74 
FOREST AND STREAM 
July 20, 1912 
REGATTA ON SOLENT. 
Another old established yacht club is the one 
entitled the Royal Western Y. C., of England. 
It was founded in 1827, and granted its admiralty 
warrant in 1834. When Prince of Wales, our 
late King Edward honored the club by becom¬ 
ing its commodore, but he resigned the office on 
succeeding to the throne. 
Membership is restricted to 500, and no one 
can be elected if the ballot show him to have re¬ 
ceived one black ball against five white. Mem¬ 
bers wear a special evening dress uniform, con¬ 
sisting of a dark blue shell jacket (with buttons 
inscribed with the club monogram), blue waist¬ 
coat (with similar buttons) and plain blue 
trousers. 
The club house, which is at Plymouth, con¬ 
tains a number of valuable pictures and souve¬ 
nirs, the gifts of past and present members. In 
the coffee room, for example, is an engraving 
of the “Death of Nelson,” the frame of which 
is made of timber taken from the Victory, while 
in the hall are some West African war drums 
and an elephant’s carved tusk that was taken 
from Benim City in 1897. The special privileges 
enjoyed by yachts registered as belonging to this 
club include that of free admission into the har¬ 
bors of France, Holland, Belgium, Russia, Den¬ 
mark, Prussia, Egypt, Syria, Canada, Hanover, 
Greece, Portugal, Norway, Sweden and Spain. 
They are also allowed to make fast to Govern¬ 
ment buoys in British ports when these are not 
required by Plis Majesty’s ships. Should a mem¬ 
ber of the club, however, leave a passenger at 
any foreign port, or receive one on board his 
vessel, he becomes liable to harbor dues as a 
packet boat. 
Ihe Isle of Wight, being the chief yachting 
center in Great Britain, the Royal Victoria Y. C. 
has its headquarters appropriately enough at 
Ryde. It was established at this port in 1844 
for the encouragement of yachting among gen¬ 
tlemen owning property on the island. By its 
constitution membership is still confined to per¬ 
sons coming under this heading. Admission to 
temporary membership, however, may be ex¬ 
tended to yacht owners who belong to other 
recognized clubs. 
Both Queen Victoria and his Royal High¬ 
ness, the Prince Consort, conferred their patron¬ 
age upon the R. V. Y. C. for many years. The 
election of members is vested in the whole club, 
instead of (as is usually the case) in a small 
committee. The ballot is a strict one, as a 
single black ball in five means rejection. Ladies 
who are registered as the owners of yachts are 
eligible to the club privileges afloat. The en¬ 
trance fee and annual subscription are respec¬ 
tively five and six guineas. 
One of the rules of the club that strikes 
the visitor as a little curious is to the effect that 
no round game of cards and no game of hazard 
of any description may be played on the 
premises. In other respects the club is con¬ 
ducted in practically the same manner as any 
other establishment of a similar nature. 
The members of the R. V. Y. C. are specially 
permitted by the Lords of the Admiralty to fly 
the red ensign of the fleet with a crown sur¬ 
mounting the letters V. R. emblazoned on the 
fly; the club burgee is red, with a crown over 
an anchor, and on either side the letters V. R. 
pierced yellow. 
Among the privileges enjoyed by members 
are those of removing their furniture from one 
port to another in the LTnited Kingdom without 
being required to take out a coasting license, and 
on arrival from abroad of depositing wines, etc., 
in the Customs warehouses free of duty, in 
readiness for reshipment for subsequent voyages. 
Although it was established at so compara¬ 
tively recent a date as 1875. the Royal Southamp¬ 
ton Y. C- is recognized as a leading one. By its 
constitution the club exists for the encourage¬ 
ment of yachting in Southampton water and the 
Solent. Membership is open to both ladies and 
gentlemen, the proportion of the former being 
a considerable one. With regard to colors, ves¬ 
sels registered as belonging to the R. S. Y. C. 
are sanctioned by the Admiralty to carry the 
blue ensign of the fleet, with a crown in the 
center of the Union Jack, and a blue burgee 
with the Southampton town shield, surmounted 
by a crown, embroidered on the center thereof. 
Dotted round the coast of the United King¬ 
dom are several small, but still well known, yacht 
clubs. Prominent among such is that of the 
Royal Cinque ports, and others are established 
at Harwich, Dartmouth, Weymouth, Lowestoft 
and Torquay, etc., together with four in the 
Isle of Wight. Ireland contributes—in addition 
to the Royal Cork Y. C. already mentioned—the 
Royal Ulster, the Royal Alfred, the Royal Dub¬ 
lin and the Royal Munster, etc., and in Wales 
there is a yacht club at Anglesey, while Scotland 
furnishes among others the Eastern, Forth, 
Clyde, Highland, Largs, Northern, Tay and 
Western of Scotland. Of these the Royal 
Anglesey Y. C. is the second oldest in the King¬ 
dom, since it was founded in 1802. The Royal 
Northern, with its station at Rothesay, was 
founded in 1831, and the Royal Eastern, at 
Granton, dates from 1836. Practically all these 
various clubs are in possession of the coveted 
admiralty warrant, entitling the members to 
special privileges in British and foreign ports. 
The entrance fees and annual subscriptions range 
respectively from £10 10s. and £7 7s. to £2 2s. 
and £1 is. 
New Publications. 
The Manufacture Francaise d’Armos & Cycles 
de Saint-Etienne’s Catalogue for 1912-13. 
Price thirty centimes (postpaid). 
A big book, made up of 1,200 full size pages, 
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tography, horology, optics, etc. 
ROYAL YACHT AT COWES. 
