Catboat Racing Booming. 
Members of yaclit clubs on tlie New Jersey 
coast have been working hard to revive interest 
in catboat racing, and from the present out¬ 
look their work is going to result in a fine 
yachting season. Catboat racing has been 
popular on Barnegat Bay for several seasons, 
but the craft that have raced for the Sewell cup 
are out and out racing machines, and although 
they are wonderfully fast, they are freaks of the 
worst kind. While the members of the many 
clubs that make their headquarters in that lo¬ 
cality are not discouraging the racing of the 
type of boat that has been developed, they have 
planned to boom the wholesome type of boat, 
and with this end in view, have sent invitations 
to the many yacht racing associations along the 
coast as far as Maine, and to many of the clubs 
to send 30-foot catboats to Barnegat this sum¬ 
mer and sail for championship cups and honors. 
Commodore John McAvoy, of the Island 
Heights Y. C., has been most indefatigable in 
his efforts to bring many boats in this class, 
and already three associations have accepted 
the invitation and will send fast craft to com¬ 
pete for the prizes. 
Many plans were considered for this race and 
the following bays were invited to send their 
fastest 30-foot catboat to Barnegat Bay next 
summer and race for the championship cups 
and honors: The, Massachusetts Bay, Narra- 
gansett Bay, Buzzard's Bay, Great South Bay 
and Barnegat Bajo With the champion cat- 
boats from these bays entered for a contest on 
Barnegat Bay, the event will be the largest 
affair ever pulled off in catboat racing. The 
boats from the different bays will have to sail 
to Barnegat Inlet, cross the bar and report for 
the race at Island Heights Y. C. This feature 
alone is of great interest, and will be watched 
by the yachting world, and many ideas from the 
safety point of view, heavy weather qualities 
and deep sea sailing will be obtained from this 
cruise to the racing point. 
The Island Heights Y. C. set aside July 22, 
23 and 24 for the first three races of this cham¬ 
pionship meet. Commodore John McAvoy 
called a meeting of the Board of Governors of 
the Island Heights Y. C. last week and made 
full arrangements for this race week. Com¬ 
modore John McAvoy has been from the first 
moment of his appointment as commodore of 
the IslAnd Heights Y. C. strictly on the job. 
Many good yachting stunts were pulled off last 
season through his leadership, and the fastest 
catboat ever sailed in the races for the Sewell 
cup, Morgan cup, Schermerhorn cup, Doan cup 
and the Corinthian Yacht and Gun Club cup, 
was, through his efforts, built and sailed suc¬ 
cessfully to win all the cups mentioned. Now 
that Commodore McAvoy and his regatta com¬ 
mittee have arranged for a week of racing at 
Island Heights, with the interbay catboat race 
as the -principal event, there is bound to be 
success for that part of Barnegat Bay the com¬ 
ing season. 
Guy Luburg, the chairman of the regatta 
committee, has the pamphlets and racing rules 
out for this race, and is giving many hours of 
thought for its success. Mr. Luburg says: 
“So far we have three of the five bays entered, 
and will have the choice of the others soon. I 
feel that this race will bring back to popular 
favor the catboat, that costs so little and is the 
boat that requires very little trouble to keep up. 
Since the power boat fever struck us the cat- 
boat has gradually taken a back seat, but now 
that this race is assured, I feel that catboat 
racing and building will go to the front again.” 
The interbay race conditions are as follows: 
Each bay to be represented by two boats, 
chosen by any method which the local associa¬ 
tion sees fit 
Type of boat must be a legitimate cat, having 
one centerboard, one rudder and carry one sail 
only. 
Each boat must be owned and enrolled in a 
club situated on the bay from which she is 
entered, and must have been built before Jan. 
I, 1909. 
Boats must not exceed 30 feet over all. 
Time allowance, 7 seconds per foot per mile. 
Measurement for time allowance—Extreme 
length over all: measurements to be taken from 
fore side of stem to after edge of transom or 
stern board. 
No restrictions on sail area or ballast. 
Crew limited to six men and helmsman. 
They must all be amateurs. 
Three races shall be sailed to win the cups. 
Winner and second boat of series to be de¬ 
termined by points—5 points for first place, 3 
points for second place, 2 points for third place, 
and I point for every other boat finishing in 
each race. 
The Island Heights Y. C. has put up a hand¬ 
some solid silver cup for the first prize. This 
cup will be specially designed for this race and 
will go to the winner of the series of races, and 
a second prize cup will go to the boat having 
the next largest number of points. Shields will 
be givin to the crews of each boat contest- 
The idea of this race is to have the first senes 
of races on Barnegat Bay, and after this first 
race the committee to decide where the next 
race will take place, the chances being that the 
year following this first race the interbay cat- 
boat race will be held on Massachusetts Bay. 
The Island Heights Club is one of the first 
clubs on the New Jersey coast to have a 
permanent home and take up racing and cruis¬ 
ing in earnest. The house is a large building 
over the water, with many accommodations 
and plenty of dock room for the smaller 
yachts. The ballroom is probably the largest 
in any yacht club along the coast. 
The fleet has enrolled the famous yachts 
Mable, Jackpot, Stroller, Myra, Quakeress, 
Restless and the power yachts Elizabeth, Vesta, 
Romer. Lady Maud, Helen Estelle, Myrtle and 
some of the fastest catboats ever built. 
The officers of the Island Heights Y. C. are: 
John C. McAvoy, Commodore; William D. 
Edson. First ViceCommodore; L. R. Rennick, 
Second Vice-Commodore; Warren Webster, 
Rear Commodore; Ray Vanderherchen, Treas¬ 
urer; Frank Henry, Secretary; Dr. C. S. Street, 
Fleet Captain; Dr. Harry Davis, Fleet Surgeon; 
Guy A. Luburg, Chairman Regatta Committee. 
Barnegat Bay is the home of the catboat, 
and many fine craft have been built there to 
fulfill the conditions of the shoal water. Among 
the recent boats are Bouquet, Happy Princess, 
Merry Thought. Hummer, Lazy Jack and the 
Mermaid. There will be several preliminary 
races to chose the catboat to represent Barne¬ 
gat Bay in this race. 
With the events now arranged, the coming 
season will be the best yachting summer ever 
planned. The open ocean race, under the 
auspices of the Yachtsmen’s Club and the 
Corinthian Yacht and Gun Club, of Beach 
Haven; the race week given by the Ocean City 
Y. C.. with a night in Venice; the Sewell cup 
race, by the Seaside Park Y. C.; the motor 
boat race, by the Lavalette Y. C.; the special 
sneak-box- race, by the Barnegat Y. C.; the 
Bermuda race, for sail yachts, in which the 
Yachtsmen’s Club has two yachts entered; the 
power yacht race to Bermuda, in which the 
Yachtsmen’s Club has one boat entered; the 
Brooklyn Y. C. long-distance race; the New 
York-to-Marblehead power yacht race; the Sea- 
.side Y. C., of Atlantic City, open ocean race 
for schooners; the Cape May cup race given by 
the Cape May Y. C. 
New York Y. C. Cruise. 
Commodore Arthur Curtiss James, of New 
York Y. C, has issued his orders relating to 
the annual cruise of the club and it shows that 
the New York Y. C. members are going in 
more for cruising races this year than they 
ever have before. There will be little encour¬ 
agement, too, for owners of small boats, and 
according to rumors there is a disposition on 
the part of some members of the club to keep 
small boats out of the club and keep it exclu¬ 
sively for large boats. The smallest boat eli¬ 
gible now to enrollment is the 30-footer, and 
last year Seneca had trouble in getting regis¬ 
tration. Owners of small boats have for some 
time been a thorn in the side of the larger boat 
owners because they have been able to compete 
for the Astor cup and other rich prizes and 
have often been successful. 
In framing the itinerary for the cruise, while 
the small boats have not been legislated against, 
the runs are so long that few small yacht owners 
would think of taking part in them. It is so 
with the schedule of the regatta committee. One 
regatta is to be sailed off Glen Cove. In July 
there is to be a race from Glen Cove to New¬ 
port. Off Newport the annual regatta will be 
sailed and the course is to be from Brenton’s 
Reef Light Vessel around Block Island and then 
the yachts are to race back from Newport to 
Glen Cove. 
The fleet for the cruise is to rendezvous at 
Newport. There the Astor and King’s cups 
will be sailed for. The first squadron run will 
be to Vineyard Haven, the second to Rock¬ 
land and the third to Bar Harbor, where the 
fleet will disband. Capt. Charles Hayden, of 
the sloop Wacondah, has offered $1,000, or cups 
to that' value, for which the regatta committee 
will frame conditions. 
It seems strange that the New York Club 
should have but one regatta sailed off its home 
port. Some years ago the regattas of this club 
used to be the feature of the yachting season. 
Races were started some years ago off Hoboken 
and a big fleet of yachts always competed. Then 
when the Hudson became too crowded the club 
moved to Staten Island and the regattas were 
started in the Upper Bay and for years Owl's 
Head was the rendezvous. Another move was 
made and the starting line shifted to outside the 
Narrows and on regatta day not only the hand¬ 
some big craft that were to race, but a big fleet 
of vessels would make the scene down the bay 
most picturesque. 
Then the club went to the Sound for its races 
and since then they have fallen off in interest 
very much. Yachtsmen, owners of large yachts 
do not seem to care for racing as they did. The 
enthusiastic yachtsman of twenty years ago has 
disappeared and the present generation prefers 
to race on the Sound where the waters are 
smooth and where port can easily be made rather 
than go outside and battle with wind and storm. 
It may be that those younger yachtsmen who 
are now taking interest in small boat racing over 
long courses will some day revive interest in 
racing larger boats and that the sport will be 
on the same plane it was when twenty or twenty- 
five schooners started in one race. 
The schedule for the cruise, which by the way 
is announced to be a tentative one, is as follows: 
The squadron will rendezvous off Station No. 
6. Newport, on Thursday, Aug. 5. The pro¬ 
gramme for the cruise, weather permitting, will 
be: 
Friday, Aug. 6.—Races for Astor cups, off 
Newport. 
Saturday, Aug. 7.—Race for King’s cup, off 
Newport. 
Monday, - 4 ug. 9.—Squadron run, Newport to 
Alonday, Aug. 8 .—Squadron run, Newport to 
Vineyard Haven. 
