A QUIET CORNER — HAY ISLAND. 
Photo by Dr. Uphatn, 
The Revival of Canoeing in England 
Probably canoe sailing in England, at any rate under 
the Royal C. C. burgee, has never been in such a flourish- 
ing condition as it is at present. This is almost entirely 
due to the formation of the present R. C. C. cruising 
canoe class, on lines suggested by Mr. Bad en- Powell, and 
adopted by the club in 1896. 
In i8q5 only four canoes were at the challenge cup 
meet at Greenhithe, and they were decidedly a scratch 
1. 
THE TORONTO WAR CANOE ON THE WAY TO THE START. 
Pboto by M. D. Wilt. 
lot, only one being in any way an up-to-date boat, and 
she usually was unable to finish, owing to too frequent 
capsizes. The others were all sharpies, one, a really fast 
boat off the wind, was in such bad repair that she could 
hardly be kept afloat; another was an amateur's maiden 
effort' at both designing and sailing on open water, while 
the third, Mr. C.^'C. Lynam's Viper I., by no means a 
racing machine, won the cup simply because none of the 
others could complete the course in such bad weather. 
She was splendidly handled, and well deserved the cup, 
as it was by no means canoe weather. 
The following year saw the first boats built to the new 
.class, and they were then, except in very light airs, quite 
■unable to compete with the sliding-seat division. These 
hoats were Solitaire, Mr. A. E. Wale, designed by the 
owner, and Vanessa, Mr. B. de Q. Quincy, designed by 
me. Both boats distinguished themselve.s cliiefly by cap- 
sizing in anything like a sailing breeze, though Vanessa, 
after sundry alterations to plate and gear, turned out a 
verv fair heavy weather boat. 
The challenge cup was won by Mr. W. Willard How- 
ard, of New York C. C. in Yankee, a straight-keeled, 
ketch-rigged, sliding-seat canoe. She was a perfect 
demon to reach, but did not like short boards to wind- 
ward, taking an enormous time in stays, owing to her 
want of rocker. 
'^wo new machines came out in 1897 — Flotsam, Mr. 
Guy Ellington, designed by the owner, and winner of 
the cup. and Jetsamr a round-bottomed canoe, designed 
by me for Mr. R. F. Lawson. Flotsani was a splendid 
hard weather boat, with a low ketch rig, and was prob- 
ably the fastest reacher (if she got wind enough) ever 
built in this country. 
That autumn I sailed Vanessa once or twice, and 
fancied she might be tuned up; so I bought her and 
put in a heavier plate, lighter gear and a new suit of 
sails. This made quite a different boat of her. and I won 
all the hard-weather races in the spring of 1898, till I 
sold her. I renamed her Bubble, and she has done 
fairly well ever since in several dift'erent owners' hands. 
Rani IT., a very smart sliding-seat canoe, designed by 
the owner, Mr. J. Paine Clark, and his first attempt at a 
design, was undoubtedly the best canoe in 1898. She 
was a beautiful model, with a fairly hard bilge and lots 
of rocker. She had three rigs — Gunter lug sloop, single 
balance lug and ketch with !eg-o'-mutton sails. She did 
best with the sloop rig, as long as the wind was not too 
strong for the owner to work so much gear and jib 
sheets; but in really hard windsj especially in narrow 
waters, or ouffv winds, she was too much of a handful 
under this Vig 'and had to be sailed either as a smgle 
lug. if on the liver. or a ketch, in open waters. 
She won both the challenge cup and also the cup for 
the best average during the year up to the summer meet. 
Slie was sold just after the meet to Mr. O. F. Gason, who 
took her to Ireland and did equally well agamst the i- 
raters there." 
Five or six new boats were built to the cruiser class 
in 1898, the best of which was the new Vanessa, practi- 
allv a slightly modified 1896 Vanessa, with a heavier plate 
than the original design, and not quite such a round bot- 
tom. Porpoise, an extreme rule-cheater, designed by 
me for Mr. Stanley Young (then a novice), came out 
too late to do any good, only arriving at the meet just 
before the challenge cup races. She was a very tricky 
boat to get speed out of, but has shown great speed at 
times, both in light and hard winds. Among the others 
were tbe new Nautilus, designed and owned by Mr. 
Baden-Powell, a powerful hard-weather boat, with a 
heavy lifting bult, and Viper II., a modified sharpie, de- 
signed for Mr. C. C. Lynam by H. C. Smith. She is the 
only sharpie so far in the class, and though she can 
reach fast in haid winds has done no good as a prize 
winner. 
A new sliding-seat canoe was Mr. G. W. Laws' Prucas 
IV.. also a .semi-sharpie, and like Viper IT., a fast reacher 
in a blow, but no good to windward. 
The cruiser class now began to attract a good deal of 
attention, and canoeists became more and more sick of 
the acrobatic business, especially when they saw what 
fine little .ships the new boats were for general sailing, 
and at the same time quite able to beat the machine, 
except in certain weather.s. 
Chie.Ry owing to the light construction of Porpoise 
and her rule-cheating, it was now decided to slightly 
alter the cruiser class rules and add a scantling limit, 
though even Porpoise, a perfect egg-shell, built solely 
for racing, proved herself a very able sea boat, and was 
used by her owner on the Welsh coast to learn sailing 
on the open sea, The rule was fixed for a term of years, 
and a lot of new men decided to build, besides some of 
the owners of the existing boats who sold to new men, 
and built up to the altered rule, which now gave another 
foot of over all length. 
The new boats were Nautilus, designed and owned as 
before by Mr. Baden-Powell, a bulb boat; Vanessa, de- 
signed by me for Mr. B. de Q, Quincy, and though not 
very successful up river, she won the challenge cup at 
Bembridge very easily. Slaney, Mr. A. H. Cooper; Eft, 
the late Mr. W. H. May, and now in my possession, and 
Gadfly, Mr. Hemingway, all designed by me. The 
latter boat was not out till after the challenge cup races, 
and is almost a sister ship to Eft. A new sliding-seat 
boat was built for Mr. Farrar to his own design, and 
though only raced once or twice seemed a fast boat in a 
dead crawl. „ 
Turk designed and built two bulb boats, Rambler, Mr. 
Cox, and Bowstring, Mr. Hastie, but neither boat has 
THE WAR CANOE RACE — HAY ISLAND. 
Photo by John S. Wright. 
done any good so far, chiefly through want of tuning up 
and good sails and gear. 
Snapper, formerly the 1898 Vanessa, and now owned 
by Mr. Ellington (probably our best canoe sailor) made 
far the best record of the year, starting 39 tirnes and 
winning 36 prizes. She was almost invincible in light 
winds on the Upper Thames, and always in the first 
flight in a breeze, both up river and also in open water. 
Rani, now Nana, still did very well in the hands of 
her owner, Mr. Gason, but only in whole sail breezes, 
as Snapper usually beat her in light winds, and Eft beat 
her in a blow. The old Dragon, now owned by Mr. 
Walter Stewart, an expert sliding-seat man, came out in 
the early spring races renamed Flutter, and won several 
times, and the old 30in. beam Stella, also did well once 
or twice: but there were very few of the new boats out 
against them. Practically. Snapper, Nana and Eft won 
the bulk of the races during the year, Eft being a certain 
• _^ 
winner in hard winds, especially in a shott Sea in open 
Water. 
The present year promises to be even better than 1899, 
as there are not less than five boats building for the 
new class, and one of the best proofs of its popularity 
is that Mr. Gason, in spite of his success with Nana, has 
just built a new Nana for the cruising class, and so far 
there is no sign of any one building to the machine 
class; This is not to be wondered at, when the cruisers 
can be used for comfortable day sailing, paddle easily 
if becalmed, have plenty of room to stow provisions and 
kit, and will comfortably carry two, and in many cases are 
sailed by ladies. In addition to these points they can 
beat the sliding-seat boat as often as she can beat them 
in ordinary weather, and in a heavy thrash to windward 
in Open water, or turning up a narrow channel, the 
sliding seat has a very poor show. 
While at Bembridge the cruising class boats used to 
make trips to various places in the Solent when not rac- 
ing, and often after a race several of them would go out 
in company (many with two aboard), and anchor outside 
the harbor for a bath, no one having any difficulty in 
getting aboard or dressing even in a bit of a jump. 
Another great pull the new .style of boat has over the 
old is that any decent boat sailor can sail one, and need 
not be an acrobat, while the boats can face any ordinary 
weather in open water in which one would care to sail a 
small boat. 
One of the most extraordinarj'^ things about these 
canoes, is, that they can hold their own (often without 
time allowance) against the unballasted Upper Thames 
raters, and on the Solent can compete with the seagoing 
raters in moderate weather. Eft saved her time against 
the Bembridge 22 linear rating class by over three min- 
utes in a class of eight or ten), among which was the Wee 
Winn, Herreshoff's crack J^-rater, still one of the fastest 
boats of her size on the Solent. 
That they can stand heavy weather was proved by the 
Whitsuntide cruise, made in a gale from Teddingtoi; 
Reach to Greenhithe, about 45 miles, the last 20 being 
in very open water on the Lower Thames below London. 
Four canoes took part in this trip — Snapper, the light 
weather crack; Porpoise, Viper II., and Eft. Not a 
single accident occurred, and none of them even parted 
a rope yarn, though it blew so hard that none of the few- 
barges under w^ay (big craft of 80 tons) could show more 
than a scrap of close-brailed mainsail and staysail. 
The accompanying sketch gives a general idea of one 
SALUTING THE COMMODORE AFTER THE WAR CANOE RACE. 
Photo by M. D. Wilt. 
of the latest boats, but the rule is elastic enough to give 
every one a chance to try experiments in design, sail 
plan or fittings, while it prevents any one boat from 
sweeping the board; in fact, though the boats vary vers 
much in both design and sail plan, they all get a 
chance to pick up some prizes during the year, and with 
such a large class, there is always excellent sport, often 
ten boats starting last season, both up river and on the 
Solent. There are now twenty-one boats built or build- 
ing for the class. Though one is in Australia and three 
of the others are not on the R. C. C. station and seldom 
take part in the races. The following is a list of the 
boats, owners, and designers; 
Designer. 
1. Bubble (Vanessa, 1896-97), A. James Linton Hope. 
2. Solitaire, A. E. Wale .....A. E. Walc. 
'3. Snapper (Vanessa, 1898), G. Ellington. .. .Adapted from Bubble. 
4. Arethusa 
5. Lyme? (Nautilus, 1897-98), Sir E. Lechmere..W. Baden-Powell. 
6. Porpoise, Stanley Young ...Linton Hope, 
7. Viper II., C. C. Lynam.... , H. C. Smith. 
8. Rambler, Horace Cox. R. J. Turk. 
9. Earwig, A. Streatfield W. Baden-Powel!. 
10. Violet (Australia), J. Cumings.. ....Linton Hop;*. 
11. Eft, Linton Hope Linton Hop;. 
12. Vanessa, B. de Q. Quincy Linton Hope 
13. Slavey, C. H. Cooper , ,, ....Linton Hope. 
14. Gadfly, C. Hemingway. .. .j. , ...Linton Hope. 
1.5. Bowstring, Hastie R. J. Turk. 
16. Nana II. (building), O. F. Gason Linton Hope, 
17. (building), W. Hodges Linton Hope. 
18. (building), H. Drew Linton Hope. 
19. Nautilus (building), W. Baden-Powell W. Baden-Powell. 
20. owner not known R. J. Turk. 
21. Nautilus (1S99), W. Baden-Powell W. Baden-Powell. 
There are only four boats left in the machine class- 
Flutter; the late Nana, now owned by Mr. Costin; 
Prucas, and Mr. Farrar's new boat Picquet, and there 
are seldom more than two of these out at once, but with 
such a class as the above list shows there should be an 
average of ten starters and often fourteen or fifteen. This, 
with some forty or fifty races given by the Royal C. C. 
should satisfy even the most inveterate growler, and no 
one can say the sport is dead. 
By the way. I noticed a slight error has been made in 
the article in The Field, wdiich was reprinted in Foresv 
AND Stream, Jan. 13. 1900. I am said to have stated that 
my canoe's new lifting bulb enabled me to save 22 per 
cent. area. This should have read sectional area. 
Linton Hope 
Conditions for the Royal C C. 
Sallfng Challenge Ccp, 1899. 
"The sailing challenge cup shall be subject tp com- 
