180 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 27, 1904. 
Robert H. McCurdy's Schooner Lasca winning the Eastern Y. C.'s Ocean Race from Sea Gate to Marblehead. 
Photo by N. L. Stcbbins, Boston. 
The Schooner Lasca* 
Mr. Robert H. McCurdy's schooner Lasca, which boat 
won the 330-mile ocean race from Sea Gate to Marble- 
head, last July, is not only a very seaworthy vessel, 
but fast as well. During the three years she was under 
German ownership, she won, among other races, the 
one around Heligoland in the summer of 1902 for the 
Kaiser's cup. In the Atlantic Y. C.'s 300-mile ocean 
contest, a year ago, she was beaten only by the new 
Herreshoff schooner, Ingomar. The Lasca's mam 
sheet parted twice, during the latter contest, owing to 
a defective block. The race last July, although made 
in slow time, the course was 330 miles and the Lasca 
took 73h. 54m. 13s. to go over it, was an excellent test 
both as to handling and speed, beginning in a flat 
calm off Sea Gate, but ending in a 10-knot breeze and 
forty-eight hours of impenetrable fog. 
Lasca was built in 1892 at City Island by Henry 
Piepgras from designs by A. Cary Smith. She is con- 
structed of steel, is 89ft. 9in. waterline and 119ft. over 
all The scenes of her cruises include the Mediter- 
ranean, Newfoundland, Labrador and the West Indies. 
Lasca will spend the summer cruising about the Maine 
coast. 
Babylon Y. C. Officers— At a meeting of the Babylon 
Y C held on August 18, the following officers were 
elected : Com., J. S. S. Remsen ; Sec'y, Joseph Lawrence ; 
Treas., Charles Searle. Directors-officers are Benjamin 
B Wood, John C. Robbins, John S. Foster, James Magee, 
John Snedecor, J. F. Oltrogge, T. Frank Shortland and 
E. A. Godding. The club now has a membership of thirty, 
and the new club house has been completed. The formal 
opening and the first race will take place on September 3. 
New York Y. G Cruise. 
BY DUNCAN CURRY. 
Monday, August 15— New London to Newport, 40 Miles. 
For the first time since the yachts started on Friday, 
the New York Y. C. fleet, who were on their annual cruise 
tc the eastward, had a fine and favoring breeze for their 
AO-mile run from New London to Nowport on Monday, 
and the result was some splendid racing, and close finishes 
w*re the rule rather than the exception. • 
For the second time during the cruise, W. Gould 
Brokaw's newly imported British yawl Sybarita had the 
honor of leading the fleet into port. She not only sailed 
a splendid race, but she defeated the 70-footer Yankee, 
which was the second boat to finish, by nearly urn. 
elapsed time, and one can't but regret that neither the 
Vigilant nor Ailsa was out to take her measure, or there 
might be a different story to tell. 
Practically it was a spinnaker run all the way, as the 
yachts had a fair sailing breeze from the W.-N. W. to 
Race Rock. Here the wind shifted to S.W. and the 
yachts set spinnakers to starboard and carried them to 
Point Judith, where they gybed over and reset spinnakers 
to port and carried them to the finish line off Brenton's 
Reef lightship. 
The 70-footers and 60-footers again furnished splendid 
sport. In the 70ft. class W. K. Vanderbilt, Jr., who had 
been sailing Virginia in a rather indifferent manner in the 
first two squadron runs, took a sudden brace, and sur- 
prised everyone bv making a desperate race .with Yankee, 
fighting every foot of the 40 miles, and, after a neck-and- 
neck finish, was only beaten by 46s. elapsed time by the 
Maxwell boat, while Rainbow was beaten by 9m. 
In the 60ft. class, Neola and Weetamoe furnished 
equally good sport, Neola finishing first, but losing by 23s. 
on elapsed time. 
Among, the smaller boats, Aspirant carried off all the 
honors, beating Altair nearly 5m. on elapsed time, and 
probably winning the Commodore's special cup for sloops, 
as she was only beaten 46m. by Sybarita. In the schooner 
classes, Loyal and Katrina won in the small classes, while 
Corona mot only led all of the two-stickers in, hut beat 
Emerald by over 9m. The big Constellation easily beat 
Endvmion. 
While the big Atlantic led all of the auxiliaries into 
port, she only beat Resolute by 2m. 13s. elapsed time, with 
Intrepid not far behind. 
The yachtsmen, after passing two pleasant days in New 
London, prepared to weigh anchor for Newport early on 
Monday morning, and for the first time during the cruise 
it looked as though they were going to have a fair wind, 
as at 8 o'clock, when the harbor start was made, there was 
a nice sailing breeze from the N. W. They had a head 
tide to buck,, however, and all were impatient to be off. 
The regatta committee on Alvina did not keep them 
. waiting, long, and quickly established a starting line off 
Sarah's Ledge. The preparatory gun barked out its warn- 
ing at 9 :o5, and ten minutes later the small sloops, led 
by Altair, Spasm, and Aspirant, slipped across the line, 
with booms way off to starboard and spinnakers set to 
port. Irolita, Phantom, Pellegrina, Ishkcodah, and Cym- 
bra, which followed, seemed to hold a different view of 
the conditions, as they all had their spinnakers to star- 
board. The larger sloops were started at 9:20, with Neola 
in the lead, followed by Yankee, Sybarita, Weetamoe, 
Rainbow, Virginia, and Queen Mab. Yankee, which 
crossed the line with her boom to port, gybed on the line, 
and then set her spinnaker to port, all of the others car- 
rying theirs on the other side. The small two-stickers 
were sent away at 9:25, Katrina leading, with Vahnore, 
Loyal, Mavis, and the yawl Casique following in the order 
named. All had their booms to port, spinnakers to star- 
board, and broke out big balloon jib topsails and balloon 
main topmast staysails as well. The large schooners, led 
by Emerald, came next at 9:30, and then came Corona, 
Chanticleer, Constellation, Atlantic, Idler, Vergemere, 
Endymiom Resolute, and Intrepid. Chanticleer followed 
Yankee's example, and gybed on the line, but all the 
others carried their spinnakers to port, and as the wind 
soon hauled to W. by S., all the boats carrying their spin- 
nakers to starboard had to take them in and gybe then- 
booms over for the 4-mile reach to Race Rock, as they 
could not now hold the wind in their spinnakers^. Aspir- 
ant, cleverly sailed by the Hanan brothers, was the first 
to 'pass Race Rock at 9:57:30, and the others were 
timed as follows: Sybarita, 10:00:30; Neola, 10:03; Al- 
tair, 10:04; Emerald, 10:04:30; Virginia, 10:05:30; Weet- 
amoe, 10:06:02; Yankee, 10:06:10; Rainbow, 10:06:20; 
Queen Mab, 10:08:12; Corona, 10:08:15; Katrina, 
10:08:40; Valmore, 10:09:10; Irolita, 10:10; Phantom, 
10:10:50; Chanticleer, 10:13:30; Constellation, 10:14:00; 
Resolute, 10:15:00; Cymbra, 10:16; Atlantic, 10:16:20; 
Spasm, 10:17:30; Loyal, 10:18:00; Mavis, 10:21. Then 
came Ishkoodah, Endymion, Idler,, Alcatarda,. Intrepid, 
and Vergemere. . 
When the boats got by Race Rock, all but the big 
schooners Corona, Katrina, Resolute, Endymion, and 
Sybarita, stood in close to the Fisher's Island shore to 
get out of the tide, which was running to the westward.. 
The offshore crowd, while they got more tide, also caught 
WHITE BEAR Seawanhaka Cup Challenger, 1504. 
Photo by Notman, Montreal. 
