SePt, lp, 1904,]. 
FOREST * AND STREAM. 
22 7 
THE INEFFICIENCY OF RACE COMMITTEES: 
Many cases of incompetency, indifference, and flagrant 
violations of rules on the part of those in charge of yacht 
races have come to our notice during the past season. 
It is time the situation received more than passing 
attention. 
If a yacht club is to thrive and prosper and be a factor 
in the sport, it should have plenty of racing events, for it 
is this that keeps up the enthusiasm of the members. The 
racing, to be beneficial, must be of the cleanest sort, and 
to : this end only the most efficient and reliable men, who 
really have the interest of the sport and their club at 
heart, should be put in charge. 
Good men to serve on race committees are hard to find, 
for those who are qualified for the work in many cases do 
not care to serve. Frequently men accept an office in a 
club when they are not conversant with the duties of the 
position. Then again there are men whose vanity is 
touched when an office is offered them, and they agree to 
serve when they have not the remotest idea of doing any 
work. 
But that capable men are to be had there is no question, 
and this is demonstrated to the satisfaction of those who 
have ever done any racing in Massachusetts waters ; for 
there the events are invariably well handled. The Eastern 
men are not different from those elsewhere, only a little 
more enthusiastic and painstaking. There is a marked 
contrast in the way the Massachusetts clubs, both large 
and small, handle their races when compared - with the 
racing organizations in New York and on Long Island 
Sound. 
It is nt. an unusual thing to see more starters in a 
single class o» n Association race on Massachusetts Bay 
than there are in all the classes of a Sound event. This 
is true in cases where the clubs under whose auspices the 
races are given are of the same size and strength. This 
is not entirely due to the efforts of the race officials, but 
they have much to do with it. 
An interesting letter was received at this office not long 
since from a well known New York racing yachtsman, 
who is a member of numerous clubs in this vicinity, and 
this is the first season for some time past that his boat has 
not been seen in the Sound races. He decided to cruise 
this year, and went East around the Cape. When he was 
sailing into Marblehead harbor a launch came alongside 
with an Eastern Y. C. race official on board, and he was 
invited to participate in a race that was to be held that 
day. The owner of the New York boat was forced to 
refuse, as he had been sailing all night and the boat was 
loaded down with dunnage. He consented, however, to 
join the Eastern Y. C. fleet on their cruise, an invitation 
for which had also been extended. He did not get a 
prize on any of the squadron runs ; but he was deeply im- 
pressed with the clean-cut way the Race Committee went 
about their work. The boats that raced were all properly 
classified, whether cruising or racing craft, and everything 
was carried out without the slightest hitch. After each 
race and within half an hour of the time the Regatta 
Committee's boat reached the harbor, a launch was sent 
through the fleet and the owner of every boat that had 
raced received a complete type-written summary of the run, 
with the corrected times and all other details worked out 
accurately. In addition, complete instructions and sailing 
directions for the next day's run were given out. All 
this is as it should be. It is absolutely refreshing to hear 
of a series of races, and difficult ones to manage at best, 
having been handled without error or effort. 
To turn to the Sound racing again, the events at Larch- 
mont have always gone off smoothly, and for this reason 
the club has forged to the front, and is without a peer as 
a racing organization in this country. 
The following case gives a very fair idea of the manner 
in which the average small Sound club races are con- 
ducted. A club located at the western end of the Sound 
gives one or two races a season, and its Race Committee 
is composed of five men. At their annual race this year 
all the committeemen had arranged to be away, and they 
tried to fill their places as best they could. At the last 
moment they found an old racing man who would look 
after the event. As the Regatta Committee had done no 
missionary work beforehand, and the few entries they had 
secured were kept away by bad weather, the race was a 
marked fizzle. This-elub has been carried on for three 
years by its commodore. He was a good natured chap 
and a hard worker ; the rest of the officers and committee- 
men saw this, and they let him do all the work. 
Those who read in these columns the account of the 
Lipton cup races at Chicago, must have been taken aback 
by the ; |ross mismanagement of the earlier races of the 
series. We mention this to show how general and wide- 
spread is the evil of mismanagement, and that it is not 
confined to any particular section or club. 
The ocean race for the Lipton cup given by the Brook- 
lyn Y. C, would have been a very successful event had 
the affair been properly managed. The conditions govern- 
ing this match stated that no boat would be allowed to 
start if she violated the conditions outlined. This 
being the case, it was distinctly the Regatta Committee's 
duly to see that all the competitors conformed in every 
detail to the rules; and if any boat violated any rule she 
should not have been permitted to start. Yet this com- 
mittee allowed Newasi to> start and sail a 330-mile race, 
only subsequently to disqualify her for carrying a profes- 
sional navigator after she had finished second. The 
owner of the boat, some days before the race, notified the 
chairman of the committee that he was to employ 
a pilot. The decisions of almost all race com- 
mittees are final, as in this instance. Newasi's owner 
spent a good round sum putting his boat in condition for 
the contest, and then, after having sailed a capital race, 
was disqualified, simply because the Race Committee had 
neglected to do its duty in the first place. 
Newasi's owner is rated as one of the cleverest ama- 
teurs in this country. He has been a boat sailer from 
boyhood, and his racing career has been an absolutely 
clean one. He never wilfully violated a sailing rule 
or regulation, and unless advised by someone in 
authority, he would not have carried a professional in the 
ocean race, when he knew that he would be protested, 
and thus jeopardize his chances of winning a prize. The 
Regatta Committee rendered its decision without giving 
Newasi's owner a hearing, and allowing him to> explain 
and clear up a most trying situation. Such methods .give 
a very bad impression. 
This was not the only instance in which this committee 
was derelict in its duties. Newasi went outside Nan- 
tucket Shoals because the Regatta Committee failed to 
notify her owner that they had reversed their decision 
on this point at the eleventh hour. She lost four or five 
hours by going the extra distance, as the breeze was 
lightest at that juncture. Most of the boats cut across 
the shoals. When the boats reached Marblehead, no mem- 
ber of the Brooklyn Y. C. Race Committee was on hand. 
The times were taken by an Associated Press representa- 
tive and some Boston Y. C. members who happened to be 
there. The lights at the finish line were not placed as 
the sailing regulations directed, and in trying to finish, 
the winners narrowly escaped bad accidents, for they 
crossed the line in the night. 
Boat owners with large vested interests should come to 
the fore now, stop complaining about the poor racing, 
and instead see that efficient men are placed on race com- 
mittees, men who have the time and inclination to do 
some work for their clubs, men who are popular and who 
can go among owners, of both the racing and cruising 
craft and cause them to enter and start their boats. 
Special classes are easily arranged, and there should be 
classes for auxiliaries and cruisers, and good, useful, and 
substantial prizes for all. 
We believe great improvement may be achieved by a 
change in this direction. Some good, healthy reorganiza- 
tion on the part of many of the race committees would 
infuse the sport with new life and vigor. 
British Letter. 
The rumor that Napier Minor has been disqualified for 
the British International cup turns out to be quite cor- 
rect, and the cup has been awarded to Trefle-a-Quatre, 
and is now consequently held by France. It appears that 
after the race, M. Brasier, in whose name the French 
boat was entered, lodged a protest against Napier Minor 
on the ground that as she had been beaten in the elimi- 
nating race by Napier II., she was not qualified to run. 
It will be remembered that in the said race Napier II. 
won by several seconds, but came to grief herself through 
being twisted round too suddenly owing to> her helm be- 
ing put hard over, and she started some of her plates 
leaking so badly that the pumps could hardly keep her 
afloat. Under the circumstances Mr. Edge determined to 
run Napier Minor, and she won easily enough, but the 
International Commission for the British International 
cup decided— and quite rightly — that Napier Minor had 
no locus standi, and Trefle-a-Quatre was declared the 
winner. Although one naturally feels that the cup has 
been won, not by the fastest boat, but on a mere technical 
point, there can be no doubt as to the wisdom of the 
Commission's decision, as in all races, especially in those 
which partake of an international character, nothing in 
the shape of irregularity should be permitted. Moreover, 
races for motor boats are, or should be, not mere tests of 
speed, but also of reliability of construction and sea- 
worthiness, and in these latter qualities Napier II. ap- 
peared sadly deficient. She started some of her bow plates 
shortly before this while running from Southampton to 
Cowes, and could not bear the strain imposed upon her 
hull by a sharp turn in smooth water. The chances are 
that, had she raced against Trefle-a-Quatre, she would 
have come to grief before the finish, and the ultimate re- 
sult would have been the same. Some people seem to 
think that Mr. Edge has a grievance because he was not 
allowed to win the race with his other boat, but if the 
conditions barred him from winning with her, there is 
nothing more to be said. If motor boat racing is ever to 
become a real sport — which it certainly is not at present — - 
owners must be satisfied to be represented by one boat, 
as in yacht racing; but while there is no doubt a great 
future in store for motor engines, as applied to yachts and 
launches, it is more than probable that the flimsy, unsea- 
worthy type of cockleshell which is to-day called the 
racing motor launch, will die a natural death in a very 
few years. It has absolutely nothing to recommend it 
beyond its extreme discomfort. Of course, like the racing 
motor car, it is a necessary evil, and, like the fast car, it 
is merely a stepping-stone to improvements in motors for 
useful and practical purposes. Racing motor launches 
are practically nothing more than trade advertisement* 
in this country, and very few private owners will give the 
exorbitant sums required for these costly and uncomfort- 
able craft. 
In the cross channel races from Calais to Dover on 
August 8, the motor boats were favored with ideal con- 
ditions. The sea was as smooth as glass, so' that fast 
times were done by the racers. England, France and Bel- 
gium were all represented, and there were six classes in 
all, and a race for fishing boats with motors. In the large 
racer class, Mercedes IV. was an easy winner, beating 
Napier Minor by over 5m. Titan II. was 4m. astern of 
Napier Minor, and Trefle-a-Quatre had some trouble with 
a valve,, and was left behind. A Belgian boat, Princess 
Elizabeth, won the race for small racers. There were 
thirty-seven boats entered in the various classes, but only 
twenty-one actually started. Mercedes IV. made the 
passage in ih. 7s. 
It is a pity that the weather was not finer for the race 
found the Isle of Wight given by the Royal Portsmouth 
Corinthian Y. C. on August 6, for it would have been 
interesting to see how Ingomar would have done over 
such a course. However, it rained so hard that out of an 
entry of thirteen, only three boats came to the line — the 
yawls Brynhild, Therese, and the schooner Adela. 
Therese was in receipt of 25m. from Brynhild, but so 
well did she sail in the fresh breeze that she finished only 
i^m. astern of hdr. 
The weather during Clyde Week was rather paltry and 
fluky, but on the whole the handicaps worked out well, 
and the racing in the 52ft. and ex-52ft. classes was keen 
and close. On the first day, August 9, Valdora just beat 
Ingomar for first prize, and the American schooner took 
second prize from White Heather by a very few seconds. 
Maymon and Camellia were the winners in the 52ft. class, 
and Gauntlet won first prize in the ex-52ft. class by 19s., 
Viola taking second prize. There was no race for the 
big boats on August 10, the principal match being a handi- 
cap for yachts over 50 but not exceeding 100 tons. The 
65-footer Zinita was fluked out of a winning position by 
Creole, and Tutty was similarly robbed of second prize 
by Palmosa. On August 11 the race for the Town cup 
produced a good entry and excellent sport. There was a 
fresh breeze and the finishes of the first seven boats on 
handicap time was wonderfully close. Therese took the 
cup with im. 5s. to spare from Rosamond, which beat 
Ingomar for second honors by 8s. Maymon won the cup 
presented by the fourth Earl of Desart, Camellia taking 
second prize and Lucida the third. Ingomar did not race 
on the closing day at Clyde, as Mr. Morton F. Plant had 
given a cup for the handicap class. Zinita won this event 
pretty easily, although she did not make a particularly 
good show to windward. Valdora and Therese took 
second and third prizes. - 
At the regatta of the Royal Southern on August 13, 
Ingomar took first honors, and in the last two matches 
she sailed under the burgee of the Royal Albert Y. C. 
at Southsea on August 15 and 16, she took a second and 
a first. The Nicholson cutter Merrymaid, which has been 
much improved by some trifling alterations, won the 
Albert cup on the first day, but on the second Ingomar 
had all the luck of a fluky day, and won her last race for 
the season, White Heather taking second prize. Her 
owner has every reason to be satisfied with her perform- 
ance, as she lias w on nineteen prizes in all, including two 
prizes for the best time over the course. Her record 
reads: Twenty-four starts, twelve firsts, four seconds, 
and one third, and the two special prizes just mentioned. 
This is a very fine record for a schooner that has had to 
sail against so many smart cutters and yawls, and one 
which a few years ago would have been looked upon as 
quite impossible to attain. E. H. Kelly. 
A Beacon fo* Plum Beach* 
Notice is hereby given that a triangular white beacon 
surmounted by a lantern cage has been erected about one 
hundred feet from the point of Plum Beach, on the 
easterly side of the entrance of Manhasset Bay, Long 
Island. 
Commencing September first, and in future during the 
yachting season, the^ Manhasset Bay Y. C. will maintain a 
red lantern upon this beacon, the purpose of which is to 
mark the extreme point of the beach, which at night, and 
particularly at high water, is very, hard to locate. 
The beacon was erected through the courtesy of Mr. 
S. H. P. Pell, who is a member of the club and owns 
Plum Beach. Edw. M. MacLellan, 
Secretary. 
