Ian. 30, 1904. j 
regattas of the Hartford Y. C., they are obliged to start 
very early in the morning, sail eighteen rniles, compete, iri 
the races, and then sail home again. Up to last Septem- 
ber the weather conditions have been each year so favor- 
able that the Sachem's Head has been able to get down 
to Saybrook in time for the regatta and return before 
sunset, not only competing in the regatta, but racing both 
ways. Representatives of the fleet have also contested for 
prizes at Shelter Island, New London, and other ports. 
A gentleman who spends his summers at one of the 
hotels on Fisher's Island happened to meet one of the 
members of the Sachem's Head Y. C. last August, and 
made the following remark : "We have had some very 
pretty views of a racing fleet last week. A yacht club 
-with boats all alike has passed Fisher's Island four dif- 
ferent times racing hard as long as they were in sight." 
The gentleman addressed said : "Well, the fleet you saw 
was undoubtedly that of the Sachem's Head Y. C, which 
passed Fisher's Island four times during the last annual 
cruise, always racing." 
squalls are infrequent, the annual itinerary to include 
New London, Shelter Island, Stonington, Block Island, 
and West Harbor, Fisher's Island. - 
The third annual cruise, conducted by Commodore; 
John Elton Wayland on the flagship Pawnee, was started, 
on Monday, July 21, 1902, and the mess dinners, which 
had proved so enjoyable a feature of the previous cruises, 
were repated at three of the hotels visited. 
The annual cruise is now a feature of the club life, 
and has come to stay. 
SOCIAL LIFE. 
From the very start the club members have recognized 
the necessity of having the co-operation of the ladies 10 
make the club a success, and their co-operation has con- 
tributed largely to the successful seasons. Every Sat- 
urday night the club house is thronged with ladies, and 
unlike the situation at most summer resorts, all ^yho go 
take part in the dancing. For a year or two the dancers 
were satisfied with piano music, but to-day they would 
Sachem's Head Y. C. Start of First Division, Annual Regatta, Labor Day, 1900. 
CRUISING. 
Until 1900 there were not enough cruising yachts be- 
■ -longing to the, club and available to ins.ute : a . succe.ssjul . 
cruise, but as an experiment to find out what results 
could be obtained. Commodore E. C. Seward, on August 
T, 1900, issued general order No. 3, directing the fleet 
to assemble at the club anchorage on Saturday, August 
II, for a run to Saybrook and return. The start was 
made at 11 A. M., and by 2 o'clock twelve sloops flying 
the club burgee were at anchor at the Hartford Y. C. 
anchorage. Some twenty members of the club sat down 
to a rness dinner in the evening at the club house of the 
Hartford Y. C. The return sail was made Sunday morn- 
ing, the fleet leaving Saybrook at 7:03 A. M., and the 
last boat anchoring-Mn Sachem's Head at 11:51 A. M. 
This little experimental cruise was so successful from 
every point of view and so enjoyable to the captains, that 
it was believed by the Commodore that the club would 
be justified in arranging for a week's cruise in subse- 
quent years. 
In 1901 a squadron was started from Sachem's Head 
on August 5, and made a run to New London, where a 
not think they were getting their just dues unless the 
music was furinshed by two or three pieces. The two 
leading features of the social life are the anuuaL German 
and the anriuarfegatta ball, on which occasions th'e music 
is furinshed by a full orchestra. The German is limited 
to twenty-four couples, and is as pretty an affair as can 
be seen at any shore resort. The regatta ball is held the 
evening of Labor Day, which is also the day of the an- 
nual regatta, and visiting yachtsmen often remark on 
the unusually large number of pretty girls who are 
present at this ball. From July i to September i enter- 
tainments of various kinds, such as whist or euchre 
parties, theatrical and musical entertainments, are held 
weekly at the club house, for some of which a small 
admission charge is made. The object of these enter- 
tinments has been threefold : First, to raise money in 
behalf of either the club or else village improvements, 
such as boardwalks and street lighting; second, to bring 
out and develop local talent, and third, to bring the sum- 
mer colony together. 
On Sunday afternoons the house committee permits the 
club house to be used for religious -services, and during 
Sachem's Head Y. C. Start of Second Division, Annual Regatta, Labor Day, 1900. 
mess dinner was held at the Pequot House, thirty mem- 
bers of the club enjoying the sumptuous spread. The 
squadron sailed in two divisions, the first division being 
made up of the knockabouts and the second of the larger 
sloops and schooners. From New London the fleet pro- : 
ceeded to Shelter Island, Stonington, and Block Island, 
and thence to Sachem's Head. The run from Block 
Island to Sachem's Head was a most exciting aflfair. On 
; Saturday morning, after a dense fog lifted, the first divi- 
sion started for home while the second division decided 
to only attempt Fisher's Island. A short distance from 
the island the fog again lowered, and charts and com- 
passes were resorted to. Off' Montauk Point the wiiid . 
began to blow a gale, increasing to a hurricane off 
Gardhier's Island. The Gloria and Thelga hove to, the . 
former having lost her tender and broken her tiller. Only 
three of this division fiiiished, viz., the Senta, Midge, and " 
TlTelga,- in order mentioned, the first two making the 
run from Block Island to Sachem's Head with one tack " 
in seven hours and forty-five: minutes, a record for boats 
of their class, _ The remainder of the .fleet arrived Sun- . 
day noon. This second cruise was in every way a suc- 
cess, and spoke well for the enterprise and energy of so. 
young a club. The yachting, spirit .of the Sachem's, Head - 
Y. C. is illustrated by the fact that sixteen yachts out of ^ 
the fleet of such a small g1u1>. took part in a- week's cruise, 
and the racing, every: dayj^was^of the; hottest -kind. The 
success of the 1901 cruise settled the ability of the club to 
conduct a creditable annual cruise, arid the captains ' have 
been almost unanimous in the opinion that the best route 
for the club is in eastern waters, deep and clear, where 
the contimiance of any religious service the church pen- 
nant is hoisted on the ensign staff. These services are 
in charge of a church committee, arid at many of the 
services sermons have been preached by the club chaplain. 
; The club house is everything in Sachem's Head, and 
if the statements of visiting yachtsmen are to be be- 
lieved, there is no other one on the Sound where the 
members and their guests find greater enjoyment. 
This article would not be complete without' some refer- 
ence to the social life at Sachem's Head outside of the 
club. The cottagers find amusement in croquet, tennis, 
fishing and sailing, and the links of the Pine Orchard 
Country Club near by offer an opportunity for- golf over' 
a most picturesque course. Many of the club members 
own islands -of the Thiinbje grcHjp, or else reside on the- 
numerous little capes of Great Harbor. Exchange if 
visits is therefore necessary by launch, and it is rather 
unique to attend a dinner party -at one of the island 
homes where all the guests travel' in -laifnches. As the ' 
guests depart for their homes ~after such a pahy it is a 
pretty sight to see a half dozen Taunches with their f ed ^ 
and green lights leaving- the landing stage - for other- 
islands and points along the shore some three or foiir 
miles distant. . - : ' c, 
Last August the- Cdmmodore-of tlie Hartford Y.-'-lC,-- 
paid .the club a visit,, and while on a 'totir df-^irispeCfioiv' 
i statiding on. the.-Hantuck?t*alconyj» wh'^chrtonimari ~ 
magnificent view of the Sound and the coast line from 
New Haven to Hammonassett Point, remarked to a club 
member: "No wonder that the Sachem's Head Y. C. 
is a success; nature has done everything for you." The 
deterrriinaton of the incorporators of the club has doiit 
what little nature left undone, and the club is a succeS'S 
because its affairs have been handled in a just and liberal 
spirit, while in racing the rules governing racing have 
been_ strictly enforced. 
With its superb location on a small island, with its 
Sachem's Head Y. C. — Interior View. 
broad verandas, from which all the racing can be seen; 
with the beauty of its surroundings, the club, if as well 
guided in the future as in the past, will continue to be- 
known as one of the sportiest, most social, and most suc- 
cessful on Long Island Sound. 
Designing Competition. 
$225 In Prizes. 
Two designing competitions have been given in 
FoREST AND STREAM. The first was for a 25ft. water- 
line cruiser; the second was for a 15ft. one-design class,. 
Both competitions were very successful. The great in- 
terest taken in those competitions has prompted us to 
give a third one, open to amateurs and professionals. 
The prizes which will be given are as follows: 
First prize — ^$100. 
Second prize — ^$60. 
Third prize— $40. 
Fourth prize— $25, offered by Mr. Theodore Zerega 
for the best interior plan. 
The designs are for a yacht conforming to the fol- 
lowing conditions: 
I. Centerboard cruiser, 40ft. I. w. 1. 
II. Boat must not draw over 6ft with centerboard up. 
ITT. The lowest freeboard to covering board must 
be 3ft. 
The design must be modern in every particular, with- 
out containing any extreme or abnormal features. The 
conditions have been made as simple as possible, that 
competitors might have all latitude and scope in work- 
ing out their ideas. We wish to produce an able and 
comfortable cruising boat, one that shall have ample 
accornmodation for two or three men living aboard for/ 
a period of several months, and one that can be easily 
managed at all times by two or three paid hands. The 
draft is restricted to 6ft. in order that the boat may 
have access to nearly all the desirable harbors, and 
may, thereby, widely increase her cruising field. 
Drawings Required, 
I. Sheer plan, scale ^in.=i:ift.— showmg center of 
buoyancy, center of lateral resistance and center of \ 
effort of both rigs. 
II. Half breadth, scale ^in.=:ift. 
III. Body plan, scale ^in.=ift. 
IV. Cabin plan, inboard profile and at least one .■ 
cross section, scale %in.=r:ift. 
V. Two sail plans, scale y4'm.=ih.; one as a yawl; , 
one as -a pole mast sloop. 
In the case of the yawl rig the position and height : 
of the mast and length of gaff are to be the same as , 
in the cutter rig. Plans must show working topsail and : 
size of light sails. 
VI. All ballast outside On keel except amount neces- •• 
sary for trimming. ? 
_An outhne specification must- accompany each de- 
sign. The drawings should be carefully made and let- ■ 
tered. All drawings should be on white paper or 
tracing cloth in black ink. No colored inks or pig- 
ments should be used. The designs must bear a nom- 
de-plume only, and no indication must be given of the . 
author. In a sealed envelope, however, the designer- 
must inclose his own name and address, together with: 
his nom-de-plume. All designs must be received at the-, 
office of the Forest and Stream Publishing Company,-, 
346 Broadway, New York City, not later than Marchi 
I. 1904. All drawings will be returned, but postage- 
should accompany each. * 
The Forest and Stream reserves the right to pub-- 
lish any or all of the designs. 
Mr,-Clinton H. Crane, of the firm of Messrs. Tams»,' 
Lemoine & Crane, who passed upon the designs sub- - 
mitteid for the 25ft. with great care, has again con- 
sented to judge the designs and make the awards. 
: - : By "Way of Pdstscfipt. - 
OpiNl(OT:pf^ a Michigan - ^ " 
As I have said before, Forest and. Stream is a better papfiy - 
lafi I'- had - supposed could be made along" those line.s. 
than 
O'pimon.l?! a Michigan Physician: ; , ■ v. ~ 
I thaye. -beeri ;a constant reader of Forest and Stream sliice i876>- 
and.,.your , ChristTrias, issue was the finest niimber that j^oy .Jjavkii 
eveT"t>irt>lislred; ih'dreed T;he finest specimen oi any jownal devbtecj ^ 
to rod and gun that I have ever seen. It was superb in its way. 
A California opinion: . 
That was a great Christmas number. Pray, accept my coa» 
gratulatioas; though belated, yet none the less hearty. 
