Dec. 8, 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
911 
THE SOCIETY OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS 
AND MARINE ENGINEERS. 
The yearly meeting of the Society came to a 
close on Nov. 23 with a banquet. The meeting 
as a whole showed good attendance, and the dis¬ 
cussion of the papers read was no less interest¬ 
ing than the papers themselves. The subjects 
treated chiefly of the warhip and the commercial 
side of the profession; yet there were other 
topics such as submarines, dry docks and inter¬ 
nal combustion engines. Only one paper dealt 
with yachting. 
The report of the president of the Society, 
Admiral Bowles, expressed the belief, based upon 
his observation of the conditions, that the mari¬ 
time interests of our great country were awaken¬ 
ing and that an effective pressure was being- 
brought to bear to bring about government action 
in behalf of our carrying trade. At the banquet, 
all the speeches referred to the same matter and 
urged action by Congress. 
The membership of the Society of Naval Archi¬ 
tects covers tffe whole land. Its members are 
engaged in business, in places ranging frcm 
Florida to Maine, New York to California, and 
the only opportunity of getting together is dur¬ 
ing the meetings each fall lasting at most three 
days. 
With the revival of our merchant marine, 
there is no doubt that a great development will 
take place in the building of yachts. The coun¬ 
try is growing at a rate few realize, and yacht¬ 
ing is a most enjoyable pastime. 
New York is the home of many clubs, or rather 
of many associations of men engaged in the 
pursuit of the same business here and elsewhere. 
The lawyers have their clubs and meet in them 
on a friendly basis. The architects have an as¬ 
sociation and a directing body whose office is to 
keep the business within its proper bounds, and 
prevent the' expansion of the irresponsible and 
unscrupulous man. 
Here in New York are manv men who have 
cast their lot in the field of yacht designing and 
yet they have no professional home where they 
may meet on a common basis. Each goes on his 
way with no contact or word with another who 
is pursuing the same path. Intercourse' does not 
necessarily reveal to a rival secrets which have 
taken years to acquire, but by intercourse both 
are broadened and helped on toward the great 
end to which we should all aspire. 
To attain any proficiency the yacht architect 
must be equipped by long study and practice; 
this is an art unlike all others, for it combines 
artistic sense with high engineering skill; and 
as a profession it ranks as high as any. 
Among the yacht brokers there is a question 
of forming an association for mutual protection 
and regulation in the matter of fees and com¬ 
missions. If all yachting interests were merged 
an architect would do no brokerage, but harder 
things than this question can and have been 
solved. 
The question of a permanent home other than 
a yacht club for the yachting interests should be 
considered, and it would not in any way pre¬ 
judice or hinder the Society which has done 
good fighting for the interests of the profession 
which unfortunately has lain dormant so long. 
A POWER BOAT RACE TO BERMUDA: 
In power boat circles the great topic of dis¬ 
cussion the' last few days has been the racg 
which will be started on June 8, 1907, from New 
York to Bermuda. This race is the result of a 
successful effort to race small boats at sea. Last 
year the sailing race to Bermuda proved definitely 
in the {ace of much harsh criticism that it was 
both feasible and safe. James. Gordon Bennett, 
happening to drop anchor in his steam yacht Lysis- 
trata at Bermuda, while the diminutive racers 
were there, now comes forth and offers a $1,000 
cup for the race of power boats of a seaworthy 
type not less than 40ft. nor more than 60ft. long. 
The rules and restrictions have not as yet been 
fully settled upon. 
This deep sea racing in small boats—designed 
to suit the requirements of their service—is with¬ 
out doubt one of the finest sports a man can 
turn his hand to for rest and recreation. It will 
take him away from his every day world to 
things which outside of his vessel represents 
the acme of simplicity—sea and sky—and who 
that has ever been on blue water can recall of 
two instances when the two elements seemed to 
be the same. They change, always change and 
supply that variety which is one of the sea’s 
great attractions. 
In piloting his small vessel from one distant 
point to another our sailors must use all care 
and judgment, and it is as much to them to make 
a good landfall as to the captain of a big sail¬ 
ing ship ninety days out. It must be so, for un¬ 
less one is a seaman, such long journeys cannot 
be indulged in except as a matter of business. 
There is practically no danger, and at the time 
of the year, June—there are no cyclonic dis¬ 
turbances. We have often referred to the fisher¬ 
men who sail from 1,000 to 3,000 miles from 
their homes to the banks in search of fish. If 
some meet with disaster, the percentage is small, 
especially when it is considered that they go in 
the foulest weather; across the North Sea to Ice¬ 
land, and North Atlantic to Newfoundland. 
This sea racing is going to do great good; it 
has already started a strong and stalwart off¬ 
shoot from the racing yachtsman, it is training 
men in the art of navigation, bringing out re¬ 
source and energy, and above all that sea spirit 
such as no other nation enjoyed fifty years ago, 
and which made our ships and our seamen known 
the world over. 
A sign of the times is certainly shown by the 
number of yacht captains who are studying under 
Captain Howard Patterson at the New York 
Nautical College. These men will then obtain, 
after appearing before the United States au¬ 
thorities, licenses to act as masters for any ocean 
and pilots in the highest'class. Time was when 
owners did not go so far afield—but now, that 
cruising eastward and southward is so much en¬ 
joyed, a master must be ready at any time to go 
anywhere. 
Boston Letter. 
The time has arrived when yachtsmen divide 
into their three classes, when the lines of de¬ 
marcation are most closely drawn and become 
readily apparent to even the casual observer. 
The yachtsman whose interest is due to a 
desire to conform with what he considers the 
fashion in summer, has long since given final 
orders to his sailing master and is now devoted 
to the seasonable sports as the whirligig of 
time brings each forward for its momentary 
pre-eminence. Never a thought of yachting 
crosses his mind, nor will one until the general 
exodus from the city marks the month of May. 
The yachtsman whose sport is purely recrea¬ 
tion is now plunged in the strife which ebbs 
and flows unceasingly about the money marts. 
At the week end he rests his mind with a pleas¬ 
ant recollection of last summer’s racing or 
cruising, but not for months will he reach the 
stage where future plans are conceived and then 
matured. 
The final division of the clan, the smallest 
component part of the yachting world, never 
abandons the sport which furnishes the vital 
spark to its existence. This- little knot of en¬ 
thusiasts ever eat, drink, sleep, talk and live a- 
yachting, stumbling, scrambling, battling, drift¬ 
ing, through the avocations from which they 
wring the wherewithal with which to obey the 
sea their eyes ever behold the gleam of waters 
rippled by breezes and caressed by sun or moon. 
No cares ever recruit old men from these ranks, 
no sorrows bhght or wither them; gray beards, 
white hairs, are but as badges of experience; 
personal possessions, friends, relatives, all come 
and go with them, the sport goes on forever; 
their hearts are ever young, their spirits ever 
boyish. With them the faitliless friend, the un¬ 
scrupulous business connect'on, are. like mis¬ 
placed buoys, a momentary cause of anxiety— 
and as soon forgotten. 
These men listen as readily to good advice 
on yachting subjects as do regular church at¬ 
tendants to the spiritual counsel of their pastor, 
and need it as little. Just as the preacher, look¬ 
ing down from his pulpit and recognizing each 
face in his faithful flock, realizes that his warn¬ 
ings are not needed by his hearers but only by 
those who never come to hear them, so, too, the 
writer for the yachting weekly, weekly feels the 
stinging knowledge that his congregation is as 
fit to advise as he; that those whom he may 
profitably counsel are, from October to June, 
without the circle in which his Words ring forth 
and die away. 
The favorite retreat of the minister, under 
such circumstances, is in descriptions of biblical 
days and ways. The yachting writer might, in 
similar moods, resort to a narration of the bare 
news of the week. But to do so when that 
news is vague and indefinite and when my 
audience is a keen, critical, technically trained 
one, calls for more courage than I possess. 
You want dimensions and data, but they are not 
available. 
How futile it is, however, to urge upon you 
faithful enthusiasts my little plea for better con¬ 
duct in the matter of sales and purchases. You 
are not the ones who need be told why good 
boats remain unsold, you are not the ones upon 
whom I would urge the necessity to now fix 
the prices which must later be accepted if a 
sale is desired. It is puerile of me to tell you 
here that if you wish success in some new class 
next season, but are dependent first upon a dis¬ 
posal of your present craft, that you must effect 
the transaction at once in order to properly 
prepare for the coming contests. And yet I will 
preach my little preachment that you may have 
confirmation of your knowledge, encouragement 
in your beliefs. For if we enthusiasts ever falter 
