April 2, 1904.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
^79 
wm 
Interlake Yachting Letter. 
Cleveland, Ohio/ March 26. — The one or two warm 
days during the past two weeks have reminded the 
yachtsmen that it is time to be up and be doing, and 
accordingly the work of fitting out has become noticeable 
all along the line, while more orders for new are still 
being placed. 
In Buffalo, aside from Mr. Sumner Hayward's big 
yawl, Dr. E. P. Hussey's yawl, two 21-footers, and _an 
i8-footer, the new is-foot one design class are attracting 
considerable attention, and last week another boat was 
ordered. The new class starts out with five boats in 
all, which are being built by Weir, of Hamilton, Ont. 
The Buffalo Y. C. is having a new defender built for 
the Ryan Cup, by Messrs. Strong and Patterson, which 
is almost completed. She is a trim Httle craft and is 
expected to keep the cup for the club. The Canoe Club 
is building a challenger which is now being planked. 
Mr. James Johnson may purchase Beaver, the one time 
defender of the Canada's Cup. There is some talk of a 
syndicate building a restricted 21-footer to challenge 
for the Lipton Cup, at Chicago, and the prospective own- 
ers are now considering several designs. 
Erie yachtsmen are building a boat for the 21ft. re- 
stricted class that will be tried out, and if her showing 
is such as to indicate her candidacy for the cup races, 
will also be shipped to Chicago and entered in the races. 
Several other small boats have been built at this place, 
and the yachtsmen are looking forth to a successful 
season. In a letter to the writer, Mr. W. H. F. Nick 
states that fitting out has begun in earnest and the fleet 
will be in commission fully two weeks earlier this spring 
than at any time heretofore. Commodore Geo. T. Bliss, 
former commodore of the Erie Y. C, is in Honolulu, 
v/here he has been spending the winter, and will not 
return till the sailing season is on. 
Another new boat has just been discovered. She is 
for a Cleveland yachtsman, and is being built at Toledo 
by Joe Hepburn for Mr. R. L. Lockwood, and is for 
the new i6ft. restricted class recently adopted by the 
Detroit Y. C. The craft is about completed, and for 
her over all length has a wonderful amount of room, 
both above and below decks. Her general dimensions 
are as follows : Over all, 28ft. 2in. ; water line, i6ft. ; 
breadth, 6ft. loin.; draft, 2oin. She has 4ft. headroom 
in her cabin, which is 6ft. in length. The yawl for Dr. 
N, W. Brown is finished, and waiting for the ice to 
leave the river, when she will be launched. Mr. H. S. 
Watterson's i8-footer is nearly completed. In a recent 
freshet Chloris, with a number of other boats, were 
seriously damaged, and two completely destroyed. Fresh 
water yachtsmen will be sorry to learn that Commodore 
Geo. Worthington will not fit out the Priscilla this 
season, as her owner is going to Europe. 
The Lakewood Y. C, of Cleveland, held its annual 
election on Friday evening, March 11, at its city rooms 
in. the Arcade. The following were elected: Com., A. J. 
Phelps ; Vice-Com., Henry D. Whiton ; Rear-Com., 
Warren J. Brodie; Sec'y-Treas., C. O. Peterson; Fleet- 
Captain, Geo. Gerlach ; Fleet Surgeon, Dr. R. H. Single- 
ton ; Directors, F. W. Wakefield, Myron B. Vorce and 
Robt. E. Powers. Through a discussion the office of 
measurer was left open and the vacancy will be filled 
at a meeting of the board of directors. Two new boats 
are being built at Sandusky, one for Donahue Bros., and 
the other for a gentleman who wished his name with- 
held. At the annual election held some time ago, Mr. 
Lockwood was elected commodore, but for personal 
reasons resigned, and at a meeting of the board of 
directors Air. Wm. F. Seitz, former secretary of the 
Inter-Lake Y. A., was appointed his successor. 
The club house of the Toledo Y. C. came very nearly 
being destroyed by fire recently, and had it not been 
for prompt action on the part of the yachtsmen they 
would be homeless to-day. As it is, so' much damage 
was done that will mount up in the thousands to again 
place the handsome structure in its former condition. 
Detroit is by all odds the busiest yachting center on 
the lakes, and each day brings news of new boats build- 
ing ; in fact orders are being placed so rapidly that it 
is almost impossible to keep track of them. Nine or 
ten boats are building for the 21ft. restricted class to 
'compete for the Walker Trophy, and also for the 
Lipton Trophy, at Chicago. The last to get in the 
game is Mr. H. T. Schmidt, a member of the Detroit 
Y. C. His boat was designed by her builder, a Mr. 
Parker, of Marine City, Mich. He is a new man in the 
field, and little can be said of the boat. Mr. Schmidt, 
however, is of the opinion that the boat will be a hum- 
mer. One thing is certain. , The 21-footers will be the 
most popular class on fresh water the coming season, 
and will have things pretty much their own way. Mr. 
Geo. Wilds has gotten out the lines of a boat for this 
class, and it is more than probable that -a .boat will -be 
built, though who the owner will be is a-question. Those 
who are acquainted with Mr. Wilds know that when he 
tries his hand that something will happen. He designs 
very few boats, but •those who are familiar, with De- 
troit, of Canada Cup fame, know that he is a practical 
designer, and his boats always corabine extreme speed 
a season's hard work without a scratch, and with prizes 
galore. 
Cadillac, one-time defender of the Canada's Cup, 
has been sold, and Detroit yachtsmen are happy, not 
because she was sold, but because she was sold in De- 
troit, and is to remain in that city, and will continue her 
battles with Detroit the coming season. Cadillac was 
placed on the for sale market through the death of her 
owner, the late Mr. Warren. Mr. Harry C. T<^endall, of 
the old Shamrock fame, came to the.. front at the head 
of a syndicate and purchased the boat. Mr. Kendall is 
one of the ablest skippers on the lakes, and he has asso- 
ciated with him one of the best Corinthian crews on 
fresh water, a,ll of which are part owners. 
C. W. Schmidt, Jr. 
Southern Letter. 
All the hundreds of bodies of water discharge into 
the Gulf of Mexico along the shores of Louisiana, Mis- 
sissippi and Alabama, with their semi-tropical and 
various other attractions, are ideally picturesque; and, 
as it is convenient to poke in and out of their openings 
to the sea when voyaging along these shores, they hold 
no end of interest and enjoyment for yachtsmen. On 
this coast there are no rock-bound shores, and very little 
of tide or current, the greatest rise of water in the 
tributary streams being when the wind blows from the 
Gulf backing the sea-water up a foot or so, and 
making the waters for miles up-stream salty, with 
a beneficial effect upon marshy places. The Mississippi 
River at New Orleans, 100 miles from its mouth, is at 
times quite salty at certain seasons of the year, and 
when the winds are from a southerly direction for some 
days at a time, and fish which live only in salt water 
come up the river that far and are often caught in 
front of the Crescent City. Generally speaking the river 
is to the west, the south and to the . east of the city, 
and then it bends away tO' the Gulf. The Gulf curves 
up into the state so that to the east of the city it is 
not half the distance to the sea that it is in going down 
he river, and an arm of the Gulf comes in to the north 
of New Orleans, within the city's bounds, that is 
brackish water the year round. 
It is upon this body of water that the yachtsmen of 
New Orleans do their sailing, and not upon the Mis- 
sissippi River, as many suppose. Lake Pontchartrain, 
as it is called, is 22 miles wide and 40 miles long. The 
club house of the Southern Y. C. is situated upon its 
southern shore in the northern suburb of the metropolis 
of the South, and it is only 7 miles across the city from 
the river bank to the shore of the Lake. There are two 
navigable canals which stretch from the lake to the very 
heart of the city, but which do^ not connect with the 
river, while a third one ten miles below the city connects 
the river with the Gulf and shortens the distance out 
to the Gulf by 50 miles or more. 
Coming along the Gulf of MexicO' from the eastward 
to Mississippi Sound, the course is to the southwest 
into the land, where the sound ends in a bay known as 
Lake Borgne. At the western end of the latter is a 
narrow and deep passage, called The Rigolets, which 
connects with Lake Pontchartrain, and to the westward 
still further is another large body of water, which was 
also. at one time, so science says, a part of the Gulf; 
this is Lake Maurepas, and the salt water backs up into 
it from Pontchartrain through Pass Manchak, owing to 
the influence of tide and wind. 
Lake Pontchartrain is the largest of the three lakes. 
It has several fine resorts along its shores, and a uniform 
depth of about 18, feet of water. There is probably not 
a better sheet of water anywhere for yacht cruising and 
racing. The club house of the Southern Y. C, its racing 
course and yacht anchorage are very advantageously 
situated at West End, "the Coney Island of the South," 
and while there are there all the adjuncts of a place of 
that character, including Ferris wheels, flying-horses, 
roller-coasters, places of wonder ad lib., its chief attrac- 
tions are the water, the yachts, yacht-club house, rowing- 
boat clubs, the bathing and the fishing. The Southern 
Y. C. anchorage basin, or "the Pen," as it is called, is 
landlocked, and it is reached by means of a canal. In 
front of the club house, which is built out in the lake 
on spiling, the club has a 5-mile triangular course buoyed 
off, which is sailed around twice, or 10 miles in all. 
The canal, which extends back through the city for 5 
miles, straight away, affords a splendid course for the 
racing of small motor boats in smooth water. 
As to the premier yacht club of the South, all the 
yachting world knows that the Southern Y. C. is, next 
to the New York Y. C, the oldest organization of the 
kind in the country.; It was organized in the year 
1849, and it is therefore in the fifty-fifth year of its 
activity. It has a membership of over 750, and a large 
and- growing fleet. The club, is. now. ..occupying the 
third club house in its history, the present building" 
having been erected three years ago. Last April there 
was a fire at "the Pen'' which destroyed '..29 : yachts 
and a number- of boat housies. Now the club is 
just finishing a new anchorage at a cost of $10,000, 
of yachts and yacht paraphernalia) must be built of 
fire-proof material — that is, sheathed" with galvanized 
iron. Part of the outfit at the anchorage includes 
excellent hauling-out ways, with switches over which 
trucks may be run, so that half a dozen yachts may .be 
out at a time, a crane for handling spars and a large 
v/arehouse for the use of the members, where may be 
stored the sails, spars, dinghies and any and all furnish- 
ings and fittings of these who do not own their own 
boat houses, the general idea being that the club will 
give every possible encouragement to the younger yacht- 
ing element in particular, so far as the cost of maintain- 
ing their craft goes, there being no charge for the use 
of these accessories. 
The dues for membership in the Southern Y. C. are 
very low compared with other clubs, the sum being 
$12 annually, and the initiation fee is only $10, and 
the latter has been suspended for some months. The 
club is extremely well off financially, and between $9,oqo 
and $10,000 are spent every year for the encourage- 
ment of the sport of yachting. The club has a paid 
secretary, a steward, porters and a "pen," or anchorage 
keeper. There are in the club house sleeping apartments 
affording accommodations for upward of a hundred 
members, many of whom lodge there, over the lake 
waters, during the months of summer. In a season the 
Southern Y. C. holds half a dozen or more regattas and 
several dances and entertainments. In fact no stone is 
left unturned by the officers and committees to foster 
the sport and to amuse and entertain the club's mem- 
bership, which "all hands and the cook" will endeavor 
to bring up to the one thousand mark for the season 
of 1904-05. L. D. Sampsell. 
Affow's RecofcJ, J903. 
The i8ft. knockabout Arrow was designed by E. A. 
Boardman, naval architect and yacht broker, Boston, 
Mass., and raced by E. A. and R. D. Boardman last sum- 
mer in Massachusetts Bay. 
Arrow proved to be the best boat in the fleet, finish- 
ing first, fifteen times; second, five times; third, once; 
fourth, four times; one breakdown, and withdrawing 
ARROW. 
Photo by Willard B. Jackson. Marbleliead. 
Il 
once when in leading position, on account of rounding 
wrong mark. 
She won the Corinthian Championship at Marble-, 
head, five firsts in five starts. The Corinthian mid- 
summer series, which are the largest series at Marble- 
head. 
■ She won four firsts in four -starts on the North Shore 
circuit of Y. M. R. A. races, leading in M. Y. R. A. 
percentage at the end of this series, but withdrew from 
M. Y. R. A. races as it was impossible to follow the 
South Shore circuit. 
Chance, another l8-ft., designed by Mr. Boardman, 
won the mid-summer series of races for the Lawson 
cup, of the Boston Y. C./ at Hull, Mass. Arrow did 
not start in this series, on a,ccn!Jn^ of Insing li§i' 
