50G 
FOREST AND STREAM 
April 20, 1912 
modore E. . Clai'k. of the Philadelphia Cor¬ 
inthian Y. C., to Ernest W. Dutton, of Brook¬ 
line, Mass. 
M©iL®ir Boaitainii 
Unique Handicapping Devised. 
Another novel system for handicapping 
motor boats has ben suggested in all serious¬ 
ness, and if the racers were handled honestly 
the system should result in some good racing 
and dead heats would be frequent. The boats 
under this system are to race to a mark and re¬ 
turn. They will line up as usual for the start, 
which is one gun, and naturally on the way out 
the fastest boat will at once take the lead if 
everything is working properly. A timer is to 
be stationed on the turning mark, and when the 
leader makes the turn he wlil fire a bomb which 
will make sufficient noise to be beard at the 
starting line and throw a puff of smoke into 
the air which can be seen a long distance. As 
soon as this gun is fired, every boat in the 
race will turn and speed back to the finish. The 
first boat at the turn is to get one prize and the 
first boat back another. The run out will es¬ 
tablish the relative speed of the racers and 
make the handicap as perfect as possible and, 
should the race be true, the whole fleet should 
finish a dead heat. 
Whether this system will be tried, remains to 
be seen. It has its merits, but it also opens 
the gate to jugglery. An unscrupulous owner 
could easily slow his engine down on the run 
out so that he would get more than his proper 
handicap for the run home. This, however, 
might be prevented by penalizing those boats 
that exceed their speed on the home run more 
than a small percentage or by disqualifying a 
boat that increases its speed after the turn has 
been made. 
The handicap and time allowance question is 
causing much worry among those who are in¬ 
terested in motor boat racing. All sorts of 
schemes have been discussed to figure out a 
rule that will rate the racing craft equally and 
not allow some smart designer and builder to 
take an unfair advantage of the rule, but up to 
now no fair formula has been devised. 
The executive committee of the American 
Power Boat Association has been busy since 
the return of President Koerner and the irregu¬ 
lar work done at the last meeting is to be 
straightened out as soon as possible. There 
will be a meeting of the executive committee 
on April 23, when amendments to the by-laws 
and racing rules will be considered. After these 
have been accepted by the executive committee, 
a call will be issued for a meeting of the dele¬ 
gates and the proposed amendments will be 
sent to each delegate with the call. This was 
not done for the last meeting, although no 
amendment can be legaly made unless a copy 
of the amendment has been sent to each dele¬ 
gate. 
The hydroplane question, the measurement 
rule, time allowance question and probably the 
definition of an amateur will then be settled, 
for the coming season at least.—Sun. 
Southern Motor Boat Regatta. 
The three-day regatta of the Jacksonville 
Power Boat Club was eminently successful, and 
a number of prominent yachtsmen along the 
North Atlantic Coast were entrants. 
The first day, weather conditions were very 
bad. Nevertheless, although starting a little 
late, the program was carried out as originally 
scheduled. The first race was a 20-mile event 
for 24-footers. This was won by Vita. Jr., 
owned and steered by Commodore J. Stuart 
Blackton, of the Atlantic Y. C. His only com¬ 
petitors, Bug and Carolina IT, were put out of 
the running through accident before the finish, 
Bug having broken a blade of her propeller, 
while Caroline II. got a pretty serious dent 
through collision with a log or some other float¬ 
ing obstacle. 
The second event—the 20-mile handicap for 
boats with a record of 25 miles or under—found 
as starters Impudence, Spray, Ruth K., Adel¬ 
aide. Seminole, Vita, Diana and Jane S. This 
resulted in a tie between Vita and Jane S., 
with Ruth K. a close third. This event was 
run off the next day, resulting in a victory for 
Vita by a very small margin. 
On the second day, the 20-mile “free-for-all” 
boats under 40 feet was won by Diana, owned 
by D. H. McMillian. Vita and Vita, Jr., won 
the next event, the 13 1-3 mile relay race. In 
the double-header for boats of the 26- and 46- 
foot classes. Vita, Jr., beat Thelma after a hard 
race, near the finish of which Thelma broke 
down. 
On the third day, the first race was the 20-foot 
handicap for boats of the 22-mile class. Jane 
S. won this event, Vita second and Diana third. 
The next race was an event for Elorida-built 
boats only; distance ten miles. Diana was very 
much superior to the other entries in this event, 
Seminole finishing second and Spray third. 
The special hydroplane race came next and was 
won by Vita with little effort. The last event 
of the day and the regatta was the open event 
for all classes. W. H. Snyder’s Seminole won 
the event, with Diana second and Jane S. third. 
After the races, a banquet was given by the 
Jacksonville Power Boat Club, at which the 
prizes were presented. 
The three days’ races went off without a hitch, 
showing excellent management on the part of 
the regatta committee—L. A. Mitchell, Myron 
Howard, Charles A. Clarke and* George E. 
Sheppard; handicapper and starter, A. T. 
Stevens; scorer, J. E. Lane, and last, but not 
least, the energetic and progressive secretary 
of the club, Francis P. L’Engle. 
A. C. A. Membership. 
NEW MEMBERS PROPOSED. 
Western Division.—S. F. Durga, De Kalb, 
■Ill., by F. B. Huntington; Elmer D. Becker, 
1439 Winona avenue, Chicago, Ill., by Norman 
G. Stockdale; Harold G. Sperling, 1325 Winne- 
mac avenue, Chicago, Ill., by A. W. Friese. 
NEW MEMBERS ELECTED. 
Atlantic Division.—6383, George E. Essel- 
born, 2342 Webster avenue, New York, N. Y.; 
6384, Bertram M. H. Enemier, 125 Manhattan 
street. New York, N. Y.; 6386, Harold B. R. 
Laing, 225 Marble Hill avenue, Kingsbridge, 
N. Y.; 6387, William J. Marsh, 109 West 225th 
street, Kingsbridge, N. Y. 
Central Division.—6385, John H. Teach, 88 
Pascal, Buffalo, N. Y. 
FISHING IN AUSTRALIA. 
Some fair-sized fish have been caught in the 
Goodrodigbee River, at Brindabella. recently. Mr. 
Henderson, of Sydney, says a Sydney paper, 
captured a very fine 4-pound fish at Bramina 
Creek, a couple of miles below the homestead, and 
on another occasion caught two weighing three 
pounds each in the dam. His average during 
the trip is about twenty per day. Dr. A. J. 
Brady and Dr. Marshall have been catching a 
lot of trout, and enjoying excellent sport. The 
river is in first-rate condition, and the favorite 
flies just now are the Coch-y-bondhu and coach¬ 
man. 
In spite of very unfavorable conditions, 
southerly weather and a lot of wind, very fair 
sport was enjoyed by Mr. H. K. Anderson at 
a part of the Queanbeyan River, situated about 
eighteen miles from Captain’s Flat, and about 
five miles from Gingerra, where he joined W. 
Lomas, and A. Mayoh, on Dec. 23, and re¬ 
mained until Dec. 26. in a camp prepared for 
them by Mr. W. Bollard, himself a very keen 
angler. On, Dec. 22, snow fell. Christmas Day 
was the best fishing day of the trip, and some 
very nice trout, largest 5J4 pounds, were caught 
by Messrs. Bollard and Anderson, the Zulu be¬ 
ing the most successful fly tried. 
The river is simply alive with natural food— 
Crayfish, shrimps, caddis, frogs, tadpoles, etc.-— 
and every fish opened was found to contain 
earthworms, which can be found anywhere in 
the river bed on turning over the stones. The 
river is very low at this point. Snags are so 
plentiful and water lilies and other weeds so 
thick that the odds are nearly 50 to I on a fish 
over five or six pounds, as it is, of course, im¬ 
possible to hold him with orthodox fly fisher¬ 
man’s gear, which is, we are pleased to say, 
now employed by the majority of the local 
anglers, many of whom are becoming adepts in 
the use of the fly-rod. In describing the great 
size to which the fish in the Queanbeyan River 
grow, Mr. Bollard states that during last 
winter, in the Sherlock and Ballinafad, two small 
gravelly creeks running into the river, he saw 
trout of such dimensions as to be positively as¬ 
tounding-reaching well over 30 inches in 
length, with proportionate depth, in some cases 
working their way over the shallows, with 
nearly half their body out of the water, making 
up to some well-known spawning bed. Mr. 
Bollard’s largest trout from the Queanbeyan 
River weighed over 854 pounds, but he assured 
the visitors that he has never caught a trout 
going anywhere near the size of the great rain¬ 
bows which he saw last winter. 
In every shallow, and in the creeks running 
into the river, traces of last season’s “redds” 
are still to be seen, and the number of small 
trout which take refuge in every sheltered nook 
is really surprising — there are great shoals of 
this year’s fry, darting about in search of food, 
and but for the cannibalistic propensities of 
Salmo irideus the Queanbeyan River would very 
soon be overstocked. A local angler fishing 
with a worm close above the crossing of the 
Michelago-road, recently, caught eight splendid 
trout between four pounds and six pounds in 
about an hour—he uses a sapling for a rod, for 
convenience in throwing out the line, but as a 
fish is hooked he “yanks” him out hand oyer 
hand. Fortunately sporting methods are rapid¬ 
ly gaining popularity, and this primitive style 
is now held up to ridicule by those who have 
become converts to the rod and fly. These, too, 
are the best water-bailiffs—they are keenly alive 
to the damage done by poachers, and are down 
on illegal fishing for trout, like a hawk on her 
prey. 
CANVAS COVERED CANOES 
Prepare now for hot weather days. Spend your summer outings 
and vacation canoeing. Send for illustrated catalog showing 
paddling, sailing and motor canoes. Investigate our special type 
of sponsons (air chambers). Kennebec Canoes are unequalled in 
design, finish, lightness and strength. Prices reasonable. 
KENNEBEC CANOE CO. • - 16 R. R. Square, Watervllle, Maine ' 
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, 
fishing. 
ARCTIC, 1004 Oliver Bldg., Boston, Mass. 
ARTHUR BINNEY 
(Formerly Stewart & Binnev) 
Naval Architect and Yacht Broker 
NAaon Building, Kilby St., BOSTON, MASS. 
Cable Address. •'Desisrner,” Boston 
COX STEVENS 
Yacht Brokers and Naval Architects 
15 William Street - New York 
Telephones ntS and 13r6 Broad 
