64 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July ii, 1908. 
English Letter. 
The struggle for supremacy between the three 
23-meter cutters still continues to excite general 
attention here. Feeling runs high on all hands 
and the success or failure of Shamrock from 
day to day gives occasion to the expression of 
all sorts and conditions of opinions according 
as the spectator happens to be a Liptonite or anti- 
Liptonite. One thing, however, -is certain, and 
it is that the advent of Shamrock has stirred up 
the dry bones of yachting on this side of the 
Atlantic to some tune. 
I am sorry to say, however, that all the ex¬ 
citement is not confined to the public which 
follows the racing. That lying jade, Dame 
Rumor, is responsible for a whisper that it has 
already affected the fleet, and that two of our 
leading skippers have so far forgotten their 
position as to carry their rivalry ashore at the 
close of the racing and indulge in a game of 
fisticuffs. This is greatly to be deplored, as the 
men in question have both a host of friends who 
will be grieved should there be any repetition of 
such conduct. 
Shamrock had her first real hard weather test 
of this season in the historic Nore to Dover 
match which took place on June 13. The day 
opened with a nice westerly breeze which en¬ 
abled all the boats to carry their biggest club- 
topsails. Bit by bit as the day drew on the wind 
freshened and jackyarders gave way to jibhead- 
ers which in turn gave way to bare topmasts and 
the boats had a rare thresh outside the dread 
Goodwin Sands to finish the race. White 
Heather led from first to last and secured a 
popular win which was well sailed for and thor¬ 
oughly deserved. She had more trouble in shak¬ 
ing off the greatly improved Brynhild than in 
accounting for Sir Thomas Lipton’s cutter which 
finished third 4m. 59s. astern of her. 
Shamrock’s defeat was due to several causes, 
but it by no means justifies the use of such 
scare headings as “Shamrock a Failure” with 
which it has been favored by a certain section 
of the press which ought to know better. In 
the first place it was mainly due to the rigging 
giving under the strain of the hard blow, and 
Sycamore, when he found he could not force 
her along, decided to sail her easy, as a win 
under the circumstances was out of the ques¬ 
tion. He made a mistake, too, in carrying his 
clubtopsail long after all the others in the race 
had substituted jibtopsails. From what we saw 
of the race, however, it is apparent that Sham¬ 
rock’s best showing wdll be made in a moderate 
to fresh breeze, and that when it comes to a 
hard blow the chances are that Brynhild will 
prove the master boat of the fleet, which indeed 
w r as the case last season. 
After a clean up at Southampton the fleet 
has left the Thames for the Irish coast, the first 
race of the Shamrock in her home waters tak¬ 
ing place on the 19th inst. at Kingstown under 
the burgee of the Royal St. George Y. C. As 
befitted the occasion the green boat scored an¬ 
other victory, bringing her record of flags up to 
five out of seven starts, four of which are firsts, 
one being a King’s cup. This is quite _ good 
enough to go with, particularly when it is re¬ 
membered that after winning at Harwich she 
was disqualified on a protest. In the Royal St. 
George’s match the weather conditions were very 
much to the liking of the Lipton cutter and she 
led from start to finish, beating White Heather 
by 2m. 36s. on a triangular course of fifty miles 
in Dublin Bay. It was a great fight between 
Bevis on White Heather and Barbrook on Bryn ¬ 
hild for the second place, the latter being rather 
unlucky in losing by the narrow margin of 39s. 
Shamrock again gave a fine display of her extra¬ 
ordinary qualities on the w r ind, and it was here 
that she worked out practically the whole of 
her lead. 
The eleventh race from Dover to Heligoland 
for a silver cup and three other prizes, presented 
by the German Emperor, w'as started on the 19th 
inst. Only two British owned boats took part 
in the contest which is not at all in favor with 
British yachtsmen nowadays; and one of these 
British owned boats was American designed and 
built, too! This was the 222 ton schooner Cey¬ 
lon, owmed by Capt. R. V. Webster of Colombo. 
She is a Cary Smith vessel and has done a lot 
of ocean cruising. When the race started there 
w^as only a gentle easterly breeze blowing and 
with such conditions the race looked like last¬ 
ing a couple of days at least. Fife’s schooner 
Susanne, which has a generous time allowance 
under the new international time scale, looks like 
a certain winner of the cup. The second British 
owmed boat in the race was Mr. G. Cecil 
Whitaker’s Fife designed schooner Cicely. With 
the exception of the German built steel yawl 
Armgard, and other boats which started, all are 
British designed and built, although German 
owned. They are the Soper schooner Clara; 
the Watson schooner Hamburg (ex-Rainbow), 
and the old America’s cup challenger Thistle, 
which is now called Comet and is used as a 
training vessel in the German Navy. 
Writing of the Heligoland cup race reminds 
me of the fact that the forthcoming Kiel re¬ 
gattas will witness the debut of the first German 
designed and built racing schooner of reason¬ 
able dimensions. This is the Germania, which 
has been built at the famous Germania yard at 
Kiel for the young gentleman who married the 
Krupp millions. Her designer is Mr. Max 
Oertz, of Hamburg, one of the cleverest 
draughtsmen on the continent and a man who 
has had a very successful career with small rac¬ 
ing craft. Germania has a mixed crew under 
the command of a Southampton skipper, Charles 
Loveless. Her sailing master writes me that 
she has done splendidly in her trials. Should 
she prove superior to Meteor and Cicely the de¬ 
light of the Emperor will know no bounds, as 
it has been the dream of his life to see a Ger¬ 
man designed and built yacht of the first class 
prove superior to British and American pro¬ 
ductions. If Germania is a big success we may 
safety count on the Emperor coming out with a 
23-meter cutter bearing the well known legend, 
“Made in Germany.” R. R. 
Fall River Y. C. Ocean Race. 
The ocean race of the Fall River Y. C. for a 
cup offered by Thomas Fleming Day will be 
sailed on Saturday, July 11. This race is open 
to sailing cabin yachts of 30 feet or under on the 
waterline enrolled in any recognized yacht club. 
Time allowance will be figured on the over all 
length of the yachts. Entries close with the 
committee at the club house, Fall River Land¬ 
ing, on the morning of the race. There are no 
restrictions as to sails or ballast. Each yacht 
is allowed to carry one man for each five feet 
of over all length or fraction thereof and each 
yacht must carry a moderate cruising outfit and 
two days’ provisions and water for the crew 
The course is from off the club house, then 
through Narragansett Bay to the whistling 
buoy off Point Judith, then to the Vineyard 
Sound lightship, then to the Hen and Chickens 
lightship, then to Brenton’s Reef lightship, and 
back to Fall River, a distance of 100 miles. The 
start will be made at 4:15 o’clock. 
Beverly Y. C. 
The four hundred and eleventh regatta of the 
Beverly Y. C., first Corinthian race, was sailed off 
the club house June 27. Judge—Chas. Whitte- 
more. Wind—Southwest. 
21-footers—Course 14—11% Miles. 
Elapsed 
Owl, F. C. Paine . 2 IS 18 
Illusion, C. M. Baker. 2 19 06 
Amanita IV., Josliua Crane. 2 23 40 
Rosamond, Miles W. Weeks. 2 29 17 
Barnacle, W. E. C. Eustis. 2 30 53 
18ft. Fourth Class Cats-—Course 20—6Vfe Miles. 
Howard, E. P. Miller. 1 53 25 
15-footers—Course 18—8% Miles. 
Seeps, Miss Katherine Warren . 1 44 00 
Anita, Walter H. Hellier. 1 45 36 
Eebekah, F. W. Hobbs. 1 46 20 
Uarda, John Parkinson, Jr. 1 47 20 
Jub Jub, Howard Stockton, Jr. 1 48 27 
Mongoose, II. N. Emmons. 1 49 57 
Peacock, Philip Winsor. 1 50 16 
Bantam, Miss Hilda W. Williams. 1 50 28 
Bristol Y. C. Ocean Race. 
Dorothy Q won the ocean race of the 
Bristol Y. G, sailing to and around the 
Brenton Reef Lightship, her elapsed time being 
9.45.48. The second boat home was the Nutmeg, 
and the third w'as Little Rhody, which goes to 
show that the fastest racing boat can win a 
long distance race just as well as a short after¬ 
noon race course. 
Yacht Sales. 
The Hollis Burgess Yacht Agency has sold 
the gasolene launch Yama Ann, owned by Mrs. 
E. C. Gilman, of Haverhill, Mass., to Alvan T. 
Fuller, of Boston, who will use the boat at Rye 
Beach, N. H. 
The Hollis Burgess Yacht Agency has 
chartered the 35ft. yawl Isem, owned by William 
A. Gaston, of Boston to Mr. Edgar W. Hodg¬ 
son, of Boston, who intends to use her on the 
Boston Y. C. cruise. 
The 97ft. motor yacht Daisy, Mr. R. W. Gallo¬ 
way owner, has put in at the Electric Launch 
Co., at Bayonne, having just arrived from Nor¬ 
folk, Va., on her way North. 
MOTOR YACHT THE LIMIT. 
