162 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
CLIPPER DORY LINES AND CONSTRUCTION PLANS. 
Designed by Gardner & Cox. 
British Letter. 
The failure of our present rating rule to produce an 
efficient type of boat for class racing, coupled with the 
persistent neglect of the Yacht Racing Association to 
provide a table of scantlings under which racing yachts 
should be built, has resulted in the decline of class 
racing in this country to a lower point than has ever 
before been reached. The consequence is that the class 
racer has been superseded by handicap classes, re- 
stricted classes, and by one-design classes. The last 
named have increased in numbers so much of late years 
that the more ardent supporters of class racing are 
beginning to point the finger of scorn at owners of 
one-designers and to twit them with not indulging^ in 
the highest form of the sport. To this the one-design 
contingent have the ready and plausible reply that they 
cannot af¥ord a new boat every year, especially one 
which costs so much money as the modern racer, and 
which is praclically useless for any other purpose and 
IS unsalable when her racing days ?.re over. They 
furthermore take exception to the statement that theirs 
is an inferior form of yacht racing and contend that, 
on the contrary, one-design racing does far more to 
produce sound amateur yachtsmen than any amount of 
class racing.- The fact is, there is much to be said for 
both sides. Theoretically, of course, class racing is the 
highest form of the sport. 
The very latest creations in the way of naval archi- 
tecture from the board of the most celebrated pro- 
fessional designers, built and rigged at the best yards, 
with sails by the most eminent sail makers, and the 
boats steered by the most skilled skippers that are to 
be had for love or money, must necessarily ■^■^■^p^] to 
a large section of lovers of yacht racing. Moreover, 
these vessels go the rounds of the coaac ana luiui— 
or did form until recent years — the basis of the regatta 
programmes of all the principal yacht clubs, which 
bestowed their chief prizes upon the class racers', 
In practice, however, this high standard of idealism 
has many flaws. In the first place, the owner is entirely 
dependent upon the ability of the designer for the 
success or failure of his boat. Secondly, the owner of 
a yacht of 6sft. rating or upward never steers his vessel 
himself and is merely a passenger on her during a 
race, and this remark frequently applies to the smaller 
classes. Then there is the disadvantage of having the 
same designer represented by more than one boat in 
a class, for it is obvious that one of them — probably the 
very latest — must be faster than the others which will 
have to take a back seat. Then again much depends 
upon the kind of boat encouraged by the rule of 
measurement in vogue, for no man is so well off that 
he can afford to throw away his money over a type 
of vessel which is needlessly expensive, or which he 
does not consider a sufficiently good investment for his 
money. 
There is no doubt that the present day racing yacht 
is costly and unsatisfactory in many ways, chiefly by 
reason of flimsy construction, and owners have realized 
this so fully, that class racing is almost a dead letter 
and will remain so until measures are taken to im- 
prove upon the present rating rule and to insure suf- 
ficiently strong construction of hull. If the proof of 
the pudding is in the eating, the owners of one- 
designers have the best of the argument. One-design 
classes have not any of the drawbacks enumerated 
above, and although they run small as a rule, they are 
built in accordance with the requirements of owners 
and to suit the waters to which they belong. Economy 
and solidity of construction are studied, also comfort 
in the way of internal accommodation, and if they do 
not represent the latest development in naval architect- 
ure, they are for the most part convenient and handy 
boats which answer the requirements of their owners 
who have to pay the piper, and have therefore a perfect 
right to call the tune. 
The immense popularity of the monotype classes of 
Belfast Lough, Dublin Bay, and, later, of the Solent 
and the Clyde, is a sufficient answer to enthusiasts who 
will not tolerate anything else than class racing, and 
it is abundantly clear that if class racing is to be re- 
vived it must be under other conditions than obtain 
at present. With the places of first class yachts and 65- 
footers filled as they now are by two handicap classes, 
and the smaller raters, with the exception of the 52- 
footers, ousted by restricted and one-design classes, 
som.e radical changes will have to be made before yacht 
racing can be put back on its former footing. For the 
present one-design classes hold the sway among the 
smaller boats and they are invaluable as nurseries for 
the younger class of amateur yachtsmen, as they are 
nearly always steered by their owners and frequently 
manned in whole or in part by their friends. They are 
a boon to men of moderate means and, whatever their 
drawbacks, there is but little doubt that they have come 
to stay. 
The recent decision of the British Admiralty to 
moor the obsolete men-of-war they propose to get 
rid of at Spithead, in Southampton Water, and in the 
Kyles of Bute and Holy Loch, has raised quite an 
outcry in yachting circles, as all these localities are 
much frequented by yachtsmen who naturally resent the 
idea of strings of ungainly hulks being dumped down 
in such picturesque places. It certainly seems un- 
fortunate that waters so popular with the pleasure fleet 
should be disfigured by the presence of so many un- 
sightly old ships, and it is to be hoped that the re- 
monstrances forwarded by the yacht clubs to the 
Admiralty will meet with a satisfactory reply and that 
some more suitable, if less convenient, places of refuge 
may be found for these ships until they find their way 
into the ship breaker's hands. 
E . H. Kelly. , , 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., 
New York, and not to any individual cbnnec'teii with th? paper, 
