542 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 6, 1906. 
THE'END OF THE SEASON. 
The last of the races are over, and with the 
fall of the leaves the yachts have been turned 
over to their keepers in winter quarters. The 
yachtsmen and yachtswomen have gone back to 
the towns to pursue their pleasure or their busi¬ 
ness, and our coast is left to the seafarers who 
face alike the summer zephyrs and the wintry 
blasts. 
Winter yachting or cruising is already begun. 
Rumors are current that some of the largest of 
our fine fleet of pleasure vessels are fitting out, 
some for foreign waters, others for the south. 
The season just closing has been memorable in 
many ways and very satisfactory. It has shown 
a growth and an increasing love of the sport for 
large and small vessels. The best interpretation 
of the matter is that yachting as yachting has 
undergone much change in public opinion for the 
better, and the masses do not any longer look 
upon it with hostility, calling it the pastime of 
the affluent. 
There are few people—living near our beautiful 
coast with its many waterways extending far 
inland—who do not realize what the small boat 
is, and is doing, to bring the people to scenes 
well suited to induce rest and recreation, and 
provide that solitude and isolation from noise 
and care which are the chief aims of most vaca¬ 
tions and holidays. 
The coming of an Irish baronet to our shores 
is bringing out much talk about a challenge for 
the cup won in England by the schooner yacht 
America many years ago. We have pointed out 
at times that the interest in yachting did not 
depend upon an America’s cup race for its pros¬ 
perity; in fact, it is the reverse. 
The discussion, of the rating rule and the plans 
for the future, is in evidence, and all signs point to 
much activity and interest. There is nothing to 
be more hoped for than the crystallization of the 
projects to bring the sport of yachting to a 
higher degree of perfection during the coming 
winter. 
May those contemplating building expedite 
their plans, ther-eby avoiding in the spring that 
hurry and haste that are disagreeable not only 
for the owner, but for the artisans, the builders, 
the naval architects and the brokers who carry 
on the active business, of yachting. 
Katrina. 
The schooner yacht Katrina, owned by Mr. 
James B. Ford, New York Y. C., is a well- 
known schooner, and which for many years has 
been doing good service. Mr. Ford lives aboard 
his ship for nearly four months in the year, and 
cruises eastward from New York, though not 
doing any racing. Katrina was designed by A. 
Cary Smith and built of steel by Henry Piep- 
grass at City Island as far back as 1888. Since 
that time, when Katrina was a sloop, she was 
soon converted into a yawl, and for the last seven 
years has worn schooner rig. 
Mr. Ford is always in the New York Y. C. 
crnise and enters the port to port runs. The 
ability of the old ship with started sheets is 
amazing in a breeze, and she has won many 
cups. Besides, she is a comfortable boat, and 
an hospitable one, which is much more. 
Boston Letter. 
Just as man often lays -plans for the future, 
half seriously, half dreaming, in the brief interval 
between the moment when his head touches the 
pillow at night and the next moment when sleep 
claims him, so now, although our sonderklasse 
boats are fast being stripped for the winter, 
there is a slight opportunity to look ahead and 
formulate rosy dreams for 1907 before the rush 
of business claims the racing yachtsmen. 
Maj. Chas. Playden. of Geo. Guild’s staff, 
furnishes the spark that ignites the moment’s 
impulse to gossip and dream of further sonder¬ 
klasse events. He has offered the Regatta Com¬ 
mittee of the Eastern Y. C. seven cups for 
races in that class. While his offer is without 
conditions, it has been suggested that the fol¬ 
lowing disposition be made of these trophies. 
In the first place, it. is anticipated that Mr. 
Trenor L. Park’s success with Vim, and the 
spirit of absolute impartiality which the Eastern 
Y. C.’s committee showed to all competitors in 
its elimination races last August, will result in 
a very considerable number of boats from the 
vicinity of New York appearing at the starting 
line next summer when three boats will be 
selected to go to Kiel as representatives of this 
country in the coming match for the Kaiser’s 
cup. Seizing upon.this expected opportunity to 
promote another inter-city match (and at the 
same time lessening the field from which the 
committee must make its final selection) it is 
proposed that elimination races be held in both 
New York and Boston waters, and that the three 
best boats in each series compose a sextet for 
the finals. Each of these six boats to be 
awarded a Hayden trophy for her success in the 
preliminary eliminatory series, and the seventh 
Hayden cup to become the property of the boat 
making the best showing in the finals. 
There is much to commend such a proposal. 
It will increase mutual respect between New 
York and Boston yachtsmen, add a flavor of 
local partisanship to the trials and give all hands 
a somewhat broader opportunity to demonstrate 
the qualities of their individual boats than was 
afforded last summer. It might be urged that 
one locality might produce the six best boats 
of the combined fleets, so that the finals would 
result in three good boats meeting three medi¬ 
ocre craft. Supposing such an improbable con¬ 
dition did come to pass—America would be rep¬ 
resented, nevertheless, by its three best boats, 
and the city which produced the inferior fleet 
would have obtained a certain share of the booty 
that otherwise would not have rewarded its best 
efforts. And there would certainly be far less 
chance of the elimination series being held in 
a streak of one-condition-weather. . It would be 
exceedingly interesting, for instance, if by a 
freak of wind conditions New York sent three 
heavy-weather and Boston three light-weather 
boats into the finals. 
The great objection to the scheme is that it 
is not yet an assured fact that the races at 
Kiel next summer will be contested with boats 
of the sonderklasse. It is true that certain 
newspaper editors, or a certain newspaper 
editor, insists that it must and will be a sonder¬ 
klasse match, but unfortunately for his peace of 
mind, lie is neither the Eastern Y. C., the Ger¬ 
man Emperor, nor Grand Vizier for either of 
them. 
However, the scheme, as such, is admirable 
and might well be adopted whether the boats 
sent are from the sonderklasse, Q class, or any 
other class. And so the generosity shown by 
Maj. Hayden is certain to be acclaimed by the 
entire body of racing yachtsmen. It will be re¬ 
called that the Major offered to give a cup for 
competition between the Bonidrei, Windrim Kid 
and Vim, in the hope of finally settling the ques¬ 
tion as to which is really the fastest of the class. 
But such a series coming in the wake of the 
International event would have been decidedly 
anti-climactical, and so was wisely abandoned. 
The Orestes-Soya match has given the local 
interest in class Q just the filip that has been 
needed, and inquiries are now being heard on 
every hand. Messrs. Burgess & Packard already 
have two orders for owners, whose names must 
be temporarily withheld. Write out your guess, 
dear reader, paste it in your hat, and when the 
names are later announced, be ready to shout, 
“I knew It.” 
Meanwhile let me whet your curiosity with one 
more mystery which may, and may not, crystal- 
ize into something tangible. Three of our best 
designers are planning to merge interests, to 
form a hard and fast partnership, and I’ll con¬ 
cede that if they do so, they will come reason¬ 
ably near cornering the local market for designs 
and brokerage. 
The past week has afforded Boston a great 
sensation, a regular frolic, in fact. Everybody 
who knows anything about yachts, their ap¬ 
pearance, speed and accommodations; every¬ 
body who knows our New England coast; every¬ 
body who knows our Chinese exclusion law; all 
these people and a vast array of newspaper men 
whose “stories” cause one to suspect that a nose 
for news and a nose for facts cannot grow on 
one and the same face; everybody, I repeat, has 
been on the qui vive for the outcome of the 
rumored attempt of the schooner yacht Frolic 
to smuggle thirty-three Chinamen into this 
country from Halifax. Every schooner yacht 
that has come into a New England harbor the 
past six days has been a “suspect”; every 
schooner that has passed within sight of a life 
saving station has been the Frolic, every tug, 
menhaden fisherman, every steamer following 
within six miles of such a schooner has been 
a revenue cutter armed to the teeth, belching 
forth blank and solid shots, straining every 
sinew to overtake the smuggler. The daily 
press chased the Frolic from Highland Light to 
Cuttyhunk without capturing her. although the 
revenue cutter Gresham was but four miles 
astern. The funny part was that they did not 
let the Gresham capture, burn and sink her in 
the first two hours. Now, if it had only been 
the stately Dexter, why they could have strung 
the story out for weeks, because even a power 
tender could give Dexter a long run. 
Frolic, the real Frolic, is about 5°ft. long, 
about fifty years old, and would have about one 
chance in fifty of pulling off such a smuggling- 
expedition successfully. Moreover, she is owned 
by two reputable men who would hardly allow 
her to be used for such purposes. But the 
rumor once started there has been no chance for 
fact to catch it. Just imagine thirty-three men 
hidden in the cabin of a 50ft. schooner. Just 
imagine landing them in a body anywhere on 
our coast without detection. Well, if you think 
the days of romance are still at hand, I'll admit 
that you are right if you will confine your state¬ 
ment to the average Johnny in the- city room 
of our big dailies. 
This week will see two local schools of naval 
architecture reopen for the season. They are 
the John Hawes Fund School, South Boston, 
which has a class twice a week for. instruction 
in yacht designing, and splendid instruction. It 
