ISA 
Potest AKfi 
by a direct increase of the constant of sail area in the 
formula. 
While we have by no means followed that injunction 
.Which we freely give to our correspondents, as to the 
beauty of brevity and condensation, at the same time we 
have hardly covered all of the numerous points raised by 
Sextant. There are none, however, that we have in- 
tentionally avoided, and we shall be glad to discuss 
further any which be may be inclined to point out. 
provision, beef-packing and simih 
plies for the British army and 
estimated at $50,000,000. Durin 
he donated a sum of $125,000 for 
of London, and in return receivi 
A little later he gave a similar sui 
fund. His business brings him 
and only a few weeks ago he \ 
rumor of a possible challenge frc 
Our attention has been called to a typographical er- 
ror in Sextant's letter, on the fifth line from the bot- 
r i: ii ■ 0°5 -OX) . 
torn of page 57, where the expression f is 
• , j (.65 — .04). 
printed 1 — - 
The America Cup* 
Within the past week the yachting situation which, in 
the absence of the New York Y. C. cruise and the Goelet 
cup races, and other Newport festivities, ordinarily 
occurring at this date, has been extraordinarily dull, has 
been enlivened by definite and reliable news of a new 
challenge for the" America Cup, promising a match in 
1899. The details, cabled to New York early last week, 
and announced "exclusively" by all of the daily papers, 
are that Sir Thomas Lipton is about to issue a challenge, 
under the endorsement of the Royal Ulster Y. C, for a 
match next season. This latest venture will be distinc- 
tively Irish: the challenger is an Irishman, born in 
Scotland; the yacht, to be designed by Will Fife, Jr., of 
Fairlie, Scotland, will be a 90ft. l.w.l. cutter, named 
Shamrock, and will be built at the great shipyard of 
Harlan & Wolff, in Belfast; the skipper may be William 
O'Neil, an Irishman who has won his reputation as one 
of the first of British skippers in Silver Star, Irex and 
Iverna, under the flag of Mr. John Jameson, the Dublin 
yachtsman. 
The idea of challenging for the America Cup has been 
in the mind of Sir Thomas Lipton for some time past, 
and within a year it has been discussed with the Royai 
Ulster Y. C, and also with Mr. Will Fife, who has been 
at work on the design for the challenging vessel. The 
preliminary arrangements are now all completed, and 
steps have been taken to open immediate negotiations 
with the New York Y. C. To this end the secretary of 
the R. U. Y. C, Mr. H. C. Kelly, will sail in a few days 
for New York, accompanied by Messrs. H. G. McGil- 
downey and Charles Russell. Mr. McGildowney, who is 
connected with the firm of Harlan & Wolff, is a racing 
yachtsman and amateur designer, having designed the 
old ten-tonner Melissa, built in 1886, and raced by him 
for several seasons, and later having designed and also 
built the 20-rater Maledetta. This special committee will 
be fully empowered to represent Sir Thomas Lipton, and 
to negotiate for him and the R. U. Y. C. with the New 
York Y. C. There is little doubt that the negotiations 
will be carried to a successful end, and that a match will 
be sailed next year. On Aug. 8 a cabled notice of an 
intention to challenge was received by the N. Y. Y. C. 
A special meeting being called to consider it, on Aug. 11. 
The Holder.— The New York Y. C. at the present 
time needs and wants a challenge for the America Cup. 
In spite of the emphatic declaration made a year or two 
ago by its special committee, and endorsed by the club, 
to the effect that it was not a racing but a cruising 
organization, the fact remains that no yacht club can be 
prosperous without yacht racing, and that racing has 
ceased in the New York Y. C. This particular year 
proves nothing, fortunately; the war has stepped in to 
throw a veil over the condition of racing in the larger 
classes, but the failures of the annual regattas in the past 
two years, the abandonment of the fall regattas, and 
the neglect of the Goelet cups, show the need of some 
powerful stimulant, both for the sake ot the club itself 
and of yachting at large as affected by it. What racing 
there is at the present time is exclusively under the in- 
fluence of associations composed of numerous smaller 
clubs; these associations make the racing rules and 
manage the races. If yachting revives next year under 
such favorable influences as are "now promised, outside 
the America Cup, it will be in the classes under 60ft. 
R.M., and under the patronage of the associations, and 
not of the New York Y. C. There is no prospect what- 
ever of a spontaneous revival of building and racing in 
the larger or even the medium classes of schooners or 
cutters. 
In the America Cup the New Y. C. has the most pow- 
erful instrument for the promotion oi yacht racing ever 
in existence. Held upon perfectly fair terms, as its 
original and lawful owners originally dedicated it, in their 
own words, "a challenge cup for friendly competition 
between foreign countries," there need never be any 
lack of challengers; and both the New York Y. C. and 
American yachting at large may reap the benefits of in- 
ternational competition. The need of such a stimulus 
was never greater than at the present time, unless per- 
haps in 1885, and then the conditions were radically dif- 
ferent. What was needed then, and what really resulted 
from Genesta's challenge, was a stimulus to American 
invention and progress in yachting; but such is not the 
case at the present time, it is racing and not designing 
that requires aid. 
While an international match in any size of yacht can- 
not fail to benefit the New York Y. C. in bringing it 
mice more into the first place in the attention of the 
yachting world, and the general public, it depends en- 
tirely on the question of the size of the challenger and 
defender whether the resulting benefit shall be limited 
to the New York Y. C. alone, and then to but a moderate 
degree, or whether the races shall bring permanent bene- 
fit "to the club and to yachting at large as well. 
The Chalelnger. — Thomas Johnstone Lipton was born 
in Scotland, of Irish parents, about fifty-one years ago, and 
began life as a storekeeper on a very small scale. 
Through his inherent ability as a business man he gradu- 
ally built up a business, including a number of small 
retail stores, for groceries and provisions, in time ex- 
tending it until he controlled a very large part of the 
tea business of the world, "Lipton's teas" being famous 
■everywhere. He also controls very large Interests in the 
ST^fiAM. 
ir lines, furnishing sup- 
navy. His fortune is 
g the Queen's Jubilee 
the benefit of the poor 
ed the title of baronet, 
m to the Indian famine 
frequently to America, 
vas in New York, the 
>m him being then cir- 
culated, with his denial of any immediate intentions. 
As an aspirant for the highest honors of the yachting- 
world, Sir Thomas Lipton possesses none but negative 
qualifications. He has never owned a yacht, he has 
never belonged to a yacht club until he joined the Royal 
Ulster a few months since, and he has, in the course 
of a very busy life, taken no interest whatever in yacht- 
ing or yacht racing. He is, from all accounts, rich, 
ignorant as far as the sport of yachting is concerned, 
and complaisant, in that he is ready to accept any terms 
conceded by the New York Y. C. 
It would obviously be most unfair at the present 
time to criticise his motives or to condemn his venture 
into yachting as animated by anything other than a 
love of sport, and we sincerely hope that he may in good 
time become a yachtsman in every sense of the word. 
At the same time it is quite evident that he is in no 
sense a representative British yachtsman; and in our 
opinion he is in no way qualified as the leader in an en- 
terprise of such magnitude as that of challenging for 
the America Cup; an undertaking whose success, in the 
minds of good sportsmen, is not measured by the final 
possession of the trophy, but by the manner in which the 
whole contest is conducted. Such a task requires a thor- 
ough knowledge of yachting and yacht racing in all 
their branches, a knowledge only gained by long ex- 
perience. Nothing is more true than, as Gilbert says 
in "Patience," 
"One can't buy high resthetic tastes like trowsers, ready made," 
and on the same principle one cannot buy yachting 
experience put up like tea in pound packages. It would 
no doubt be highly interesting, to the spectators, to see 
Hank Haff, Charlie Barr, Billy O'Neil or John Carter 
forsaking the wheel and tiller to bull the tea market 
or to speculate in dressed beef, but the result might 
not prove so satisfactory to the participants. 
Every experienced yachtsman knows that, however 
perfect the work of designer, builder, sailmaker and 
skipper, the personality of the owner stands out promin- 
ently in the case of every successful yacht, as in Gen. 
Paine's work with Puritan, Mayflower and Volunteer, 
and Mr. Iselin's success with Vigilant and Defender. 
We should have a far better opinion of Sir Thomas 
Lipton's judgment, and far stronger hopes of his suc- 
cess as a challenger, even though not a winner, if he had 
begun by a preliminary season of racing at home, where 
he could find a very ample field in the 65ft. class, instead 
of attempting as a novice to make his yachting debut in 
a star part. 
The Challenging Club. — It has so happened in the 
course of the development of international racing that 
the exact relations of the club and individual have not 
been so clearly defined as is desirable. Technically the 
match is between two clubs, and individuals are not 
recognized in the main negotiations; though neces- 
sarily they are in the actual racing, as owners of the 
respective yachts. It seems in every way desirable that 
a greater degree of responsibility than now exists be 
laid upon each club for the conduct of its representative. 
We have always held that, in the case of Lord Dunraven, 
the New York Y. C. had a perfect right to look to the 
Royal Yacht Squadron, and to it alone, for an explana- 
tion of the charges made by its representative; and that 
the Squadron was in duty bound to call the latter to ac- 
count. Without reference to the manner in which such 
a procedure might have resulted in this particular case, it 
seems to us that the principle of each club assuming en- 
tire responsibility for all actions of its representative 
is founded on sound sense and general sporting usage; 
and that it should be made a distinct point in all interna- 
tional contests. 
In the present case the Royal Ulster Y. C. should 
vouch directly for the standing of the representative to 
whom it entrusts its burgee; the more so as he is of 
necessity unknown to the holder. We presume that the 
club is prepared to do this, that it has already, in elect- 
ing Sir Thomas Lipton a member for the express pur- 
pose of challenging for the America Cup, satisfied itself 
that he is in every way qualified to represent it worthily; 
but in view of the lax usage in the past, and of the 
contretemps attending the last match, the point is one that 
demands definite and specific attention. 
The status of the Royal Ulster Y. C. in itself is, of 
course, thoroughly satisfactory; the club is an old one, 
founded in 1866; its commodore, the Marquis of Duf- 
ferin and Ava, though distinctively a non-racing man. 
stands at the front as a cruising man and thorough 
yachtsman, and its vice-commodore. Major R. G. Shar- 
man-Crawford, is a well-known yachtsman. 
The Size of Yacht. — The question of the size of yacht 
more desirable for both parties is a very important one, 
and it is still open in spite of the announcement that 
the challenger has already decided upon the maximum 
limit of the new deed, 90ft. l.w.l. In view of the experi- 
ence of 1895, the continuance of the racing in the special 
90ft. class will be most unfortunate on this side of the 
water. Special classes are bad enough in the small 
sizes, and they are much worse when the L.W.L. runs 
to 90ft. There is nothing about the America Cup con- 
tests which should put them outside the jurisdiction of 
such rules as are universally recognized by American 
clubs, including the New York Y. C. The classification 
of the New York Y. C. is by racing measurement, and 
as a mere matter of consistency the same standard 
should govern the Cup races. In practice there is no 
gain to either party, at least there was not in the last 
contest; and the special 90ft. class, whether a fiction or a 
reality, should be abolished and the regular classes of the 
club substituted. 
What is of real importance is the matter of absolute 
size of the two representatives, which, of course, will be 
the same. Experience has proved that anything ap- 
[Avg. 13, 1898. 
proaching 90ft, l.w.l. is not wanted in this country, and 
that no amount of fostering and nursing can make such 
a class popular or permanent. If this size is retained, it 
simply means that true racing yachtsmen are excluded 
from the competition, and that one or more of the 
wealthier members of the club, at best merely owners of 
steam yachts, must, as a matter of patriotism, pay for 
a single syndicate boat. It is most unlikely that any 
individual racing yachtsman will to-day attempt to out- 
build Defender, or even that any members of the club 
will put up the large amount of money necessary to con- 
struct a suitable defender, unless from a feeling of duty 
or compulsion. One boat must be built, but it is unlikely 
that there will be more than one; and after the races are 
over 1 there is no future for the vessel, successful or 
otherwise, but the scrap heap. 
Whatever benefit accrued to American yachting 
through the construction of racing cutters of over 70ft. 
l.w.l. ceased long ago, with Volunteer. In the eleven 
years since passed there have been launched six yachts, 
Vigilant, Navahoe, Colonia, Jubilee, Pilgrim and De- 
fender. Of these one has been rebuilt and converted into 
a racing schooner, two are still in commission as cruis- 
ers, one has been converted into a steam yacht, and 
two have been laid up for three seasons, probably never 
to go into commission again. Conceding all that can be 
claimed as to the value of such experiments as Vigi- 
lant and Defender, and the gain to American designers, 
it is still plain that yachting at large has gained nothing 
from the occasional and spasmodic construction of cost- 
ly syndicate yachts; and a closer investigation will show 
that more harm than good results. In 1895, in spite 
of the general interest in the international races, there 
was little interest in yachting; racing was on the decline, 
and comparatively few yachts were in commission. The 
money that should have gone into yachting went partly 
into the pockets of the owners of excursion boats. The 
secondary results of the big syndicate boats were plainly 
visible in 1894, after the Vigilant- Valkyrie II. contest, 
and again in 1896, after the Defender- Valkyrie III. 
matches. In marked contrast is the activity in all sizes 
and classes immediately following the building of Puri- 
tan, Mayflower and Volunteer. 
The cause is not far to seek. The last three, though 
nominally of the 90ft. class, were of comparatively 
moderate cost, and suitable, through reasonable draft, 
for general use as well as racing. They were within 
the means of the wealthier yachtsmen, and at the same 
time fitted the general wants of yachtsmen, and held 
their racing value for some years. Defender, on the 
other hand, and the others of her class in a lesser de- 
gree, cost to build and run a sum such as no individual 
will put into a racing yacht, and she was utterly worth- 
less for general use. Even as a racing machine her 
value disappeared with the end of the Cup racing, as she 
had no opponent in the home events. 
The construction of a new and more extreme De- 
fender, as now promised to meet the proposed 90ft. chal- 
lenger, must act as a bar to the possible building up of 
smaller and more permanent classes, and to any general 
revival of yacht racing. 
If any beneficial and permanent results are to be de- 
rived from the revival of international racing, the first 
step must be the change of the size of yacht to some- 
thing much smaller than 90ft. l.w.l. At the present time 
the only approach to vested interests exists in the 51ft. 
class, too small in itself for Cup racing, and. the field 
is clear for a free choice of size from 90ft. downward. 
The best size, all things considered, would be either the 
70ft. R.M. or the 60ft. R.M. class of the New York Y. C, 
the former if enough yachtsmen could be induced to 
build to it. A modern yacht of 70ft. R.M. would 
have, with steel or composite construction, about the 
internal accommodation of the old Puritan, with much 
greater speed, the cost of construction and running 
would be materially less than in Defender; the club's 
limit of draft for the class, 13ft., makes a yacht that is 
useable and raceable within practical limits", without 
requiring the services of a steam tender and profession- 
al pilot at all times. Under the rules as they now 
stand, such a yacht would be an extreme racing 'machine, 
it is true, but still the certainty of good sport for a 
time, with the possibility of being chosen to defend the 
Cup, would probably induce the building of several 
boats, in place of the one which wilL probably be the sole 
dependence of the holders if the race be continued in the 
special 90ft. l.w.l. class. 
There is not the slightest possibility that the New 
York Y. C. will rise to the situation in yachting, bad as 
it is, with a proposal to build to a smaller class, with 
some limitations on form and also on weight of con- 
struction; but if such could be done, it is altogether 
probable that a great and permanent revival of racing 
would follow. Once given the assurance of continued 
racing in the 70ft. class, in yachts in which a certain 
amount of accommodation was made compulsory, and in 
which the extreme construction was limited, there are 
many yachtsmen who would be tempted to build again 
and race as of old. 
The advantages of a smaller class are almost as great 
to the challenger as to the defender. On the other side 
of the Atlantic the 90ft. class has died a natural death, a 
little more lingering, but quite as much as death as on 
this side. Britannia, Ailsa and Satanita have ceased 
racing and gone over to the yawl rig, to be followed 
sooner or later by Meteor, and Valkyrie III. has laid 
idle for three seasons. What life there is in yacht racing 
stops at the 65ft. L.R. class, just a size smaller than our 
70ft.; above this is only the 75ft. l.w.l. cutter Bona. A 
new go-footer can of necessity have nothing near her 
size by which to try her, while a smaller yacht can go 
in with the 65-footers, already a live fighting class. 
There is so much to be gained on both sides by limit- 
ing the size to such as experience has proved can be 
maintained as a permanent class that we hope this mat- ' 
ter may be thoroughly and carefully discussed by both 
parties before any final arrangements are made. As to 
the question of which side might have an advantage in 
retaining the Defender-Valkyrie size, it would be splitting 
hairs to no purpose. Defender is out of the ques- 
tion, unless to be rebuilt as a trial boat, her crew is 
scattered, and on the other hand British designers have 
had ample experience in the same size, and the racing 
r 
