FOREST AND STREAM, 
[May 7, 1904. 
Houston came of a well-known Largs family. He 
commenced his racing career in i860, but it was not until 
five years later that he obtained permanent employemnt 
on Fiona, first with Mr. Lafone, and then with Mr. 
Boutcher, who bought the famous cutter the year after 
she was built, and with this latter gentleman he served 
for twenty years in his three Fionas, the Fawn o' Fairlie, 
the schooner Fiona, and the steam yacht of that name. 
Although Houston spent the last years of his life at Gos- 
port, his death is mourned by the people of Largs as 
Sincerely as though he had never left his native place, 
and it is felt by the yachting world in general that one 
of the greatest skippers of the last century has passed 
£iway. 
The question has been continually raised lately as to 
whether it would not be advisable for yacht clubs to 
offer prizes for a schooner class. No doubt such a 
move would be a popular one with owners of schooner 
■yachts, and possibly some good racing might result from 
it, but two things are to be considered. The first point 
is whether the clubs have the necessary funds to offer 
prizes, and the second is, will the owners undertake to 
go the rounds regularly like the class racers and handicap 
boats do? One of the greatest difficulties club commit- 
tees have to contend with in making out prize lists is 
the uncertainty as to how the classes they cater for will 
fill, and it is notorious that schooners could long since 
have had more attention paid them if their owners would 
only take the trouble to notify the clubs of their inten- 
tion of racing before the last moment. Nothing is more 
disappointing than for a sum of money to be set apart 
for a certain race — in the case of schooners it would 
necessarily be a large sum — and then for that race to fall 
through and the money, which might have been devoted 
to other purposes, to lie idle. It would be a good thing 
for yacht racing if a good schooner class could be started 
and kept together as a handicap class, for first-class 
racing under the present rating rule seems to be in a 
hopeless way, and with a fleet of schooners sailing 
matches on handicap time there would be every incentive 
to build a good wholesome type of modern fast cruiser, 
which is the best kind of vessel for all-round purposes 
yet invented. 
Messrs. Connell's new 6sft. rater which has been lying 
so long on the stocks at Fairlie is now practically fin- 
ished and ready for launching. It is stated that the 65- 
footer Tutty, which was formerly owned by the Messrs. 
Ccnnell, has found a purchaser, and that she will be 
raced at the principal regattas. The old 40-rater Carina 
is also having an extensive overhaul, so these three ves- 
sels will probably fight it out this season as a handicap 
class. Fitting out is now general on all coasts, and many 
of the small clubs have already started the season's racing. 
E. H. Kelly. 
Boston Letter. 
Boston, April 30. — At the spring meeting of the Bos- 
ton Y. C, held at the town house, Rowe's Wharf, 
Wednesday, April 27, the Regatta Committee submitted 
a fine schedule of races, including squadron runs on 
two cruises. The first of these cruises is arranged upon 
invitation of Vice-Commodore E. P. Boynton to the 
club squadron to visit his summer home at Five Islands, 
Me. The club has extended invitations to the Port- 
land and Bath Y. C's to join the squadron, and on 
July 20 there will be a race at Sheepscot Bay, open to 
yachts of these clubs. The second cruise will be at 
the last of the season, the cruising yachts of the squad- 
ron running to Provincetown, where they will join the 
racing fleet, just completing the South Shore circuit. 
For the first cruise cups have been offered by Vice- 
Commodore Boynton, Rear Commodore Walter Bur- 
gess and several members of the club. 
The regular series of races for the year will consist 
of five open events and four club races. The yachts 
enrolled in the club will be rated according to their 
places in the open events for the club championship. 
Commodore B. P. Cheney has offered championship 
cups in the active racing classes, and, in addition, the 
Regatta Committee will give cash prizes for each event. 
There will also be a series of special club races for 
handicap classes and i8ft. knockabouts. These races 
will not interfere with the schedules of other clubs, as 
they are intended to provide only for yachts which re- 
main at Hull throughout the season, and do not par- 
ticipate in events elsewhere. Mr. George H. \y'ight- 
man has offered cups to be awarded the yachts winning 
the highest averages in the series. The following is a 
complete schedule of the season's fixtures: 
June 4, Saturday — Club race, South Boston. 
June II, Saturday — Special club race, Hull. 
June 4, Saturday — Club race. South Boston^ 
June II, Saturday — Special club race, Hull. 
June 17, Friday — Y. R. A. open, Hull. 
June 25, Saturday — Special club race, Hull. 
July 9, Saturday — Club race, Marblehead. 
July 16, Saturday — Start of cruise; squadron run, Hull 
to Marblehead. 
July 17, Sunday — Squadron run, Marblehead to Ports- 
mouth. 
. July 18, Monday — Squadron run, Portsmouth to Port- 
land. 
July 19, Tuesday— Squadron run, Portland to Five 
Islands. 
July 20, Wednesday — Races in Sheepscot Bay. 
Tuly 23, Saturday — Special club race, Hull. 
July 27, Wednesday — Midsum^mer series of Y. R. A. 
open races, Hull. 
July 28, Thursday — Midsummer series of Y. R. A. 
open races, Hull. 
July .30, Saturday — Midsummer series of Y. R. A, 
open races, Hull. 
Aug. 2, Tuesday — Y. R. A open, Marblehead. 
Aug. 10, Wednesday — -Club race, Marblehead. 
Aug. 13, Saturday — Special Club race, Hull. 
Aug. 20, Saturday — Club race, Hull. 
Aug. 27, Saturday — Special club race, Hull. 
Sept. 2 to 4, Friday to Sunday — Cruise to Province- 
town and Marblehead. 
Sept. 3, Saturday — Races at Provincetown. 
Sept. 10, Saturday — Special club race, Hull. 
Mr. Louis M. Clark, founder of the Yacht Racing 
Association of Massachusetts, and who recently re- 
signed from 'the executive committee, has been pre- 
sented by the committee with the following testimonial 
in the form of an illuminated tablet in gold frame: 
"Yacht Racing Association of Massachusetts: 
"The executive committee, realizing the loss to this 
Association by the resignation of Mr. Louis M. Clark, 
the founder of the Association, three years its presi- 
dent and eight years a member of the executime com- 
mittee, extend to him this testimonial in appreciation 
and recognition of his valuable services anci untiring 
efforts on behalf of this Association and yacht racltig 
in general. 
(Signed) "C. F. Adams, 2d Pres., 
"C. C. Clapp, 
"B. S. Permar, 
"Walter Burgess, 
"James R. Hodder, 
"Sumner H. Foster, 
"Harry H. Wiggin, 
"A. T. Bliss, See. 
"Boston, April ii, 1904." 
Mr. H. A. Morss, of the special committee of the 
Eastern Y. C. on ocean race, has received twelve en- 
tries so far. Of these there is one each from the Bos- 
ton, Eastern, Corinthian, Atlantic, Larchmont, Nor- 
walk and Knickerbocker Y. C's and five from the New 
York Y. G. Mr. Morss has also received communica- 
tions from the owners of two schooners of the Eastern 
Y. C. fleet, whose yachts are of greater water line 
length than soft., but who are anxious to take part in 
the ocean, racing. As it is considered that there may 
be niore yacht owners of the same mind, it is quite 
possible that a class for larger schooners will be pro- 
vided. 
Mr. E. A. Boardmafi has designed a soft, water line 
auxiliary yawl for D. W. L. Baum, Vice-Commodore 
of the Chicago Y. C, which is being built by the Crane 
Shipbuilding Co., of Detroit. She will have the dis- 
tinction of being the only steel yawl of her size on the 
Great Lakes, and no expense will be spared on her 
construction. She will have a white enamel coating on 
the outside, and the inside finish will be in mahogany. 
Her lines are similar to those of the New England 
fishermen, a form calculated to stand the gales of Lake 
Michigan. Her first trip will be a cruise of 700 miles. 
This designer also reports the following sales: Eigh- 
teen-foot knockabout, owned by Mr. A. D. Irving, to 
Mr. Henry G. Hall, of Salem; 25ft. speed launch Spark, 
owned by Mr. G. D. Silsbee, to Mr. George Lee. 
Spark's name has been changed to Firefly, and she will 
take part in the races of the Eastern Y. C. She has a 
speed of twelves miles with an eight-horse power Buf- 
falo motor. 
Mr. Walter C. Lewis, chairman of the membership 
committee of the Boston Y. C, who recently returned 
from a trip to the Bahamas, brought with him from 
Nassau the finest specimen of tortoise that ever came 
from that section. It will be on exhibition at the 
Rowe's Wharf house of the Boston Y. C. for a few 
days, together with some very interesting oil paintings 
of Nassau scenes by Mr. Frank O. Small. 
The complete outfit of spars and sails of the 22- 
footer Peri II, owned by Mr. George Lee, was de- 
stroyed by fire at the Fenton yard, Manchester. A new 
set of spars for her has been completed at Lawley's, 
and she is to have a new suit of sails by Messrs. 
Cousens & Pratt. She will be put in commission in 
a couple of weeks and will be ready for the opening 
of the season. She will also enter in the open race for 
22-footers around the Isle of Shoals. This boat was 
designed by Mr. E. A. Boardman, and was a likely 
looking craft when she was launched last season. On 
account of necessary alterations, however, there was 
not much oi an opportunity to show what she could 
do. It is expected that she will be raced steadily on 
the Y. R. A circuits this season. 
A catboat is being built by Mr. Howard Linnell, of 
Savin Hill, for Mr. C. C. Collins, which has more than 
the usual amount of room in a craft of her size. She 
is only 22ft. on the water line, but she has 6ft. 3in. 
head room. She is centerboard with a draft of hull of 
3ft. 2in. Mr. Collins, who designed the boat himself, 
is a devotee of the cat rig, and generally goes single 
handed in all kinds of weather. John B. Killeen. 
Interlake Yachting Letter. 
Cleveland, O., April 22. — The yachting outlook on the 
lakes was never more promising than at present. More 
boats are building than in previous years, and the sail- 
makers have their hands full. At Buffalo they have 
the 15ft. restricted class fever, and five boats have been 
built Their owners are Robert Heussler, Ernest Hall, 
Major Frank E. Wood and Edward B. Green. Geo. 
Clinton and J. Allen Keeney are the owners of the fifth. 
The boats were built by Wier Bros., of Hamilton, Ont., 
and are completed. They make a very trim little fleet 
and should furnish good sport for their owners. One 
twenty-one-footer has also been built for H. L. Cham- 
berlain, of the Buffalo Y, C. She was designed by 
Hand, and her owner believes she will be a flyer. It is 
his intention to tune the boat up thoroughly and try 
her out against the 21ft. class of Detroit boats at Put- 
In-Bay during the regatta of the Interlake Yachting 
In Bay during the regatta of the Interlake Yachting 
Association, and if she proves equal to the test will be 
shipped to Chicago and entered in the Lipton cup 
races. 
Several large yawls are being built for Buffalo yachts- 
men, and Messrs. Maytham & Johnson are considering 
a design of a 30ft. racing boat turned out by Owen, 
of Hamilton. It is probable they will have the boat 
built. The Buffalo Y. C. is having a defender con- 
structed for the Hall cup, and the canoe club is also hav- 
ing one built. There is keen rivalry for possession of 
this cup, which has been held for two years by the 
Buffalo Y. C, but the canoe men have hopes of recov- 
ering it this summer. 
There is little doing at Erie in the way of new boats, 
and this is about the only town in the circuit where 
the absence of new boats is noticeable. However, one 
2i-footer for the restricted class has been built. She 
is a cleari-eut little crg,fj;, pf moderate propprtj.o^f. 
The usual spring repairs are in evidence, and despite 
the lack of new boats the members of the Erie Y. C. 
look for a good season. Fully forty boats will attend 
the meet of the I. L. Y. A. at Put-In-Bay, Ohio. Com- 
rnodore Morrison is having an eight-horse power en- 
gine installed in his cutter. A number of small launches 
have been purchased by club members, and there seems 
to be plenty of interest in this branch of the sport. 
Cleveland is looming up strong, arid will capture a 
goodly number of the prizes offered. The White Rib- 
bon will be the representative iri the 30ft. class, with 
Chloris in the 25. An unnamed boat, recently com- 
pleted at Maltby's yard for Messrs. Watterson & Hersh- 
ing, will be a formidable opponent in the 21ft. class, 
while Suzanne will represent the iSft. class. Suzanne 
did not come up to the expectations of her owners last 
year, but better results are hoped for. this season. She 
was one of the Massachusetts Y. R. A. restricted class, 
with a limited sail area which was decidedly too small 
for her powerful body. Mr, Geo. D. Hall, her owrter, 
has decided to have new sails, right up to the liniit of 
the "law" on fresh water, which will be 150ft. in excess 
of what she formerly carried. Messrs. Whitori & Nash 
are contemplating the purchase of Rooster II, another 
of the Massachusetts Bay boats, but to date the deal 
has not been consummated. If she is purchased she 
will be entered in the races for the Walker cup at De- 
troit, and the Lipton races at Chicago. Still another 
valuable boat has been added to the Lakewood Y. C, 
which will be- the representative of the racing game 
in Cleveland. This one is of small proportions, but 
of "mighty" accomplishments. She is Myth, formerly 
owned by Fred Pritchard, of Toledo, but now the prop- 
erty of B. F. Davies, Jr. Her dimensions are approxi- 
mately i8ft. 6in. over all, 11 ft. 4in. water line, with a 
beatn of Sft. 2in. She carries 250 sq. ft. of canvas, 
and in two seasons of constant racing has never been 
beaten in her class. It was not an uncommon occur- 
rence for her to go above her class and come out vic- 
torious. Jag, a boat of the Seawanhaka type, has been 
sold by Rudolph Malm to C. F. Clemments. Mr. 
Clemments will have a new suit of sails made for 
Jag, and she will again be seen among the racing fleet. 
She v/as not in commission last year. The Vinco has 
been sold by Ralph Cobb to a syndicate headed by L.'' 
F. Body. Toledo is the scene of activity, and many 
new boats are building there for local yachtsmen and 
others. Frank Craig is having a mammoth speed launch 
built at the Craig yards. She is of steel, and will be 
looft. in length. This craft is expected to develop ex- 
treme speed, being of the pronounced speed type, and 
•^Ul be driven by two powerful motors. J. W. Hep- 
burn is building a 21ft. cruising yawl for R. L. Lock- 
wood_ of Cleveland. She is about completed, and will 
be shipped in a few weeks. R. W. Harrison is building 
a speed launch for Lacy Bros. She will be equipped 
with an eight-horse power Lacy engine. Her dimen- 
sions are: Length, 25ft.; beam, 4ft., with a draft for- 
ward of ift. The same builder is at work on a launch 
for Henry Sullivan. Her length is 25ft., beam, 6ft. 
6in., with a depth of 3ft. and a mean draft of about 
i8in. She will have a four-horse power Lozier engine. 
Enright, Oberton and Puritana are being rebuilt, and 
will again be in the racing game. The Winkle, owned 
by Fred Pritchard, is to have a new rig, and will be 
somewhat smaller than the previous one, The object 
is to squeeze her into the i8ft. class. Commodore E. T. 
Aflleck and crew have gone east for the Hussar, the 
new flag-ship of the Toledo Y. C. Detroit is the mecca 
of the fresh water cities, and with her five new 21- 
footers will be very much in the running. The adop-- 
tion of the 21ft. restricted class by this club was one 
of the most advanced steps taken by an Interlake club, 
and while several' of the older yachtsmen shook their 
heads, the Country Club has profited by the move, and 
to-day stands pre-eminent. The class has made rapid 
strides since its adoption last summer, and the Country 
Club will have seven entries. At the last meeting of the 
I. L. Y. A. the class was adopted as a special restricted 
class. Since that time members of other clubs have 
been skirmishing around in an -endeavor to land boats 
eligible to that class. The inclination seems to drift 
toward the smaller classes. A i6ft. restricted class was 
recently adopted by the Detroit Y. C. One boat is be- 
ing built for Rear-Commodore Lloyd, of that organiza- 
tion. She was designed by Carlton Milby, now of De- 
troit, and is a good looking boat. She is of the com- 
promise type, and has a good cabin for a boat of this 
size. Her over all length is 27ft. 6in. ; waterline. i6ft.; 
beam, 7ft. 4in., and 2ft. draft. The Michigan Yacht and 
Power Co. is building a number of auto boats. One 
of the best specimens which they are building is to be 
sent to the St. Louis Exposition as an exhibition of 
the work done in Detroit. The boat is 28ft. over all, 
with a draft of I2in., and she will be equipped with a 
sixteen-horse power engine of the four cylinder type. 
Her speed is estimated at between fourteen and sixteen 
miles an hour. Her interior will be elaborately fitted 
out and she will be planked in mahogany and finished 
bright. F. A. La Roche, of New York, is having three 
boats of the same type and dimensions, though they 
will not be fitted out as elaborately as the other. R. 
Miller, of Pittsburg, is having a beautiful mahogany 
auto boat built at Detroit. Mr. Miller is not especially 
after speed, but it is believed the boat will develop about 
thirteen miles an hour. She will be the finest craft 
ever turned out by a Detroit builder. Her dimensions 
are 33ft. over all, 6ft. beam and 32in. draft. The engine, 
which is being built by the H. P. King Co., is a four- 
cycle, four-cylinder type of twenty-horse power. M. A. 
Manville, of Chicago, is also having an auto boat built 
•at Detroit of practically the same dimensions as the 
Miller boat, though her beam will be nearly a foot less. 
The real flyer in small boats is being built for W. K. 
Jackson, of Buffalo. She will be 40ft. over all, sft- 
beam and i6in. draft. She will be constructed of the 
lightest material, the engine bed being constructed of 
aluminum, weighing only twenty pounds and capable 
of supporting a sixty-horse power automobile engine. 
Mr. Jackson hopes to get a speed out of her from 
eighteen to twenty miles an hour. 
Schweikhart is building a handsome launch for Dr. 
Wadsworth Warren, of Detroit. She was designed by 
Mr. Ij. ,C. Sje.ers, algo of Detroit. Her oyer all length 
