Feb, 6. 1897 J 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
118 
ing owner, it would give him a protection that he not only 
is entitled to from the erroneous decisions of a committee 
which naturally will not admit that it has done wrong, hut 
that he too often needs. It would be by no means impos- 
sible to find instances, even within the Kew York Y. C, 
where the regatta committee, "with an intimate knowledge 
of facts derived from personal observation, " to quote the re- 
port, has made a wrong decision, from which the injured 
party has had no appeal whatever. 
As to the composition of the final com't of appeal, four 
men elected for terms of four years each, one withdrawing 
each year, the very highest honor in the gift of the national 
league, we have little fear that unknown and improper 
members of small clubs would be selected, or that any seri- 
ous abuse of so prominent an office, even if it should by 
chance occur, would be long tolerated. The publicity that 
would be given to the decisions of such a body in the im- 
portant ca.ses appealed to them would be a decided advan- 
tage in raising the standard of racing ethics. 
In the event of such an international dispute as may arise 
at any time, it is easy to see how much superior the decision 
of such a national court of appeal, composed presumably of 
the pick of American yachtsmen, to that of a club commit- 
tee, elected for a year, and possibly involved as an interested 
party in the original dispute. 
The third reason is that the power to amend the rules of 
yachting would be transferred from the individual clubs to 
the national body. This in itself, we believe, will be gener- 
ally recognized as an important advance. The committee 
very properly says: "Changes in racing rules and in classifi- 
cation should, in our opinion, be made with the utmost de- 
liberation, and only when their advisability or necessity is 
clearly established, and then with due regard to all existing 
interests." This proposition will commend itself to all 
yachtsmen; the day has gone by for such hasty and unfair 
legislation as, for instance, the. changing of the deed of gift 
of the America's Cup; and it is generally recognized that 
changes of rules must be made only when they are clearly 
necessar3% and then cai-efully, deliberately and pulilicly. 
This is exactly what the details of the proposed scheme call 
for; all proposed changes will be framed by competent per- 
sons, advertised in advance of the meeting at which they 
will be acted upon, and thoroughly discussed by a large 
number of representative yachtsmen, the delegates from the 
many clubs. There will be no possible chance for one club, 
for instance, to call a special meeting at three or four days' 
notice and make radical changes in its rules, nor for any 
clique to lobby through a new rule that shall bar a winning 
boat. 
The objection of the committee on this point is weak in 
the extreme ; it might be that the national body would be 
controlled by the small yacht interests, and they might make 
rules unsuitable for the large yachts. Such a contingency 
is remote enough and could easily be prevented ; but as a 
matter of fact there are to-day practically little other than 
small yachts concerned in the racing. With the exception 
of four schooners all the racing of last season was confined 
to small yachts of not over 50ft. racing lene;th. The great 
events of the year, which are supposed to bring out the full 
strength of the New York Y. C. fleet— the June regatta, the 
August cruise, and even the Goelet cup race itself — were con- 
fessed failures through the lack of adequate en'ries. 
One of the serious problems of the day in yachting is the 
restoration and maintenance of racing in the Classes of 70ft 
r.l. and upward. The various larger clubs that profess to 
devote themselves primarily to this branch of the sport have 
one and all failed utterly witliin the past five years in enacting 
rules which should promote general building and racing 
The most serious obstacle to-day_ in the way of general inter- 
club racing in the larger classes is the nominal existence of 
the 90ft. class, created by the New York Y. C. to defend the 
America's cup, a type of yacht too large and costly by far for 
other than the special work for which it was produced; but 
by its existence even in the present moribund condition, and 
by the possibility of its revival at some future day, discour- 
aging the establishment of a smaller and thoroughly prac- 
ticable size of a racing cutter. 
When it comes to what may be called the personal objec- 
tions to the proposed league, the committee gets on very thin 
ice, begiuDing with the excuse that the New York Y. C. has 
never been a purely racing organization, but one whose 
members take a broader interest in the sport of yachting. 
What American clubs can be classed as purely racing organ- 
izations, or what exist for other objects than the New York 
Y. C. ? Certainly not the Eastern, the Larchmont, the Sea- 
wanh-' ka or the Atlantic. We are surprised at such a state- 
ment .deliberately put forward as an argument by the gentle- 
men composing the committee. The New York Y. C. has 
always aspired' to be a leader among these clubs in all the 
varied fields of yachting, racing first; and it has gone fur- 
ther in claiming preeminence through its many races for the 
America's Cup. There is no doubt whatever, the committee 
to the contrary, that the present prosperous condition of the 
club, with a membership of over 1,200 as compared with 400 
iQ 1885, and with a large surplus to its credit instead of none 
at all at the former date, is due solely and entirely to the 
series of international races which began in 1885 and has 
contiaued to the present time. The history of the club for 
the ten years from 1875 to 1885, and from that date to the 
present, shows just how much it owes to racing. 
The future of the club depends on its racing, and that 
alone; let it abandon racing, or let the recognized control of 
racing pass to the possession of another club or a national 
body, and the New York Y. C. must drop, in spite of its 
fleet and its membership, into a subordinate and unimportant 
position as compared with the live racing clubs. 
It requires no great discernment to appreciate the fact that 
the demand of the day in American yachting is for the im- 
provement and advancement oi racing methods, and that 
those clubs which endeavor to meet this demand will take 
the lead in yachting. The New York Y. C. has decided 
that it will have no part in this work. 
The intimation that the club has higher aims than mere 
racing, and the assumption that to the club is due the credit 
for such vessels as Margarita, Varuna, Arciurus, Yampa, In- 
trepid, Namouna, Fleur de Lis, While Ladye and May- 
flower, that fly its burgee in foreign seas, add nothing what- 
ever to the force of the committee's arguments. Just as the 
encouragement of racing is piu'ely dub work, the building 
and running of cruising yachts is purely indmidual, and in- 
dependent of the clubs. If the New York Y. C. went out of 
existence to-morrow there would he just aa many cruising 
yachts afloat, under oue burgee or another, as there are 
to-day. One thing the club has done for cruising within its 
home waters, and an excellent thing too, the establishment 
of the numerous local stations; outside of this it has done 
nothing, and that a score or so of its 1,200 members indulge 
in ofishore cruising is due solely to their individual prefer- 
ences, and not to the encouragement of the club. 
The suggestions that the club must submit its racing rules 
and classification to others in the event of joining a league 
sounds well, but will not bear a close analysis in the light of 
history. Outside of the legislation relating to the America's 
Cup, for which the club is entitled to whatever of credit may 
pertain to it, and to the heavy responsibility as well, what 
rules has it made, for itself or others? The principle of 
measurement by length and sail area was first introduced in 
this country by the Seawanhaka C. Y. C. After it had been 
put to a practical test by that club, the New York Y. C. 
went so far as to adopt it in a mild form. After some years 
the club made another step forward and adopted the present 
form, already thoroughly tested by many small clubs as well 
as its originators. 
The first uniform classification of racing yachts among the 
large clubs, adopted in 1887, orie;inated outside of the New 
York Y. C. , and was merely adopted by it after being per- 
fected elsewhere. The present classification by racing 
length was proposed and perfected by the other large clubs 
in 1889, but its adoption was deferred for years on account 
of the uncompromising opposition of the New York Y. 0., 
which only died out with the advance of time. The rules 
adopted last fall were framed by the Larchmont Y. C. and 
merely adopted by the New York Y. C. Outside of the 
America's Cup, it would be difiicult to find a detail of 
modern yachting rules which originated within the New 
Yoik Y. C, or that was adopted by the club without serious 
opposition and long delay even when proved to be beneficial. 
In the face of this record it is idle to talk of surrendering its 
autonomy and its law-making power to other clubs. 
The defense of the regatta committee as a tribunal of last 
resort is oft'set by the experience of many clubs, the New 
York included, to the effect that a committee of three, elected 
for a term of one year, is not the proper composition of a 
court of last resort which may be called upon to pass judg- 
ment on its own acts and errors. The questions which arise 
in modern yachting, local as well as international, demand 
some higher and less interested tribunal than the ordinary 
club regatta committee, however capable, fair and honest it 
may be; and the proposal to establish such a body is one of 
the great points in favor of the scheme which the New York 
Y, C. has condemned. 
The objections conjured up, that the club might be robbed 
of its date for the June regatta or even the Goelet cup race, 
are purely fanciful. The experience thus far of the differ- 
ent organizations shows that, while disputes arise at times, 
the general tendency is to recognize the established rights of 
all parties in the matter of fixtures and similar details. The 
attitude of the committee seems to be one of fear and appre- 
hension that this proposal is but a trick of the "small" clubs, 
jealous of the power and position of the great New York Y. 
C., to get it within their grip and rob and degrade it We 
regret that the committee could not have taken a broader, a 
more liberal and more progressive view of the entire 
situation ; that would have led it to very different conclu- 
sions. 
The Proposed Yacht League. 
The special meeting- of the ISTew York Y. G. called to receive and 
consider the report of the special commitleeon the proposed national 
league of yachtsmen met at the club bouse on Jan. with Com. 
Brown in the chair. The following report was read and adopted, 
after which the meeting adjourned. 
To the New York Y. C: 
At a special meeling of the New York Y. C, held on Dec. 3?, 1896, 
the following resolution was passed: 
"fieso?i;ed. That a committee of seven, oue of whom shall be the 
commodore, be appointed by the choir, for the purpose of consider- 
ing the advisability of action by this club for organizing a yacht 
racing league, the object of which league shall be fo establish uni- 
form CO operation of measurement, classification and racing ruhg, 
the promotion of yacht building, the encouraeement and develop- 
ment of the sport, and the pres^ervation of yachting history and 
racing records. And that said committee report back to the clnb at 
a special meeting to be called for that purpose." 
The undersigned, having been appointed a committee under said 
resolution, do respectfully report that at its first meeting your com- 
mittee, after perfecting its oraranization. gave a hearing to Mr. John 
F. Lovejo,y, who at the meetrag of the club at which tiiis subject; was 
brought forward had made the principal argument in support of the 
proposed measure. 
Mr Lovejoy laid before t be committee certain susgested rules for 
the constitution of a yacht racing league, being the same Tules 
which were read by him at the meeting of the club, and explained 
in detail the objects sought to be effected by the proposed measure 
and its general scope and plan. 
The principal objects which those who favor this movement hope 
to attain through its instrumentality are the encouragement of yacht 
racing, the promotion of yacht building, and the establishment of 
uniform classification and racing rules. 
The general features of the plan suggested include the formation 
of a yacht racing league, to be composed of American yacht clubs 
in good standing, having each not less than fifty members and not 
less than fifteen yachts enrolled upon its books, and to be governed 
by a written constitution. 
The proposed constitution contains provision for the representation 
of clubs, members of the league, by delegates; representation being 
apportioned among the several constituent clubs to a certain degree 
according to their respective numerical membership. 
The active participation in the league by each club is effected 
through the delegates representing it. The principal function oC the 
delegates is to elect the officers of the league. These officers consist 
of a council of twelve and a supreme council of three, iu addition to 
the executive officers, the president, the secretary and the treasurer. 
The functions of the council may be summarized as follows: To pass 
on applications for membership, to control the general policy and 
finances of the lengue, to make or authorize all necessary contracts, 
to appoint an official measurer, to frame and modify rules, subject 
to the action of the supreme council, to assign dates for the racing 
events of the season, and to enforce penalties for violation of rac;ng 
rules. 
The supreme council is to have power to decide all questions sub- 
mitted to it by toe council, or protests submitted to it by the regatta 
committee, or by a member of any club in the league. 
The constitution further provides for the division of the member- 
ship into four districts, to be known respectively as the "Eastern 
Disrrict," the "Gulf District," the "Lake District," and the "Pacific 
Disirict," each district to have local officers, who are to perform their 
respective duties in subordmation to the general officers and rules of 
the league. 
From this brief description of the proposed association some idea 
of its extent and scope may be gathered. 
\' our committee have been unable to ascertain the number or the 
numerical strength of the clubs which would be eligible to join such 
a league, but they are informed that in a part only of the Eastern 
District^ — namely, that portion extending from Pennsylvania to 
Maine — there are enough clubs which would be expected to join it to 
make an aggregate membership of over lO.OOO. 
From this it is readily seen that if the proposed plan were to be 
carried out to the full extent suggested, so as to embrace yacht clubs 
in all parts of the country, on the Western and Gulf coasts and on the 
Great Lakes, it would result iu the formation of a league composed 
of many hundred clubs, with many thousand members. 
Your committee are of the opinion that on the face of the proposi- 
tion such au organization could not be successsf ully formed, and tbat 
if formed it would be composed of so many heterogeneous elements, 
and would, by reason of its mere size, be so unwieldy that no good 
results could be expected from it. 
If the question referred to them were simply whether it is advis- 
able for tne New York Y. C. to take the initiative in a movement to 
bring about a league of such a character, your commit tee would have 
no hesitation iu arriviog at an adverse decision upon this grouud 
alone, without considering those advantages or disadvantages which 
might attend an attempt to form a league of Jess extravagant dimen 
sious. 
They feel, however, that to condernn the project on this ground 
alone would hardly be just to those who have expended so much 
time and thought upon a proposition the only purpose of which 7s to 
advance the interests of yachting, and it is manifest that the objec- 
tion above stated, which your committee consider an insuperable one 
as applied to a scheme of the proportions indicated, would become 
of less and less force as the scope of the proposed enterprise might 
be curtailed. 
It may well be said that while such an objectiou might he fatal to 
the adoption of a scheme which contemplated bringing all the yacht 
clubs in the country into a single league, yet if the scope of the 
scheme were to be limited or cut down so as to embrace a much 
smaller number of clubs— as, for instance, only those chibs in the 
Eastern district, or in only a part of the Eastern district— this objec- 
tion would lose its force in direct proportion to the curtailment of the 
scope of the plan ; and that finally a point might be reached at which 
it would be outweighed by the advantages to be secured from the 
association. 
It therefore seems proper that your committee should report its 
conclusions with reference to such modifications as might be made 
in the proposed plan in the direction indicated. 
We are thus brought to consider whether the object sought to be 
attained by the suggestion in question would be to any, and if any 
what, extent brought about ^iJ the formation of a league upon the 
lines suggested, but confined within more moderate limits than are 
proposed in the plan laid before us, within, let us say, those portions 
of OUT seacoast lying between Pennsylvania and Maine. 
Laying aside for the moment those considerations which apply 
with peculiar force to the New York Yacht Club, and which will be 
referred to in a later part of this report, and dealing only with the 
general question thus presented, your committee begs to submit the 
following views: 
First — The objects of the association are to bring about uniformity 
in classification, uniformity in racing rules, aud uniformity in the 
construction of rules and in decisions thereon, and by these means 
to encourage yacht buildin ?, and generally to promote the interests 
of the sport of yacht racing. 
The principal clubs within the district mentioned are the New 
York Y. 0., the Eastern, the Lirchmont, the Atlantic, the Seawan- 
haka, and the Coriothian, of Philadelphia. 
Recent movements in this diiection tiave already brought about, in 
large degree, uniformity of cla=isiflc9,tion and of raring rules among 
, these clubs, and it may be reasonably expected that within a compar- 
atively short time all these leading clubs will hive established uni- 
formity among themselves in these particulars So far, therefore, 
as concerns those classes of ve.ssel3 which belong to these clubs, and 
in wbich they are interested, these desired objects may be regarded 
as already attained, and in the judgment of your committee the clas- 
sification of the racing code concurred in by these clubs would be- 
come the standard classification or code. Such a classification would 
control designers, and all new vessels may reasonably be expected to 
be designed with reference to it. 
Your committee are. therefore, of the opinion that there is no 
urgent demand for the formation of an association of the character 
proposed. Its main objects may be regarded as having bean for all 
practical purposes already accomplished. 
Second— The means by which uniformity in construction of racing 
rules and in decisions thereon is proposed to be obtained is by giving 
to the supreme council of the league power to rehear and finally de- 
cide all protests which may be brought before it by the regatta com- 
mittee or by any member of any club who may feel aggrieved by 
the decision. 
Undoubtedly this, or some similar device, is the only means by 
which a uniform rule or decision could be attained through the in- 
strumentality of a league or association, but in the judgment of your 
committee it is open to very e-rave objection. 
As such matters are now regulated, the decision of the regatta 
committee of each club is final as to all events wbich take place under 
the auspices of such club. 
The members of the regatta comraittee are present in person at 
races, and thus posses'", iu a great majority of oases the very im- 
portant advantage of being themselves witnesses of the occurrences 
upon which they are called to pass judgment. 
To give an appeal from such a body to a council who could onlv 
hear the case upon the evidence of others, and fo make tho decision 
of such council final, would be to transfer the ultima'e decision to a 
tribunal which would probably be no better fitted, by knowledge and 
experience, to make a proper disposition of tbe case, and which 
would certainly be deprived of what has always been found of incal- 
culable advantage in reaching a correct conclusion— the intimate 
knowledge of the facts, derived from impartial personal ooservation 
of the occurrences in dispute. 
Your committee cannot but feel that any system which would sub- 
ject the ultimate tribunal which is to decide all rficing protests to so 
great a disadvantage would be found to work far less satisfactorily 
than the system now in use. 
Again, even after curtailing the dimensions of the proposed league 
to a minimum, it would still be composed of so many different clubs, 
with memberships so varied in character, with vessels so dilferent 
in class and size, and with such diversified interests in yschting, that 
it would be impossible to be assured of the election to the supreme 
council of mpmbers who would be recognized by the larger clubs as 
thorotighly fitted for their positions. It is not unreas'^nable to sup- 
pose that club poHtics and rivalry would make themselves felt; that 
diiferences would arise between the few large and the many small 
clubs, and that the latter, being by far the more numerous body, 
would insist upon a proportionate representation. And while we no 
not mean to assert that there are not as comoet-'nt judges to be found 
in the smaller clubs as in the larger, it must still be true in the na- 
ture of things that as a general rule the membership of the larger 
clubs should include by far the greater proportion of yachtsmen 
qualified to discharge the.?e important and delicate functions. 
Third— Another very important element in the scheme of the pro- 
posed league is that which confides to the league the absolute power 
to make changes in the racing rules. 
Much of what has been said under the last head is equally appli- 
cable to this. 
Changes in racing rules and classification should, in our opinion, 
be made with the utmost deliberation, and only when their advis- 
ability or necessity is clearly established, and then with due regard 
to all existing ioterests. 
To confide this Important and vital f imction to a league which 
might be controlled by a majority consisting of clubs having mem- 
berships and fleets interested only in small boat racing would, in the 
judgment of your committee, be exceedingly tmwise. 
Your committee expresses no opinion on the question whether an 
organization or association on the lines of the proposed league, but 
confined wholly to those clubs which are interested chiefly in small 
boat racing, might not result in Important advantages to its mem- 
bers. 
For the reasons above given your committee are, however, of the 
opinion that the formation of a league such as proposed, consisting 
indiscriminately of the large clubs, or those whose fleets are com- 
posed of vessels of tbe larger classes, and the small clubs, or those 
which are chiefly interested in small boat racing, is inadvisable. 
There are other reasons which, in their, judgments, make it inad- 
visable for the New York Y. C. to take the initiative in any such 
movement, or, indeed, to participate in it to any degree. 
It is manifest that this club could not consistently promote the 
formation of such an organization unless it were willing to become 
itself a member of it, and to this we think there are insuperable ob- 
jections. 
The New York Y. O. has never been a purely racing organization : 
if it had been it may well be doubted if it would ever have reached 
its present position. 
Prom its early beginnings the club has shown a marked partiality 
for deep-water cruising. While it has wisely fostered an active in- 
terest in racing, it has not existed for that alone. Its splendid fleet 
of cruising vessels bears witness to the broader interest which its 
members have taken in the sport. 
It would require cogent reasons indeed fnr such a club to surren- 
der its autonomy to the control of others; and yet this is what the 
preposition under consideration means for the New York Y. 0. 
If it should join a league such as that now proposed, it must sub- 
mit its classification and racing rules to the manipulation of others. 
Its regatta committee, no longer a tribunal of last resort, must be- 
come a mere agency for the transmission of protests to a higher 
power for deci.ston— a power, too, constituted, not by the act or vote 
of the New York Y. C, but by the votes of innumerable small 
clubs, whose membership is practicaUy -nithout limit, and whose only 
limit is that placed upon the size of their vessels. 
Its events must no longer be within its own control, but it must 
conform them to the dates fixed by this higher power. 
Under the terms of the constitution submitted to us. Its June re- 
gatta might he changed against its protest, or the date for tbe 
race for the Goelet cups might ba altered by the same supreme 
power. 
Even its right to discipline its own members would be taken away 
from it, for it is a part of the proposed scheme that the power to en- 
force the penalties for violations of racing rules should be vested in 
the council. 
In the opinion of your committee it has everything to lose and 
nothing to gain in becoming a member of the proposed league. 
Your committee therefore report, as their conclusion, that it is not 
advisable for the New York Y. O. to take any action toward the or- 
