Yachting Fixtures for 1908. 
12 . 
12 . 
12 . 
12th, 
12 . 
15. 
17. 
19. 
19. 
19. 
26. 
26. 
SEPTEMBER. 
Belle Harbor Y. C., around lightship. 
Indian Harbor Y. C., fall. 
Crescent Athletic Club. 
Prince of Wales cup, all classes. 
Detroit Y. C., Detroit B. C. and Solway Club cat- 
boat race and free-for-all. 
Harlem Y. C., to Stratford Shoal. 
N. Y. Y. C., Glen Cove. 
Larchmont Y. C. 
Manhasset Bay Y. C. 
Atlantic Y. C. 
Handicap Class, annual. 
Bensonhurst Y. C. 
Atlantic Y. C. Race Week. 
It is a long time since the yachtsmen on the 
lower New York Harbor had so much good 
sport as was furnished in the race week of the 
Atlantic Y. C. which began on Sept. 2 and lasted 
until Labor Day, ending with an open regatta, 
the annual event of the club, for all classes. In 
many ways the continued racing reminded some, 
who have not yet grown very gray, of the days 
when the New York, Corinthian, Atlantic and 
Marine and Field clubs used to give a week of 
lacing, starting their races near the Narrows 
and sailing out to the grim old lightships that 
mark the entrance to the harbor outside Sandy 
Hook. Those were rare days for yachting and 
many sigh for their return. They are gone, 
though, like many other good things, and the 
growth of commerce and increased traffic up 
and down the harbor is largely responsible for 
driving the yachtsmen from the lower bay. 
In Gravesend Bay, however, there is lots of 
sport for the smaller classes and those yachts¬ 
men who came down from the Sound, where 
this summer calms and light winds have pre¬ 
vailed, were agreeably surprised that they should 
nave a continuation of steady breezes and that 
the racing was of such a high order. 
Series races for the Q boats, races over ocean 
courses, contests long and short for power boats 
water sports and then an open regatta furnished 
all the attractions that one wanted, and the At- 
lantics’ house at Seat Gate was crowded all the 
u m T e ‘ ni r ? gatta committee, John R. Brophy, 
, • j Durland and Horace E. Boucher, had their 
bands full. It is no light task to arrange a pro¬ 
gramme for a week, to see that all the prelimi- 
nary details are such that there will be no hitch 
when the racing begins and then to manage the 
races to the satisfaction of all but this com 
mittee was equal to the occasion. Yachtsmen 
as a rule are too prone to find fault with the 
regatta committee. They are unreasonable often 
and forget that their work is a labor of love 
and that even if mistakes are made they are 
usually caused through over zealousness and that 
everything done is in the interest of the sport. 
II instead of kicking they would often try to 
co-operate with the committee, much trouble 
and much worry would be avoided and every¬ 
thing would be lovely. 
The success of the week was due to three 
things the work of the regatta committee, the 
liberality of many members of the club in offer- 
prizes and the support given not only 
by Gravesend Bay yachtsmen, but by yachtsmen 
from the Sound and from Eastern waters. 
Frederic Thompson was very liberal with his 
prizes. He gave the big cup, for which the Q 
boats sailed a series of races, he gave prizes for 
power boat races and for the ocean race to Fire 
Island. Other handsome prizes were given by 
Captains F. D. Underwood, Hendon Chubb, 
Robert A. Brown and by the club. 
When the racing ended and the yachtsmen 
gathered at the club house the entertainment 
committee got to work. A mess dinner, a visit 
to Coney Island, another to the fireworks, other 
dinners and dances made the evenings seem 
usually short, and at the end of the week gen¬ 
eral regret was experienced that it was over. 
The race for the Thompson cup for the Q 
boats was perhaps the chief attraction of the 
week. Some criticism has been made at the 
costliness of the cup presented which is to be¬ 
come the property of the yachtsman who first 
wins three series of races, but it had the effect 
of bringing together eight of the best Q boats 
in the country, and the racing was fine. The 
first series went to F. T. Bedford who entered 
from the Bridgeport Y. C., but who is also a 
member of the Crescent Athletic Club. Mr. 
Bedford purchased Eleanor, a boat that has 
twice won the championship of Massachusetts 
waters. He secured the yacht just in time to 
enter in the series and won two out of the three 
races and scored the most points. The first race 
was won by Joy much to the delight of Com¬ 
modore Childs, but Joy’s victory was due to a 
favorable slant in the wind which gave her quite 
a lift on the windward leg. Soya was perhaps 
the surprise of the class. This boat is now in 
her fourth season and she sailed consistentlv 
throughout the week. 
Another attraction was the ocean race in which 
nine yachts started, and after sailing 93 miles eight 
finished within 8m. 20s. of the leader. It was a 
reaching race in light weather, and when near¬ 
ing the harbor on their return the yachts ran 
into a soft spot and those astern were able to 
close up on the leaders. This calm enabled the 
last boat, Sakana, to win the cup by a very small 
margin of time from Mimosa III. and furnished 
another argument against finishing races over 
ocean courses inside the harbor instead of at 
some point outside. Again Mimosa III. was the 
yacht to suffer most through this calm. She 
took the second prize and the Captain Brown 
cup for the sloop to make the best corrected 
time. 
The power boat men did not appreciate the 
prizes offered for their races as they should 
have. Power boat men seem to be all at odds. 
They cannot get together for some reason or 
other, and the chief trouble seems to be that the 
manufacturing interests have too much to say 
about rules and other details of racing, and 
these same interests are represented too much 
-in the sport. The power boat men have their 
association, then there is the Motor Boat Club 
and the Manufacturers’ Association, but these 
three organizations are at odds most of the time. 
If the sport is to be a success then the power 
boat men must get together, bury their dif¬ 
ferences, eliminate the trade element and orga¬ 
nize an advisory association just as the sailing 
yachtsmen have to look after their interests and 
put the sport on a firm foundation. 
Wednesday, Sept. 2. 
1 he first regatta of the week was sailed on 
Wednesday, Sept. 2. It was for all classes, M 
and below, and special courses were selected 
over which the yachts were to sail starting off 
the club dock at Sea Gate. The warning signal 
was made at 1 o’clock and there were eight of 
the Q boats, 22-footers, ready to fight for the 
Thompson cup. These were W. A. Barstow’s 
Soya and Hendon Chubb’s Spider, of the Atlan¬ 
tic Club; Commodore W. H. Child’s Joy, of the 
Bensonhurst Club; Caleb Loring’s Achilles, of 
the Boston Club; F. G. Stewart’s Princess and 
C. Sherman Hoyt’s Capsicum, of the Seawan- 
haka Corinthian Club; F. T. Bedford’s Eleanor, 
of the Bridgeport Club and Robert Jacob’s 
Chaperone, of the Manhasset Bay Club. Soya 
and Spider were built from C. H. Crane de¬ 
signs, Achilles from W. Starling Burgess, 
Eleanor from Herreshoff, Joy and Chaperone 
from C. D. Mower and Princess from William 
Gardner. 
O. G. Jennings sailed Eleanor and A. W. H. 
Johnston Chaperone. The others were sailed by 
their owners. The wind was light from the 
west and the yachts were sent first to the Ben¬ 
sonhurst mark, then to Craven Shoals, then to 
the Ambrose Channel Buoy No. 24 and then 
home, and they had to cross the starting line at 
the end of the round. This was something that 
caused a little trouble with some of the smaller 
boats. It is unusual to do this on Gravesend 
Bay and some yachtsmen did not read their in¬ 
structions carefully and so were put out of the 
races. This course was 12 miles and was sailed 
by the P and Q classes and the second handicap 
division. The smaller boats sailed eight miles. 
At the start of the Q boats Capsicum was too 
soon at the line and tried to kill time by beat¬ 
ing away, and in so doing fouled Eleanor. The 
committee at once disqualified Capsicum. The 
windward leg was from the Ambrose Channel 
buoy in, but the wind hauled north and so 
spoiled this work, making it almost a reaching 
and running race. Joy got quite a lift on this 
leg and took a commanding lead which she never 
lost. 
The times taken at the end of the first round 
were: Sue, 2:23:40; Crescent, 2:23:55; Joy, 
2:25:50; Achilles, 2:28:12; Soya, 2:31:22; Prin 
cess, 2:31:27; Eleanor, 2:33:06; Spider, 2:33:4s; 
Chaperone, 2 :4s :55 ; Capsicum, 2:49:00; Pester, 
2:24:00; Toy, 2:44:40; Merry Widow, 2:44:50; 
Slow Poke, 2:45:00; Adyta, 2:48:40; Miana, 
2 : 53 :SS; Careless, 2:54:33; La Cubana, 2:55:18; 
Mouse, 2:55:43; Nancy, 2:55:12; Cherub, 
2:58:30, and Joker, 3:34:50. 
The summaries: 
Sloops, Class D—Start, 1:15—Course, 12 Miles. 
Crescent . 2 33 10 Sue . 2 34 15 
Sloops, Class G—Start, 1:20—Course, 12 Miles. 
Joy . 2 24 20 Spider . 2 31 20 
Achellis . 2 28 00 Soya . 2 32 05 
Eleanor . 2 29 12 Chaperon . 2 43 32 
Princess . 2 31 03 Capsicum . Dis. 
Handicap Class—Second Division—Start, 1:25—Course, 12 
Miles. 
Adyta . 2 46 55 La Cubana . 2 53 17 
Miana . 2 53 09 Careless . 2 58 40 
Corrected time—La Cubana, 2.44.57; Adyta, 2.46.55; 
Careless, 2.17.59;; Miana, 2.49.49. 
Handicap Class—First Division—Start, 1:25—Course. S 
Miles. 
Toy .2 58 20 Mischief . Dis. 
Sloops, Class S—Start, 1:30—Course, 8 Miles. 
Pester . 2 19 30 
Dories, 
Slow Poke 
Gravesend 
Nancy . 
Mouse .... 
Cherub .... 
N. Y. C. 
Mercury ... 
North Star 
Class X—Start, 1:35—Course, 8 Miles. 
. 2 27 08 Merry Widow .2 31 48 
Knockabouts—Start, 1:35—Course, 8 Miles. 
. 2 35 20 Joker . 3 12 52 
. 2 35 21 Bobs . Dis. 
. 2 40 02 
C. Dinghies—Start, 1:40—Course, 4 Miles. 
. 1 41 47 Meteor . 1 55 25 
. 1 52 15 Taurus . D. N. F. 
Three power boats between 30ft. and 40ft. 
length took part in the race around Fire Island 
Lightship for Thompson cups. These were sent 
away at 8 :o5 o’clock in the morning and they had 
fair smooth weather going out, but head winds 
and seas coming back. The first to finish was 
W. B. Duncan’s Barbara. She crossed the line 
at 7:08:30 P. M. and her elapsed time was nh. 
3m. 30s. Chin Chin, owned by H. E. Boucher, 
was second, nh, 23m. and Samuel Cochran’s 
Eronel was third, i2h. 5m. 9s. 
Thursday, Sept. 3. 
On the second day the wind was fresh, north- 
northwest wind, and the course selected was the 
reverse of the preceding day, going to the Am¬ 
brose Channel Buoy first and the windward leg 
was from that mark to Craven Shoals. The 
going just suited Soya and she did well finish¬ 
ing second to Eleanor. At the end of the first 
round the times were Eleanor, 2:22152; Soya, 
2:24:40; Princess, 2:25:02; Achilles, 2:25:35; 
Chaperone, 2:26:34; Spider, 2:27:00; Joy, 
2:27:43. Soya, Spider and Achilles carried full 
sail, Capsicum had in two reefs and the other 
