i8j 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. 2, 1907. 
ONE-DESIGN CLASSES. 
The prospects for racing next summer in the 
new one-design class of 57ft. rating seem good. 
Two of the owners are to sail their own boats; 
they are thorough racing men, and are masters 
in the art of knowing, as well as handling, their 
vessels. The third boat—it is reported—is to 
be in the hands of a seaman of great ability, 
who time after time has been able through his 
skill and judgment, and the good ship under 
him, to successfully defend the greatest yachting 
trophy. 
Several years ago, a class of 70-footers from 
the same design was put in the racing. It has 
been successful in the main, but at this time the 
dissolution of the class R all but accom¬ 
plished. The fortunes of the racers were in the 
hands of both amateur and professional skippers; 
and the rivalry was keen and determined. A 
survey of the races, now long past, shows an 
interesting peculiarity—the impossibility of elimi¬ 
nating personality. Pools, so to speak, were 
formed from time to time. According as a man 
was successful with his charge, so also would 
he be hampered and blocked in ensuing contests, 
and the records show defeats that must have 
been indeed bitter to bear. 
Racing—in intent—seems to consist in placing 
at a yacht’s helm an amateur or professional 
skipper who possesses such ability and so studies 
and understands his boat as to bring her in— 
among a fleet of yachts of different design—a 
victor as often as possible. This kind of racing 
proves twice as much as the racing of a one- 
design class, besides furthering the science and 
art of design. It is freely admitted that one-de¬ 
sign classes were but makeshifts to tide over 
the chaotic conditions of the racing rules. With 
the adoption of a new and satisfactory measure¬ 
ment rule, and only the scantling table lacking, 
the one-design class should go. 
Abroad, the matter of scantlings has been 
handled satisfactorily and boats of the largest 
class are being turned out under it. The start¬ 
ing of a one-design large class of 57ft. is a show 
of weakness and points to a doubt of the new 
rule. It is admitted that one-design boats in 
quantity give more to the owner for the money 
expended, but it cannot be a consideration when 
dealing with boats over 50ft. waterline. The 
new boats are reported to be very fine specimens 
of the craft of the designer, and it is said that 
they will be fine comfortable vessels. 
Instability of purpose, unrest and lack of con¬ 
certed action, are injurious. The effects last a 
long time. After the step taken in adopting an 
American rule, the yachtsmen of this country 
cannot afford to linger in the matter of scantling, 
or to dally longer with such a thing as a one- 
design class of large yachts. The trouble can¬ 
not now be undone, but it should be a lesson. 
Our European cousins have gotten far ahead of 
us. They have ended, for a time at least, the dis¬ 
cussion of a most complex problem, in a way satis¬ 
factory to interests that were believed by all to 
be unmergable. 
• 
SIR JOHN NUTTING CUP—CHICAGO Y. C. i8fT. 
RESTRICTED CLASS CHALLENGE CUP. 
* 
The auxiliary yawl Comanche has -been sold 
by' William P. Wharton, of Groton, rear com¬ 
modore of the Corinthian Y. C., of Marblehead, 
to Augustus Hemenway, of Boston, through the 
agency of Hollis Burgess. Comanche is one of 
the finest auxiliary yawls afloat. She is 72ft. over 
all, 46ft. waterline, 16ft. beam and 8ft. 5m. draft. 
She was designed by Arthur Binney and built by 
Lawley in 1902, and is 36 tons gross. She has 
a powerful Standard gasolene engine, which can 
drive her at a good rate of speed. Pier cabin 
accommodations are unusually large. 
*, *. * 
Small Bros, have an order for a one-design 
class of 15-footers for the New Haven Y. C., 
similar to the Boston Y. C. Hull class. Six 
boats have been ordered, with a prospect of ten. 
White, of Manchester, who is building the Hull 
class, has the order for them. 
POWERING TO BLOCK ISLAND. 
For three years the New York Athletic Club 
has successfully run off a long distance sailing 
race from Huckleberry Island to Block Island. 
The boats entered have been rated under an over 
all measurement, but had to be under 31ft. water¬ 
line. This condition brought together various 
types, for the most part owned by enthusiasts— 
men who delight in sailing and cruising in the 
best sense of the word. In many cases these 
are men whose purses permit but a limited out¬ 
lay in boat and gear, and who besides being cap¬ 
tain, cook and crew in the summer, are their own 
ship carpenters, riggers, calkers and painters in 
the spring and fall. 
The success of these races is a matter of 
record, and the yearly increase in the number of 
entries betokens an interest far removed from 
the “fad” stage. Such races, not of too long 
duration, permit busy men to get from their 
business without too great inconvenience. The 
goal, Block Island, is a most delightful place, 
possessing a charm of land and seascape par¬ 
ticularly its own, and with a safe and pleasant 
anchorage. 
In yachting, as in any pursuit of business or 
pleasure, those interested desire fellowship. In 
winter this desire takes the form of dinners and 
other such functions; in summer they cruise, 
either singly or in numbers. The intercourse 
from chance meetings in harbors is the basis of 
many pleasant experiences. 
It would seem that if the number of contest¬ 
ants in the Block Island race were largely in¬ 
creased it would be a still more successful event, 
for though .some additions in the number of sail¬ 
ing entries may be expected, these cannot be very 
numerous. 
Would it not then be a capital idea to invite 
some of that army of a. comparatively new type 
of yachtsmen—the power boat man—to join in 
this cruising race. The gathering of men over 
Sunday—for the race has always been started 
on Saturday—would admit of an intercourse, 
which is one of the ties of the sport. There is 
plenty of time for a club, many of whose mem¬ 
bers are keen sailors, who display a lively interest 
in long races, to take this matter up, settling upon 
the same date as that of the New York Athletic 
Club. The course from Huckleberry Island is 
about 101 nautical miles, and is of such length 
as to be eminently suitable for such an event. 
The tendency of yachting is to broaden a man, 
both in his love of the sea, and in his acquaint¬ 
ance of those with like inclination. The growth 
of the sport has been slow, and thus fortunately 
has been prevented an over development which 
would have perhaps doomed it. Sailing and 
powering—if we may use the term—are mani¬ 
festations of a desire on the part of men to seek 
that outdoor life and recreation demanded by 
health and wellbeing. On that desire the sport 
must depend for its success. 
Thomas Fleming Day, yachting writer and 
authority, has been elected an honorary mem¬ 
ber of the St. George Y. C., Bermuda. 
