which he had followed/ 

 in advocating first the harmonious and concerted action of all Amen 

 can clubs in perfecting and adhering to a uniform system of racing 

 rules; and further in upholding the. Seawanhaka rule as superior to all 

 previous rules. There was everything to contend with at the start In 

 the rooted belief of the majority of American yachtsmen in the length 

 rule, and in the prejudice against the new rule as something English 

 and bad; but. after just ten years of unremitting effort, we have the 

 satisfaction of knowing that the Seawanhaka rule is universally recog- 

 nized and used wherever yachts are raced in the United States and 

 Canada with a few exceptions in the small boat clubs; and that while 

 the actual formation of a national association of American yacht 

 clubs is still far from a reality, that the racing conditions and rules of 

 the majority of American clubs are practically uniform. The classifi- 

 cation now in use by the leading ehibs was first, suggested and perfected 

 by the Forest and Stream in 1887, doing away with that clashing of 

 classes which bad existed from the beginuing of class racing. 



While we recognize that the work is very far from completion, the 

 worst part has been done, in that the average yachtsman to-day takes 

 a far greater interest in the question of rules, and is far better quali- 

 fied to deal with it; and the old tendeney toward discordant and inde- 

 pendent action by each club has disappeared, to give place to a general 

 desire to work in harmony for the systematic advancement of yacht- 

 ing. While we have seen no reason to change our policy of advocating 

 the general adoption of the Seawauhaka rule throughout the country, 

 each year has brought new developments, good or bad, and thrown 

 more light on the whole subject. Without considering that the rule 

 attained anything like perfection, we have worked for its general 

 adoption as the most desirable step in view, and now, when even the 

 last adherent of the mean length rule has been compelled by circum- 

 stances to adopt, the Seawanhaka rule on an equal footing with the 

 other, we feel that this step has been fully attained. 



The next step, in our opinion, is the general adoption of the Seawan- 

 haka rule, not alone for measurement, but for classification as well, 

 with one uniform system of classes by sailing length instead of water- 

 line throughout the country; accompanying this, the system of build- 

 ing to class and racing without allowance within the class, as abroad; 

 and, as an allowance table cannot be entirely dispensed with, the 

 adoption of a uniform table on a basis of about 60 per cent. With 

 this change it may also be desirable to make some minor alterations 

 in the details of practical measurement. 



Experience has taught us that in matters of measurement it is 

 wisest to strive not for what is absolutely best in principle, but for 

 what is practicable, or even possible; and also that a gradual advance 

 on the part of all the clubs is in most cases far more effective than a 

 radical reform on the part of a few which the great majority refuse 

 to accept. From this point of view, we have been content for some 

 time to labor quietly and steadily for the general recognition of the 

 principle of employing length and sail as the basis for measurement; 

 until now the work has reached a point where it moves of itself. The 

 rule has become familiar to yachtsmen ; it has also become fashion- 

 able; and these two things have perhaps contributed almost as much 

 to its adoption as its real merits. At the same time, the sister princi- 

 ple, of classifying as well as giving time by sailing length, once bit- 

 terly condemned by American yachtsmen, is better understood and 

 more favorably regarded ; so much so that the chances of its adop- 

 tion are daily improving. Considering everything, the starting point 

 fifteen years ago, the strong and determined opposition, and the pres- 

 entcondition of yachting tuIps, we feel that a great work has been ac- 

 complished, in which the Forest and Stream has had its full share. 



Even though the defects of the present rule were greater than we 

 believe them to be, we should still feel that the result was most satis- 

 factory and the future promising; but we cannot share the Yachts- 

 man's bad opinion of the Seawanhaka rule as applied to American 

 yachting as a whole. It must be remembered that the conditions here 

 are vastly different from those in Great Britain, in that the great bulk 

 of the American fleet is scattered among many small clubs and its 

 racing is purely local; while in England those yachts which race at all 

 do so as part of an extensive system of racing extending around the 

 coast, but still comparatively centralized and concentrated. What 

 brings out the bad qualities of a rule is close competition in building 

 and racing, such as exists on the Clyde, the Solent and the Thames in 

 even the 0.5-rating classes; but in this country, save in the larger 

 classes and at times in exceptional classes, such as the Boston 21-foot- 

 ers and the Cape cats of 25 and 30ft., there is no such competition; and 

 in the majority of the clubs there is not enough keen and sustained 

 racing to lead to much building and thus to the extreme development 

 possible under the rule. We feel quite confident that for the clubs at 

 large throughout the country, excepting of course the great clubs of 

 the Atlantic coast and some few of the smaller racing clubs, the Sea- 

 wanhaka rule, used as the basis for one uniform system of classifica- 

 tion as well as for measurement, and with a proper allowance table, 

 may be made to answer every requirement for au indefinite time. 



Up to the season of 1891, when in designing and constructing Glori- 

 ana, Mr. Herreshoff re-entered the domain of yacht sailing, we should 

 have included in the above statement the entire American fleet large 

 as well as small, and racers as well as cruisers. The extent, as well as 

 the nature of Mr. Herrshoff's influence on design, has, however 

 altered the question most materially. At that time, although the evils 

 of limited length and lightly taxed sail were even more apparent than 

 in the past; the good influence of Minerva was strongly felt, and her 

 practical demonstration of the importance as well as the possibilities 

 of the economic use of power were generally understood and appreci- 

 ated. Extreme light construction was then unknown, and the ratio 

 of displacement to dimensions was high enough in all types to secure 

 good internal accommodation with ample structural strength The 

 most that could be urged against the yachts of the day, Volunteer 

 Titania, Katrina, and the 40-f ooters, was the size of their sail plans en- 

 tailing a large and expensive crew; in strength, accommodation 'and 

 sea-going qualities, they were superior to any of the yachts of pre- 

 vious years. 



In discussing the vast change that has taken place in but three 

 years, we would not in any way reflect on the talented designer 

 through whom in this country it has come; what he has done in 

 pushing the rule to its furthest point, and in sacrificing all else for 

 the sake of speed; is perfectly fair and legitimate as far as be is con- 

 cerned; and though we may regret the result, the blame if any must 

 not be laid on him, but on the men who make, and often mar the 

 racing rule; the yacht owners of the leading clubs. 



The changes in design wrought by Mr. Herreshoff are easily sum- 

 marized; retaining the huge sail plan due to a length classification, he 

 has increased the extreme dimensions of beam and draft, at the same 

 time greatly decreasing the displacement, gaining great power by a 

 higher center of buoyancy and a lower center of gravity, substituting a 

 small weight and a long lever arm for a wholesome amount of dis- 

 placement acting on a much shorter lever. From the popular point 

 of view, shared alike by the clubs and by the majority of vacht 

 owners, the result is a grand success, in that a higher rate of speed 

 has been obtained than ever before. To the much smaller number 

 who regard the general good of yachting and the developement of a 

 higher class of vessel as far outweighing any gain of mere speed in 

 match sailing, the result is a cause for serious regret and apprehen- 



We are not inclined to go as far as our contemporary in a whole- 

 sale condemnation of such yachts as Britannia, Queen Mab Valkyrie 

 WaspprGloriana; whatever disadvantages they may possess in the 

 way ot extreme draft and cost, they have certainly proved themselves 

 H»rn^ d i ^ 0 Tr, Sma C egree tewovthy Judged by an abstract stan- 

 dard of ideal perfection, we should certainly condemn them as falling 

 far short, but they were not built to such a standard and conse- 

 quently they cannot fairly be judged by it. 



The standard to which they were built was established with the be- 

 ginning of yacht racing, and has been religiously maintained ever 

 since by the great body of yacht owners. Again and again in the 

 W . su « oess /' e agitations for better rules, in this country 

 and Great Britain, has the question been put as to the chief end to be 

 obtained, and the answer has been ever the same-speed. Not sneed 

 with a maximum ot accommodation and seaworthiness and a mmimum 

 of expense; not even speed under fair average conditions; but speed 



York the standard has always been speed over the inside course in 

 light weather; about the Thames and the Solent it has been speed 

 under some special phase of the old Thames rule; and in other local? 

 ties the same narrow views have prevailed wwm 

 When the Seawanhaka rule was first mooted, the cry went ud that 

 the tax on sail would produce slow boats; when the proposal to clats 

 by sailing length was before the clubs in 1889, the »am« baseh«s damor 

 ^ Va , l hii- and ODl £ l l° vears siuce - in England, the ^disappointing 

 and abortive result of a long and careful inquiry as to the necessitf 

 n/thiv^K* - Ule 7 aS ' substance, but a declaration on the pari 

 of the Yacht Racing Association, that speed under the rule was the 

 sole end in view. The conclusion then reached by the CouncU of the 

 Jo w A. in regard to the seaworthiness as well as the speed of the 

 yachts of that year was by no means so far from the literal truth as 

 I he Yafrtsmm claims, but the weak point of the whole proceeding 

 was the refusal of the Council to recognize the next step of develop 

 ?££*r°? th6n ^ mly visible ' the fln keel, and to contend "itself with 

 a perfunctory and imperfect, statement of the case 



? H f T and Stream has never failed to present the falsitv of th* 

 wtSS?* standard * yachting, and to urge the necessity of conquer 

 m ^. Bt >; a , C?Omm0dati011 ' s ^Soing qualities and sale value as well a? 

 speed; but m doing so we have had the support of but few have 



encountered the most strenuous oppostiou from the many, especially 

 from those whose votes are necessary to a change. It was mainly 

 through our efforts that the proposal to classify by sailing length in 

 place of waterline was placed before the clubs in 1889 and discussed 

 in all its aspects; and the opposition to this measure is characteristic 

 of that which must be met by all efforts for advance in yachting. The 

 presentment of the case, not only by the Forest And Stream, but by 

 able and experienced yachtsmen in several of the clubs, was complete 

 and thorough, the result of a lengthy and laborious study of the sub- 

 ject. There was clearly pointed out the tendency under existing con- 

 ditions to excessive sail plans, increased expense of construction and 

 running, inferior qualities in rough water, and great draft; producing 

 a craft that was at once expensive and short-lived as a racer, and of 

 little value during the. rest of her life The moderate nature of the 

 proposed change, and the strong probability that it would produce a 

 vessel that was fast and at the same time generally desirable, was 

 shown by exact and definite facts and figures. The opposition to the 

 proposed change was general, including a few yachtsmen who were 

 really capable of discussing the subject, but who were opposed, pos- 

 sibly for good reason, as they believed, to any change; a large number 

 who knew nothing whatever about it; and all of the daily papers, with 

 one or two exceptions, of New York and Boston. 



The attempt of the friends of the measure to confine the discussion 

 to strictly technical grounds, based on all obtainable facts and statis- 

 tics, failed for the reason that few of the other side were equal to such 

 a dicussion, and a much easier course was open to them in the direc- 

 tion of misrepresentation, ridicule and appeals to prejudice. The 

 few statements as to the bad results of a similar rule in England in 

 producing a narrow boat were soon refuted by us, and then, as hap- 

 pened before, the mode of attack was changed, the friends of the 

 proposal were held up to ridicule as meddlers and cranks, with no 

 moneyed interest, in yachting and working against the interests of 

 yacht owners and racing men, and as for us personally, the old epi- 

 thets of cutter crank and Angl^maniac were used almost as freely as 

 in the first days of the Seawanhaka rule. 



In spite of all this opposition, fair and unfair, the facts of the case 

 were so plain that, the Seawanhaka C. Y. C. being quite willing to 

 adopt the new classification, already in use by the Corinthian C. Y. C. 

 of New York and agreed to by the Larchmont Y C, it would have 

 been quite possible by hard fighting to have passed it in the New York 

 Y. C. as well, thus assuring the support of the most important clubs. 

 After a thorough canvass of the matter, however, before the final 

 voting it was considered wiser to abandon the attempt at the time, as 

 it being then late in the winter there was not time to perfect all neces- 

 sary details, and in particular there was still a lack of concerted action 

 among the clubs, which would have prevented the adoption of one 

 uniform and satisfactory series of classes. 



Much had been done in the course of the lengthy discussion to bring 

 the rule before yachtsmen, and to lead them to consider it carefully, 

 as tbe.y had never before done; and it then seemed probable that in 

 the following fall, of 1890, the rule could be passed, not only with less 

 opposition, but in more perfect form. 



The end of the season of '90 is well remembered by yachtsmen; with 

 it died the 40ft. and 70ft. classes, and a depression set in which has 

 continued ever since, with only such exceptions as the 46ft. class in 

 1891, the 21ft. class in 1893, and the Cup races of last year. Not only 

 was class racing dead, but the miscellaneous turnout of the club re- 

 gattas fell away to nothing, building stopped and the racing season 

 begun and ended in the first week of the August cruise. Under these 

 circumstances, the entire question of measurement has been in abey- 

 ance, and there has appeared to us, as well as to others interested, no 

 necessity for reviving the question of classification. Far from being 

 dead, however, the work is going quietly on of itself, the Seawanhaka 

 rule, has become better understood and generally adopted, and classi- 

 fication by it has been carried on successfully by the Lake Yacht 

 Racing Association, the St. Lawrence Y. C, and by the Larchmont 

 and Corinthian Y. C. In the first two it has been put to the actual 

 test of building, as well as racing existing boats, and with good results 

 in impressing moderate instead of extreme proportions. 



Looking, as we have shown, to speed alone, there is one thing which 

 the clubs have always opposed — the supplementing of a measurement 

 formula by special conditions and restrictions. Common as it is in the 

 smaller clubs, such legislation has always been opposed by the clubs in 

 which the racing yachts are enrolled; and though innumerable pro- 

 posals have been made to legislate for special features, such as lead 

 keels, overhangs, details of construction, fin-keels and •varieties of 

 form, they have, if adopted by one or two clubs, been but short-lived; 

 the one notable exception being the long-standing prohibition of the 

 centerboard in Great Britain. A formula of measurement being once 

 adopted, whether tonnage, cubic contents or length, it has been allowed 

 to work itself sooner or later to an extreme, untrammeled by condi- 

 tions or restrictions. 



The folly of such a course has been pointed out repeatedly as some 

 undesirable feature has developed under the operation of the rule, but 

 the voice of the majority, of ''vested interests," and of that mischiev- 

 ous old fraud, the "prominent yachtsman who does not desire his 

 name to be mentioned," has been raised against any change; and when 

 a change has at last become inevitable, it has been made by means of 

 a new formula, and not by special restrictions. 



Our personal views as to the necessity of such restrictions as shall en- 

 courage all-around qualities as well as speed, are of loDg standing and 

 deeply rooted, but beyond pointing out at times the evils of unlimited- 

 racing, we have hesitated to press them or to offer any definite sug- 

 gestions, from the belief that the time was not yet ripe for such a 

 movement; and that there was still much that might be done within 



the limits of the simple formula of L and until that bad been 



done, there was nothing to be gained by provoking further opposition 

 In this course we have been guided somewhat by a most thorough and! 

 complete experience in the American Canoe Association, in which 

 body the course of building and racing since 1880 has converted the* 

 canoe from a craft of moderate sailing ability, but of low cost and a 

 wide range of utility, into a most perfect machine for match sailing 

 but requiring unlimited time and comparatively great expense for its 

 successful use; this course of improvement and specialization having 

 killed all racing. The case in canoeing has been identical with yacht- 

 ing save that the extreme has been reached in fifteen years instead of 

 fifty ; the result being identical, no building of new boats and no racing 

 of old. It has been our effort from the first to hinder over-develop- 

 ment by the imposition of such restrictions as would preserve a cer- 

 tain balance of good qualities rather than the sacrifice of everything 

 to speed ; but in this course we have met with opposition on all hands. 



One good result, if only one, has attended the advent of the fin-keel; 

 it has stirred up yachtsmen as they have never been stirred before 

 to the necessity of some legislation looking to the conservation of a 

 standard type of yacht. It has been fully proved that the way to a 

 higher speed in racing lies in the direction of less displacement, 

 more extreme dimensions and, whatever the construction may be, an 

 approach to the form long ago known as the U on the I, or more 

 properly to-day the saucer with a huge fln beneath. We c*n foresee 

 serious difficulties in the way of framing, much less of passing, any 

 such legislation; and we have little hope that whatever the rules may 

 be the resulting winning yacht will be other than expensive and short- 

 lived, and far from the ideal cruiser; but if building and racing are to. 

 continue, something must be done sooner or later, and we believe 

 that the time is near when, in addition to the measurement formula, 

 yachtsmen will welcome such a special restriction as will put a pre- 

 mium on midship section and displacement, and will draw a line 

 which, while perhaps leaving room for the fln-keel and unlimited 

 machine on one side, will preserve on the other side a real yacht that 

 shall be fast, but at the same time shall possess other good qualities 

 than speed alone. 



Ships that Did Not Pass in the Night. 



The New York Evening Post of last Saturday reported this inci- 

 dent: Capt. George Barstow of the ship Norris, which is now lying at 

 the foot of Twenty-sixth street, South Brooklyn, had an unusual ex- 

 perience on his voyage from Colombo and Point de Galle, Ceylon, to 

 this port. After rounding the Cape of Good Hope and working up on 

 a northeasterly course across the Atlantic, a sail was spied one day 

 which, upon drawing nearer, presented a familiar appearance, and 

 when the Norris set her stars and stripes from the monkey-gaff, the 

 stranger responded by showing the same colors. The ship was in 

 2° 07' south and longitude 32° 18' west. The air was very light and the 

 sea calm, so that the stranger, which was heading to the southward, 

 could be watched easily as the ships slowly drew near together. Capt. 

 Barstow -took a glass and went up theforerigging to get a better view 

 of her, when, to his surprise and delight, he discovered that the other 

 ship was the Elwell, commanded by his father, Capt. John G. Bar- 

 stow, then on a voyage from New York for San Francisco. 



The discovery of the identity of the Norris was made on board the 

 Elwell about the same time, and so light had the air become that both 

 captains concluded it would be little waste of time to see each other 

 at closer range. Captain George, who had his wife and child on 

 board with him, accordingly launched a boat, and while both ships 

 hove to within easy distance a family reunion took place on board the 

 Elwell. The captains had not seen each other to speak to for a num- 

 ber of years, although they had seen each other's ships and exchanged 

 signals when within sixty miles of the same position two years pre- 

 viously on similar voyages, when the weather was then too rough to 

 permit of a close approach. Both these ships hail from Damaris- 

 cotta, Me., where their captains belong. The Elwell had a quick pas- 

 sage around the Horn and arrived in San Francisco on May 6, accord- 

 ing to a letter just received by the captain of the Norris. She made 

 the voyage from New York in 128 days, while the Norris occupied 1 

 days coming here from Port de Galle. 



