558 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 7, 1911. 
British Yachting in 1911. 
The racing season that was brought to a con¬ 
clusion at Plymouth last week has been a record 
one, for never before in the history of the sport 
have so many yachts appeared in the classes 
recognized by the Yacht Racing Association, 
says the Yachting World. The presence of so 
many vessels during the latter part of the sea¬ 
son must be attributed to the First Festival of 
International Yacht Racing held at Spithead in 
August, which attracted a host of craft from 
all parts of Europe, but setting aside this in¬ 
flux of foreign vessels, the number of British 
yachts engaged in the racing was far in excess 
of that of past seasons. The weather conditions 
throughout the summer were ideal for yacht rac¬ 
ing, for there has been an absence of anything 
in the nature of really heavy weather, while the 
days of calms and fickle airs have been singularly 
few and far between. 
Much disappointment was felt at the absence 
of the American flyer Westward from the ranks 
of the A class, as Cecil Whitaker had had a big 
schooner, Waterwitch, built from the design of 
Fife, with the idea of avenging the series of 
disastrous defeats sustained last year, but in the 
light of after events it was perhaps fortunate 
that Mr. Cochran elected to send the Herreshoff 
crack back to New York before the opening of 
the English season. The new Fife creation, 
which was built at Troon, unfortunately turned 
out a most disappointing craft, and after an un¬ 
promising debut at Kiel, returned to the Solent 
to be badly beaten by the German schooners. It 
must have been particularly galling to Mr. 
Whitaker to suffer defeat from two yachts which 
his old Cicely had beaten the previous year, but 
although his new schooner has turned out a 
failure, the sporting spirit which led to her con¬ 
struction was much appreciated by yachtsmen all 
over the country. 
The A class did not appear in British waters 
until Cowes week and only sailed four matches. 
Of these three were won by the German Em¬ 
peror’s Meteor and the other by Herr Krupp 
von Bohlen’s Germania. Meteor’s prizes in¬ 
cluded the valuable gold cup of the Royal Vic¬ 
toria Yacht Club, which goes to Germany for 
the first time, while Germania took the King's 
cup at the International Festival. Germania also 
won the Kaiser’s cup in a race for amalgamated 
classes. 
As Shamrock was not commissioned this year, 
Mr. Kennedy’s White Heather was left without 
an opponent and the 23-meter class lapsed. Its 
place was taken on regatta programs by a new 
class of 19-meter cutters, vessels falling in size 
midway between the 23 and 15-meter yachts. 
Approximating in tonnage to a vessel of 100 tons 
T. m., the 19-meter cutter is rather longer than 
the old 65-footer and carries half again as much 
canvas. Yet she can be effectively handled by a 
crew of fourteen paid hands, and the expense 
of maintenance being thus kept within reason¬ 
able limits, the class is likely to be a very popu¬ 
lar one in the future. 
Four yachts were built to the new class, most 
of the owners having already won their spurs 
in the 15-meter division. Fife was responsible 
for the lines of A. K. Stothert’s Mariquita and 
Messrs. Almeric Paget and R. Hennessy’s 
Corona, while those of W. P. Burton’s Octavia 
came from the board of Mylne. Norada, the 
last of the quartette to make her appearance, was 
designed by Nicholson and built at Gosport, and 
the presence of a South of England boat in the 
first class was very welcome. The Fairlie 
“twins” have all the grace and beauty that one 
has come to associate with the yachts produced 
by Mr. Fife, and Octavia is probably the most 
shapely craft yet designed by Mr. Mylne. Norada 
is the ugly duckling of the fleet, with a bow 
strongly reminiscent of Nyria, but for all that 
she is a real good boat, and had she not been 
badly served by fortune would have made a bold 
bid for championship honors. 
The racing throughout the season was of the 
keenest description and the seamanship displayed 
beyond reproach. Mariquita was commanded by 
Captain Sycamore, of the Shamrock, who was 
loaned to Mr. Stothert by Sir Thomas Lipton. 
Barbrook, late of the ill-fated Brynhild, was at 
the wheel of Corona, while Mr. Burton sailed 
his own yacht, Norada, in her early races, was 
manned by the skipper and crew of her owner’s 
previous vessel, the cruising schooner Norlanda, 
but they handled the cutter very indifferently and 
were subsequently replaced by Captain Diaper 
and a proper racing crew. After Diaper had got 
the hang of his new command she was fault¬ 
lessly sailed. When all were so well sailed it 
is perhaps a trifle invidious to draw compari¬ 
sons, but we cannot help remarking upon Mr. 
Burton's skill at the helm and the superlative 
excellence of the crew of Octavia. It was prob¬ 
ably the first time on record that an amateur 
had entered the lists with the best professionals 
of the day; at any rate in vessels of such size, 
but the amateur emerged triumphantly from the 
ordeal. Indeed, Octavia’s position at the head 
of the class is due more to the perfection of her 
skipper and crew than to any superiority in de¬ 
sign. Mr. Burton has sailed the Mylne cutter 
with the scrupulous fairness and sportsmanlike 
spirit that has distinguished him since he first 
entered upon important racing in the old “twenty” 
Penitent, and his position as the first Corinthian 
of his time is unassailable. 
From the first match to the last the racing of 
the class has been of the keenest description, and 
it is questionable if four large cutters so evenly 
matched have ever before been brought together. 
Quite a number of the races have been won and 
lost by only a few seconds, and at no time has 
any one yacht had what might be termed a “soft 
thing.” The victor has invariably had to fight 
over every yard of the course for her success 
and on one occasion Mariquita literally snatched 
the verdict from the grasp of Octavia on the line 
by the narrow margin of one second. When 
matters are so close as this the sweets of victory 
are sweets indeed, and the season of 1911 will 
be recorded in the memories of those who took 
part in the racing in indelible ink. All through 
the summer Octavia and Mariquita have been en¬ 
gaged in a desperate struggle for the champion¬ 
ship of the class, first one having the advantage 
and then the other, and it was not until they 
appeared at Plymouth for the final matches that 
the destination of the honor was finally decided 
in favor of Octavia. 
Corona, as shapely a craft as ever sat the 
water, has been splendidly sailed by Barbrook, 
but she had to miss several engagements in the 
early part of the season owing to the breaking 
down of her steering gear. Norada was particu¬ 
larly unlucky, not only in being badly served by 
the wind, but in minor mishaps to her gear. But 
there can be no doubt that Nicholson has pro¬ 
duced a fine yacht—possibly the speediest in the 
class—and it is quite likely that she may prove 
a thorn in the side of Octavia next season. On 
several occasions in the course of the summer 
Sycamore has suffered from overkeenness, which 
has led to fouls and the subsequent disqualifica¬ 
tion of Mariquita, but when the racing is so 
close and exciting as that we have witnessed 
during the past summer, there is a great temp¬ 
tation to cut things fine, and a skipper is apt to 
take risks which would not occur to him under 
ordinary circumstances. Two of the cups pre¬ 
sented by His Majesty were allotted to this class 
and won by Octavia and Corona, while Norada 
captured the cup presented by the German Em¬ 
peror and also the International trophy, both at 
the Spithead Festival. In the following record 
the match of June 24 has not been taken into ac¬ 
count, as a protest is still pending, and it is pos¬ 
sible that the race may be declared void: 
Total 
Yacht. Starts. 1st. 2d flags. 
Octavia . 46 15 16 31 
Mariquita . 44 12 7 19 
Corona . 43 10 10 20 
Norada . 37 8 12 20 
Trans-Pacific Race. 
Yachtsmen of Southern California are turn¬ 
ing their attention to the next trans-Pacific 
yacht race from San Pedro to Honolulu, to be 
held next year. Within a few days every promi¬ 
nent yacht club and yacht owner in the United 
States and abroad will receive invitations from 
the South Coast Y. C. of this city to enter the 
race and to be present at the start. 
Although the race has been scheduled to start 
on July 4, as in previous years, there is some 
talk of starting it earlier next year, probably the 
middle of June. The exact date for the start 
will probably be decided at a conference be¬ 
tween Commodore Dan Laubersheimer and 
Vice-Commodore Warren D. Wood, of the 
South Coast Y. C. 
The outlook as to the number of entries in 
the race is very encouraging, and it is believed 
that the coming race will see at least ten craft 
entered. In previous years the entries have 
numbered half that. 
A thorough canvass of all the yacht clubs in 
this country will be made and yachtsmen own¬ 
ing boats eligible for the race will be urged to 
enter the race, which is easily the classic event 
of the yachting world. 
Although rather premature, the South Coast 
Y. C. is already formulating plans for the enter¬ 
tainment of yachtsmen in attendance at the 
start. The yachtsmen will be feted and shown 
an elaborate time before starting on their 2000- 
mile journey across the Pacific. 
The yacht Hawaii, owned by the Honolulu 
Y. C., winner of the last trans-Pacific race, will 
surely be entered in the impending event as de¬ 
fender of the handsome cup won last year. 
Frank Hays has been considering entering his 
yawl Winsome in the race, and will probably 
start unless he sells the boat. Yankee Girl, 
owned by Commodore Mitchell, of the Sunset 
Y. C. of Long Beach, has been mentioned as 
a probable entry, although the commodore is 
non-committal regarding the entrance of his 
boat. 
Lurline is still considered an important factor 
in the race, should she be entered, and will 
probably line up at the start. She won the first 
two races from here to Honolulu. 
The schooner Sweetheart, which lost the last 
race by 44m. on corrected time, is picked as a 
likely entrant in the race. Besides the boats 
named there are a number of San Francisco 
Bay boats which are believed will be entered 
when the time for entries opens. 
Vice-Commodore Wood, it is said, is con¬ 
templating building a schooner for the race. 
Detroit Y. C. 
Fred. G. Luderer last Sunday morning 
earned the right to be called champion “Sun¬ 
day morning” catboat skipper of the Detroit 
Y. C. for the ensuing year. In a series of five 
races to decide the possession of this title and 
the ownership of the handsome mantel clock 
that goes with it Luderer proved his superiority 
over four rivals, scoring a total of 20 points. 
“Andy” Kremer was second with 18 points, 
“Punch” Donaldson and Bert Farr tied for 
third and fourth with 15 each, and Eipper was 
last with six. 
Luderer finished first in the first and fifth 
races of the series, was second in the second 
and fourth, and took fourth in the third. 
Kremer, Donaldson and Farr each won one 
race, but could not come up to the general av¬ 
erage of excellence maintained by the champion. 
The summaries follow: 
1st race. 2d race. 3d race. 
Luderer .11 07 18 11 55 30 12 41 40 
Kremer .11 10 00 11 53 43 12 41 15 
Donaldson .. .11 10 55 11 56 30 12 41 33 
Farr .11 11 15 11 55 45 12 40 10 
Eipper . 11 17 40 d.n.f. 12 44 00 
4th race. 5th race. 
1 20 30 2 07 10 
1 22 00 2 08 20 
1 18 00 2 11 36 
1 21 46 2 10 05 
1 21 46 2 12 30 
