Pes. t2, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
18a 
The Inland Lake Yachting Association* 
FoK tlic last half dozen years or more yacht racing has hwn 
firmly estabHshcd on the numerous small inland lakes of the 
middle West, where it has grown rapidly, li has met with a 
generovis support from eitizens of the larger cities — Chicago, Mil- 
waukee, Minneapolis and St. Paul — many of whom spend their 
siimmers, at least the week ends, at the lake resorts within a 
few hours of the cities by train. Though limited to small bodies 
of water and to craft ol small size, the competition has become 
very keen, and the best of American and foreign designers have 
been called upon to provide the latest novelties in racing cra[t. 
Starting originally with the New York type of sandbag cat or 
jib-and-mainsail boat, the fastest of these about New York being 
purchased and shipped to the West, and then building new craft 
of the same type both at home and in the East, the Western 
yachtsmen have at last abandoned the old sandbag catboats and 
other square-ended craft in favor of the modern 15 and 20-footers, 
such as have been developed in this couiitry through the SeaWsn- 
haka C. Y. C. international cup. 
A large fleet of these small racers is now afloat on fresh water 
in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, and the number is rapidly 
increasing. The numerous clubs hold regular local races through 
the season and of late interclub racing has become very popular, 
the representative yachts of a club or clubs being transported by 
train or wagon to 'Some oae lake, where they can meet the pick 
of the local fleet. . ■ ■ ^ 
Up to last season there was no attempt at unity or organizatioii ; 
each club had its own classes and its own special rules; so that 
interclub racing was often a matter of difliculty, and disputes 
were of frequent occiu'rence. The necessity for a union of all 
the clubs was plainly ajiparent, and the White Bear Y. C, of 
White Bear Lake, Minn., took the initiative last sumiuer by issuing 
a call for a meeting of club representatives, which was held at 
White Bear Lake on Aug. 24. The following clubs were repre- 
sented by the delegates named: 
Nodoway Y. C, W. Z. Stewart and J. A. Kimberly, Jr.; Osh- 
kosh Y. C., J. Frank Gates and Frank Libby; Detroit (Minn.) 
Y. C, W. L. Wilder; Dululh Y. C, VV. C. Sargent; Pine Lake 
Y. C, PI. Nunnemacher and PL Schidmore, Jr.; Green Lake Y. 
C., J. A. Kimberly, Jr.; White Bear Y. C, J. D. Elmer and J. W. 
Taylor; Oconomowoc Y. C., F. W. Peck per B. Carpenter, proxy; 
J^ake Geneva Y'. C, PL H. Porter and B. Carpenter; Delavan 
Lake Y. C, PI. PI. Porter and B. Carpenter. 
At this meeting an association was formally organized and the 
following resolution was unanimously adopted: lie it 
Resolved, l^hat this association be known as the Inland Lake 
Vachting Association, and that the purpose of this organization is 
to etieourage and promote yachting and interlakc yacht racing 
upon the inland lakes of the West, under uniform rules of meas- 
lu'ement, classification, racing and sailing. 
Mr. C. M. Griggs, of St. Paul, was elected president, and Mr. 
B. Carpenter, of Chicago, secretary and treasurer, with the follow- 
ing executive committee: J. Frank Gates, Oshkosh Y. C. ; J. D. 
lilmer, St. Paid Y. C, and the secretary-treasurer ex-oflicio. 
Certain rules were adopted, and the secretary was instructed to 
forward copies of the rules, with invitations to join the Associa- 
tion, to other Western clubs. Later on the Lake Beulah Y. C, 
the Pistakee Lake Y. C, the Pewaukee Y. C. and the Indiana 
Y'* and B. C. joined the Association. 
The first annual meeting of the Association was held on Jan. 28, 
at the Hotel Pfister, Milwaukee, the following clubs being repre- 
sented : 
White Bear Y. C.—C. A. Reid, F. M. Douglass and J. P. Elmer. 
Green Lake Y. C. — Edward Rosing. 
Pine Lake Y'. C. — PI. Nunnemacher, B. Schidmore, Jr., and 
]•". Reitbrock. 
Lake Geneva Y. C. — Benjamin Carpenter. 
Fox Lake Y. C— W. PI. Lyford, Plenry L. Hertz, B. B. Felix 
and C. M. Palmer. 
Delavan Y. C. — F. D. Montgomery and J. E. Nyman. 
Oshkosh Y^. C— L. Frank Gates and W. J. McCoy. 
Nodoway Y'. C. — J. A. Kimberly, Jr., and W. L. Davis. 
Indiana Y". C. — Harrv S. Hicks. 
Lake Beulah Y'. C— E. F. Gillette and C. II. Welch. 
Pistakee Lake Y. C— Henry L. Hertz and A. C. Bower. 
The following rules, based upon the general conditions govern- 
ing the Seawanhaka C. Y. C. international cup, were adopted, 
to be unchanged for three years: 
Article 1.— The start shall be a one-gun flying start, with pre- 
paratory signal. 
Article 2.— The races shall be sailed without time allowance. 
Article 3. — Two classes of yachts are provided for as foUews: 
First class sloops must not exceed 20ft. racing length, the follow- 
ing formula determining the racing length: Add the load water- 
fine to the square root of the sail area and divide by 2, which 
will equal the racing measureiuent. Second class sloops must 
not exceed 17ft. racing length. 
Article 4. — A yacht's draft of hull or keel shall not exceed 5ft., 
and with the centei-board down shall not exceed 6ft. The draft 
shall be determined when yachts are in trim for measurement. 
Centerboards shall be so constructed that they can be wholly 
housed without leaving any projection below the keel or hull. 
Article 5. — Yachts shall be measured without the crew on 
board, but instead thereof in the first class a dead weight of 
4501bs. shall be carried amidships, approximately at the center of 
buoyancy, during measurement. The total actual weight of the 
crew, including all clothes, personal apparel, and belongings 
worn by them or carried on board during any- race, shall not exceed 
(iOOlbs. In the second class the measurement shall be taken with 
a weight of 3001bs. on board, the sail shall be limited to 350sq.ft., 
and the crew to 4501bs. 
Article 6.— Shifting ballast shall not be allowed. Weighted cen- 
terboards shall be considered fixed ballast. 
Article 7.— No outrigger or other mechanical device for carry- 
ing live ballast outboard shall be allowed. 
Article 8.— The factor of sail area, used in determining racing 
irieasurement, shall be ascertained by adding to' the actual sail 
area of the mainsail, comnuted from its exact dimensions, the 
area of the fore triangle. The hoist of the mainsail, when measured, 
shall be plainly marked on the mast, and at its outer points on 
the laoom, or g'afif, or other spars used to set sail, and the sail shall 
not be set beyond these limiting points. The fore triangle shall 
be determined by the following factors: The perpendicular shall 
be the perpendicular distance between the deck and a point on 
the forestay, above which the jib shall not be hoisted. The base 
shall be at the distance between the forward side of the mast at 
the deck and the point of intersection of the forestay with the 
bowsprit of the hull. Any jib when set must not extend bej'ond 
the upper and forward points above defined. 
Sails shall be limited to mainsail, jibs, and spinaker. The total 
of area of the mainsail and fore triangle shall not exceed SOOsq.ft. 
The area of the mainsail alone shall not exceed 80 per cent, of the 
total area. I'he area of the spinaker, measured as a triangle whose 
base is the length of the spinaker boom measured from its outer 
end when set to the center of the mast, and whose perpendicular 
is the distance from the deck at the fore side of the mast to the 
spinaker halyard block, shall not exceed twice the area of the fore 
triangle. 
Article 9.— The spinaker boom, when used m carrying sad, 
shall not be lashed to the bowsprit or stemhead. 
The officers for 1898, elected at the meeting, are: President, 
J. W. Taylor, St. Paul; Secretary and Treasurer, Benjamin Ca,- 
penter, Chicago; Executive Committee: the Secretary, ex-officio, 
B. B. Felix, of Chicago, and J. P. Elmer, of St. PauL 
The Association will hold a regatta on White Bear Lake in 
August. 
North American Y. R. A, 
Mr. Frank Bowne Jones, secretary of the North American 
Y'acht Racing Union, has sent the following notice to the mem- 
bers of the Council : 
"Mr. yEmUius Jarvis, one of the special committee appointed 
to confer with the British Y'acht Racing Association, who is now 
returning from Europe, has cabled me requesting that a meeting 
of the Council be called for Saturday evening next, Feb. 12, to 
receive his report. Such meeting will be held at the Imperial 
Hotel, New York, at 8 o'clock on the evening named, and as many 
members of the Council as will find it convenient are requested 
to attend if possible. 
"To those members of the Council not living in the vicinity of 
New Y^ork and who cannot attend the meeting a written copy of 
Mr. Jarvis's report will be sent. Yours truly, 
"Frank Bowne Jones, Sec'y. 
New Y^ork, Feb. 7, 1898." 
Yacht Measurement, 
luiilor Forest tifid Streniii: 
Your recent lametit over the iudifffrcnct; of American 
yachtsmen to qiiestioji.s concerning- the taoi'iig niles 
moves me to taice np a. few old ideas and string them 
together upon a thread of what your courtesy will permit 
me to call logic. But first T would acknowledge the 
great value of the altogetlier admirable report of the 
Seawanhaka racing 'committee, portions of which you 
published in your last issue. Tt will enable m&ny of u.s 
to judge more intelligently in this matter, and shoidd 
prove a sheet anchor to those who have already ac- 
qtiired the habit of "writing to the Times." 
i» The aim of time allowance is to compensate for the 
natural difference in speed due to the difference in size. 
To determine the size it is necessary to measure soiiie- 
thing. If all yachts were similar in form the length of 
hull or any other dimensions would be sufllcient for 
measurement. But yachts are not similar in form, and 
this lirings in the problem. 
1 take it that the purpose of a measurement rule should 
be not to develop a particular type, but to give all types 
a fair opportunity. Failing in its complete fulfilltrient, 
the rule should avoid the encouragement of objectionable 
types. 
2. Experience indicates that the direct measurement 
of linear dimensions leads to deformity of the yacht. 
Indirect measurements, such as areas and girths, give 
the designer greater freedom. In illustration of this 
consider the far-reaching effect of a tax on sail. Few 
dimensions escape the tax, yet their relative magnitude 
may be greatly varied to give the yacht its special fit- 
compact form of midship section and a sail tax as by 
formula 2, is it desirable to tax the length? Conceive 
an extreme example of the fin keel type, the sail area 
being a fixed fjuantity. Let us reduce the breadth and 
shorten the fin, thus reducing the rating. Now, in order 
to carry the sail, we must add rtiore ballast, thus increas- 
ing the displacement Would there be any gain by 
increasing the length? I am disposed to think that an 
increase of length would be unwise on account of the 
increased wetted surface, unless the displacement were 
so far increased as to create serious wave-making re- 
sistance at ordinary speeds, in which case the length 
should properly be increased regardless of rules. The 
gist of it is that if the girth tax will produce a full com- 
pact form of midship section, then the sail tax will re- 
strain the length within satisfactory hounds. In this 
connection it may be well to note the failure of the 
length tax to produce a sufficient area of midship section 
when co-ordinated -vyith the sail tax. It is an evidence 
of the unsatisfactory operation of a dimension tax. The 
root of the dilTiculty seems to me to lie in the form of 
the midship section rather than in its area. With the 
present i'orm of extremely undercut section more area 
would simply mean more breadth and greater draft, less 
speed and greater cost, unless other arbitrary restrictions 
were imposed, which in the eitd would surely prove irk- 
some and detrimental to tlie sport. 
In application formula 2 is very simple, and there 
are no square roots to be extracted. To prevent evasion 
by excessive flaring of top sides I would suggest that 
the girth be measured as in the figure. For convenience 
the tape measurement might be substituted for the true 
wetted perimeter and in the centerboard type the board 
ness. In a lesser degree the girth of the midship section 
involves breadth, depth and area, yet the same freedom 
exists in their relative sizes. Indirect taxation would 
therefore seem preferable. 
3- An opinion is widely held that the present rule 
leads to deficient displacement. A broader statement 
would be that the present rule leads to dispersion of the 
area of tlie midship section. Compactness of form is 
sacrificed, and with it seaworthiness and comfort. A 
more compact form would lead to greater displacement 
in order to retain the same sail-carrying power. 
_ It would seem that compactness of fonrt should be 
aimed at and displacement left free to be determined as 
a matter of special fitness, for there is ample room for 
manv good boats between the splasher and the plunger, 
and even these should not have their opportunities con- 
fiscated, but simply taxed so that they may have no 
advantage over the more moderate forms. 
4- It is a well-known truth that the sphere has less 
surface in proportion to its volume than any other form. 
It is plain, then, that taxation of the surface of the im- 
mersed body would tend to bring about a more com- 
pact distribution of the displacement, such surface beino- 
the sum of the wetted surface and the load water plane" 
It compactness in the form of cross-section alone should 
be sufficient, it would be necessary to tax only the o-irth 
of the midship section. " 
The sail tax not only commends itself as the most in- 
direct and far-reaching, but has proved satisfactory and 
by common consent should remain a prime factor in any 
rule. The logic of the situation seems, therefore to 
mdicate a formula somewhat like the following- 
housed, but these are details easily modified as experi- 
ence may suggest. 
5. It may not be inopportune to urge the substitution 
of seconds per hour instead of seconds per mile in the 
time allowance; to question the correctness of the com- 
mon assumption that similar yachts of different size 
can sail at corresponding speeds — that is. at speeds pro- 
portional to the square root of tlteir dimensions; and 
further to question the assumption involved in the pres- 
ent rule that the sail area is proportional to the square 
of the length. 
But the instant need is a measurement rule; not a 
rule to exclude all but one arbitrarily fixed type, but 
rather one which will give fair play to every one. 
Jamk.s N. Warrington. 
CmcACC], Jan. ib. 
It is now stated that the real purchaser of the steam yadit May- 
flower is^ Leopold, King of Belgium, and that she will be re-named 
riementine. The yacht is now fitting for sea at the Erie Basin 
Dry Docks, and will sail in a short time for Southampton. 
1 . Rating— ^^'^ areaX ^su face of immersed body. 
Constant. 
2 Rating= ^^'^ ""^^^ ^ ^ ''^^^ °^ midship section. 
Constant. 
Considering these formulae, it is probable that the 
first would produce a shorter boat than the second. On 
the other hand, the second would produce a fuller mid- 
ship section. The surface of the immersed body is ap- 
proximately the product of the mean girth by the length. 
In the first form, therefore, the tax is divided between 
the mean girth and the length, while in the second it 
is concentrated upon the extreme girth. Further, it is 
the extreme and not the mean girth which we aim to 
confine. I am disposed to believe, therefore, that the 
second form would produce a better midship section 
than .the first. Now the question arises: Having a 
Nr.vv York, Feb. 2. — Editor Forest and Stream: The 
race connnittee of the Seawanhaka Corinthian Y. C. 
have given their report much study, evidently, and de- 
serve all the commendation which you give them for 
it. It now remains to be seen whether they are willing, 
jointly or severally, formally or informally, to discuss 
some of the points in this report for the benefit of yachts- 
men generally. Tt is therefore requested that they an- 
swer the following c[uestions: 
First. — Why is it not rational to classify racing yachts 
by the power that drives them? 
Second. — How can seaworthiness or comfort be di- 
rectly secured except by a requirement affecting cube 
of hull, or displacement? 
Third. — If accommodation (or size) is required, why 
should not it be asked for directly? 
Fourth. — Is it not a distinct advance in yacht design- 
ing to make lib. of wood do the work formerly done by 
2lbs., providing no sacrifice of durability is entailed? 
Fifth. — Is not the design of the framework of a yacht 
a problem in truss design, similar to the design of any 
other truss, but more complicated? 
Sixth. — Is it not true that a wide, shallow yacht must 
be framed and trussed more than a narrow and deep 
one? 
Seventh.— Is it not true that a light hull, properlv 
braced, will outlast a heavier hull unbraced? 
Eighth.- — If two yachts have the same displacement and 
draft, how much, if any, difterence will there be in the 
.speed due to the fact that one hull is 3 per cent, lighter 
than the other? 
Ninth. — Has any one ever calculated the ratio, which 
