440 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 3, 1905. 
OCEAN RACE WON BY ATLANTIC. 
As WE wfite the fepoft feaches us that the schooner 
AtMiitie has iiot_t)ill|- wOli the faee. froffl Sandy Hook to 
i^^ Lizard fbr thg Ogeati Cup pfeseilted hf the German 
Emperor, iiut lias made the passage in the feford time tSf 
twelve days and a haif. This is ah Houfl^ a^i^^ragg tif 
over ten miles. Under the conditions that have ^ire- 
vailed we did not see how the resuh could have been 
otherwise. 
This is a great achievement for Mr. William Gardner, 
the vessel's designer, and Captain Charles Barr, her 
skipper. Our congratulations to Mr. Wilson Marshall, 
Atlantic's sporting- Owner, and to Mr. Frederick M. Hoyt, 
who aeted as navigator, and to whose ability and judg- 
iiigiit liiueh of the credit of the victory is due. 
Forest and Stream's story of the race has be§ri Wfittin 
by Atlantic's navigator and will be published as soon as it 
is received from abroad. This story will be supplemented 
by copies of the logs of several of the boats. 
The Sofal Thames Y. d 
'f'HE Royal Tharries Y. C., .one of the oldest ^ctcht 
racing clubs in existence, has its headquarters and qlub 
house at No. 7 Albemarle street, Piccadilly, London, 
a house designed by Robert Adam, one of the celebrated 
brothers Adam of Adelphi fame, and in the seventeenth 
century this house was the residence of the • French 
Ambassador of that period. The Royal Thames Y. C. 
is a lineal descendant of the old yacht racing club, the 
Cumberland Fleet, which was founded in the year 177S, 
under the following circumstances: In 1775 the fist 
rowing regatta ever held in England took place upon 
the Thames, and several very respectable gentlemen, 
proprietors of sailing vessels and pleasure boats, held 
a ffleetinf, and decided that on the regatta day they 
would draw tip in line opposite Ranelagh Gardens and 
watch the competing rowing boats. On July 6 of the 
same year H.R.H. Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumber- 
land (a brother of George IlL, and an admiral in the 
Britisn navy), announced his intention of giving a 
silver Cup to be sailed for on July 11, the course being 
froffl Westminster Bridge to Putney Bridge and back, 
and the boats had to be pleasure sailing boats from 
two to five tons burden, and constantly lying above 
London Bridge. This was the commencement of the 
Cufflberlafld fleet; and the first comillodore of the 
dub Was a Mr. Smith, Who held office until about 1779. 
The t)uke of Cufflberland gave a silver cup each year 
Of the value df twenty 'guineas, and the Cufflberland 
fleet had the white ensign, but without the St. George's 
Cross in the fly, and their burgee Was a white one With 
an equal ariried red croSS Ort it, The White ensign they 
ti§fed. uiitii i§42, when the Admiralty took it aWay from 
the, Moyai Thames Y. C., as well as frOffl several other 
elubs .that had the right Of flying it, only allowing the 
Mpyal Yacht SquadrOn to contiiiue its use. In the year 
182^ the mfemberS Of the Cumberland fl.eet had a great 
dispute. over the prize in- comiCction with a race sailed 
frOiii Biackwaii tO COal House Point below GrayeSend 
in hO'iiO.r Of the Coronation of King George IV., and 
the upshot Of this dispute Was the formation of the 
preseiit Royal Thanles Y. C. The first match of the 
Thaiiiei Y. C. was held on Sept. g, 1823, for a cup 
Valued at twenty-five guineas when the members sailed 
from Biackfriars and finished at Cumberland Gardens. 
In 1B40 the above bridge matches were given up, and 
since then the Royal Thanies Y. C. has gradually_ been 
driven, by the river traffic and the changed conditioris 
of yacht racing lower and lower down the river, until 
it has now reached the extreme limit of the Thames, 
and holds its races at Southend. It seems strange that 
such an old and important yachting club as the Royal 
Thames Y. C. should not possess a club house on the 
coast. The only home it has is the club house in 
Albemarle street; convenient enough, no doubt, when 
the races started from Vauxhall, but Albemarle street 
is rather too far a cry from the sea. However, with 
such a large number of members— there are over 800 — 
and with their hard-working and practical committee, 
it should not be long before the Royal Thames Y. _C. 
has a club house on the sea front worthy of its dis- 
tinguished career and position. 
At present the Royal Thames Y. C. is without a com- 
modore. Lord Brassey having recently resigned, his 
numerous engagements preventing him, from holding 
that important position which has been occupied by 
the King (when Prince of Wales), General Lord Alfred 
Paget, and other distinguished personages. The vice- 
commodore is Mr. R. Hewett, the rear-commodore Mr. 
Theodore Pym, and the secretary (to whom we are 
greatly indebted for assistance in connection with this 
present article and illustrations of the club house) is 
Lieutenant-Colonel C. B. G. Dick, while Colonel 
Wilkinson fills the post of cup bearer to the Royal 
Thames Y. C. The club house is full of interest to 
yachting men, the walls of the smoking room on the 
ground floor being hung with valuable and quaint old 
prints of yachts, giving the history of yacht racing 
practically from the formation of the club until the 
present day. In this room there is a cap belonging to 
one of the rowers of the commodore's barge of the old 
Cumberland fleet, a most uncomfortable-looking leather 
head-covering adorned with a large silver "C," and 
beside this hat rests one of the old club, buttons, and 
the chairman's ivory gavel, bearing the. inscription 
''Cumberland Fleet," which is still used at every annual 
meeting, while on one of the tables there is a splendid 
mull, handsomely mounted in silver, which was pre- 
sented to the club by one of the members. 
In the inner hall, framing the doorwjfy of the smok- 
ing room, is a large case, containing the fflO§t prized 
possession of the Royal Thames Y. C, viz., the Old 
white ensigns and flags belonging to the Cumberland 
fleet,- which Were presented by Mr. Richard Taylor, 
grandson Of the. then cOfflfflodore. A fine staircase as- 
cends from the inner hall to the dining and card rooms, 
and on the landing staiids art ininiertse specimen of a 
polar bear, given to the club by Mr. A. Barclay Walker. 
The dining room is a large and pleasant apartfflent, 
containing several paintings of past and present of?lcerg 
of the club, including a large painting of the King, who, 
as mentioned before, was commodore when Prince of 
Wales; one of the present vice-commodores, Mr. R. 
Hewett; a small portrait of the Duke of Cumberland; 
and a large portrait by Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A., of 
General Lord Alfred Paget. The last-named was 
elected in 1S40, Was vice-cofflfflodore 1845 to 1846, com- 
modore 1846 to 1874, and on H.R.H. the Prince of 
AVales (Ouf present King), becoming commodore in 
1^74, became vice-cofflmodore again, and held that 
pOgitiOn until his death in 1888. There are also two 
fflo§t interesting old paintings in this room. One is a 
portrait of Robert Williams, captain of the Cumberland 
fieei, and treasurer Of the . Thaffies Y. C. from 1823 to 
1832; the . other facing this picture is Of Cofflmodore 
William Harrison, standing beside the cup given by 
British Letter. 
The Algiers-Toulon Motor BoAf RAcfi.— -The cfowffl- 
ing point appears at last to have been feaC'hed m the far- 
cical attempts to run the useless and egg'shel-l-built radrsg 
motor launches of the present day over Courses on th« 
opefl sea, In the Algiers-Toulon motor boat fa<s'e recent- 
ly organized by a Paris newspaper, seven launches started 
and, getting caught ki a breeze, the whole fleet caflle tC 
grief, some foundering and the others being abandoned 
or taken in tow in a helpless condition by the convoying 
'cruisers and destroyers. To show what a divergence af 
opinion is possible on the advisability of sigJiding these 
frail craft over such hazardous courses, the newspapef 
responsible for the contest called it "the greatest mating 
enterprise atternpted by human genius since Christopher 
Columbus," while the commander of the destroyer Pertqi- 
sane described the abortive race more tersely btft with 
much mofe practical sagacity as "simply madness." As 
far as can be gathered,- no lives have been lost, thanks to 
the fact that there Were plenty of war vessels in attencf-- 
ance, but the absolute Uselessness of the flimsy racing 
motor launch for any practical purpose has been proved 
up to the hilt, and in no Country more than in France, 
where they are all the rage. It is to be hoped that 
this lesson will be taken advantage of and that a 
better class of boat may be the outcoffle, otherwise some 
fearful disaster is sure, sooner or latef, to result frorni 
the reckless racing of these ephemeral arid costly toys. 
To show what can be done by this new type of teat wheffl 
ATLANTIC. 
^^■inner of the Transatlantic Race for the Ocean Cup. Designed by William Gardner and owned by Wilson Marshall. 
Photo by James Burton. 
the Royal Thames Y. C. in honor of the coronation of 
Queen Victoria, and sailed for on July 3, 1838. The 
card room is a cosy little room on the same floor as 
the dining room, and there are some interesting models 
and a print of the Cambria passing Sandy Hook Light- 
ship, the winner of the Anglo-American Atlantic yacht 
race in 1870. This year the Royal Thames Y. C. has 
had several most successful river matches at Southend, 
races from Dover to Boulogne and back, and the Nore 
to Dover, besides matches in Dover Bay. The tonnage 
belonging to the Royal Thames Y. C. is about 52,000 
tons, and some of the finest racing yachts afloat are 
owned by its members. — From the Ladies' Field. 
Catboat Devil Launched. — On Saturday, May 27, 
there was launched at Montell's yard, Greenwich, Conn., 
the racing catboat Devil, built from designs made by Mr. 
Llenry J. Gielow for Mrs. F. J. Havens. Devil is 20ft. 
6in. over all, 13ft. waterline, 7ft. breadth and ift. pin. 
draft. She has water-tight compartments fore and aft, a 
water-tight cockpit and 700 lbs. of outside ballast. The 
boat will be painted red and her sail will be of the same 
color. Mrs. Havens will race the boat on Gravesend Bay 
whenever there is a class for her. Mr. F. J. Havens is 
well known on Gravesend Bay and is a member of the 
Atlantic Y. C- and the Marine and Field QuK 
it is substantially built on sensible seagoing lines, Napier 
Major, a low power cruising motor boat, has lately made 
a successful voyage from the Thames to the Shetland 
Islands. She encountered all sorts of weather, but after 
she was , fitted with a mizzenmast and sail to keep her 
head to sea in a blow, she appears to have behaved very 
well and to have given every satisfaction. That is the 
kind of boat people want, and the type which _ will be 
general when the present ridiculous craze for racing high 
powered launches of extremely weak construction has 
died out, or been killed by a series of dreadful accidents. 
Lloyds Yacht Register for 1905.— Lloyds Yacht Reg- 
ister has appeared this year in a different shape for the 
first time since its first appearance in 1878. This, how- 
ever, will not be a surprise to anybody who has traced 
the steady increase in bulk ef each successive volume, the 
only regret being that the collection will no longer be of 
a uniform size. On the other hand, it is satisfactory to 
note that the number of yachts increases each year, and • 
that Great Britain easily holds leading place among the 
list of nations as regards both the number and tonnage 
of her pleasure fleet, though there are more large steam 
yachts in America than in England. 
Windward Qualities of Old and New Boats. — ^Writ- ' 
ing a few weeks back in one of our yachting journals, 
Mr. R. E. Froude, the eminent mathernatician and navajl 
architect, made the astounding statement that the ol^r 
i 
