May 14, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
783 
precautions against being unwittingly washed 
overboard or losing his life in any other acci¬ 
dental way. The absence of bulwarks will not 
trouble him—on the contrary,- he will find 
stanchions and ridge-ropes superior, while 
temporary life-lines are not .unknown to him. 
Though we do not think that any 23-metre 
yacht will take part in this ocean race, we can¬ 
not agree that they are unfit for the voyage, or 
that their chance of winning (without any time 
allowance) is remote. It should be remembered 
that the race is from east to west, and that, 
therefore a considerable amount of ‘wind-jam¬ 
ming’ is more than probable; moreover, we 
must not judge the ocean-going capabilities of 
the 23-metre class from seeing them driven 
under their large cutter rig against the com¬ 
paratively short, steep seas of our ordinary 
regatta course. The long heave of the At¬ 
lantic suits their length very much better than 
a Channel sea, and very much better (in a head 
sea) than such a vessel as Atlantic. 
“There is, of course, the question: ‘Is the 
game worth the candle?’ This can only be 
answered by the owners of any of the 23-metre 
yachts, with the advice of their sailing-masters. 
But to say that these yachts are unfit and un¬ 
safe for the purpose of such a race is a very 
grave reflection both on the skill and courage 
of the British sailor and on the result of the 
European International rule of measurement. 
To be sure, the number of British sailors has 
been sadly reduced since the days when Ad¬ 
miral Montagu roamed the sea under canvas, 
but quite a large number still survive (not in 
the Royal Navy, of course), and the contem¬ 
plated ocean race will not fail on this account. 
“The last match across the Atlantic from 
east to west was sailed in 1870, between Mr. J. 
Ashbury’s Cambria (the first challenger’for the 
America’s Cup), and the American schooner 
Dauntless, then owned by Mr. Gordon Bennett. 
The two started off the Old Head of Kinsale, 
on 4th of July, at 2:20 p. M.. and Cambria passed 
Sandy Hook lightship on July 27, only ih. 17m. 
ahead of Dauntless. The race was remarkable 
from the fact that the rival skippers chose 
totally different courses, so much so that no 
less than 15 degrees of latitude separted them 
at noon on one day. Cambria chose the north¬ 
erly and Dauntless the southerly course—with 
the remarkable result that only 77m. separated 
the two after 23 days’ sailing! 
“As we say, racing from east to west across 
the .Atlantic is quite a different thing to racing 
from west to east, for foul winds are likely to 
predominate in the former and fair winds in the 
latter case. The skill of the navigator in choos¬ 
ing his course (thereb}'' turning a foul wind into 
a fair one) has considerably more influence 
upon his vessel’s time than has her design or 
even her size. Length and weight are always 
useful in an ocean race, and therefore the 
chances of a 23-metre yacht cannot be con¬ 
sidered rosy in such a race against schooners 
of the ‘A’-class. But that is not to say that 
they are unfit and unsafe, nor that they have 
no chance of winning. Much will be said and 
written about this race before the Atlantic Y. 
C. makes its final arrangements, but all the 
support should be forthcoming. It is a purely 
sporting suggestion, and it ill becomes the 
European press (least of all the British), to 
throw cold water upon the scheme at the 
present time.” 
Victoria Y. C. 
The Victoria Y. C., of Canada, now entering 
on the tenth year of its existence, has just held 
its annual meet’ng and elected officers for the 
ensuing year. These are as follows: Honorary 
Commodore, Geo. H. Millen ; Commodore, Geo. 
H. Rogers; Vice-Commodore, Geo. Burn; Rear- 
Commodore, G. G. Dale; President, E. A. 
Olver; Vice-President, S. McClenaehan; Secre¬ 
tary-Treasurer, C. E. Stewart; Directors, P. 
Weir. B. Beatty, D. E. Johnson. T. Shanks, Dr. 
W. R. Greene, H. O. E. Pratt, D. F. Blyth and 
Geo. H. Rogers; Measurers, F. W. Bedard and 
Dr. W. R. Greene; Auditors, Col. Coutlee and 
Leslie Jarvis. 
The financial statement showed that the club 
had a.most successful season last year, and as 
a result this year, will be started off-with a sub¬ 
stantial balance in the treasury, after paying off 
a part of the indebtedness which still remains 
on the club building. It will be remembered 
that some years ago fire destroyed the club house 
at Victoria Park, and the erection of the present 
building left the club in debt for a considerable 
sum, which is being gradually wiped off. 
It is the intention of the club this year, in 
addition to pulling off their regular sailing 
events, to encourage racing of motor boats, and 
with this end in view Commodore Geo. H. 
Millen has donated a handsome and expensive 
cup as a trophy. 
George H. Rogers has also offered a trophy 
which will likely be put up as a prize for the 
Seawanhaka class of sailing boats, of which 
there are now quite a number on the lake. 
Gloucester Y. C. 
The officers of the Gloucester Y. C. are: Com¬ 
modore, B. H. Colby; Vice-Commodore, Austin 
B. Perry; Fleet Captain, Sumner H. Andrews; 
Secretary, Kenneth J. Ferguson; Treasurer, 
Conrad R. Planson; Measurer, John G. Mehl- 
man; Directors, Lawrence E. Andrews, Everett 
Flye, John G. Mehlman; Regatta Committee, 
Archie Fenton, J. G. Mehlman, Addison G. Stan- 
wood. William J. Crawley, Roland Chisholm, 
Thomas Martin, Guy Harding; House Commit¬ 
tee, Orrin Martin, William Coffin, Guy Howard; 
Delegate to Massachusetts Y. R. A., Bryan S. 
Permar. 
The fixtures for the season are: July 2 and 4, 
10 a. m.; July 9, 16, 23 and 30, and Aug. 6, 13, 
20 and 25, and Sept. 5, 10 a. m. 
The races will be for two divisions of the 
handicap class. The yachts and allowances are: 
Class 1.—Onda II., John Greenough, scratch; 
Nereid, C. ’H. Hunt and Edjacko, S. E. Ray¬ 
mond, each 2 per cent.; Osprey, C. R. Hanson; 
Elizabeth, B. H. Colby; Jingo, L. E. Andrews, 
and Urchin, A. H. Perry, 7 per cent. each. 
Class 2.—Althea, R. P. Chittenden, scratch; 
Privateer, F. W. Pollard and Bagheera, M. S. 
Greenough, 2 per cent, each; Vim, C. J. Ferris 
and Cygnet, Harding & Chisolm, 5 per cent, 
each; Beaver, C. A. Tolman, 7 per cent.; Oleta, 
S; E. Raymond, 15 per cent.; Cricket, C. S. 
Webster and Cavalier, J. L. Brand, 20 per cent. 
Massachusetts Dory Association. 
The annual meeting and banquet of the Mass¬ 
achusetts Racing Dory Association was held re¬ 
cently at the Rowes wharf station of the Boston 
Y. C., and the following dates were announced 
for the season of 1910: May 30, South Boston 
Y. C.; June n, Mosquito Fleet Y. C.; June 17, 
Boston Y. C. at Hull; June 18, Boston Y. C. at 
Hull; July 2, Winthrop Y. C. at Winthrop; July 
4, Swampscott Y. C. at Swampscott; July 9, Co¬ 
lumbia Y. C. at City Point; July 30, Squantum 
Y. C. at Squantum; Aug. 2, Boston Y. C. at 
Marblehead ; Aug. 3, 4, 5 and 6, Corinthian Y. C. 
at Marblehead; Aug. 9, Quincy Y. C. at Quincy; 
Aug. 11, 12 and 13, Boston Y. C. at Hull; Aug. 
27, Wollaston Y. C. at Wollaston; Sept. 5, Lynn 
Y. C. at Bass Point; Sept. 10, Cottage Park Y. 
C. at Winthrop. The matches with the Port¬ 
land Y. C. for the Knight trophy will be held 
at Marblehead in the forenoons of Aug. 2, 3 and 
4. The dates for the trial races for the selection 
of the defender for the Knight trophy will be 
announced later. 
Dorchester Y. C. Events. 
The regatta committee of the Dorchester Y. 
C. has arranged races for motor boats, sailing 
yachts and two club runs. On the dates chosen 
for motor boats there will be two races each 
day. There will be two classes for both motor 
boats and sailing yachts with championship 
trophies for both types. The schedule follows: 
June 11, motor and sailing; June 25, motor; 
July 9, motor; July 30, motor and sailing; Aug. 
13, motor; Aug. 27, motor and sailing; June 17, 
club run to Revere Beach; Sept. 18, annual club 
run to Peddocks Island. 
Death of Walter C. Kerr. 
Walter C. Kerr, a member of the Seawan¬ 
haka Corinthian Y. C. since 1889, and of the 
New York *Y. C. since 1905, died at Rochester, 
Minn., last Sunday in his fifty-second year. He 
was operated on two months ago for a tumor, 
but was not able to regain strength. He was 
born at St. Peters, Minn., where he was edu¬ 
cated until he went to Cornell, where he gradu¬ 
ated B. M. E. in 1879. After he was an instruc¬ 
tor and assistant professor at Cornell until 1883 
when he joined the Westinghouse interests, and 
at the time of his death was president of the 
Westinghouse, Church, Kerr & Co. 
He has served and served well as a member 
of the regatta committees of the two clubs to 
which he belonged. He was an enthusiastic sup¬ 
porter of small boat sailing and a firm believer 
in doing everything possible to develop the ama¬ 
teur. He had hosts of friends and was an ideal 
man to have in charge of affairs because of his 
rare good judgment, thorough knowledge of the 
sport and his executive ability. Because of his 
scientific knowledge he was valuable in all dis¬ 
cussion about rules and ratings, and he took 
quite a prominent part in framing the present 
rule of measurement. ,He will be missed greatly. 
Duxbury Y. C. Fixtures. 
The schedule of the Duxbury Y. C. includes 
races for five classes: 15-foot knockabouts, 18- 
foot knockabouts, handicap, sailing dories and 
motor boats. The races will be sailed on Satur¬ 
days from June 25 to Sept. 17, and on July 4 
and Sept. 5. The midsummer series will be 
Aug. 4, 5 and 6, and ladies’ day races will be 
sailed July 13, Aug. 25 and Sept. 8. 
Motor 'Boating . 
Race to Havana. 
The first race of this season and one that in 
its way is a record breaker will be started Satur¬ 
day, May 21, from Philadelphia. Six cruising 
motor boats are to race to Havana for valuable 
prizes offered by the Yachtsmen’s Club. The length 
of the course is about 1,300 miles and that is a 
longer distance than has ever been set for motor 
boats. It shows how the motor boat is improv¬ 
ing and how thoroughly reliable the gasolene 
motor has become when yachtsmen will under¬ 
take a contest of such length. 
A race of this kind is quite a severe strain on 
those in charge of the yachts. It will take about 
six days for the contestants to reach their desti¬ 
nation, and it will be very different from the 
straightaway dash of 650 miles to Bermuda. On 
that course the Gulf Stream has to be crossed, 
but once while going to Havana the stream will 
be a factor in the race for the greater part of 
the journey. The course takes the yachts down 
the tortuous channel of the Delaware and there 
the Philadelphia yachtsmen will have some slight 
advantage because of local knowledge of chan¬ 
nels and tides. From Cape Henlopen the course 
is S. Y\ W. by W. to the Diamond Shoals Light¬ 
ship anchored off Cape Hatteras. This is 225 
miles from Cape Henlopen. From the Diamond 
Shoals Lightship it is 545 miles S. S. W. pa W. 
to Jupiter Inlet Light. From there it is 102 miles 
S'. Vi W. to Carysfort Light and then 175 miles 
S. W. across the straits of Florida to Havana 
where the finishing line will be between the lights 
on the Morro and La Punta, two forts that 
guard the narrow entrance to the harbor. 
This course is a hard one because so many 
points have to be picked up, and the navigator 
who can lay the best course is going to do lots 
to make his yacht win. It will be a matter of 
eternal vigilance for the entire voyage. A slight 
error might put the vessel on the shore, and in 
order to make each point properly, tides, cur¬ 
rents and winds will have to be studied and al¬ 
lowed for. 
The race is for vessels 50 to 100 feet in length. 
They are rated according to the measurement 
rules of the American Power Boat Association 
and are to be measured by \V. B. Stearns. The 
