FOREST AND STREAM, 
[JutY 1?, 1897. 
for the gun. After this, while the yachts went one way the 
steamer went another. She might readily have laid to lee- 
ward of any of the marks, affording a fine •view of the race; 
but her regular captain, who appeared to be in sole com- 
mand, apparently knew little and cared less about yacht rac- 
ing. He did, it is true, avoid all interference with the yachts; 
but, for all that his passengers saw of the race, he might as 
well have been on the other side of the Sound. 
In another of the recent Sound races the club steamer 
began by getting on the course just as the gun fired for the 
first class, directly in the way of the first yacht to cross; at 
the same time, as .she was at right angles to the line, the 
yachts were only seen bead-on, which gives no idea what- 
ever of the work at the line. After this she ran beside the 
fleet and threw a liberal wash against the boats; then she 
repented and kept off so far that the numbers of the 30- 
footers, just then in a hot fight for the first mark, were in- 
distinguishable. There was a nice berth to leeward of the 
line where she might have laid during the start, showing 
every maneuver, and again, she might have taken the same 
berth at the finish of the first round; however, she again 
kept far away at the turn, so that the yachts could not be 
picked up and timed even with a glass. To make up for this 
she ran -close to the tail of the fleet, giving a fine view of the 
rearmost yachts, and washing them until hailed and asked 
to keep away. At the finish she was again at a safe distance, 
head-on to the middle of the line, so that the yachts were 
seen stern-on, making ic impossible to time them. 
There was no necessity whatever for such maneuvering, 
with a little care she mighc have been in a position to see 
every yacht at the start, then she might have run out on the 
lee of the fleet nearly to the first mark, crossed half way over 
to the second and run in to the line. 
There is always plenty to do on a race day, especially if it 
be a special occasion with a club steamer and entertainment 
ashore, and the race committee is usually more than busy 
with the actual details of the course, buoys, committee boat, 
instructions, etc. It should, however, be possible to find 
some member of the club, a practical yachtsman himself, 
who could take entire command of the pilotage of the club 
steamer. There may be others more competent to run the 
lunch and ice cream, the music, or different important de- 
tails, but the actual maneuvering of the steamer should be 
left to such a man, he remaining beside the helmsman from 
the preparatory gun until the steamer starts for home, and 
indicating where the steamer should be placed from time to 
time. If this were done, the club steamer would be a far 
more enjoyable place from which to witness a race than it 
now is. 
The promoters of steam yacht racing in this country have 
long since made a world's record for the number and variety 
of their excuses for not displaying the speed of their boats. 
Even the annals of professional rowing, with its sawed boats, 
cold poisons, hidden wires, etc., is surpassed by the steam 
yacht record of too rough water, too smooth water, too hot 
bearings, too cold bearings, too much sand or too little sand, 
boy pilots and hidden reefs, movablerocks, canal shipwrecks, 
absence of reporters, too many reporters, and similar fatal 
drawbacks to high speed. It has remained for the new steam 
yacht Ellide, however, to break the world's record with an 
excuse which is novel, if not plausible. The oflicial trial 
trip of this yacht on the Hudson River, set for last week, was 
postponed for the extraordinary reason that the Coast Sur- 
vey officers had not yet completed a reliable and unimpeach- 
able survey and marking of the course. 
We had come to the belief that those interested in the El- 
lide had a really fast boat and were ready to prove it; but 
such an excuse as this is a disappointment to us. What on 
earth, or rather on the water, does a racing steam yachtsman 
want with reliable marks? It is this foolish trifiing with 
cold facts that takes all the romance out of the sport of 
steam yacht racing. 
The American Yacht Club proved this thirteen years ago, 
when it held two races on the Sound over accurately marked 
courses and with reliable timing, and proved that most of 
the 19-knot steam yachts of its fleet (nineteen knots was the 
fashionable speed at that remote day) could not go at a 12- 
mile gait when carefully refitted, coaled and fired for a real 
race. This ended steam yacht racing in the club; no attempt 
has ever been made to revive such a foolish and mortifying 
sport. 
Since that day greatly improved methods have been intro- 
duced, both in the running, timing and reporting of high- 
speed boats. The cheapest and most popular method has 
been to to use the thirty-year-old reputation of the once 
famous Hudson River steamer Mary Powell, picking her up 
utiawares and running by her, the tio having been given in 
advance to representatives of the daily papers. Another 
equally inexpensive method of making a world's record has 
been to run down the Bay for some unknown distance, 
which is accurately timed, in company with the Sapdy Hook 
steamers Monmouth or Sandy Hook. Erom the data thus 
obtained, the time of the steam yacht can be computed to a 
small fraction of a knot, irrespective of the fact that the big 
steamboat may be running over the shoals instead of in the 
30ft. channel. Still another plan is for two high-speed 
boats to go out with the fleet on an international cup race 
and to race to the horizon and back, each one on her return 
flying a "championship pennant" and claiming to have 
turned the other. 
Of course there are no Cup races on this year, so this test 
is not possible, but there are commercial craft of all kinds 
about New York Harbor, from the Monmouth and Powell 
down to the big fleet of car floats, against which speed 
records can be easily made. To go to work deliberately to 
.measure off an accurate distance is merely a waste of time 
and money, and may even be said to be unsportsmanlike in 
that it reduces to a matter of cold facts and figures a sport 
that has heretofore been surrounded with the most delight- 
ful glamour of romance and fiction. 
' Mr. DucaAN'S new 20-footer was launched at Dorval on 
July 11. 
Ahista. 
The accompanying drawings show the sail plan and fur- 
ther details of the fin, iron work, etc., of the fin-keel Akista, 
described last week. The details of the fittings have been 
worked out very carefully to give a rig that is light, effective 
and very easily handled. The mainsail runs in a track on 
the after side of the mast, the toggles on the luff of the sail 
being simple castings, somewhat similar in shape to a collar 
button. The centers have been worked out so as to secure a 
good balance under all conditions; a is the C. E. with lower 
sails, b with jibtopsail, c with whole mainsail and reefed 
jib, d with one reef and whole jib , e with one reef in both 
mainsail and jib, and / with two reefs in the mainsail and 
one in the jib. 
The displacement is made up very nearly as follows: 
Hull 6,000lbs. 
Fin castings 6,3.501bs. 
Sails and spars ?'501bs. 
Furnishings l.UOOlbs. 
Soakage ot bull 7501bs. 
Water in tank. l.OOOlbs. 
Crew oOOlbs. 
Boats 2501bs, 
16,5001bs. 
The yacht has sailed thus far under the usual drawbacks 
of a new boat against older ones, bottom rough, seams 
swelled, etc., etc.; but has made a very good showing in the 
4ifferent races. 
AKISTA. 
From photo by J, S. Johnson, New TorK. 
Seawanhaka Corinthian Y.' C. International Cup. 
-TRIAL ftiCBS FOR 0HAliI,KSOBn. 
Oyster Bay— Long Island Sbimd. 
Foe the third season the Seawanhaka Corinthian Y. C. 
holds its trial races at Oyster Bay, but while in both of the 
previous years the object of the racing was to select a suit- 
able defender for its international cup, this year. the repre- 
sentatives of the new 20ft, class are called together for a very 
different end, the selection of a yacht worthy to represent 
the club creditably in its attempt to recapture the cup, won 
last year by Messrs. Duggan and Shearwood, of the Royal 
St. Lawrence Y. C, in their IS footer, Glencairn. While the 
general conditions of the races are the same as in the previous 
years, there is one important change, in the size of the yachts, 
which are now of 20ft. racing length, instead of 15, and 
manned by three instead of two men. 
Thus far the yachts of the class have not been raced steadily 
enough to give any reliable idea of their positions, at least as 
to the uppw places; several of them are apparently very fast, 
but which is the fastest must be determined by the trial 
races. The fleet, which includes non^ of last year's yachts, 
is made up as follows: 
Owner. 
Designer. 
Momo eh J J- N. Crane \ p „ cranP 
AlAnka,c.b...C. H Crane.. ..C. H. Crane.., 
Skate, c b ....Trying Cox,... Builder 
Eeneu, c.b....M. H Clark, ...BuUder ,. 
Shark, fin...] ^; g^^®"^^ j- Gardner & Cot 
Mary, c b H. 8. Hicks. ...H. S. Hicks .. 
Asthore, fin. ...P. T Bodge.,, O. Olmstead... 
Montauk,fia..P.T BodKe..,.C. Olmstead... 
Arauca, c b...W.W. Howard. Builder 
Vagary Barclay Ward.Barclay "Ward 
Pioneer, fin H. M. Crane.. H. M. Crane.. 
Idea ., W. H. JenDiag?.., 
Builder. Club. 
]ir.'\fcf.f^™»^-^- 
] ■&^So7"!- Seawanhaka. 
I LB Hun- { NewRo- 
1 tinetoa ) ehelle. 
-1 ir/f'^f. h-wanhaka. 
f Racine 1 
A BoatMi'g l^Wawasee. 
I Co J 
] Montauk ) , „,„v™™* 
1 (. on Co. Larchmcnt. 
Con. Co. [Larchmont. 
..L. E. Fry.. 
( Spalding ( 
I Sc. L. Co. (■ 
j Lawley 
1 &Son 
\ 
'{ 
crew of three Corinthians, Irving Oox at the tiller, George 
Bullock on the main sheet, and D. Le Roy Dresser forward. 
The lightest man ot the three weighs over 2301bs., and 
touches 6ft. 2in. in his bare feet; the other two are con.sider- 
ably heavier and lin. or so taller. The boat is wide, 
and is sailed on edge, with 19 lineal feet of live ballast, • 
.some ToOlbs., laid along the planksheer to windward, on the 
deck or the side, as the case demands. 
The preparatory was given at 12:15, with the start at 12;20. 
Skate was first over, but only running across the line with- 
out much headway; Kenetx made the best start, crossing a 
few seconds after Skate, but going like a steam launch. 
Al Anka, Shark, Idea and Montauk went over quickly, 
Mary was about a minute after the gun and Momo a minute 
and a half. Arauca was tardy and lost just live minutes. 
The first of the numerous incidents of the day was a double 
foul, as Al Anka rushed on with boom well off to port &he 
set a balloon jib, the sheet getting adrift. Before it was 
secured she luffed into Shark, and the latter, in also luffing, 
struck a dinghy in tow of a small yacht which was in the 
way on the course. All went clear at once, but Shark had 
sprung a leak forward and begun at once to fill. 
With a strong, quartering wind and moderate sea, the 
boats flew along at a speed that almost justified some of the 
extravagant statements made this spring. The first leg was 
covered in 13 minutes, and the .second in the same time — a 
speed of 9 knots. Skate and Keneu made a very close race 
to first mark, but the former was quicker at the turn and 
came out on Keneu's weather after the jibe. After them 
came Al Anka, Shark, Momo, Montauk, Mary, Idea, 
Arauca. Perched high on the weather edge of a float slab, 
the crews of the leading boats had no opportunity to pick 
up the next mark; they all overstood and the others fol- 
lowed, Shark being the only one to steer a straight course 
from mark to mark. The second leg was a reach with wind 
more nearly abeam, and Skate, though lugging her whole 
mainsail, ran away from Keneu. The times were: 
Skate ,„,.„...,,..., .12 46 16 Montauk...,..,,, ^....1? 53 08 
Mary... ..12 ti SH 
Idea.... ia .57 10 
Arauca 12 57 SO 
19 
Seawanhaka. 
Indian 
Harbor. 
FIRST TRIAL RACE. 
Monday, July IS. 
The conditions for the trial races were the same as in pre- 
vious years, at least three races over the courses off Oyster 
Bay, triangular and windward-leeward in alternation, each 
a six-mile course, sailed twice. The fleet in Seawanhaka 
Harbor on Monday morning included but nine of the twelve 
boats. Asthore was not present, as she had not proved satis- 
factory in the earlier races, and her newer sister Montauk 
was evidently the better of the two. Pioneer had been left 
in Boston, as she had proved inferior, as was expected, to the 
other Crane boats, Momo and Al Anka. Vagary, a neW 
boat of the freak order, broke her rudder on Saturday and 
could not start, being at Cold Spring Harbor for repairs. 
Mr. Howard has worked diligently on Arauka since her 
breakdown in the race of June 26, her builder, Mr. Fray, 
coming from Clayton to repair and strengthen her. Others 
lent a hand, and the mast was stepped on Monday morning, 
the yacht being launched just prior to the start. 
The race committee had chartered the steam yacht Chere 
Amie, nee Puzzle, as a committee boat, and she was at the 
line off Center Island Buoy before noon, the tide running 
ebb and a fresh wind kicking up a sea, about south by west 
in direction. Of the nine boats at the line all but Skate car- 
ried one or even two reefs. The Huntington boat carries a 
Keneu. .13 4 
AlAuka.....,..,.,. ...... .12 5i) 12 
Shark,.,. 12 50 35 
Momo 12 51 10 
Now came a long and trying beat to windward in a bad 
sea and rising wind, but Skate still lugged her whole main- 
sail. The mainsheet was never belayed during the race, but 
Mr. Bullock had it in hand, hauling in a few feet or slack- 
ing out with every puft'. While Skate and Al Anka stood 
well to the westward, Momo, Keneu and Shark went off on 
starboard tack toward Lloyd's Neck. Skate held her lead 
on Al Anka, but when the others came up Shark was third 
and Momo fourth. As Shark came for the mark her bow 
was under water, though she was sailing very fast, she 
hailed for aid and was taken in tow; her fore compartment 
full of water. The times of the first round were: 
Keneu,..,. .,,...,..,,,1 4a 21 
Montauk......... l 54 00 
Idea „,».l 54 iS 
Arauca,...,, £5 08 
Skate ,..,.„.... ....1 3T 15 
Al Anka.....i,,..,..i,.,,,.,l 41 47 
Shark ............I 4J 20 
Momo 1 13 33 
Mary..,,; 1 41 40 
The leaders hurried off with lifted sheets, Skate still drop- 
ping the others over the first two legs. When they came oh 
the wind there was a nasty sea and a strong breeze; the others 
had all come down to three reefs and anything that could bo 
made to stand forward, but Skate held her whole mainsail 
for fifteen minutes, when she stopped and tied in three reefs. 
Momo overhauled her rapidly, and even after she was uuder 
way again, Skate being very badly balanced under her three- 
reefed mainsail and no jib. Mr. Dresser worked forward for 
some time and finally set the working jib with an Irish reef,' 
making a bag of the sail, but keeping her head off so that 
she could be steered. While she and Momo were fighting in 
the lead, Al Anka capsized, but was righted by her crew, who 
