Jan. 9, 1897.] 
FOREST ANiD STREAM. 
QUISSETTA-SAIL PLAN. 
LEAGUE OF AMERICAN YACHTSMEN. 
The following interview, from the New York Herald of 
Jan. 3, is evidently directed at our remarks of last week on 
the proposed league of yachtsmen. 
"I have observed," said an old yachtsman on Thursday, "that the 
few advocates of the proposed new Yacht Racing League are ener- 
gelically pointing to the racing associations already existing as an 
example of what may be done in that way for the good of the sport. 
Great stress is laid upon the fact that there is a big union in Massa- 
chusetts and another in New York which have done wonders. 
"Let me quote you article 2 of thfe by-laws of the Yacht Racing 
Association of Massachusetts, and yachtsmen may belter understand 
the nature and scope of ihe bia; union at the eastward : 
"Article 2— Objects.— The objects of this Association shall be: To 
encourage yacht racing and yacht building; to establish and enforce 
uniform rules for the government of open races for all yachts under 
.•jOft. sailing length. 
"Now, after digesting the fact that the Yacht Racing Association 
of Massachusetts- this big union at the eastward— has no yachts un- 
der it.s jurisdiction of 30i:r, or over sailing length, let me call your 
attention to Article 3 of the same by-laws: 
"Articles— Membership.— Any yacht club located in the State of 
Massachusetts, in good standinar, having twenty-five members and 
ten yachts measuring more than latt.ion the waterline, shall be eli- ■ 
gible to membership. ( 
■'So please remember that bow* of the waterline of laft. may be 
admitted to all the rights and privileges of this Association, and any 
club having ten of these so-called yachts may become a member. 
"This, then, is one of the racing associations held up to the view of 
the New York Y. C. as having achieved wonders in the yachting line, 
and whose influence has been eloquently and otherwise touched upon 
as an example worthy of imitation on the part of the leading club in 
America. 
"It may also be mentioned that the Yacht Racing Association of 
Massachusetts takes no account of sail area in the matter of measure- 
ment. Yachts are measured 3in, above and parallel with the I wL 
length without crews on board and centerboard up, and only that for 
lime allowance." 
[This is incorrect.— En.] 
"This Association has done well for its members, but have the ad- 
vocates of the proposed new league ever told that its laws and objects 
seemed anout worthless where clubs Laving large boats on their list 
areconcerLCd? 
"The Yacht Racing Union of Long Island Sound is the New York 
association. The Larchmont Club has never joined it, and the old 
arguments advanced by its leaders were: 'What do we want to do 
with a union? We want to make our own liws, have our own racing 
dates— in fact, want to govern ourselves.' And the Larchmonts have 
done that selfsame thing all along. They have made laws as they 
deemed best for their club, and appointed their own racing dates, 
irrespective of the wishes of any other club on the Sound. 
"It the Larchmont people want this new league scheme, as has 
been said, what change then has come over the spirit of their 
dreams? 
"The Yacht Racing Union of the Sound is an.admirable body. The 
leading club on its hst, the Seawanhaka. has borne the brunt of the 
battle that has been fought, and through its far-seeing and very in- 
telligent members accomplished much good. But the Union cannot 
■wisely be held up to the New York Y. U. as a shining example to be 
■followed in the formation of the proposed league any more than can 
the Association of Massachusetts. 
"Thus, the New York Y. 0., in my opinion, wiU exist, as it has 
•pxisted for more than half a century, without the help of racing as- 
isoeiations or leagues. It has lived and will live without aid. It does 
not want, nor will it bave, anything to do with a matter that may 
'bring about dissensioa in its ranks, and it does not care to be 
governed by men coming from clubs which have been quoted as mak- 
ing up the existing racing associations. The New York Y. C, in a 
word, is able, fully able, to conduct its own affairs in the future as it 
has done in the past, and while it does not discourage the union of 
the smaller clubs those of 3jft sailing leiigih and so on it will 
always be found opposed to revolutionary methods in home affairs." 
If this is the strongest argument which the opposition to 
the scheme can produce, it will do well to abandon all pub- 
lic discussion of the question, and lo confine its eff orts to the 
smothering of the scheme in the committee or to voting it 
down when the committee shall present its report to the 
club. The whole statement of the case is based on utteiJy 
false piemises, in that it considers and criticises the Massa- 
chusetts Y. K. A. rules as though it were proposed to force 
the New York Y. C to join tnis Association, or even the 
Sound Y. E. U. If this "old yachtsman" was present at 
the special meeting and heard the details of the proposed 
scheme, as so fully presented by Mr Love joy, he must know 
that the rules of the two local associations have nothing 
whatever to do with the proposed league. The reports of 
the meeting, as given out at the tixe to the daily press, curi- 
ously enough omilteJ all allusion lo the really important 
business of the evening, mentioning only the points relating 
to the oppoiiitiOtt. The pro|jK»aI to form the new league 
WM placed before the cliib not m a general and indefinite 
way, but in the shape of a practically complete acheme. 
down to the smallest details. After having recently enjoyed 
the opportunity of reading the entire paper, we can com- 
mend it as most comprehensive and liberal in its scope and 
treatment, and perfect in its minor details. It not only 
offers the fullest possible thesis for the thorough discussion 
of the advisability and practicability of the plan, but it is 
capable of imniediate adoption, with very few changes in the 
event of the inauguration of the enterprise. 
Naturally suoh a national body would have to include the 
smallest class of yacht, at least down to loft., but it does not 
follow that the New York Y. C. will be compelLd to adopt 
for its large yachts a rule made exclusively for these small 
ones; not that the club will be any more contaminated by 
associatioa with clubs racing the small boats than it now is 
in racing under the Seawanhaka rule It is too early yet to 
touch upon details, but we are inclined to the opinion that 
sooner or later in any case it may be found necessary in this 
country to adopt special rules for the classes imder SOft. 
It is quite true that in any national union small clubs as 
well as large would be admitted, but an objection on this 
score alone is mere snobbishness, and has no substantial 
foundation. If the New York Y. C. wishes to come out 
squarely with the c'eclaration lhat it is so much bigger and 
better than all other clubs in the country that it cannot be 
associated with them in any way, then this point may hold; 
if it is not prepared to go so far, then there is no good 
ground for the objection to the limit actually proposed at 
the meeting, of fifty members to a club as the minimum 
qualification tor membership. 
The leal point about the two associations mentioned is 
plain enough to any ore who cares to see it— the great suc- 
cess which has attended both in but two years shows what 
may fairly be expected of them in four or five years more, 
especially if they should combine and the same work should 
go on, as is now promised, in other localities In this not 
improbable event, the New York Y. C may awaken, when 
it 13 too late, to the fact that the building and racing of 
yachts in America is in the hands of a union not so ancient 
nor so wealthy as itself, but very much stronger, in that it 
has the confidence and support of the great body of racing 
yachtsmen. In this case there are two possibilities: one that 
the New York Y C. may not want to join the union after 
opposing the schemes now before it; the other, that the union, 
whatever its name and nature, may not want the New York 
Y. C, great as it is. 
It matters not now what have been the factors of a club's 
prestige in the pa&t, the fact is self-evident that in the future 
the power in yachting is going to those clubs or associations 
which do the most for the encouragement of racing, and 
especially in the direction of wise legislation. 
The history of the Ncw York Y. C. shows that it has never 
been a leader in the iotroduction of rules and similar racing 
legislation, and it has no future before it now in this direc- 
tion. If there aie any of its members who dispute this and 
consider that the club is competent of itself to make rules 
for yachting, they may prove it by producing in the name of 
the club what yachtsmen are now looking for, a practical 
new rule of measurement, 
"An old yachtsman" is right in his surmise that the Larch- 
mont Y. 0. has been acute enough to appreciate the situa- 
tion so rapidly developing, but his other points are at best 
but side issues, and have no bearing on the real question. 
The racing interests of the country, both individually and 
colleclively as clubs, have withm a couple of yearg given in- 
disputable evidence of a desire for improved legislation and 
closer association, and an attempt is now about to be made 
to meet this demand. The leadership in this attempt has 
been offered, practically by commou content, to the New 
York Y. C, the oldest and largest club in the country. Tl e 
only question now is whether the club will recoguizj the 
condiiion of affairs and declare itself on one side cr the otht r, 
preferab'y in the affirmative. Wten once the decision of 
the New York Y. (J is kuown, the work can go on in one 
way or another, according to that decision. 
To sit down now and discuss whether a local bod}', 
formed under different conditions and for a ditferent end, 
should limit its yachts Lo 13ft. or Lift, or 30ft. is simply 
o^ildish 
f' 
YACHTING NEWS NOTES. 
Ripple is the name of a new racing yacht for the 18ft. class of the 
Massachusetts Y. R. A., designed by J. F. Small, the amateur de- 
signer, of Dorchester. She was built for C. B. Pear by H, A. David- 
sou, of Calais, Me., being completed in the fall and shipped to 
Boston by schooner, where she is stored for the winter. She is 35ft. 
over all, 17ft. l.w.l., 7ft. 6in. beam, and 71n, draft; fitted with a 
wooden centerboard and a balanced rudder with a small metal scag 
just forward of it. The sail plan will be about 6OO.5q.ft., pole-masted 
rig, with jib and mainsail and a small sprit topsail. The construc- 
tion is light, the frames being % by %in., spaced lOin., planking %ia. 
and deck ^in., the latter covered with canvas; the mast is hollow. 
The ends are W3ll carried out and the topsides flare. Though in- 
tended for a crew of four, as allowed under the M. Y. R. A. rules, 
this yacht might be brought within the limits of the Seawanhaka 
20ft. class, and if she proves as speedy as her designer's reputation 
warrants us to expect, it would be very gratifying to have her in the 
trial races at Oyster Bay. 
A short time ago it seemed probable that Boston would be repre- 
sented in Ike Seawanhaka races by a 20-footer specially designed for 
the class by Herreshoft, as C. H. Eaton, of Marblehead, late owner of 
Cock Robin, and previously of the 30-footer Rosalind and the steam 
yacht Melissa, was in negotiation with the Herreshoffs for such a 
yacht. The intention was that the boat should be handled by W, V. 
Fowle. of the Marblehead Corinthian Y. C, former owner of the dif- 
ferent Saracens and the helmsman of Cock Robin in the past season. 
It is now probable that Mr. Eaton has changed his plans ; the Bostou 
Qlobe says: "Yachtsmen who maybe inchned to make wagers can 
safely give odds, If necessary, that C. S. Eaton will not order a 20- 
footer from the Herreshoffs for the Seawanhaka international trial's, 
but will be found in the knockabout class with an improved Cock 
Robin, in so far as the Herreshoffs are able to make an improvement 
on last year's champion. It is understood that Mr Eaton's principal 
reason for not trying for international honors was the time it would 
take from business and the doubt if he could induce ex-Com. Fowle, 
of the Corinthians, to be his right-hand man again, since the latter 
also expected to be specially ceep in business the coming summer. 
It would have been vastly interesting to Boston yachtsmen to have 
had Mr. Eaton build a 20-f ooter, but what is a loss in one class will be 
a gain in another, and anew Cock Robin will still further assure some 
lively knockabout racing." [It has since been announced that Mr. 
Eaton has placed the order as above indicated,] 
Well back in the days ot the tonnage rule and the narrow cutters, 
1884, Will Fife, Jr. , then at the head of the Culzean Shipbuilding 
Co., designed and built one of the handsomest little cutters that has 
ever been floated. Bedouin, as she was named, was a very wide 
boat for her day, with 7ft. Sin. beam and 25ft. l.w.l., as compared 
with the 4ft. lOin. beam of the old 3-tonner of 28ft. l.w.l. With a 
long, graceful counter, a waterline with but a trace of hollow in the 
bows, and a beautifully moulded form, she is still handsome, even 
beside more fln-de-siecle cracks. She was built for a special class of 
the Bangor Corinthian Y. C, of Belfast Lough, Ireland. With the 
beginning of the present year of grace Mr. Fite is sending to the 
same locality, for the Royal Ulster Y. C, a fleet of one-design boats 
of similar dimensions, 38£t. 6in. over all, 25ft. l.w.l., 8ft. I^iin. beam, 
6ft. Sin. draft. They are cutter-rigged, fltted with a cabin trunk 
which gives a good cabin, with accommodation for three or 
four, and they are intended for both racing and all-round work. It 
will be interesting to compare the new boats with the old, after an 
interval of thirteen years, as the two are built for much the same 
purpose and without regard to the existing general racing rules. 
The Cleveland Y. C. is discussing the proposition to build a much 
needed breakwater in front of the new club house, there being no 
prospect at present of such an extension of the Government break- 
water as will afliord protection to the house and make it possiole to 
launch or land small boats. It is estimated that for an outlay of 
$7,000 to $8,000 a breakwater SOOft. long and 5C0ft. from the club 
house could be built, and it is proposed to raise the money in the 
club. 
The Beverly Y. C. has elected the following ofBcers: Cora,, 
George H. Richards; Vice-Com., Lewis F. Dabney; Sec'y-Treas. , 
F. L. Dabney ; Meas., A. S. Hardy. After discussion the club de- 
cided not to join the Mass. Y. R A., for the reason that such action 
would involve radical changes in the club's rules and the abandon- 
ment of the Seawanhaka rule, under which it has raced for years. 
A proposition to establish a '.ilft. knockabout class for Buzzard's 
Bay, similar to the Boston class, was favorably received and a com- 
miilee was appointed to draw up regulations and submit them at the 
January meeting. 
The Wassersporf announces the coming publication of a second 
and enlarged edition of the Segler^s Handbuch, the revision being by 
George Balitz, editor of the Wassersport. The original work, pub- 
lished some ten years since, has been of the greatest value to Ger- 
man yachtsmen and to the sport in Germany. The new book will he 
greatly enlarged and modernized. In this connection we note with 
sincere regret the death of the author of the book, Capt. Alfrea 
Muchall-Viebrock, German Naval Reserve, which took place in 
Berlin on Dec. 3, his age being but forty-two. A born yachtsman, he 
was devoted through life to the sport as a means of personal enjoy- 
ment, and in a no less degree to the advancement of yachting in 
Germany. His cruises in the 40-ton schooner Hela, and his writings 
on all departments of yachting, are familiar through the pages r>f the 
Wassersport. He was always an active member of the German 
Bailing Union. 
Mr. Frank Cowper, the English yachtsman whose cruises are 
already well known to our readers, will have afloat next season a 
new single bander, now building by Thos. Martin, at Chiswick, on 
the Thames. The yacht, which will be ketch rigged, has very libera 
dimersions for her type: 46ft. o a.. S4ft. l.w.l., lOlt. 6in. beam, 4tt. 
9in. craft. She will have excellent room below, with 6ft. Sin, head- 
room in the cabins. The sail plan will be small, and all sheets and 
halyards will lead to the cockpit. Mr. Cowper will extend his cruis- 
ing beyond its previous range, going through the French canals and 
into the Mediterranean. The result will doubtless be another useful 
and inieresting book, such as he so well knows how to wri e 
The Yachting World celebrates the holidays as usual by a special 
"Xmas and Mediterranean Number" in addition to its regular weekly 
issue. The special number has a handsome cover in colors, and con- 
tains a great deal of interesting reading, with numerous illjstrations, 
small and large. The history of the origin of the Y. R. A is told by 
Dixon Kemp, yachting editor of the i^'teid; Sir George Baden-Powefl 
tells of the Arctic cruise made by him in the steam yacht Otaria, and 
there is an interesting article on "Yachts of the SVlIIth and XlXtb 
Centuries." Mr. C, N. Boyn, editor of Le yacht, contributes an arti- 
cle on the development of yachting in the Mediterranean. There are 
other aescriptive articles, one on French yachting, and one or two 
pieces of Action. The illustrations, in the way of full-page supple- 
mental plates and small reproductions scattered tnrough the text, 
are excellent, but entirely too numerous to mention in detail. 
The wnole number is worth reading now and keeping for future 
reference. 
We have received a copy of the third issue of the Australian 
Yachtsman and Canoeist, published in Sydney, Australia, a neat lit- 
tle paper of the size ana general style of the English Yachtsman. 
The young journal has our best wishes for a happy new year and 
perm an ent success. 
The Wossersxxyi't pays us the compliment, in several recent issues, 
of quoting very fully from the descriptions of El Heirie and Ethel- 
wyun, and reproducing the designs which originally appeared in the 
Forest and Stream. 
The Christmas "double" number of The Yachtsman is of nearly 
four times the size of the regular issue, with a special cover in a 
rather striking red, and contains a varied as.-ortment of good re&QinK 
matter, light and heavy, all liberally illustrated, ^he more practica 
side of yachting is dealt with in the designs of the prize winner in the 
designing competition of the London Sailing Club last winter, a fin- 
keel of 18ft. hnear rating, 25ft. lOin. o.a., 16ft. 7J4in. l.w.l , 5ft. beam 
and 89|;n, draft of hull; the total draft being Sft. Din, with a dis- 
placement of l,S46lbs., the fin and bub weighing 2i61bs. The sai 
area is SOOsq. ft. Another design is of a sort of American sharpie, de- 
signed by ner owner, H. Wilmer, and termed a "barge-yacht." 
There are also designs of a small cruising steam yacht, of the canoe 
Prucas III,, and the sail and interior plans of the yawl Julnar, de- 
signed by A, Gary Smith, with an account of the yacht. There are 
gome excellent photogravure plates, one of them showing Mr. Brand's 
new Spruce IIIU., designed and built by Sibbick, evidently a very 
handsome model. She is shown under way at a strong angle of heel, 
with Mr Brand and Tom on the weather rail; the centerboard, and 
even the keel to leeward of it, being visible. The lines are eyidenily 
far cleaner and fairer than in Spruce IHI. The rig shows a simple 
lug with no reefing gear, and she does not carry a roller jib. Some 
interesting views of the British Canoe A.ssc elation meet of 1896 form 
Ik supplemental plate^ 
Quissetta. 
Quissetta, whose sail plan is here given, 
winter by Gardner & Cox, and built by 
H. W. Harris, Larchmont Y. C, She is a 
semi-lin type, her dimensions being; Oyer 
66ft. 6in. ; beam, 18ft.; draft, 10ft. 6in ; 
29ft. She is a very handsome craft, and as 
a very speedy one. 
The schooner 
was designed last 
Mirvtl & Co. for 
steel yacht of the 
all, 96rt.; l.w.l., 
racing length, 71. 
her racing shows. 
