14 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jau. 6, igoo. 
One marked effect of the America Cup matclies, with 
their intense excitement prolonged through a full month, 
and that after the usual ending of the season, has been a re- 
action in yachting that has left it dead for the time. In 
ordinary years, with the laying up of the fleet in Sep- 
tember, begins a discussion of the summer's racing, and 
of the prospects for the coming year, but this year the 
final win of Columbia was the signal for an abrupt cessa- 
tion of all yachting. The only topics e/f interest at the 
present time arc the remarks of Sir Thomas Lipton on 
various occasions, all carefully cabled over, and a des- 
ultory discussion of the racing prospects of the other 
side between a very mixed fleet of the larger yachts, old 
and new — Shamrock, Valkyrie III., Meteor, Bona, Ailsa, 
Satanita, the new Distant Shore, and the new Watson 
yawl. What any or all of these will do together, with 
possibly Columbia thrown in, is discussed pro and con 
on no very substantial basis of facts, as it is still very un- 
certain W'hether Columbia will be sent across. Valkyrie 
III. has as yet no purchaser, and at the worst, the war 
in the Transvaal is likely to have a serious eflfect on the 
racing of 1900 in British waters. 
Even if all conjectures and hopes were realized and 
the entire fleet as named above were brought together, the 
result would probably be of little technical value, owing 
to the very uneven conditions. The yachts mentioned 
are some cutters and some j'awls, the latter having a 
special advantage in measurement; they are of all lengths 
from 80 to 90ft. l.w.l., some like Bona, Meteor and the 
two boats designed under the girth rule and others, Co- 
lumbia, Shamrock, and Valkyrie III. under the Sea- 
wanhaka rule, while they would necessarily have to race 
under the girth rule with its time scale favoring the 
smaller boats. In consti-uction they may be classed as of 
two or three grades, the very lightest, as in Columbia and 
Shamrock, the racing composite as in Valkyrie III., and 
a i-ather heavier grade of composite construction not in- 
tended for the Cup matches. 
The continued racing of such a fleet through the season 
could not fail to be of extraordinary interest from a sport- 
ing point of view; but only an intimate knowledge of 
all the boats and a close study of the racing records 
would enable one to estimate the value of the design and 
construction. 
If it is possible to keep alive the racing in the largest 
class on a basis of purely sporting, as compared with 
techpical interest, then the present condition of affairs is 
all right; but recent experience all goes to prove that the 
one essential principle of continued racing is that all the 
yachts shall be built to the top of a fixed class, either 
one-design or under a general rule. The best sport to- 
day is not in the largest classes, where between Vigilant, 
Navahoe and Defender, or Colonia, Amorita and Qui- 
setta, prizes go begging for lack of entries ; but in classes 
such as the special 30-footers, the Boston knockabouts 
and the 15 and 20 footers, in which a large number of 
small yachts, all designed and built under fixed and definite 
conditions, are raced on even terms without allowance. 
If the 90ft. class or anything near to it is to have other 
than a desultory and haphazard existence, lying dormant 
for three or four years and then revived spasmodically, it 
is absolutely essential that some action shall be taken by 
both nations toward the establishment of an international 
class, with a fixed maximum limit and under one fixed 
rule of measurement. What the class limit and the rule 
shall be, 90ft. l.w.l. or looft. racing measurement, by the 
Seawanhaka or some other rule, and with or without 
scantling restrictions, is a secondary matter; the great 
point is that the present haphazard Way of leaving all to 
chance or the whim of challenger or defender must give 
place to modern racing methods as developed, perfected 
and successfully tested in many smaller classes. 
Even if it were possible to-day, as it was twenty years 
ago, to maintain the interest in the racing of a fleet of , 
mixed rigs, sizes and build, we doubt whether the modern 
yachtsman would accept the result as entirely satisfac- 
tory. Even the average racing man with no pretensions 
to special skill as a designer or naval architect, is in- 
terested in the serious problems of designing; he is no 
longer satisfied to know that some one yacht wins from 
others of various measurements, but he wants to know 
just how the winner differs from other boats of the same 
measurement. This is shown very plainly in the deep in- 
terest displayed by yachtsmen generally in the points of. 
design of Minerva, as compared with the American 40- 
footers, of Kathleen, Saracen and Harbinger at the same 
date, of Gloriana and the Burgess 46-footers in 1892, of 
Spruce and the American 15-footers in 1895, and later 
in the American and Canadian yachts of the 20ft. class. 
The many inquiries which come to us after every series 
of class races show the demand for knowledge of the 
technical points of the competitors. 
The mere fact that yachting is unusually dull, even for 
midwinter, does not prove that the season of 1900 will 
. inevitably be marked by the same characteristic; but at 
the same time the immediate outlook is not promising. 
Thus far there is with one exception no news of building 
in other than the smaller classes. It seems certain that 
neither Defender nor Columbia will race in home waters 
next year, and in the two-stick class there is no new op- 
ponent in sight for Colonia. There will probably be 
about the usual amount of schooner racing, in which a 
dozen boats of various sizes will take part: nothing 
specially instructive or exciting except to the immediate 
participants. There will be one new single-stick class, 
the exception above noted, probably about half a dozen 
yachts, keel cutters of one design, of 65ft. l.w.l., designed 
and built at Bristol. The class is in its leading features 
a larger edition of the special 30ft. class, owned by the 
same yachtsmen, one-design yachts, built by the Herres- 
hoffs, to be stationed at Newport and raced in Newport 
waters. Like the .30ft. class, it promises to be a success 
as far as it goes, affording unlimited sport for residents of 
Newport; but it is as yet uncertain whether its influence 
will be more than local. The yachts themselves, from all 
accounts, will be of a wholesome type, arid the class may 
in the end lead to a permanent revival of an open class 
equivalent to the old 70- footers. 
Thus far no challenge has been issued for the new 
Eastern Y. C. cup for the 51ft. class, but the prospect 
thus opened of permanent racing under limitations in- 
tended to secure a good type of yacht may induce some 
building in the class, such as is greatly needed. 
The dates of challenge for all the international cups 
having expired, it is now practically certain that there 
will be no match in igoo for the America Cup, and none 
for the Canada cup. The contest for the Seawanhaka cup 
will, for the first time, be a purely fresh-water event, the 
challenger hailing from a lake in Minnesota, while the 
holder has its station on the St. Lawrence River. The 
arrangements for this match have been completed and 
designing and building are now in order on both sides. 
The new conditions of the race not only bar the existing 
type of 20ft. racing machine, but open a possibility of use- 
ful experiment both in designing and in measurement 
legislation. The problem is in a general way to put the 
fastest hull of a given construction under a sail plan 
limited to 500 sq. ft., the waterline being left un- 
restricted. 
Catboat and Knockabout. 
The great popularity of the knockabout bids fair to put 
the time-honored catboat in the shade of nautical wall 
flowers. The new type, like the old, is designed with a 
view of getting a big little boat. The new boat is much 
easier to Handle, its short rig and long ends making it an 
easier matter to get at the sails in times when reefs are 
needed. 
In the catboat it was necessary to climb out several feet 
aft of her tatfrail to make everything snug, while on the 
new boat all sails can be reached from the deck. For 
afternoon sailing the small knockabotit is unexcelled. 
Any one who has steered a good healthy catboat with a 
tiller in a breeze will testify to the amount of muscle re- 
quired to keep her on her course. Of course, a small jib 
helps matters some, but generally the helmsman returns 
home with a tired pair of arms. In the modern knock- 
about this difficulty is not met with. The boats are per- 
fectly balanced and are sensitive to the least touch of the 
tiller. 
In the matter of comfort as cruisers, in regard to the 
amount of room below decks, the new boat is not to be 
compared with her older sister. There is much more boat 
in the old type than in the new. No one would attempt to 
make the assertion that any of the modern raceabouts or 
knockabouts has the same amount of room and cruising 
comfort as either Arab IIII. or the Harriet, with the 
same waterline measurement. 
Only a few years ago the amateur j^achtsman's ideal of 
a handy cruising boat was the catboat. Now he is saving 
up his spare pennies to purchase a knockabout. But with 
all these changes in type, the cat will always hold the 
respect of the cruising yachtsman. Many there are now 
who would not exchange their catboat for a knockabout 
under almost any conditions. 
The catboat, although not so popular now as the knock- 
about, will not become obsolete for a good many years 
to come. Boats like Quisset, Harbinger, Good Luck, 
Awilda, Ideal, Wa Wa, Wapiti and others may perhaps be 
seen in fair condition when their more modern sisters are 
consigned to kindling wood. 
The above, from the Boston Globe, is of interest as 
marking a very important change in the passing of the 
catboat, once the national type of small yacht. The 
Globe's comparison of points is correct, as far as it goes, 
but it by no means covers the question to say that the 
catboat is more rocmy than the knockabout of the same 
waterline length. It needs no mathematical demonstration 
to prove that Avith two boxes of the same length and depth, 
if one be 12ft. wide and the other but 7ft., the former will be 
much the larger in cubic contents; further, that if the 
former be joined to a third box, representing the cabin 
house of the catboat, the net sum of the two will be 
still larger than the 7ft. wide box. 
Not many years ago eight out of ten yachtsmen would 
have considered it perfectly fair to compare the knock- 
about, with her 32it. of over all length, on eqtial terms 
with a square-ended catboat of the same over all length; 
of course, to the detriment of the former. At a more 
recent date the comparison by waterline lengths, instead 
of over all lengths, would have been accepted as fair. 
At the present time it is generally recognized that no 
single dimension is a fair basis of comparison between 
vessels of different types ; and that something approaching 
a cubic standard must be employed. It is pretty generally 
understood to-day that the knockabout, in spite of her 
overhangs, is really a much smaller boat in every way than 
the wide catboat surmounted by a high cabin house. 
A close comparison of the 21ft. l.w.l. catboat with the 
knockabout would be diificult to make, and i'S unneces- 
sary ; the^ main points, as intimated by the Globe, arc 
that the catboat gave a large amount of room in certain 
directions, associated with many serious defects as a 
vessel ; the knockabout, almost a perfect vessel, gives a 
limited amount of room, but more equally divided between 
the three factors of length, breadth and depth. The cat- 
boat would carry a very large party for her length; the 
knockabout will not carry a third of the number, but still 
will give a very good arrangement for her small crew. 
Taken on her individual merits, the knockabout is an 
admirable type, one of the best ever known to yachting; 
but the best point about her is that, entirely apart from 
her personal characteristics, she has taught a great lesson 
in designing and opened the way to a general improve- 
ment in larger yachts of both keel and centerboard types. 
Her perfect form, attractive to the eye in its symmetrical 
proportions, and the general excellence of her design in its 
lines and the balance of centers have brought home to 
yachtsmen some practical lessons in designing that are of 
incalculable value. 
Mr. Chas. E. Archbald is looking for more fields to 
conquer. After winning the A. C. A. trophy for several 
years, he is thinking of going to England next summer 
to challenge for the Royal Canoe Club cup, and is now 
corresponding re conditions, etc. As Mab and her skipper 
make undoubtedly the fastest eanoe outfit afloat in Amer- 
ica, a race with the fastest English eanoe Wotild make a 
very intC'resting event for 1900. 
American Canoe Association^ J599-J900. 
Commodore, W. G. MacKendrick, 200 Eastern avenue, Toronto, 
Can. 
Secretary-Treasurer, Herbert Begg, 24 King street, Toronto, Can. 
Librarian. W. P. Stephens, Thirty-second street »nd avenue A, 
Bayonne, N. J. 
Division Officers. 
ATLANTIC DIVISION. 
Vice-Corn., H. C. Allen, Trenton, N. J. 
Rear-Com., Lewis H. May, New York. 
Purser, Arthur H. Wood, Trenton, N. J. 
CENTRAL DIVISION. 
Vice-Corn.. John S. Wright, Rochester, N. Y. 
Rear-Com., Jesse J. Armstrong, Rome, N. y. 
Purser, C. Fred Wolters, 14 East Main street, Rochester, N. Y. 
EASTERN DIVISION, 
Vice-Com., Frank A. Smith Worcester, Mass. 
Rear-Com., Louis A. Hall, Boston, Mass. 
Purser, Frederick Coulson, 405 Main street, Worcester, Mass. 
NORTHERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Com., J. McD. Mowatt, Kingston, Ont., Can. 
Rear-Com., E. C. Woolsey, Ottawa, Ont., Can. 
Purser. J. E. Cunningham, Kingston, Ont., Can. 
WESTERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Com., W^m. C. Jupp. Detroit, Mich, 
Rear-Com.. F. B Huntington. Milwaukee. Wis. 
Purser, Fred T. Barcroft, 40S Ferguson Building, Detroit, Mich. 
Regatta Committee: R. Easton Burns, Kingston, Ont., Can., 
chairman; Herbert Begg, Toronto; D. B, Goodsell, Yonkers, N. Y. 
Meet of 1900, Muskoka Lake Aug. 3-17. 
Official organ. Forest and Stream. 
Fixtures. 
January. 
12. Brooklyn C. C. dinner. New York. 
March, 
10. Meeting of Canoeists at Sportsmen's Show, New Yorfc. 
May. 
2(5-31. Atlantic Division meet. Park Island. 
August. 
3-17. A. C. A. meet, Muskoka. 
Forest and Stream and Canoeing. 
Announcement* 
To meet the wishes of its canoeing readers, as ex- 
pressed through the officers of the American Canoe As- 
sociation, the Forest and Stream will with the new 
year inaugurate an important change in its Canoeing De- 
partment. Beginning with the issue of Jan. 6, 1900, the 
first number of each month will be a special coneing 
number, extra space being devoted to the Canoeing De- 
partment. It is proposed to publish whatever may be 
available in the line of canoeing news; the official an- 
nouncements and programmes of the American Canoe 
Association, the usual complete reports of the A. C. A. 
camps and business meetings, designs of cailoes and 
camping appliances, canoe cruises and current discussion 
of canoeing matters. 
It is hoped that the Forest and Stream may become, 
as it was in the most prosperous daj's of the Association, 
the common bond between the Association and its mem- 
bers, as well as between the members individually. In 
order that the plan may result in the greatest possible 
benefit to all, it is essential that it shall receive the general 
support of canoeists, both as Subscribers and contributors. 
An experience of twenty years has demonstrated sev- 
eral- important points in connection with the publication 
of canoeing itews. In the fir.st place, a live and reliable 
canoeing journal is essential to the success of the sport, 
as a means of communication between its followers, who 
are naturally widely scattered and have limited oppor- 
tunities for personal intercourse. 
W6 call the attention of all canoeists to the fact that 
the Canoeing Department of the Forest and Stream is 
open to them for the free expression of their opinions 
and ideas, for the discussion of all A. C. A. business, for 
requests for information as to cruising waters, canoes and 
appliances, and all technical points of immediate interest 
to themselves. On the other hand, we ask that they Will 
favor us with canoeing news from their various localities, 
and that they will give such information as they may have 
in answer to the inquiries of others. 
In the issue of the Forest and Stream for Jan. i, 
1880, was published the call to canoeists which we reprint 
this week, them just sent out by Mr. Bishop. In looking 
back twenty years, the organizers of the American Canoe 
Association have good reason to be proud of the work 
then begun. Thou.gh the sport was then almost in its 
infancy in this country and its followers were compara- 
tively few and widely scattered, a national organization 
of a permanent character was formed, tmiform meas- 
urement and racing rules were framed and adopted by 
the Association and by all American canoe clubs, and 
canoeing was placed before the public as a recognized 
sport and not a mere passing fad of a few misanthropic 
lunatics, as some were then inclined to consider it. Like 
other sports, canoeing has had alternate periods of activ- 
ity and depression, the competition of the bicycle, of 
tennis and later of golf at times hurting it. Like yachting 
it is at the present time suffering from the over-devel- 
opment of the racing machine, and as in yachting, no 
satisfactory remedy for this has yet been put into effect. 
On the whole, however, the sport has reached its tw;enty- 
first year with a strength and vitality which promises a 
permanent future for it. 
It is interesting to note that in the issue of Jan- i 1880, 
with the call to canoeists was published an editorial 
article on the thert proposed national association of 
yachtsmen, one of the many attempts made in the past. 
