442 . 
FOREST AND STREAM 
April 6, 1912 
British Yachting In 1911. 
BY G. E. HOPCROFT. 
From a sporting point of view, the past 
yachting season was almost a record one; but 
from a national point of view many English¬ 
men were sadly disappointed with the results 
obtained. In justice to this country, however, 
I must point out that some of the papers “made 
mountains of mole-hills,” for a number of the 
successful foreign yachts were designed in 
Britain. If we look closely at the records of 
the past season we shall find that many of_ the 
so-called “British defeats” were really British 
victories after all. 
Great interest was taken in the opening races 
of the season, for many new yachts were “out.” 
In the A class the Fife-designed schooner 
Waterwitch was the center of attraction; but 
I fear that she disappointed her admirers at 
Cowes, and later on at Ryde. She is a fine 
yacht, and I fully expected to see her defeat 
the German schooners with ease. That she 
failed to do so is remarkable, but no doubt 
Mr. Fife will improve the yacht during the 
winter; and it is quite possible that when 
Waterwitch fits out in the spring we may find 
that we have quite a second Westward after all. 
It is reported that Mr. Fife intends to give the 
yacht a much larger sail spread. 
The season opened with the Royal Thames 
match, in which the 19-meter yachts met for the 
first time—that is to say, three of them started, 
for Norada did not sail in the early regattas. 
There was a good wind, and after a well-sailed 
match, slightly marred, perhaps, by a poor start, 
Mariquita won the first prize. In the 15-meter 
class Vanity defeated Jeano by no less than 
eight minutes. 
As some of my readers may not have followed 
the recent developments in yacht building, I 
should explain that during the winter of 1911 
four yachts were built for the new 19-meter 
class. Two of these yachts were designed by 
Mr. Fife, one by Mr. Mylne, and one by that 
clever Gosport designer, Mr. Nicholson. When 
Norada joined the little fleet the class was 
made up as follows; Octavia (Mylne), Corona 
(Fife), Mariquita (Fife), Norada (Nicholson). 
After the opening events, the 19-meter craft 
met again and again at the various regattas 
round the coast. In the Nore to Dover race 
the new Gosport flyer. Norada came to the 
front, and Octavia had to take second place. 
The Gosport yacht is from the board of the de¬ 
signer of the speedy but ill-fated Brynhild, and 
she has that beauty of mould which always dis¬ 
tinguishes a “Nicholson boat.” The yacht is 
owned by Mr. Milburn. Octavia and Corona 
did well during the Clyde fortnight; Corona 
took the King’s cup. and Norada upheld the 
honor of the south by winning the Commo¬ 
dore’s cup at the Royal Northern Regatta. 
Turning for a moment to the A class. I 
should mention that toward the end of April it 
became certain that the American schooner 
Westward would not race in British waters dur¬ 
ing 191T. In May the yacht was fitted with her 
ocean rig for the trip back to the States. I was 
lucky enough to see her in dry dock just before 
she sailed, and was greatly Impressed with her 
underwater body. We were disappointed then, 
for we knew that Westward would not meet 
the new Waterwitch; but now we are half in¬ 
clined to be thankful that the American clipper 
did not race in British waters, for it must be 
admitted that, on last year’s form, the former 
would certainly have lowered the colors of the 
beautiful Scotch yacht. 
At Kiel Waterwitch was hardly a match for 
the German schooners, and at Cowes, and later 
on at Ryde, she did not seem to be able to hold 
Meteor in light winds. At the same time, I 
cannot help thinking that the latter is sailing 
much faster than she did in 1910. when she was 
so badly beaten by Westward. I saw Meteor 
sail at Ryde in that year. I also saw her sail 
there, under very similar weather conditions last 
season, and I should say that the yacht is now 
ten minutes faster over a 50-mile course. It is 
difficult, therefore, to estimate exactly how 
Waterwitch stands as a “flyer” when compared 
with Westward. 
In the 15-meter class the sport has been good, 
and when the foreign yachts came to swell the 
fleet, during the Solent weeks, the class was a 
wonderfully interesting one. Vanity seems to 
have shown good form all through the season, 
and Jeano and Mariska have had their share of 
the prizes. The King of Spain’s Hispania and 
the Spanish yacht Tuiga (both Fife-designed 
craft) sailed well during their stay in British 
waters; and the German yachts, Sophie Elisa¬ 
beth and Paula, also met with considerable suc¬ 
cess in the 15-meter class. In fact, the foreign 
element was very much to the fore last year, 
and our yachts have had all the bad luck. Luck 
still plays its part in yacht racing, and, apart 
from any consideration of the respective merits 
of the various yachts, I cannot help thinking 
that British yachtsmen had more than their 
share of bad luck. 
Vanity won the Royal Thames race in May, 
and she was also first in the Nore to Dover 
match. In the International she was third in 
her class on both days—in fact, the three lead¬ 
ing yachts finished in the same order each day: 
Hispania, Tuiga, Vanity. 
Cowes week opened in splendid weather, and 
the racing was of a very interesting character. 
Many foreign yachts were in British waters, 
for the International festival attracted almost 
every sporting owner in Europe; and it was 
well understood that Cowes week would simply 
be a foretaste of the sweets which we were to 
enjoy during the first European International 
Yachting Festival. 
Cowes week opened, as usual, with the Royal 
London matches, and these races took place in 
perfect yachting weather. Meteor won the 23- 
meter—a class race, and White Heather man¬ 
aged to save her time and took the second 
prize. This was one of the most interesting 
incidents of Cowes week, for after Meteor 
crossed the line it looked for some time as if 
the British cutter might still win the first prize, 
as she had 8m. 26s. in hand. Waterwitch was 
at that time slightly ahead of White Heather, 
and as I watched the yachts from near the 
battery it seemed that even the schooner had a 
chance of winning if only the wind would “pipe 
up.” Of course, it “piped down,” and White 
Heather drew up level with Waterwitch. 
Neither of them could quite manage to save 
her time, however; but White Heather sailed 
a good race, and her skipper deserves great 
praise for the way in which he won the second 
prize. The principal results (Cowes week) 
were: Royal London, A class race—Meteor, i; 
White Heather, 2. International cup (15 
meters), first race—Sophie Elisabeth; second 
race, Paula: final, Paula (German). Royal 
Squadron, Emperor’s cup. Germania, i; White 
Heather, 2. International challenge cup (19 
meters), Norada, i; Corona, 2. In the 15-meter 
and 12-meter classes the King of Spain’s His¬ 
pania and Rollo (Norway) sailed wonderfully 
well. 
The great International festival opened on 
Monday, Aug. 7, and once again the weather 
was perfect. A little more wind would have 
given joy to some of our yachtsmen, but one 
cannot expect perfection in this climate, and 
the bright sunshine made un for a lack of wind. 
Spithead was crowded with yachts, excursion 
steamers, and warships—in fact, it was one of 
the most wonderful scenes ever witnessed on 
this famous stretch of wafer. 
I have not space in whi'di to give details of 
the racing, but I give a table of the chief events: 
FIRST DAY. 
Class A. 1 , Germania; 2, Meteor 
19 meter class. 1 , Norada; 2, Corona 
15 meter class. 1 , Hispania; 2, Tuiga 
12 meter class.], Rollo; 2, Javotte 
10 meter class. 1 , Tonino; 2, Irex 
SECOND DAY. 
Class A. 1 . Meteor; 2. Germania 
19 meter class. 1 , Norada; 2, Octavia 
15 meter class. 1 , Hispania; 2, Tuiga 
12 meter class.1, Rollo; 2, Cintra 
10 meter class. 1 . Tonino; 2, Irex 
Germania and Meteor are German yachts, de¬ 
signed in the Fatherland; Rollo was designed 
and built in Norway; but Hispania and Tuiga 
are British-designed yachts sailing under Span¬ 
ish colors. The festical was a great success, 
although the foreign yachts did better than 
some people expected. We must comfort our¬ 
selves with the reflection that only three really 
foreign-designed craft proved to be of out¬ 
standing merit. 
In the smaller classes sport was exceedingly 
good last summer. The 8-meter class is very 
popular, and smaller classes are filling up well. 
The nations of Europe are now building a num¬ 
ber of these small craft, and in the future we 
may expect to see new developments, as the 
various designers try to take full advantage of 
the rule under which the whole of Europe now 
builds. 
During the past six months we have heard 
a great deal about the America’s Cup. but as the 
Americans still insist upon the old rules, no one 
seems inclined to send a British-built yacht 
across the Atlantic to meet an American yacht 
of the old type. To my mind it is strange to 
find that so many people seem to think that we 
should have more chance of winning the famous 
cup under the new American rule, which has 
been in force for some years, than under the 
old conditions. It should be remembered that 
Mr, Herreshoff was able to beat our designers 
with Westward, built to fit our own rule; there¬ 
fore it is reasonable to suppose that he would 
be able to do even better under his own rule, 
to which he has built for several years. It 
should be remembered, also, that our designers 
have never—so far as I know—been called upon 
to design a yacht for the so-called universal 
rule. 
The beautiful Octavia proved to be the cham¬ 
pion in the 19-meter class last year. The class 
is a fine one and let us hope that during the 
coming season we may once again see the four 
19-rneter yachts fighting their battles and 
settling—or trying to settle, for they are well 
matched—which of them is the best all-rOund 
boat.—County Gentleman and Land and Water, 
England. 
Yachtsmen’s Club of Philadelphia. 
The Yachtsmen’s Club of Philadelphia has 
set July 6 as the date for the long distance race 
this year. The regatta committee made this 
announcement at its meeting on March 23. It 
was decided the course must be over 200 miles 
in length. The start will be made from one of 
the Philadelphia clubs on the Delaware River 
to Hampton Roads, where the Hampton Roads 
Y. C. will entertain. This race is held to im¬ 
prove the build and construction of cruising 
yachts, and only those that comply with re¬ 
quirements will be allowed to start. Entries 
thus far received are: Vice-Commodore Brig¬ 
ham’s Caliph. Ventnor Y. C.; George Fish’s 
Lugeo II., Ocean City Y. C.; Commodore 
Cartledge’s Marguerite II., Keystone Y. C.; 
Commodore Dudley’s Haji, Camden M. B.-C.; 
Commodore Joseph Thompson’s Isabella IL, 
Ventnor Y. C., and Commodore James Thomp¬ 
son’s Albatross, Stone Harbor Y. C. The re¬ 
turn race will be to the Baltimore Y. C. 
ARCTIC HUNTING 
For charter, ship fully equipped, specially built 
for ice work, for one or more months’ cruise in 
Greenland or Spitzbergen and Franz Josef’s Land 
waters, will accommodate party of 5 to 15. Polar 
bear, reindeer, fox, seal, walrus, Arctic birds, 
fishinjc. 
ARCTIC, 1004 Oliver Bldg., Boston, Mass. 
ARTHUR BINNE Y 
(Formerly Stewakt & Binnev) 
Naval Architect and Yacht Broker 
Mason Building, Kilby S(., BOSTON, MASS. 
Cable Address. “Desigrner.” Boston 
COX STEVENS 
Yacht Brokers and Naval Architects 
15 William Street - New York 
Telephones 1375 and 1376 Broad 
