332 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[[Afrii. 22^ igot. 
test the capabilities of each in a much more satisfactory 
manner. The fact that Mr. Ashbury was building a new 
vessel created no alarm in this country. There was a 
quiet confidence in the capabilities of our yachts to hold 
their own against all the other side could produce. 
Considerable discussion arose over the terms and con- 
ditions of the new match. Mr. Ashbury advanced the 
rather startling proposition that as he was a member of 
twelve clubs in England he should be given twelve differ- 
ent races on as many days, and if Livonia were fortu- 
nate enough to win one of them, the match should cease 
at that point and the Cup be awarded to him as the win- 
ner of a race for whichever club he happened to be repre- 
senting on that particular day. 
The New York Y. C. would not agree to any such 
proposition as this, and for a time it looked as though the 
whole match would fall through. 
Finally Mr. Ashbury agreed to a series of seven races, 
the winner of four to take the Cup. 
The American schooner yacht Columbia was chosen to 
defend, and the first race was set for Oct. i6, 1871. The 
start was from the quarantine anchorage in the lower 
-harbor to and around Sandy Hook Lightship and return. 
Columbia took the lead at the start and Livonia never 
had a ghost of a show to win, Columbia taking the race by 
a margin of over twenty-five minutes. 
The second race was from the Lightship twenty miles 
to leeward and return. The wind was strong, and in the 
run out to the mark Livonia led and turned first. Colum- 
bia picked her up in a beat home and won by ten minutes 
and thirty-three seconds. 
The third race was sailed in a strong southwest wind. 
Columbia lost three minutes at the start, and at the South- 
west Spit she carried away her flying jib stay. Later in 
the race she also carried away her steering gear, and 
Livonia won the race by fifteen minutes and ten seconds. 
This was the only instance since the Cup racing began 
where an English challenger won a heat. 
For the fourth race Sappho was substituted for the 
disabled Columbia. The race was outside, similar to the 
second. The wind was strong and dead ahead. Sappho 
beat Livonia twenty-seven minutes and thirty-five seconds 
in the thresh out, added about three minutes more to her 
score on the run home, winning the race by thirty min- 
utes and twenty-one seconds. 
The fifth and deciding race was sailed on Oct. 23, and 
was a repetition of the preceding. Sappho took the lead 
early in the day and won as she pleased by twenty-five 
minutes and twentj^-seven seconds. 
Mr. Ashbury did not admit that he was defeated, and 
asked for a continuation of the match. This the com- 
mittee would not agree to, as they had decided that the 
Cup had been saved by the American boats. Mr. Ash- 
bury made a private match with Dauntless for the_ next 
day after the last race and was beaten by ten minutes 
and thirty-one seconds. 
Thus ended the second attempt to take back the Cup. 
Just about this time there was designed in England a 
yacht that in the light of future years should be men- 
tioned. This was the yawl Jullanar. 
Jullanar was one of the largest yawls ever constructed, 
her over all length being iioft. 6in., beam i6ft. lOin., depth 
of hold 12ft., draft forward ift. 6in.. aft 13ft. 6in. She 
was very fast and defeated many of the schooners that 
carried double her canvas. The lines of thi3 vessel bear 
a close resemblance in many respects to those made 
famous by Fife in Minerva, and Herreshofif in Gloriana, 
many years afterward. 
She was designed and built by E. H. Bentall in 1875. 
Mr. Bentall has become noted as the original designer of 
the fin-keeler. or what I may call the "fixed keel." That 
is, a keel built down to a considerable distance below the 
boat, and then having a large piece of lead bolted to the 
bottom and constituting the ballast of the boat. 
This craft he called Evolution, and though she was 
not a success, still the idea was a sound one. and one 
that is to-day the recognized method of building fast 
boats. 
The Thkd Challenge fof the America Cap. 
The next notable event was the third challenge for the 
America Cup. This time it came from Canada, and the 
Roval Canadian Y. C. forwarded it. The challenge was 
on behalf of the schooner yacht Countess of Dufferin. 
Countess of Dufferin was owned, so it was stated, by a 
syndicate of club members, of which the controlling spirit 
was that sterling yachtsman, Charles Gilford, Vice-Com- 
modore of the club, and was designed and built by Mr. 
Alexander Cuthbert, of Ontario. 
The New York Y, C. accepted the challenge and named 
the schooner yacht Madeleine as the defender. 
The rules were now definitely changed, and one de- 
fender in case to be matched against the challenger. Made- 
leine was io6ft. over all, 95ft. waterline and 24ft. beam. 
The Canadian- boat was 107ft. over all, 24ft. beam and 
94ft. waterline. They were practically of the same size. 
The contest was to be decided in three races, the win- 
ner of two to take the Cup. The first race was sailed on 
Aug. II, and Madeleine won easily by ten minutes and 
fifty-nine seconds. 
The second and deciding race was sailed the next day 
over tlie outside course, starting from Sandy Hook, twen- 
ty miles to windward and return. Gen. Benjamin F. But- 
ler, owner of America, asked the Regatta Conjmittee to 
take her time, as he desired to see what chance she 
would have against the new Canadian boat. This was 
accordingly done. The wind was light and the yachts 
made slow progress to the outer mark, which they finally 
turned in the following order : Madeleine at 5 :or :S2 ; 
'America at 5104:53, and Coimtess of Dufferein at 5:13:41. 
Madeleine thus beat the Canadian eleven minutes and forty- 
eight seconds. In the run home both Madeleine and Amer- 
ica constantly increased their lead, Madeleine finishing a 
winner twenty-seven minutes and fourteen seconds ahead 
of the Canadian, and America nineteen minutes and nine 
seconds to the good, thus proving that although twenty- 
five years old. America was still a much faster vessel than 
any of. the three challengers yet brought to contest for 
the Cup, and that had the entire defense been left to her 
she could easily have held it alone for oyer a quarter of a 
centtirj^ Surely a Avonderful record, 
After the defeat of Countess of Dufferin yachting was 
rather quiet in this country. The only distinctive thi^ig 
probably the most vicious tj^e of boat that the mind of 
the sailor man ever evolved, and which was a direct out- 
growth of the centerboard. That was the sandbagger. 
The sandbagger was a wide, shallow, square stern boat, 
usually with very little freeboard or height of side. Her 
beam was generally about half her length. Rival was one 
of the crack boats of this class in Bridgeport waters a 
dozen years ago. She carried an enormous rig, being 
fairly smothered in canvas. It was no uncommon thing 
to see one of these boats 21ft. long staggering under a 
sail plan that was over 60ft. from the forward to after 
point — a sail plan three times the length of the boat. 
The only way she could be kept afloat was by piling an 
enormous weight on the weather rail. This, of course, 
had to be shifted every time the boat went about. They 
were allowed to carry one man for every 3ft. of racing 
length, which was the waterline, in addition to the steers- 
man. A 2ift. boat thus carried eight men. In addition 
to this, each man was provided with as many sacks of 
sand as he could possibly handle. Whenever the boat 
went about it was the business of the "ballast lubbers" to 
get themselves and their sandbags over to the weather 
side as quickly as was necessary to keep the cockle shell 
right side up, which in some cases was "instanter." Hap- 
pily, this type has gone away never to return. 
The next event which attracted attention in nautical 
matters was the fourth challenge for the America Cup. 
This, like the preceding, came from the Canadian Yacht 
Club. This time, however, they decided to try their for- 
times with a sloop instead of a schooner, and accordingly 
named the sloop Atalanta as the challenger. She was the 
smallest vessel that has ever sailed for the Cup, being but 
64ft. on the waterline. The challenge was sent and 
accepted in the spring of 1881. 
This year also marked a new departure in choosing a 
defending vessel. The New York Y. C. decided to hold 
a series of trial races, to select the American representa- 
tive. Four sloops entered these trials — Gracie, Hildegard, 
Mischief and Pocahontas. After the series had been 
sailed the committee decided that Mischief should be 
chosen as the defender of the Cup. 
The first race was sailed over the inside course of the 
New York Y. C, from Staten Island to Sandy Hook 
Lightship and return. It was hardly to be called a race, 
being little more than a farce. The Canadian sloop was 
beaten by over forty-five minutes. 
The second race was sailed the next day over the out- 
side course, and was simply a repetition of the preceding 
day, the Canadian being again beaten by about forty 
minutes. 
Capt. Cuthbert, designer of Atalanta, announced that 
it was his intention to alter the sloop and try again. It 
was this determination that caused the New York Y. C. 
to alter the deed of gift of the Cup. It was returned to 
Mr. George L. Schuyler, the only surviving member of 
the syndicate of gentlemen that had owned and sailed 
America when it was won. 
Mr. Schuyler again presented the Cup to the club with a 
new deed of gift that contained a number of important 
changes. Among these was the provision that a defeated 
vessel could not again challenge until a race with some 
other vessel had intervened. Another was that chal- 
lenges could only be received from yacht clubs holding 
their races and having an ocean waterway for their 
course. 
These two provisions of course barred out our enter- 
prising neighbors, and they have challenged no more. 
The Success of the English Cutter Madge. 
The year following, 1882, saw the advent of the Scotch 
cutter Madge in our waters. She was from the design of 
Mr. George L. Watson,, the designer of a number of fast 
vessels then in English waters. Madge was something 
new in these waters. She was the first of the famous 
"plank-on-edge" type of fast English cutters to visit us. 
Madge sailed in eight races in 1882. Six of these she 
won against all competitors, the seventh was a sail over 
and the eighth she lost to Herreshoff sloop Shadow. In 
all her races her victories were complete. She demon- 
strated beyond question that she was a great advance on 
anything of her size tliat we then had. 
Madge was 47ft. over all, 38ft. 6in. on the -waterline, 
7ft. gin. beam and a draft of 8ft. 3in. She carried 10 tons 
of outside lead bolted on her keel. 
There is little doubt that if the English had sent over 
a cutter of this type of Madge at this time they would 
have carried off the Cup, But they waited till 1885, and 
by that time we were ready for them. The lessons of 
Madge had been learned. 
The next great event in yachting matters was the fifth 
challenge for the America Cup. This was received in 
1885. The challenger was Sir Richard Sutton, the chal- 
lenging vessel Genesta, and the challenge came through 
the Royal Yacht Squadcon. At the same time it was 
received the New York Y. C. was informed by Mr. J. 
Beaver Webb, the designer of Genesta, that Lieut. Hcnn, 
owner of Galatea, another of Mr. Webb's designs, in- 
tended, in the event of the failure of Genesta, to chal- 
lenge the following year. 
The ease with which Genesta had defeated the two 
crack English cutters, Marjorie and Vanduara, both of 
which had been mentioned as possible challengers, opened 
the eyes of the Americans to the situation and warned 
them that if the Cup was to be retained on this side 
it would be necessary to meet Genesta with something 
better than anything then afloat in our waters. 
Accordingly, two syndicates were formed — one in Bos- 
ton and one in New York. The Boston syndicate com- 
missioned Edward Burgess to design for them a yacht 
that would uphold the honor of America afloat in a 
creditable manner. Mr, Burgess turned out Puritan. She 
'was the largest single-stick yacht ever built in this coun- 
try — at least since the days of Maria, and in some ways 
she was a larger yacht than Maria. Mr. Burgess un- 
doubtedly had the lesson of Madge well in mind, and 
while retaining the centerboard, he made a radical depar- 
ture from the then accepted American tj'pe of boat, Puri- 
tan had about 8ft. draft, was provided with about 50 
tons of outside lead ballast and was of good form in her 
midship section. Taken all in all, she was a wholesome 
find creditable design. 
The New York syndicate commisidned Ai Cary Smith 
to design Priscilla. Mr. Smith was then a welUknown 
designer in New York, and it is to hi§ geni«§,wain- 
ly, that the old-fashioned manner of whittling out a block 
of wood until it looked "good," and building a vessel 
from it, was abandoned. He held that the proper way to 
work out the elements of a boat's design was upon the 
drawing board in the same manner that architectural and 
engineering problems are solved. He demonstrated this 
theory in the design of Vindex, built for Mr. Robert 
Center in 1870. From the fact that no model was made, 
she was known as the "paper" boat. She was a very suc- 
cessful boat, however, and the new theory took root, and 
it was not lorig before there was an army of yacht de- 
signers following the same lines. 
The trial races between Puritan and Priscilla were very 
interesting. Puritan was chosen as the defender by the 
Cup committee, as she demonstrated her superiority 
unmistakably. 
The date of the first race was set for Sept. 7. The race 
was to be twenty miles to windward or leeward. The 
weather was unfavorable, the wind being very light. After 
ionr or five hours of drifting the race was called off on 
accoimt of lack of wind. This was the first time that this 
had happened in the contests for the Cup. Puritan had 
a little the better of the argument in the very light 
wind that prevailed. 
The second attempt was made on Sept. 8. In jockeying 
about for position this day Puritan fouled Genesta and 
was ruled out by the committee. Sir Richard Sutton 
was informed that he could sail over the course and take 
the race. True sportsman that he was, however, he re- 
plied that he had come over for a contest and did not 
seek to win races in that manner. Of course, the com- 
mittee and all concerned were much pleased at this 
decision. 
Both yachts were duly repaired, and on the iith they 
met again for the ocean race. Puritan obtained the best 
of the start and crossed the line at 11:35:41, and Genesta 
crossed at 11 :35 :48. 
The Englishman seemed to gain rapidly at the start, 
and it was but a little while until he tacked across Puri- 
tan's bow and planted himself on her weather quarter. 
The hearts of the attendant patriots went down into 
their boots, as patriots' hearts are wont to do with little 
provocation sometimes. The talent on Puritan, however, 
still had a tiling or two up their sleeves. Giving the 
Boston sloop a good full, they quickly drove her through 
the lee of the challenger. She continued to gain, and in a 
short time had reversed the conditions. The wind now 
began to show signs of dropping out, and it soon became 
evident that they were doomed to another failure. "The 
race was finally called off at 5 o'clock for lack of wind. 
The third trial was made on Sept. 14, over the New 
York Y. C. course. Puritan got the better of the start, 
which was made after considerable jockeying for posi- 
tion. The wind was light, and it was a beat out to the 
lightship, The breeze freshened considerably before the 
yachts reached the turning point, and a good scupper 
wind was blowing when they finally turned. Puritan 
beat Genesta about four minutes on the beat out, and in 
the freshening wind increased this to sixteen minutes 
and thirty-five seconds on the run home. Genesta was 
beaten by nearly a mile. And so the first race was won. 
The next and decisive trial was made on Sept. 16, and the 
finest contest that has marked the annals of the Cup racing 
was the result. The wind was strong, and the course was 
twenty miles down wind and return. The yachts made 
splendid time to the outer mark, but Genesta proved a 
little better than the American in the running, and turned 
fully an eighth of a mile ahead of her. They then hauled 
their sheets flat along for the long thresh of twenty miles 
to windward, the real fight of the day. Here the excel- 
lent lines and perfect balance of Puritan began to tell. 
Slowly but surely she overhauled the flying Englishman, 
working to windward of her all the time. The wind was 
constantly increasing in force, and both vessels were stag- 
gering in a smother of foam. At five minutes after three 
the two yachts were beam and beam just off Long 
Beach, and it was still anybody's race, Puritan had a 
little the better of it, as she had the weather berth. The 
finish of the race was a most exciting one. Puritan had 
overstood the mark somewhat and was obliged to ease 
sheets to make it, Down she came rap full. The water 
flew from her forefoot like the spray from the cut- 
water of a steamboat. They were now converging rapidly 
with the mark in plain sight ahead, and the entire fleet 
of excursion boats and yachts gathered around it. Who 
would cross first? This was the question on every lip. 
The Englishman was coming straight for the line with 
the speed of a torpedo boat. Just on his weather beam 
was Puritan, coming a little faster. Now they were but 
half a mile away from the finish. It was clearly seen that 
Puritan was ahead, but was the margin sufficient to give 
Genesta her half-minute time allowance? In a smother 
of foam the Boston sloop swept across the finish, and 
just two minutes and nine seconds later Genesta fol- 
lowed. Puritan thus won by the narrow margin of one 
minute and thirty-eight seconds corrected time. Truly a 
close finish for a forty-mile race. 
There is hardly a doubt that Genesta would have taken 
the Cup back to England had the genius of Mr. Burgess 
not given tis Puritan, It is hardly possible that Priscilla 
could have stopped her. 
Sir Richard Sutton was a most chivalrous enemy, and 
his visit will long be remembered by all yachtsmen in 
this country. This match was the first that aroused the 
real enthusiasm over the Cup races and started us in on 
that remarkable series of victories of which the end is 
not yet. 
Genesta Wins the Cape May and Brenton's Reef Cops. 
Before leaving for England Genesta challenged for and 
won both Cape" May and Brenton's Reef cups. Puritan 
did not start in these races. 
During the ten years that had just elapsed yacht racing 
had received quite art impetus in this country, especially 
in the smaller classes. The Larchmont and Seawanhaka 
clubs had been organized and devoted their attention 
principally to this form of the sport.- 
Yacht designers began to multiply. Up to and about 
this period there could hardly be said to be a profes- 
sional designer in the country. A few gave it some atten- 
tion as a side issue, but the usual method was still to 
whittle out a block of wood and build a vessel as near 
like thi§ possible. Of course this hit or miss plan 
