The 65-Foolers. 
The record this season of the 65-footers is a 
remarkable one. In twenty-eight races these 
yachts met, and in all they sailed 1,038 miles, 
and at the end of the season minutes only sepa¬ 
rated them. It is the third year of these yachts, 
and they are better now than they ever were, 
and some are of the opinion that they are faster 
than any yachts afloat under the present rule. 
It would be interesting to see, however, what 
they would do with the old 70-footers Yankee 
and Mineola in competent hands. 
There are three in this class, Cornelius 
Vanderbilt’s Aurora, G. M. Pynchon’s Istalena 
and H. F. Lippitt’s Winsome. They began 
racing in the regatta of the New Rochelle Y. 
C. on June 12, and finished the season in the 
Larchmont regatta of Sept. 19. Of the twenty- 
eight races sailed, twenty-six were for their 
class, and the other two were the Astor and 
King’s cup race. Istalena finished second to 
Avenger in the Astor cup and won the King’s 
cup, and in making up the records, the yachts 
are considered as they finished in these two 
races, regardless of the other starters. This is 
done in order to show just what they did com¬ 
paratively. 
Aurora made the best record, as far as the 
number of races won is concerned. She won 
14 firsts, 13 seconds and 1 third. Istalena won 
13 firsts, 10 seconds and 3 thirds, and Winsome 
won 1 first, 4 seconds and 21 thirds. Winsome 
did not have as good sails as the other two 
during the season, and she was not nearly as 
well equipped for close racing. 
Before the season started some radical 
changes were made in the yachts. Their lead 
keels were removed, more lead was added and 
the lead was remoulded and then bolted on 
a g a * n . giving them more ballast and more draft. 
This enabled them to carry more canvas. Early 
in the season they were rather unfortunate be¬ 
cause of their long, thin topmasts, and six were 
carried away before the cruise of the New 
\ ork \. C. Just before that cruise Herreshoff 
put on topmasts of Oregon pine and lengthened 
the spreaders. New rigging of plow steel wire 
was substituted for the old rigging, and after 
that, in spite of several hard blows they ex¬ 
perienced, they did not have an accident. 
The season opened with successes for Ista¬ 
lena, but later Aurora did better, and up to the 
tune of the cruise honors were even between 
these two yachts with seven victories each, and 
Aurora had won the Larchmont Y. C. series 
cup. After that Aurora did better work, al- 
though Istalena captured the King’s cup, the 
Rear-Commodore’s cup and the Vice-Commo¬ 
dore s cup. Aurora won the race to Portland, 
which was sailed in a gale, and captured the 
Commodore s cup, the other two yachts with¬ 
drawing and running to Portsmouth Harbor 
for shelter. The performance of Aurora in this 
race was a remarkable one. She went through 
the storm without parting a rope yarn, and was 
second to Elmina, a much larger yacht, at the 
finish. In all, she won in addition 'to the Com¬ 
modore s cup for that run the W. Butler Dun¬ 
can cup, the Charles Hayden cup and the Navy 
challenge cup. 
The comparisons of times made by these 
tuee yachts shows some remarkable sailing. 
, n a “; Aurora sailed to a finish 1,038 miles, and 
her time was i 5 2h. 7m. 53s. She averaged a 
mile 111 8m. 47s., which is at the rate of 7.86 
miles an hour. She was the only one of the 
three to finish every race. At Larchmont on 
July 24, she lost her topmast, but continued on 
to the finish and was beaten 7m. by Istalena 
Winsome withdrew in the New York race on 
June 17, and Istalena withdrew in the I arch- 
race . on , 17 . Both of these yachts 
withdrew in the race to Portland. Not con¬ 
sidering these races, all three sailed 828.5 miles. 
Istalena’s time for all the races was n8h. 25m. 
29s. Aurora’s time was n8h. 48m. 30s. Win¬ 
some’s time was ugh. 24m. 28s. 
Comparing the times of Aurora and Istalena 
in races in which they finished together, there 
is even a more remarkable showing. These two 
yachts sailed together 856.75 miles, and Ista¬ 
lena’s time was I2ih. 26m. 36s., and Aurora’s 
time I22h. im. 7s. In making these compari¬ 
sons, it is only fair to deduct 7m. from the time 
of Aurora on account of the accident when she 
lost her topmast. 
The times made in the different races and the 
total times are 
shown in 
the following tab! 
e: 
Date. 
Club. 
Aurora. 
Istalena. 
Winsome. 
Miles. 
J une 
12. 
N.R. ... 
.1 55 55 
1 49 42 
2 09 32 
11.5 
June 
17. 
N.Y. ... 
.... 3 12 37 
3 11 07 
Disabled 
28.25 
J une 
19. 
L.Y.C. . 
.... 3 19 15 
3 23 04 
3 29 39 
29.25 
June 
25. 
S C.Y.C. 
... 3 55 11 
3 49 05 
3 54 06 
15.25 
June 
26. 
S.C.Y.C. 
... 2 42 39 
2 43 31 
2 45 42 
15.25 
J uly 
3. 
Am. Y.C. 
... 3 34 49 
3 34 08 
3 41 12 
33.00 
July 
5. 
L.Y.C. . 
.... 5 17 31 
4 40 11 
5 18 34 
30.50 
July 
7. 
N.Y Y.C 
..17 05 23 
17 20 59 
17 52 00 
111.00 
July 
9. 
N.Y. R. A 
... 5 48 45 
5 48 27 
5 53 50 
38.00 
July 
10. 
N.Y.Y.C 
.. 5 28 27 
5 29 31 
5 34 45 
42.00 
July 
10. 
N.Y. Y.C 
.. 5 29 27 
5 29 31 
5 34 45 
42.00 
July 
19. 
L.Y.C. . 
.... 2 59 24 
3 02 35 
3 01 19 
30.50 
July 
21. 
L.Y.C. . 
.... 3 00 55 
3 05 39 
3 16 29 
15.25 
July 
L.Y.C. . 
.... 3 21 42 
3 25 47 
3 26 38 
30.50 
July 
24. 
L.Y.C. . 
.... 3 17 29 
3 10 05 
3 12 37 
30.50 
Aug. 
6. 
N.Y.Y.C 
.. 5 49 27 
5 37 06 
5 51 39 
38.00 
Aug. 
7. 
N.Y. Y.C 
.. 5 51 14 
5 39 IS 
6 07 54 
38.00 
Aug. 
9. 
N.Y. Y.C 
.. 4 20 24 
4 IS 53 
4 23 19 
37.00 
Aug. 
10. 
N.Y. Y.C 
..26 11 21 
d.n.f. 
d.n.f 
152.00 
Aug. 13. 
N.Y. Y.C 
.. 7 18 22 
7 IS 09 
7 25 43 
53.00 
Aug. 
14. 
N.Y. Y.C 
.. 7 21 19 
7 24 39 
7 39 39 
38.00 
Sept. 
1. 
A.Y.C. . 
... 3 26 19 
3 25 28 
3 35 19 
30.00 
Sept. 
3. 
A. Y.C. . 
.... 3 21 28 
3 24 22 
3 29 34 
30.00 
Sept. 
4. 
S.C.Y.C. 
... 3 35 39 
3 40 02 
3 42 33 
30.50 
Sept. 
6. 
L.Y.C. . 
... 3 36 48 
3 45 17 
3 43 42 
30.50 
Sept. 11. 
I.H.Y.C. 
... 3 47 51 
4 01 54 
4 00 59 
20.00 
Sept. 
16. 
N.Y. Y.C. 
.. 5 01 45 
4 56 02 
5 19 06 
21.00 
Sept. 
19. 
L.Y.C. . 
... 3 29 49 
3 25 35 
3 28 37 
30.00 
Totals 
..152 07 53 
121 26 36 
123 18 18 1038.00 
Times of races in which all finished: Aurora 118.48 30- 
Istalena, 118.25.29; Winsome, 119.24.28; miles, 8^8.5 
Times in races completed: Aurora, 122.01.07: Istalena 
121.26.36; miles, 856.75. 
A Ruling Questioned. 
In one of the races last summer the regatta 
committee of the Atlantic Y. C. disqualified a 
yacht. This action has caused considerable dis¬ 
cussion among yachtsmen, and the matter will 
be thrashed out at the next meeting of the 
Yacht Racing Association of Gravesend Bay. 
In one of the smaller classes a yacht crossed 
the starting line before the starting signal was 
made. The recall signal was hoisted and proper 
attention called to it, but the yacht did not re¬ 
turn, but sailed around the course. The com¬ 
mittee in its summary marked it “disqualified." 
A disqualification to a yachtsmen is like a 
bad mark to a school boy. It implies that he 
violated the racing rules either wilfully or 
through lack of knowledge and this yachtsman 
resented the stigma that was put on his repu¬ 
tation, and declared that as his yacht started 
ahead of the gun instead of being marked “dis¬ 
qualified,” it should have been treated as if it 
had not started and no notice taken of it at all. 
Several times in races on the Sound yachts 
have started ahead of the signal, and their 
skippers have failed to return. The commit¬ 
tees in charge of those races have always dis¬ 
regarded those yachts, and they have not 
figured in the summaries of the race at all. In 
so doing they have ruled rather unfairly against 
other yachts in the races, particularly when the 
race has been one of a series or for a champion¬ 
ship. Championship races run through the sea¬ 
son and include all open regattas. 
The rules state very clearly “a yacht shall be 
amenable to the racing rules from the time the 
preparatory signal for her class is made, and 
shall continue so until her entire hull and spars 
have passed across the finish line.” The yacht 
then that crossed the starting line after the pre¬ 
paratory signal and before the starting signal 
was in the race, and should be so noted in the 
summary. She did not start, so no starting 
time could be recorded. She failed to comply 
with the conditions by starting too soon, and 
for such error she must be disqualified. 
There is another point to be considered. All 
championships are sailed for in a series oi 
races. In each race points are credited to the 
contesting yachts, according to the position in 
which they finish. A yacht in order to qualify 
for a championship must start in a certain per¬ 
centage of the races scheduled, and at the end 
of the series the record of each yacht is the 
percentage which the total number of points 
to her credit bears to the total number of points 
she would have had if she had won every race 
in which she started. 
It will be seen that if a yacht is disqualified 
because it started ahead of the signal, its per¬ 
centage must be reduced, while if it is simply 
marked as a non-starter it does not suffer at 
all through the error or negligence of the 
skipper and can start again in its next race with 
a clean record. 
I here is likely to be a lively discussion about 
this ruling, but the action of the Atlantic Y. C. 
regatta committee has the support *of many 
other committees of yacht clubs along the At¬ 
lantic Coast. 
While on this subject it has been suggested 
that the different racing associations should 
have more power than they have as at present 
constituted. At present these associations are 
simply advisory bodies composed of delegates 
from the several clubs enrolled in the association. 
I hey have no power. 1 he delegates meet and 
discuss reforms and improvements to racing 
rules, and then having agreed on some change, 
the delegates report to their respective clubs 
and those clubs at meetings adopt the changes 
suggested or may reject them as they some¬ 
times do. In Great Britain, in France, Ger¬ 
many and other foreign countries the associa¬ 
tions are governing bodies. They act for the 
clubs that compose them. They change the 
rules of measurement or of racing and agree 
that the changes made shall stand for a- cer¬ 
tain number of years. At the end of the sea¬ 
son a special committee of the association will 
act on protests that have been made during 
the racing season. These protests have first 
been considered by the committee of the club 
under whose auspices the regatta has been 
sailed, and then after such decision has been 
rendered, an appeal can be made to the asso¬ 
ciation. In this way there is a uniform in¬ 
terpretation of the rules. As things are on this 
side, one club can put one interpretation on a 
rule, while anothe'r club may rule in a very 
different way, and as the rules are not all as 
clearly stated as they might be, yachtsmen often 
wonder how the committee in charge of the 
race will interpret some rule that may be ap¬ 
plied to conditions that exist at some critical 
point in the race. 
Failing to have a court of appeal to settle all 
differences arising from different interpretations 
of the rules, regatta committees should make a 
full report of all protests considered, and then 
yachtsmen would understand well what was 
expected of them when similar cases arise. 
New York Y. C. Meeting. 
At the fifth general meeting of this year of 
the New York Y. C., fourteen new members 
were elected, and the following nominating 
committee chosen: J. Pierpont Morgan, Lewis 
Cass Ledyard, Frederick G. Bourne, Cornelius 
Vanderbilt, Frederick H. Von Stade, R. P. 
Doremus, Daniel Appleton, W. Butler Duncan, 
Jr., Wilson Marshall and Grenville Kane, 
