466 
FOHEST ANID STREAM. 
IJwnt 4, 1904. 
Detroit Boat Club Yachtsmen, 
_ About three miles above Detroit, on the banks of the 
river of that name, is situated the home of the 
Detroit Boat Club Yachtsmen. No better site could 
have been selected for the home o^ a yacht club. The 
conditions for all branches of aquatic sports are almost 
perfect, and the natural scenery is very beautiful. The 
river at this point is more than a mile wide, with a 
depth sufficient to float yachts of large size. The river 
has great possibilities for the power boat man, espe- 
cially those inclined toward speed. 
The Detroit Boat Club Yachtsmen were organized 
June 28, 1899. The object was to bring together those 
members of the Detroit Boat Club who were interested 
in yachting in such a way as to promote the welfare 
of the sport and increase its popularity in and about 
Detroit. Shortly after the club's organization, appli- 
cation was made for membership in the Interlake 
Yachting Association, and after a reasonable time it 
was admitted. 
The first commodore was Mr. John C. Shaw, one of 
the most prominent fresh-water yachtsmen; and under 
his able guidance, the organization began to flourish. 
Commodore Shaw served the club for two years and 
part of a third. He was untiring in his efforts to push 
the club to the front and make it a factor among yacht- 
ing organizations. In this, he was successful, and much 
of the credit for the strong financial foundation upon 
which it was constructed belongs to him. Commo- 
dore Shaw was succeeded by Mr. John H. Smedley, 
who served the club for two years. Commodore Smed- 
ley, like Commodore Shaw, was a hard and persistent 
worker, and during his regime the club continued to 
grow. 
At the annual meeting of the Interlake Yachting As- 
sociation this year Commodore Smedley was elected to 
the high office of that Association, and he therefore 
resigned from the office he held in the club. When 
the club held its annual election, Mr. John L. Dexter 
was unanimously chosen to succeed Commodore Smed- 
ley. Commodore Dexter is popular not only with 
the members of his own club, but with the other clubs 
as well, and has done much to bring the four Detroit 
organizations in closer and more friendly relationship. 
During the first year of its career the club had two 
catboats built for the use of its members. These little 
boats were thoroughly enjoyed, until they were burned 
in a conflagration which completely destroyed the 
beautiful home of the club. This fire occurred in the 
fall of 1901. 
Although the assets of the Detroit Boat Club Yachts- 
men were entirely wiped out by this disaster, the mem- 
bers set to work with a will, and by the ensuing spring 
had their magnificent home ready for occupancy, and 
three new catboats constructed. These catboats were 
built from a design furnished by Mr. Wm. E. Dyer, a 
club member, and were much of an improvement over 
their predecessors. In 1903 three more boats were 
constructed, but two, however, had to be rejected on 
account of inferior workmanship and material. The 
contract was recently let for two more of these boats, 
so that by the opening of the season there will be a 
fleet of six one-design boats. Regular club races for 
these little fellows are scheduled during the season. 
The course laid out is a small one^ and is only sailed 
around once. This constitutes a heat, and a certain 
number of percentage points, according to the position 
in which the boat finished is credited, not to the boat, 
but to the man who sailed her. Instead of entering 
the iDoats in a race, those desiring to enter the con- 
tests, have to enter their own names. The ^ courses 
laeing short, as many as six heats have been sailed in a 
day, and in each event a new skipper officiates. At the 
end of the season prizes are awarded the best sailors, 
according to their rating or percentage. The prizes 
given the successful competitors are rather unique, but 
useful, and consist of oilskins, sweaters, sou'westers, 
boots, etc., for the individual races, and for the season's 
honors, silver cups and other trophies of value. 
One of the achievements of the club was_ the forma- 
tion of the syndicate of fifteen in the spring of 1900 
to build a yacht to contest for the Canada's cup. The 
boat was built by the Hanley Construction Co., of 
Quincy, Mass., and delivered to the Yachtsmen early 
the following summer. She was named Cadallac, and 
as she is so well known, little need be said of her 
career as a racing craft. 
In order to encourage the building of a seaworthy 
class of boats, adapted for afternoon sailing on the 
Detroit River, and at the same time useful for short 
cruises, the Yachtsmen have just adopted restrictions 
for a i6ft. knockabout. These restrictions are prac- 
tically the same as those in use by the Lake Skiflf Sail- 
ing Association of Lake Ontario. The Yachtsmen 
are now making an effort to induce as many as pos- 
sible of the other clubs in their vicinity to adopt the 
same rules, so as to secure some amount of uniformity 
in the classes below 21ft., and their efforts promise to 
be successful. 
The present membership of the Yachtsmen^ numbers 
more than one hundred and is increasing rapidly from 
year to year. All members of the Detroit Boat Club are 
eligible to membership. While a great many of the 
trophies, along with the boat club proper, were de- 
stroyed in the fire of 1901, a number of handsome cups 
and flags have been acquired since that time. The 
Yachtsmen are now getting out a very handsome 
souvenir booklet, containing a short history of the 
club, its constitution and by-laws, a list of the merti- 
bers, the restrictions governing the new i6ft. cabin 
class, a description of the catboats, and rules governing 
catboat racing, and an announcement of the principal 
regattas for the season of 1904. 
The home of the Detroit Boat Club was designed by 
Mr. Alpheus Williams Chittenden, a well-known architect 
of Detroit. The club house is a most practical and hand- 
some structure and compares most favorably with any 
cf the large yacht or country clubs in the East. 
British Letter. 
The news that the Watson yawl Sybarita has been sold 
to an American owner, Mr. W. Gould Brokaw, brings up 
the much debated question as to her powers of speed, 
which have been variously described by different writers. 
Perhaps no large racing yacht of recent years has been 
so little tried under favorable conditions as Sybarita, and 
her career as a first-class racer has been so patchy and 
meteoric that it is very difficult to get a true idea as to 
how she would rank in all weathers with the German 
Emperor's famous old yawl. Meteor, or Mr. Kenneth 
Clark's cutter Kariad. 
Sybarita, it may be remembered, was built in 1900 for 
the "late Mr. Whittaker Wright, and she first hoisted 
fighting colors in Kiel Harbor in June of that year, when 
she sailed a series of six or seven races, in which her 
chief opponent was Meteor. As the writer was present at 
the Kiel regattas of that year, and as he sailed on board 
Sybarita on more than one occasion, perhaps his opinion 
of the relative merits of the two vessels may be considered 
interesting. Sybarita carried away her topmast at the 
commencement of the first race, and of course gave up; 
in the remainder of the matches she led Meteor home 
every time, but in the last one, off Travemiinde, she was 
only about half a minute ahead at the finish. The weather 
was for the most part light, and in very soft airs Sybarita 
showed a distinct superiority. In moderate breezes there 
v,'as little difference between the two, but at times Meteor 
appeared decidedly faster, especially to windward. The 
two boats . never met in a blow, and the only time Sybarita 
was highly tried by wind and sea was in a private race 
round Ailsa Craig against Kariad. Both vessels started 
with two reefs down and Kariad, in spite of her in- 
feriority in size (and rig for such hard weather), hung 
on to Sybarita in a wonderful way over two-thirds of the 
course. The yawl, however, shook out a reef in the free 
reach home, and just managed to beat her gallant little 
rival by a narrow margin. Sybarita won, but by so little 
that it may be considered a moral defeat, in view of the 
disparity in size of the boats and the conditions of 
weather, and there can be little question that had Meteor 
been there she would have been many minutes ahead of 
both. Sybarita subsequently became the property of Mr. 
Myles B. Kennedy, and sailed a score or more of races 
against Kariad in the Mediterranean in the spring of 
1901. However, the vessel was badly sailed, and lost 
nearly every race. She had not the advantage of a first- 
class skipper or crew, and cut a very different figure at 
the Riviera regattas, and subsequently in a few home 
races, to what she did in her first season in the able hands 
of Charles Bevis and a strong crew, and Mr. Kennedy 
threw up racing with her long before the season was o'lt. 
The probability is that Sybarita is the fastest light 
weather vessel Watson ever turned out, Kariad perhaps 
excepted, but we think that the stronger the wind the less 
marked will be her superiority among vessels of her own 
class. However, if the news is true that her new owrcr 
intends to race her at all the principal British handici;j 
races during the season, and that Robert Gomer is to have 
charge of her, we shall be able to get a very good line as 
to her qualities before the season is out. It may be said 
that Sybarita is a handsome vessel, and is very comfort- 
ably fitted below. 
In giving a list of noteworthy new vessels in our h^st 
letter, omission was made of an important addition to 
the handicap fleet in the shape of the new Nicholson c it- 
ter, Merrymaid. This vessel was launched at the end of 
April, and should be an acquisition to the fleet. She is 
98ft. over all, 68ft. loin. on the waterline, breadth 18ft., 
and draft of water just over 12ft. She is very stron.^ly 
built, with wooden frames, strengthened where necessary 
with steel, planked with teak, and has been built v/ith a 
view to comfort as well as speed, for she is very v eil 
f.tted up below. Her tonnage is 106 tons. MerrynvMd 
will probably make her debut in the London Ri-.er 
matches. 
It seems practically certain that the German and 
Ostend regattas will cut pretty badly into the Clyde Fo-t • 
nightly again this season. Of course, it cannot be den:'ed 
that the foreign regattas offer different attractions thar, 
the home races, and make a very pleasant form of ho i- 
day for the busy man if he is able to spare the time to 
attend them, but it does seem a thousand pities that t'l: 
ancient glory of the Scotch races should be dimmed by 
the defection of British owners, for the absence cf a 
good fleet from the Clyde means a good deal more than 
a mere reduction in spectacular effect; it means loss of 
prestige to the fine old sporting clubs of the North, and 
a great loss of trade to the shopkeepers of the viciniiy, 
which is in itself a serious thing. It seems probable that 
neither Borea nor Oaldora will this year be present on 
the Clyde, and as they made the backbone of the racing 
in the big class last season, it is difficult to see how a 
collapse of the class can be averted. Perhaps something 
may yet be done to avert such a disaster, but so far it 
does not look likely. E. H. Kelly. 
Secretary Atlantic Y. C. Resigns. — Owing to ill 
health, Mr. T. Alfred Vernon, secretary of the Atlar.tic 
Y. C, has resigned from office. 
1^ 8^ 
Death of William A. Hamilton. — Vice-Commodore 
William A. Hamilton, of the Riverside Y. C, died at his 
residence in New York city on Tuesday, May 24. 
DETROIT BOAT CLUB EXTERIOR VIEWS, 
