f^^OREST AND STREAM. . |Auo. 30, igcK?. 
HUMM A — S I -FOOTER. 
■Ovaei by Herman B. Duryea. Photo by Jaxnes Burton, New York. 
It*. 
f he White Bear ¥. §. 
Vcstern Clofc wite a Recora. 
■i , -X. 1 ■. BY. L.,i>. ORDWAY. ^ 
The Whiie Bear Y. was brg'j|.nized eleven years 
ago by a, few young, nien,. enthnsias.tic sa.ilqrs, whiose 
ambition was to deyeloR an interest in rates in tfie 
West. From this small beginning the growth has, been 
steady and strong, until to-day the organization has a 
membership of 250, a substantial and well equipped club- 
house, with no financial obligations, and is a recognized 
factor in Western yachting. 
The early boats of the club were of the skimming dish 
type, the successor of sand bagger, over-canvassed, slow 
and cumbersome; but the spirit of advancement was 
keen among the members, and very early in its history 
the club showed a positive desire for something better. 
It was fortunate in having among its members a few men 
of enthusiasm and persistence, who enjoyed the study 
of every possible improvement in design and rigging; 
winter e\cnings were given to working over '"Linton 
Hope" and any other yachting authority obtainable, and 
tills persistent effort resulted in a steady development of 
the better type. As was to be expected, most of the 
desirable ideas and many of the boats have come from 
the East, Herreshoff having built a number. But it was 
soon demonstrated that the boats designed and built 
on the local waters proved the faster under the pi'evail- 
ing conditions. In the desire to obtain faster and bet- 
ter boats, there has been an interchange of ideas, and no 
attempt at secrecy in the new work. 
The club has been fortunate in having a number of 
progressive builders of Scandinavian origin, who were 
quick to grasp new ideas in design and construction, 
and wIku started in the right direction have shown 
great skill and originality. The spirit of rivalry and a 
desire to build boats that would win, combined with 
the interchange of ideas between the different designers, 
builders and sailors, has resulted in the rapid advance- 
ment of the club. The White Bear men were the first 
to develop the pronounced scow. In 1895 and i8g6 
several fast boats of the modified scow type, were built, 
which easily defeated Eastern boats in the Inter-lake 
contest at Minnetonka and at Milwaukee on Lake Michi- 
gan. In 189;^ five pronounced scows were built which 
proved to be faster than the old type of boat. About a 
year later experiments were made with the scow in the 
East, but it was at least two years before the superiority 
ni the pronounced scow as a racing machine came to 
be appreciated on the coast. No radical improvement in 
the scow design has been made within the last few years, 
ris Yankee, built and designed in '97, is much on the 
same lines as Tecumseh, the improvement having been 
largely in construction, rigging and a better understand- 
ing of handling and sailing. 
The White Bear Y. C. has always appreciated that 
advancement required the construction of new boats each 
year. The old ones have been sold to other lakes, thus 
Stimulating- the sport in new localities, and as a conse- 
quence over one hundred and forty boats have been btlilt 
for members of this club during the past ten years, and 
thus far with some improvement each year. Desiring to 
iitimulate yachting interest throughout the countrj', this 
club has always been ready to take part in foreign re- 
gattas, and during the past eight years has sent sixteen 
hoats to various parts of the West, to Montreal and to 
Long Island Sound, covering a distance of over 12,000 
miles by tail. 
The Inland Lake Yachting Association, the largest 
{iCid most enthusiastic small boat organization in the 
country, composed of over twenty clubs from as many 
different lakes, hailing from five States, was organized 
and carried to completion by the White Bear Y. C, 
The boats of this club are of two classes: Class A 
ra Trying 500 feet of sail, and similar to Seawanahaka, 
the International Class introduced to the West at the 
time of the adoption of the present rules by the Royal 
St. Lawrence Y. C. and the White Bear Y, C. for their 
races in 1899; and a smaller class called B, carrying 350 
feet of sail, but similar in other ways. The rules under 
which the boats are built and sailed are eminently fitted 
for the Western lakes and have given general satis- 
faction. The White Bear Y. C. has won four out of 
eight events in the races of the Inland Lake Yachting 
Association — besides taking part during the same years 
in two races at Montreal with the Royal St. Lawrence 
Y. C. In addition to the outside races, the White Bear 
Y. C. holds a local regatta every Saturday in June, July 
and August and sails about twenty races from eight to 
ten knots each season; from fifteen to twenty boats 
taking part in each regatta. The club racing fleet at 
the present time is composed of seven A class boats, 
limited to 500 feet of standing sail, 38 feet over all; 
eight B class boats with 350 feet standing sail, 32 feet 
over all; seven C class boats built from a design of G. 
Herrick Duggan, with 200 feet of sail, 20 feet over all; 
eight open class boats, the same as the A class, com- 
])osed of older boats too slow to race in the A class. 
All races are without time allowance. Courses are sailed 
triangular as well as windward and return, and are ar- 
ranged to give as much windward work as possible. Al- 
though the lake is small the depth of water is good, and 
as a rule the winds are strong and true. The type of 
boat which has been developed in the West may not be 
thoroughly suited to Eastern waters, but it is eminently 
titted for the Western lakes, where the winds are strong 
and there is never much. sea. They are fast, safe and dry, 
luyond question faster than any other type of boat, 
and will live and make the best time where the old type 
will make no showing, notwithstanding the fear of the 
liridgeport judges in the recent trial races— "That 
sumeojie would get wet or drowned if allowed to sail in 
wliat the Western yachtsmen considered fine saihng 
Avinds."' Many races have been sailed on the Western 
lakes in winds having a speed from thirty to thirty-five 
miles., and ihe Westerner feels that the stronger the 
waid the greater the_^ sport and the faster the time. 
The White Bear Y. C. allows no one to take part in 
its races whose livelihood depends upon designing, build- 
ing or sailing of boats, and as a result each Saturday 
from sixty-five to seventy men and boys, strictly ama- 
l^tU'g. take part in the weekly regatta?, ' - 
English Letter, 
The Cowcs Week this year was mainly remarkable fot 
its very disagreeable weather. It opened on Aug. 4 with 
the regatta of the Royal London Y. C, which has a 
house >»t Cowes. The day was fine, with a nice westerly 
breeze, but unfortunately Sybarita was the only starter 
in the first class match. Both Navahoe and Meteor III, 
were entered, but did not start, because by so doing 
they would have been rendered ineligible for racing in 
subsequent handicaps, a condition of which Usually is 
that entrants must not have raced in an open match for 
a certain number of years. On the satiie day thefe 
were three handicaps, which Were all productive of large 
entries. Indeed, to judge from the number and quality 
of the yachts under way, the regatta was quite up to the 
highest standard. And the same may be said of the 
Royal Yacht Squadron's regatta, which followed each 
day until Friday. The Squadron's first day was on Tues- 
day, when a big entry honored the match for the King's 
cup, This is only open to yachts belonging to the cltlb, 
and is a handicap. Therefore Cicely was tmablc to enter. 
The wind was light and southeasterly, which gave a lot 
of turning to windward. This did not suit Meteor, 
and she was quite out of it, the cup falling to Sir James 
Pender's fine yawl Brynhild. This is her first King's 
cup, but, with the Squadron's conditions 'being such as 
they are, it ought not to be her last. 
The next day, Wednesdaj', was very wet, with a good 
southerly breeze that held all day. . This gave a reach 
all over the long course, and Meteor III beat Sybarita 
by over twelve minutes in fifty miles. I see that .Sybarita 
is handsomelj' slated by one of our journals for getting 
beaten by so much, but to me it seemed quite natural. 
I wonder wdiat other result could be looked for from 
Meteor's great length. It seems that a very large num- 
ber of people have made up their minds that the Em- 
peror's vessel is a mere slug. On what the opinion is 
based it is not easy to see. To my mind, she is a par- 
ticularly fine vessel, but I never expect to see her at her 
best hiside the Isle of Wight. I should like to look at 
her log after an hour of a 30-knot quarterly wind! 
On Wednesday, when she was doing over twelve 
knots, there was a noticeable absence of fuss at her bows 
and her delivery was beautifully clean, She stood up to 
her canvas like a house. On the same day in a race be- 
tween fifteen vessels for the German Emperor's cup, 
the famous old Irex carried off the prize. Cicel^r came 
home first, leading Navahoe by about a minute. As 
Navahoe must have traveled quite as fast as when she 
was a cutter, if not faster,^ you may be able to get a line 
through this for comparing her with your schooners. 
The course was the same as that sailed by Meteor — a 
strong reaching wind all the way. I think this was a 
very creditable win for the old Irex. She is one of our 
old plank-on-edge boats of about Soft, waterline and 
hardly 75ft. beam. Her draft is about 14ft., and she has, 
I believe, just over 70 tons of lead on the keel. In fact, 
she is very much like Genesta, and most people think 
she wotdd have won the America's cup had she gone 
out instead of that vessel.. It is astonishing that Bryn- 
hild should have headed her home by some five minutes 
only, and that she shoidd actually have beaten such boats 
as Leander, Namara and Cetonia. 
On the next day Sybarita had her revenge on Meteor, 
giving her a sound beating in a .^ttiart breeze ov?r 3 
course that gave some windward work. But this race 
supplied the tnost notable feature of the whole week in 
the smart sailing of the 65-fater Tutty, which came within 
a minute and a half of saving hef time from Sybarita 
This was a very remarkable performance in so strong 
a wind, for the race was sailed, not as a handicap, btlt 
under the ordinary Y. R. A. time scale. In order to pre- 
vent the possibility of a yacht of this size carrying off 
prizes in the large class, the Y. R. A. limit the class to 
yachts over 79 linear rating. But the Squadron refuses 
to be fettered by the Association, and an excellent result 
was achieved ill this case at all events. 
During the week Lucida was uniformly successftil 
against Camellia, except on Thursday, when she spHf 
her hollow tnast when leading. The fault of these spari^ 
seems to be that they Split easily with a twisting strain. 
To obviate this there are now three distinct makes of 
hollow spars in this cotmtry, and so far as I can hear, 
they have answered Well in all cases where they have 
been tried. 
An unfortunate accident happened in a small cruiser'*; 
lumdicap at Southampton last week, when one of the 
hands of a 16-ton yawl was washed overboard and 
drowned. He could swim well, but the yacht — a new' 
craft of modern type — would not bear up, and had to 
stay instead of gybing. This, too, although she was 
carrying a jibtopsail. I fancy very many people would 
be chary of racing in such a hard-mouthed boat. Eyerj'- 
thing was done to save the man, but in vain. 
The postponed review of the fleet by the King is 
bringing a large number of vessels together again in the 
Solent. Lord Crawford's race for auxiliary yachts will 
be started immediately after. His 'full-rigged ship. 
Valhalla, will sail in the race— with very little hope of 
success unless it blows very hard indeed. This vessel 
used to be manned with a crew of 130 men, and every- 
thing was done in navy fashion aboard. She makes 
about eleven knots under steam, but under sail she is 
said to have made over seventeen knots. She is now 
painted white, and the change from black is not an 
improvement. E. H. Hamilton. 
American Y. C. 
MILTON POINT, LONG ISLAND SOUND. 
Saturday, Aug. 23. 
The 21 and i8ft. one-design classes of the American 
Y. C. sailed a race on Saturday, Aug. 23. The boats 
sailed over a ten-mile triangular course in a fresh N. 
wind. The summary: 
21-footers. 
Time. 
Howdy, S. VVainwriglit 2 20 2S 
Cricket, Howard WTllet , , .2 21 37 
Ping Pong, W. F. Browning 2 22 12 
Rascal, S. Hopkins 2 24 49 
Kid, Oliver Harrtman Disabled' 
18-footers. 
Driftwood, Oliver Townsend 2 S3 S" 
Mongoose III., Simeon Ford . , .....t. 2 35 14 
Rattler, T. E. Bowles , 2 38 37 
Zelita III., H. A. Sherman ......2 42 30 
The Hustler, J. J. Downey , Disqualified 
The winners were How'dy and Driftwood. 
The 51-footers Humma, Altair and Shark will meet at 
Newport on September i and will sail a series of si?; 
races. 
