824 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 13, 1894. 
completion until half the season is gone. At the same time there is 
nothing to indicate the immediate commencement of new yachts, the 
mythical Bennett 87-f ooter has failed to materialize beyond the point 
of current rumor, and there is no further news of .either a challenge 
or a challenger. If Lord Dunraven really proposes to challenge, now 
is the time for at least the opening of negotiations with the New York 
T. 0., if not the final agreement, and the actual commencement of 
designing on both sides. 
T- <s » 
The Cape Cat Hit or Miss. 
The "Caper," or Cape Cod catboat, has been from its earliest days 
essentially a square-ended boat, with plumb stem and short, broad 
counter. Of late, however, in common with all other types, it has 
been compelled to follow the fashion in the matter of overhangs, and 
since last, season the sight of a "Caper" with long ends and great over 
all length is anything but a rarity. The yacht here illustrated is, as 
her name indicates, an experiment designed and built last year by 
Herbert F. Crosby of Osterville, Mass., for F. M. Randall of the 
Pavonia 4 Y. C. Not only has the counter been lengthened and nar- 
rowed, but the fore overhang has been carried out to an excessive de- 
gree. The yacht, which is now owned by Vice-Corn. A. C. Longyear 
and Mr. D. W. Mitchell of the Newark Bay Boat Club, has raced but 
little, being used for cruising, but was the winner in her class in the 
Labor Day regatta of the New York Y. R. A. last year. The ballast 
plan originally included an iron keel, but after a trial it was removed 
and replaced by wood and the weight stowed inside, the change being 
considered an advantage. The dimensions are as follows: 
Length, 1. w.l 18ft 9^in. 
Overhang, bow 5ft. 7in. 
Overhang, stern 2ft. 8^£in. 
Length over all 27ft. lin. 
Beam, extreme 9ft. 9in. 
. Beam, l.w.l 9ft. 
Draft 3ft. J^in. 
Draft with board 7ft. 
Freeboard, lowest ; 1ft. 7J^in. 
Sheer, bow.. 2ft. 5in. 
Sheer, stern 7in. 
The yacht is cat-rigged, the mast stepped just at the end of the l.w.l. 
She has a very roomy cabin with about 5ft headroom and a good 
cockpit, which is high enough to be self-draining. The rudder con- 
struction is peculiar and by no means to be commended; the rudder 
stock is of cast iron, 2in. in diameter in the rudder trunk, with a 
square head, while below are cast two flanges, between which the 
blade, of lj^in. oak, is held and bolted. The yacht is fitted with both 
wheel and tiller. 
An Amateur's Effort. 
From the San Francisco Chronicle. 
In the course of the next fortnight the Corinthian Y. C.'s fleet will 
initiate a new and curious member. It will be the little cutter Feu . 
Follet, which has the distinction of being the product of one man's 
handiwork and patience. 
Nearly four years ago Henry. Gorter, a member of the Corinthians 
who is employed as a machinist by the city at the Corporation Yard, 
conceived the idea of building a yacht for himself and family. Being 
of an inventive turn of mind, and also particularly fond of boat de- 
signing, he proposed to build a yacht upon lines entirely of his own 
conception. His declaration that he would construct the craft him- 
self, during such hours as be could spare when not at his place of em- 
ployment, caused his friends to indulge in considerable pooh-poohing. 
They said it would be a life task. The fact that Sorter's home is on 
that dizzy height at the junction of Chestnut and Kearney streets, a 
point that has been appropriately dubbed the " jumping-off place," 
also caused the skeptics to snicker. But Gorter would not be discour- 
aged and labored patiently upon his craft. He met with all sorts of 
obstacles, such as all amateur builders are bound to encounter, but 
the principal one came from his neighbors. His habit of rising at 4 
o'clock every morning, and hammering, chopping and sawing until 7 
o'clock, and on Sundays continuing the racket all day, caused a howl 
from those who did not relish having their early morning slumbers 
and Sabbath quiet disturbed. But the work went on, and to-day, in- 
stead of talking of tar and feathers, the neighbors are proud of their 
disturber. During the past month or so strings of yachtsmen and 
boatbuilders could be observed toiling up the steep hill every evening, 
their mission being to gaze and wonder at Gorter's odd-looking craft, 
for its species is quite rare here, and the FeuFollet's trial trip is being 
awaited with considerable interest. 
The little boat is what her builder styles a beamy cutter, being a de- 
cided departure from the narrow English cutter lines. She possesses 
many of the characteristics of the American centerboard racer, and 
still is kept far enough from that type to be a genuine cutter. Her 
length over all is 29ft., and the waterline length is 21J^ft. The deck 
beam measurement is 7ft, 10in., but still her greatest beam is to be 
found a foot or so below the deck line, giving hfar a vase-like appear 
ance. The displacement is 5 tons. The keel is of lead and weighs 3 
tons. It was cast by Gorter himself and he was over a month getting 
it in the shape he desired. The boat will draw 5ft. of water at the 
heel. The deck if of white cedar, as are also the topsides, while below 
the waterline the covering used is of Oregon pine. All the timbers 
are double-bend, steamed Indiana gray oak. 
The Feu Follet will carry 800 sq ft. of canvas, which is an enormous 
spread for a boat of her dimensions. The boom is 26ft. in length, the 
gaff 18ft. and the hoist 19ft. The staysail is 16ft. at the foot. The jib 
is quite a small affair, as Mr. Gorter does not fancy large ones for 
cutters. The cockpit and cabin also give evidence of the builder's 
ingenuity and handiwork. Everything is fitted up for comfort, and 
the amount of room available is surprising. 
When asked what he expects of his boat as regards her probable 
speed, Gorter smiles and says he hopes for the best. It is easy to 
imagine, however, that he expects some speedy work from her. 
"I built her on lines that I felt ought to bring about good results," 
he said "but at the same time I did not intend her for racing exclus- 
ively. She will be pretty fast at all events. She will be absolutely 
safe, too, in any kind of sea or any kind of weather. It will be impos- 
sible to capsize her. The mast can snap off and her sails blow away, 
but the boat will always be found right side up. Regarding her 
design I will relate a singular coincidence: When I finished the plans 
and started to work on the boat it was with the belief that nothing 
like her was afloat. I had studied the plans of every great yacht 
known, and drew my own conclusions from them. But the season 
after I had begun my work the celebrated Gloriana came out, and 
when I got hold of a drawing of her lines I discovered immediately 
that she was almost a counterpart of my little boat. The Gloriana's 
designers had followed out the same theory that I had worked on and 
adopted — that was of avoiding all hollow lines above and drawing fine 
upon the angles. Straight lines predominate. " 
[From the pictures in the Chronicle, the yacht is of very good 
model, though not like Gloriana, she resembles more the Itchen boats, 
such as Madcap, and the Burgess 30-footers of 1889-90, with compara- 
tively deep forefoot and short clipper stem. She is apparently a 
symmetrical craft, and very creditable to her designer and builder.] 
International Competition. 
From the Mail and Express. 
We have had two or three interviews with returned pilgrims who 
went over with Vigilant, and there is one thing they all agree upon. 
They have no cause of complaint regarding the way they were treated 
in the races. 
At one time while we were in the thick of the series the cablegrams 
contained much reference to jockeying, and complaints were put into 
the mouths of Capt. Haff and others connected with Vigilant. A 
word of caution was given in this column not to put too much faith in 
these statements, as they bore a decided Imprint of being manufac- 
tured for the American market. 
I do not know how it is that those who send news regarding inter- 
national events from England cannot confine themselves to the abso- 
lute truth, unless it is that they think we can only accept defeat if ac- 
companied by abuse of the other side. 
This is the one unpleasant feature of international contests, and 
when American papers get abroad giving the facts as they were not 
with conclusions and criticisms based thereon, it only makes matters 
worse. Fortunately remembrances of these things do not last long, 
and we all come up smiling for the next engagement. 
With regard to the sailing of Britannia, Capt. Haff strikes the key- 
note of all up and up competitions when he said in reply to questions 
as to fair treatment: "They were not giving anything away. We 
were treated with great courtesy, but they are shrewd fellows, and 
while we had nothing to complain of, we received no concessions that 
I know of." 
One important point of the entire series of races except one is that 
these were not match races, such as we have been accustomed to for 
the America's Cup, but regularly advertised annual regattas. Mr. 
Loriilard, when he sent over his horses to run in England, did not ask 
that the Derby Stakes should be started at the Bushes, and Mr. San- 
ford, because Brown Prince had bad shoulders and could not run down 
hill, made no request that the judges' stand should be taken up to 
Tattenham Corner. Neither did Mr. Broeck, in the old days, request 
