394 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 20, 1899. 
The Canada Cup. 
From what is now known of tlie different contesLaiits 
in the series of trial and final races for the Canada cup, 
it is evident that these races will he one of the features 
of the season, second only to those for the America Cup. 
While they cannot compare with the latter as a personal 
duel between two of the greatest of modern designers 
backed b.y unhmited money, producing the fastest and 
most costly craft ever floated, at the same time the series 
of races promises to rival the great class contests of the 
40-footers in 1888-9, the 46-footers in i8gi-2, and the 21- 
footers in 1892. As in ah of these, the interest in the 35ft 
class will be due to the number of contestants, the variety 
of types, the personality of such designers as Messrs. 
Duggan, Paj'ne and Hanley, and the number of races 
to be sailed. In addition, the cpntest is in every sense an 
international one, Canada being pitted fairly against the 
United States; and the result can hardly fail to determine 
the fate of the Y. R. A. girth rule* as applied to American 
conditions. 
While it is hardly safe to say that no boat building for 
the class is as j^et miknown, and that none may yet be 
started, it is pretty well settled that the class will be 
limited to ten yachts, lour for the challenge and six 
for the defense. Of the former, three are of the keel type 
and one a centerboarder. This latter, Genesee, has al- 
ready been described ; she was designed and built by C. C. 
Hanley, of Quincy, Mass., formerly of Cape Cod, for the 
Rochester Y. C. syndicate. Mr. Hanley has heen re- 
markably successful for some years in the Cape cat type 
and its modern development into the wide but fairly deep 
centerboard sloop, such as Acushla ; his work, however, 
has been confined exclusively to salt water, mainly Buz- 
zard's Bay and Massachusetts Bay, and to some form 
of simple length rule with unlimited sail. In this case 
he is working under new conditions, for lake sailing ; and 
under an entirely new rule, the outcome of which no one 
is yet able to. predict. There is little doubt that he has 
turned out a very fast boat of the type ; the question 
being whether this type is suited to the girth rule and 
the local conditions on Lake Michigan and Lake On- 
tario. 
The Cuthbert boat, designed for the Peare syndicate. 
Vera by name, has been veiy closely guarded, being built 
under lock and kej% and as yet little is known of her except 
that she is of the modern keel or semi-fin keel type. 
The third boat, Josephine, is described as follows by the 
Hamilton Times; 
Mr. Geo. Webster, the well-known yachtsman, has re- 
turned from a visit to Chicago, where he assisted in trials 
of the yacht Josephine, the Whitely-Griffith challenger 
for the Canada cup. The boat, which was designed by Mr. 
Webster, was built at Muncie, Ind., and taken by rail 200 
miles, to Chicago. The owners, Bert H. Whitely, of 
Muncie, and D. D. Griflith, of Chicago, accompanied .^v 
Mr. Webster and Capt. Burrell, formerly skipper of 
Zelma, sailed the new yacht under the old Pathfinder's 
jib and topsail, to South Chicago, where the new chal- 
lenger received her sail rig. These sails were sometnmg 
of a surprise to the Chicago yachtsmen, in that they are 
from Ratney & Lapthorne, the celebrated sailmakers of 
Cowes, isle of Wight. Mr. Webster had two spins out 
on the lake in the new boat, and he says she skipped along 
in fine stvlc especially in the heavy weather encountered 
while out on Friday last. 
The boat is of white pine, with trimmings of mahogany, 
and the interior workmanship, Mr. Webster says, is the 
finest he has ever seen. So well were the details of 
construction carried out in the Muncie workshop that not 
a change of any kind had to be made in the original plans 
after the boat reached the water. Her dimensions are 
47ft. on deck, 27ft on waterline, 10 ft. 6in. beam, and 6ft. 
2in. draft. "Most of the overhang is at the stern," re- 
marked Mr. Webster to-day, in discussing the boat, "and 
she is not in any way a freak. She carries about five tons 
of lead on her keel. Her cabin skylights are flush with 
the deck, and all the interior fittings are made to clear 
to a racing hull in a few minutes, and with little or no 
trouble." 
Captain Burrell has been engaged to sail the boat this 
summer. He will move his family from here to Muncie 
in a few days. "With a Canadian designer, a Canadian 
skipper and English" sail,' remarked Mr. Webster, with a 
laugh, "there won't be much Yankee about the boat." 
Another dispatch from Chicago says: 
The new yacht Josephine, another of the Chicago Y. C. 
contestants for the honor of competing for the Canada 
cup race, arrived off the harbor Tuesday noon from 
South Chicago. This is the $7,000 yacht built at Muncie, 
Ind., by the Whitely Steel Company for Burt H. Whitely 
and D. D. Griffiths. She is a pretty little yacht, 47ft. 
over all, ioj4ft. beam and 26ft. on the waterline, She 
will carry about i,S00 sq. ft. of sail, and has a modified 
bulb keel. She will carry a crew of six in the races, but 
for cruising has quarters for twelve. Workmen were 
busy Saturday bending on the sails and putting the finish- 
ing touches upon her in preparation for trials to-day. 
Mr. Webster is a well-known Canadian yachtsman, of 
Hamilton, Ontario, where he has built several yachts of 
his own design, afterward sailing them with good suc- 
cess in the L. Y. R. A. circuits. The most notable of 
these was Eva, a keel boat in the 32ft,, now 3Sft. class, 
finally sold to- Lake Erie. The nationality of this new 
yacht is a little doubtful, she was built, in an inland 
town in Indiana, by a Hamilton builder, and though as a 
professional he cannot steer her in the races, her skipper 
is also a Canadian from Hamilton. The sails, it is need- 
less to say, came from Cowes, or Gosport, England,. 
The fourth yacht has been built during the winter by 
the Spalding St. Lawrence Boat Co. at its shops 
at Ogdensburg, N. Y., and though there have • been 
no locked doors and soaped windows, very little has been 
known about her. Her owners are Com. F. W. Morgan, 
Chicago Y. C. ; Chas. H. Thorne and William Herrick. 
She was designed by W. P. Stephens, and in type she is 
8 keel cutter, such has; thus far pro.ved the. most sxtc- 
cessful on the Great Lakes. The name selected by her 
owners is Prairie, a new one on the j^acht list, and at least 
indicative of her Western ownership and origin. She is 
44ft. over all, 28ft. l.w.l., gft. beam and 7ft. draft, with an 
5 section, well hollowed below, and a bulbed keel. She 
was designed especially to fit the new girth rule and the 
somewhat conflicting conditions of Lake Michigan and 
Lake Ontario. With a rather full load waterline, she has 
no freak features. She has been designed to fit the rule 
rather than to evade it. The scantling throughout is up 
to the limit of the tables, and the possibility of a voyage 
of from 1,200 to 2,000 miles through the Lakes as a part 
of this season's racing has called for special care in her 
construction. 
While she has been designed solely for the Canada cup 
races, this type of hull furnishes very fair room below, 
and with her mahogany cabin house in place she will 
have over 5ft- head room and good accommodation be- 
low for cruising. In racing she will carry two light flat 
hatches, and for the present she has no internal fittings 
but a light seat on each side of the cabin. The deck is 
flush, with a small racing cockpit, and she steers with a 
tiller, the rudder being hung on the sternpost. Her over- 
hangs are moderate, about 6ft. forward and 9ft. aft, but 
they are used to finish out the bow and buttock lines. 
The topsides are planked with white pine in narrow 
widths, the bottom is planked with white cedar, with oak 
'garboards, and the deck is of clear pine, with marine glue 
in the seams. 
She will carry about 1,500 sq. ft. in the cutter rig with 
pole mast, her boom being 36ft. The sails are by Wilson 
6 Silsby, Boston, of the newest materials. The hull is 
enameled white above water, with a gold stripe. Her 
builders have turned out a very handsome piece of work, 
and one that will last for many years. 
The following comments are credited to a Chicago 
yachtsman ; 
It is rather a coincidence that the Chicago boats which 
were built for the Canada cup race closely resemble each 
other, When the boats were building the owners guarded 
the secrets of their construction closely, and one could 
find out nothing about them. It so happens that the 
plans were made public at about the same time, and the 
figures shov/ that the three boats are as nearly alike in 
construction, and in other details, as if the same designer 
had built all of them. The three boats are really minia- 
tures of Defender. Of course there was no copying, for 
such a thing would be impossible, so close-mouthed were 
all the people involved. 
The Chicago boats are of the cutter type. You Avill find 
that, averaging them up, they will show about the same 
figures. Four tons of lead on the keel, while 45ft. over 
all will fit each one. A 9ft. beam and a 25ft. waterline are 
other points which are noticeable. All draw about 7ft., 
although Josephine has a 63^ft. draft. They will carry 
from 1,500 to i,6soft. of canvas. Peare^s boat being built 
for the i,6soft. 
Both in the number of yachts and in the variety of 
types, the defense is stronger than the challenging side, as 
the six boats include one centerboard, two keels and three 
fin keels. The centerboard boat was designed by G. H. 
Duggan for the syndicate headed by George P. Reid, of 
the Royal Canadian Y. C, and she will be sailed by J. 
Wilton Morse. She is now under construction at the 
shops of Harry F. Hodson, Toronto, builder of Glencairn 
I, She has been very closely guarded, and even now, when 
nearl.v ready for launching, is still under lock and key. 
The general belief about Toronto has been that she would 
prove a fin keel, but it is now known that she is a 
centerboard boat, with outside lead. Mr. Duggan is a 
strong opponent of the girth rule, and the probabilities 
are that if there is a weak place in this rule, designed 
nominally to produce a wholesome and usable type of 
yacht, he will find it. The spars are being made by the 
Yacht Company, at Dorval, under Mr. Duggan's personal 
supervision, the rigging will be made up there also, and 
the ironwork is being made at the shops of the Dominion 
Bridge Company. No name has yet been chosen for 
the ^'acht. It is expected that she will be ready for a trial 
sail by the first week in June, and for the race of June 12 
for this class. 
In addition to the Reid syndicate, organized at the out- 
set early last winter, two others have lately been organized 
by ^milius Jarvis, who managed and sailed Canada in 
the first races for the cup in 1896. The boats are building 
at Oakville, Ontario, a few miles west of Toronto, by 
Andrews, the builder of Canada. The first, now partly 
planked, is from the designs of H. C. McLeod, of Halifax, 
N. S., and formerly for a time a resident of Minneapolis 
and Chicago. Mr. McLeod, who holds a prominent posi- 
tion with the Bank of Nova Scotia, has followed yacht 
designing as an amateur pursuit for many years, and has 
turned out some fast racing yachts, both of the keel type 
and the modern shoal skimmer and scow types. His new 
boat is a beautifully modelled cutter, with fine S section, 
about 44ft. over all, 30ft. l.w.l., 9ft. beam and 6ft. draft, 
carrying 1,400 sq. ft. of sail. 
The second boat will be started this week, if the de- 
signs arrive, as expected, from England. Arthur E. 
Payne, of the firm of Summers & Payne, Southampton, 
Eng., is well known to our readers through his many suc- 
cessful yachts, Decima, Corsair, Penitent and others. The 
new boat will probably be similar to his 36-footer, 
Emerald, reduced ift. in measurement, and. of course, 
shortened on the waterline. Mr. Payne has thus far had 
no experience in designing for American conditions, nor 
has he visited this country, but it is more than likely that 
he will be guided in the selection of the elements of the 
design by Mr. Jarvis ; at least, in so far as the length and 
sail area that experience has shown to be best adapted 
to the lake in summer. As far as lines and construction 
go, he is likely to turn out a fast and handsome yacht. 
Mr. H. K. Wickstead, of Cobourg, will superintend 
the construction of both of these boats, when they are 
ready Mr. Jarvis will sail one of them, and the other will 
be handled by some good Corinthian. It will be well to- 
ward the end of June before they can be out. 
The three Hamilton boats already mentioned, are 
nearly ready for the water, and will be sailing in a short 
time. Hamilton boasts a number of clever men, both 
at the stick and about the deck, and all three are likely 
to be well handled. It is impossible to forecast their 
chances of success without knowing more about them, but 
between the three, the fin type will probably be well repre- 
sented. 
All of the yachts, on both sides, are being built under 
the table of scanthng prepared for the Yachting Racing 
Union of the Great Lakes by Mr. Stephens in 1897, but 
not yet tested to any extent. With the exception of the 
design from Mr. Payne and of sail cloth and imported 
Scotch wire, the Canadians have relied solel.v on them- 
selves for the defense of the cup, the designers and 
builders are all native Canadians, and such fittings as 
cannot be had in Canada, blocks, and similar gear, are 
being specially made, instead of being imported from th;e 
United States. The sails will probably all be made in 
Canada, though from the very limited demand for costly 
racing sails, the sailmakers are thus far by no means equal 
to those of the States. 
The whole policy in this respect is an admirable one, it 
is inevitable that, while united so far as associations and 
rules go, the yachtsmen of Canada and the States must 
always be friendly rivals in such contests as the Canada 
cup, Seawanhaka cup, etc. Thus far Canada has been at 
a serious disadvantage in the lack of designers, buildcns, 
sailmakers, and of such an extensive market as the States 
afford for the purchase of all the minor accessories of 
yachting. Within the four years since the Royal St. Law- 
rance Y. C. first challenged for the Seawanhaka cup a 
great stride has been made, Mr. Duggan has come for- 
ward as a designer of the highest rank in the smaller 
classes, and others have come in with less conspicuous 
success ; some of the finest blocks and fittings yet seen on 
small craft have been made in Montreal, many ingenious 
devices in construction have been introduced, yacht cord- 
age of the finest quality has been put on the market by 
Canadian makers, and material advances have been made 
in the art of sailmaking. As matters now are, Canada is 
rapidly removing the serious handicap under which she 
thus far labored as opposed to a larger nation in which 
yachting has long had a strong popular support. 
Until all the yachts have been tried under sail it is im- 
possible to form any conclusions as to the probable win- 
ners of the trials and final races, but thus far the ad- 
vantages are manifestly, as in most international races, on 
the side of the defender. The six Canadian yachts need 
only to be designed for the trial and final races at home, 
Hamilton being within thirty-odd miles of. Toronto. 
Nothing more need be expected of them than speed under 
normal racing conditions on Lake Ontario. After being 
once afloat, they can be sailed day after day for nearly 
two months before the final races. 
On the part of the challenger, the yachts must be de- 
signed, to a certain extent, to meet the conditions on 
Lake Michigan, stronger winds, rougher water, and prob- 
ably much harder weather even in summer than on Lake 
Ontario. It is by no means a certain thing that the yacht 
which shows the best performance in the Chicago trial 
races early in July will be the best one for the races on 
Lake Ontario six weeks later. Apart from this, after 
the selection has been made, the challenger has a voyage of 
upward of a thousand miles, a matter of a couple of 
weeks' or more, with incidental delays, to say nothing of 
possible damage to the light racing gear and canvas. Two 
of the yachts have to reach Chicago by long voyages, 
Genesee having some 1,800 miles to traverse between Bos- 
ton and Chicago, while the distance from Ogdensburgh 
to Chicago is nearly 1,200 miles. All of these conditions 
materially favor the home boats from the start. 
The dates of the races have already been published, 
Chicago trials July 4 and following days, Toronto trials, 
Aug. 7, cup races beginning Aug. 21. The Royal Canadian 
Y. C. has arranged to select a committee from all the 
Canadian yacht clubs to make the choice of a defender in 
the trial races. Invitations have already been sent^out to 
one member from each of the clubs. Royal Nova Scotia, 
Royal St. Lawrence, Quebec, Kingston, Royal Hamilton, 
Queen City and Victoria, and the committee will be com- 
pleted by several members of the Royal Canadian. In this 
way it is hoped to reach a satisfactory and fair decision 
as to the best yacht to defend the cup. 
Royal St. Lawrence Y. C. 
The Royal St. Lawrence Y. C. is looking forward to a 
season of lively racing, though there is perhaps less of a 
general interest in the extreme racing boats than at. any 
time since the challenge for the Seawanhaka cup in 1895. 
It is true that there will be two instead of one series of 
foreign matches this year, and these will be hotly con- 
tested, but by a small number of boats. A great deal of 
interest is already awakened in the match between the 
White Bear representative, Yankee, and the famous 20- 
footer Dominion, winner of last year's races. The cham- 
pion will be sailed precisely as last year, steered by Mr. 
Duggan and manned by the same crew, her rig being un- 
changed. She is now in the big shed at Dorval, bottom 
(or rather, bottoms) up, for a good polishing after a 
fresh coat of white enamel. Her seams and planking 
show no signs of the hard weather of the last season's 
races. Beside her in the shed are her sister boats, Strath- 
cona and Speculator, both ready for racing except for the 
varnishing and polishing. The trials of last year showed 
the pair to be about equal to Glencairn II., at least, and 
they are quite available this season. In the shop is a new 
racing 20-footer, of the same type, but showing the effect 
of the over-all limit and the limit of angle of bow. Do- 
minion is of course barred from the Seawanhaka race's 
by her over-all length and square bow; the other three. 
Speculator, Strathcona and the new boat, as yet un- 
named, show very little difference in excellence of model. 
It is probable that onlj^ these three boats will be in the 
trial races on July 17, and the following days; nothing is 
known yet as to outside boats, and there will probably 
be none. In this case Mr. Duggan, with his crew, will 
take the best of the three, probably the new one. Though 
four boats are mentioned for the Seawanhaka trial races 
to select a challenger, but two are definitely known — 
Duchess, and the new Crowninshield boat for the Bridge- 
port syndicate, now building at Lawleys'. It is doubtful 
whether more than four start in the trials. 
The new one-design class, illustrated in the Forest 
AND Stream of April 29, makes an excellent boat for 
waters in which draft is limited, as on many parts of 
Lake St. Louis. Five of these boats have been built by 
the Yacht Company st Dorval and are now ready for tliq 
