904 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[June 5, 1909. 
Pacific Yachting. 
San Francisco, Cal., May 21 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: Although the yachting season on 
San Francisco Bay opened on May i there have 
been no regular races held as yet, and yachts¬ 
men are still busy preparing their boats for the 
active season. A number of them are now on 
the dry docks, being cleaned and painted, and 
others are having sails fitted so that the fleet 
now to be seen out on the waters of the bay is 
a very small one. tlowever, by the end of the 
present month all the boats are expected to be 
in first class shape and then the regular series 
of summer events will commence to take place. 
The yacht Mischief has been on the ways at 
'I'iburon and is now in the pink of condition. 
The Frolic is being overhauled at the dock at 
South San Francisco and the schooner Magic 
is being refitted at Tiburon. The latter vessel 
is an old timer on the bay and is still very fast. 
The cup defender Corinthian is being overhauled 
and tuned up for the big race with the sloop to 
be sent here by the South Coast Y. C. 
Pacific Coast yachtsmen have learned with re¬ 
gret of the decision of Fulton S. Berry to re¬ 
tire from the racing game and to go abroad for 
his health. Mr. Berry is not giving up yacht¬ 
ing of his own free will, but upon the strict 
orders of his physician. When he was first told 
that he must rest and take a long sea voyage 
he asked that he be allowed to spend his time 
in his sloop Nixie. His physician, however, 
knew that there would be but little rest for Mr. 
Berry while on his own boat, so denied the re¬ 
quest. The yacht Nixie is to be sold on May 
27 at auction on the floor of the Merchants’ 
Exchange, and bidding is expected to be spirited 
as the boat is one of the best known on the 
bay and is in perfect condition. She was built 
thirteen years ago by Frank Stone at his yard 
at Belvedere Island, the plans having been drawn 
by Captain Hall, perhaps the best known de¬ 
signer in San Francisco. The boat was origi¬ 
nally owned by George Billings, and as he was 
an experienced yachtsman the fittings installed 
by him were of the highest order. Since Mr. 
Berry took possession of the craft she has been 
kept in the best possible condition and there 
is no finer pleasure craft on the bay than Nixie. 
Since the time that Mr. Berry came into pos¬ 
session of Nixie she has sailed more miles than 
any other boat on the bay, for in addition to 
always being sailed on Saturday and Sunday, 
when the rest of the fleet was out, the yacht 
was to be seen quite often on week days tak¬ 
ing a spin and was never laid up during the 
winter months as was the case with the other 
pleasure craft. Mr. Berry always maintained 
that the winter season was more enjoyable than 
the summer one, the absence of fogs insuring 
more perfect weather. Although his home town 
Fresno is more than a hundred miles from salt 
water, Fulton G. Berry has for a long time been 
known as the commodore of the Fresno Y. C., 
a title that he secured once while in the East. 
The officials of the San Diego Y. C. are at¬ 
tempting to make some arrangements whereby 
it will be possible for the race for the Lipton 
challenge cup to be held in the waters off San 
Pedro as well as in the vicinity of San Diego. 
According to the deed of gift from Sir Thomas 
Lipton the races must always be held at San 
Diego, but the San Diego yachtsmen feel that 
it is hardly just for them to expect the Los 
Angeles sportsmen to always come to their 
waters to race, especially since the South Coast 
Y, C. has twice won the trophy. A new deed 
of gift has been drafted and sent to Sir Thomas 
Lipton for his signature, and in this the provis¬ 
ions are changed slightly. According to this 
deed races may be held anywhere within 200 
miles of .San Diego, and this will allow the 
courses off San Pedro and in the Santa Barbara 
Channel to be used. The new deed also makes 
some changes in the ruling in regard to the 
possession of the cup. Three days of racing 
are provided for and the winner of two out of 
three of these events will be entitled to hold 
the cup until its representative boat is beaten. 
In the case there is no contest for five succes¬ 
sive years the cup is to be returned to the San 
Diego Y. C. The rules specify that the vessels 
that shall be eligible to compete for this trophy 
will be yachts of the cabin type, not exceeding 
thirty feet load waterline nor less than twenty 
feet, with no breaks, such as catamerans, scows, 
concave bottoms or shoon bows. In the races 
if two or more boats make the same record in 
the three days’ events, the judges of the contest 
have the right to order an additional race, this 
to be sailed over a triangular course with four 
miles to a leg. 
Popularity of Small Yachts. 
Many have imagined that yachting is a sport 
in which only the wealthy can take part, itiey 
have imagined that one must own a costly 
steamer or a large schooner or sloop wlncli 
will be handled by a crew of professionals, and 
the wages of these men alone will swamp a 
man of moderate means, to say nothing 01 the 
cost of purchasing and maintaining the yacht, 
iachting is a costly sport if one wishes to own 
and race a large vessel, but of late years the 
large yacht has gone out of fashion, and the 
small cralt is the most popular, not only with 
the wealthy man, but witn the man of moderate 
means, and now a man with only a very small 
income can enjoy yacliting. He can own his 
own small boat ana get more pleasure keeping 
it in shape and sailing it than the wealthy man 
can get out of a yaclu on which he keeps a 
large crew. 
Hollis Burgess has recently written an article 
on this topic, and he shows just what a small 
boat will cost and how to run it economically. 
He says; 
“Slowly but surely the great public is be¬ 
ginning to realize tnat the sport of yachting, 
often known as the ‘sport of kings,’ can be en¬ 
joyed by people of moderate means as well as 
by kings and millionaires. 1 he owner of a $125 
racing dory can enjoy the sport as well as the 
king of England with his Britannia or the Ger¬ 
man Emperor with his Meteor, and that this 
fact is fast drawing on the public is clearly 
seen by the marvelous rapid growth of the 
sport. 
“The beginning of real yachting as a 
serious sport only dates back to the year 1851, 
when the famous schooner yacht America 
crossed the Atlantic and entered the regatta of 
the Royal Yacht Squadron, captured the Royal 
Squadron’s prize cup, now known as the 
America’s Cup, ‘the blue ribbon of the seas,’ 
defeating fifteen British yachts. America’s 
victory was such a decisive one and so com¬ 
plete a surprise to the conservative British 
yachtsmen that the fame of the wonderful 
Yankee schooner was heralded far and wide. 
Queen Victoria is said to have been much in¬ 
terested in this regatta, and was constantly in¬ 
formed by bulletins of the position of the va¬ 
rious yachts during the race. Having been in¬ 
formed that America had crossed the line first, 
she asked one of her courtiers which was the 
second boat to finish. This courtier, who had 
seen the race and had noticed the British 
yachts far behind the swift America, is said to 
have replied, with a sweeping bow: ‘Your 
majesty, there is no second.’ 
“The continuous efforts of British yachtsmen 
to win back the America’s Cup ever since have 
served to keep the sport of big yachts racing 
constantly before the public, and we have un¬ 
doubtedly been the means of increasing the 
interest in the sport of yachting, but the ex¬ 
aggerated stories of the fabulous cost of these 
large cup racing yachts has also given the public 
quite a false idea as to the great expense of 
yachting. Small yachts, both cruisers and 
racers, afford a most excellent means of en¬ 
joyment, and small yacht racing is developing 
in recent years with amazing rapidity. As an 
example of the magnitude of the racing small 
yachts it may be stated that during the race 
weeks of the Larchmont Y. C., of New York, 
and the Corinthian Y. C., of Marblehead, in 
1908, over one hundred and twenty-five boats 
raced each day in the different classes. In these 
big regattas all classes and types of boats par¬ 
ticipated, dories costing from $75 to $150 racing 
in one class, while knockabouts costing from 
$300 to $500 raced in another, and so on up to 
the more expensive boats in the larger classes. 
For the man or woman who wants to have the 
fun of racing in a small and inexpensive boat 
there are always many classes provided every 
year. 
“Cruising boats can also be purchased at very 
moderate prices and are rapidly increasing in 
number every year, so that the person who has 
not much money to spend can always pick up a 
fairly good boat at a moderate price. A cruis¬ 
ing boat large enough to comfortably accom¬ 
modate a man and his wife, can be purchased 
for from $300 up, if of an old type, or if a more 
modern type for a little more. The money in¬ 
vested in these boats is not all wasted, either, as 
they can always be sold over again when their 
owners are through with them at a fair reduc¬ 
tion in price, according to age. Insurance 
companies will write liberal policies for a small 
rate covering yachts against all kinds of dam¬ 
age, so in case of wreck or disaster the yacht 
owner is amply protected. 
“The yachting season in New England begins 
at the first of April and lasts until the first of 
October, many yacht owners even making a 
longer season, so . that six months of the year 
the yacht owner can always enjoy his boat. 
“For the business man or clerk who must be 
back at his office at a certain hour, the power 
boat or sail boat with auxiliary engine affords 
an enjoyable, as well as a reliable method of 
getting out on the water and living a life of 
ease and health if only for a few hours, away 
from the worry, noise and discomfort of the 
city and yet without straining the needs of his 
pocketbook too much, and with the certainty 
that he can get back to the office at any time 
he desires. Marine gasolene engines are now 
as reliable as steam, and, with reasonable care, 
any power boat or auxiliary can always be de¬ 
pended upon to go when desired. 
“Yachting, like most other sports, can be 
conducted both on an expensive and on a 
moderate scale, and the person, man or woman, 
who wishes to enjoy health, happiness and true 
contentment may find it at small expense by 
turning attention to the greatest of all sports, 
yachting. 
“It is pleasing to note that the popular fallacy 
that used to mark a yacht owner as necessarily 
a man of wealth is so rapidly disappearing, and 
that yachting is more and more appealing to 
the man of moderate means.’’ 
Canoeing, 
Late Camps. 
Long after the leaves have fallen from the 
branches and the sap has retreated into the 
heartwood of the tree, the nature-loving 
canoeist—the cruising canoeist—packs his 
staunch little craft with a small outfit and 
launches it, stirred by the same enthusiasm felt 
by many another during warmer seasons of 
the year. 
We think of spring and summer as of birth 
and life. At these times, no doubt, the delicate 
charms of the woods are more impressive to 
the senses and appeal more to the majority of 
people: but to the chronic cruising canoeist the 
most glorious season of the year is that time 
which follows the last glow of autumn, when 
most of the gorgeous colored foliage has been 
transformed from a delicate suspension in air 
to its final resting place as carpet of the woods. 
The cold, clear air discourages all the insects, 
leaving one to enjoy without interruption the 
many beauties of scenery now revealed, but 
which, during summer, have been concealed 
by the leaves. As we paddle away from the 
club house and into the stream to seek the full 
strength of a favorable tide, we glide with 
pleasure over water just rough enough to make 
our presence upon it interesting—and the con¬ 
stant surging of live water is a part of these 
little cruises which one sadly misses if for any 
reason he takes his canoe to smooth streams 
or lakes. 
