NSlYdKV'riZ VXVSHn 7 JO 71 AJOfUSn 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. i8, 1909. 
Narragansctt Bay, the catboats Ina and Bother 
having won the inter-bay races off Barnegat last 
summer. It is hoped that the conference will 
result in representatives from all the bays tak¬ 
ing part in the races. 
Canoeing. 
Review of the British Season. 
The forty-third year of canoeing as an Eng¬ 
lish sport closed this year, according to Nautilus 
in the London Field, and that paper recently 
published a review of the season. It said: 
“The sport was started in 1866 by the forma¬ 
tion of the first club, now the Royal Canoe 
Club, with His Majesty, then Prince of Wales, 
as commodore. 
“Sailing, until 1871, was primitive, in' that 
beating to windward was only a dream, and 
races under sail were on a straight course, with 
a fair wind. In 1871 the leading canoe carried 
a total of 50 square feet of sail, of which the 
mainsail was only 32 feet. Now, in 1909, the 
mainsail is about 115 feet and the total 145 
feet; the hull, of course, is a little larger, not 
much, but efficiency all round is vastly different. 
Sailing has now become a fine art; the canoe 
of to-day is as perfect a sailing instrument as 
is the finest racing yacht; the modern canoe 
can outsail on all points any boat or small 
yacht of nearly double her bulk, displacement, 
and sail area. 
“Cruising in sailing canoes is not under con¬ 
sideration here; but it is most important that 
cruising and racing should share equal atten¬ 
tion from those who control the sport; and that 
racing should be so curbed that general pur¬ 
pose utility may exist in every canoe in the 
fleet. Such blending of the requirements of 
sport and of pastime in one craft has, in these 
forty-three years, been at times disregarded, 
always with the certain result that the sport has 
gone’ down. When the racing machine has 
driven the cruiser out of the sport, it has gone 
on to extrude its own classmates, and ap¬ 
proached the Kilkenny cat stage of self ex¬ 
tinction. 
“Useful reforms were enacted for this year, 
but they received scant support on the racing- 
programme. The sliding seat was abolished; 
but a disease as bad remains in the B class, the 
featherweight structure. A new class of sailing 
cruiser was brought in, giving a fine roomy 
boat, under a very simple rule, and with it the 
abilitv to invest with new racing life the out¬ 
built 'B class canoes. The rule was not under¬ 
stood, and the fault was made of trying to mix 
the classes. The net result was to stop instead 
of to encourage new building—the experience 
of the season has probably altered this. One 
new A, the Nautilus, was built, and two B class 
canoes were converted to A, and the old class 
A canoe Vanessa sailed; but this was only in 
September, when four-fifths of the racing was 
over and three A class separate races had been 
put on the autumn list. The A’s had been 
offered races, but they were to give time allow¬ 
ance to B’s, whereas the rule intended for the 
two classes to be level, the larger, heavier boat 
only having the same sail as the smaller and 
lighter canoe. 
“Racing commenced on the Thames on April 
3 with the B class in a drowsy state; no new 
canoes came, and only three or sometimes four 
starters crossed the line. The Saltwater meet 
at Langston brought no better show, and no 
visitor competitors entered. No doubt the few 
actual racers were of first-rate quality, and the 
sailing some of the finest, but there was an 
utter absence of advance in the sport. 
“The record of the season’s races sets out 
the winners, but there are several additions to 
make if the quality of the wins is to be looked 
into. Such tabulations in a yacht class is 
accurate enough; the same boats sail race after 
race with the same skipper and crew through¬ 
out the season; and the final sum up of prizes 
compared to starts is accurate record of form, 
with suitable remarks to notice accidents. With 
canoes, however, there is a wide difference. 
The man who sails has a lot to do with the re¬ 
sult. In several of the canoes ‘owner up’ was 
the exception. In some races cup winners are 
barred. Cup finals are only two-canoe events, 
and in some races crack boats have been absent 
through accident at the start. Hence, broadly 
speaking, tabulated placement, coupled with 
number of sta'rts, may be misleading as to real 
form. A first prize sounds well, and counts in 
the table, but maybe it was a two-canoe race, 
even only against a novice. 
“The question of interest to those outside— 
that is. other than the actual competitors, who. 
of course, know—is whether any novelty has 
been produced during the year, and generally 
what line of conduct has been by experience 
suggested for the immediate future. Taking 
the racing all through, the canoe Mayfly, in the 
B class, is undoubtedly the fastest canoe of her 
class; she won the challenge cup. Of the rest, 
Gadfly, Rosamond, LTebe, Haze, and Una, 
though prominent winners, were ‘period start¬ 
ers.’" For instance, the American Rosamond 
only sailed in the April race 3 ; Gadfly did not go 
to the Langston meet;' Una was not in the 
spring races; Hebe not in the autumn ones; 
while Haze was only in part of the spring rac¬ 
ing. and then was sold and went to Denmark. 
In the A class. Nautilus did not actually race 
until the regatta in September—her one start 
at Langston was no race, as her rudder neck 
went just after the starting—so also the other 
A’s, the Vanessa, Leda and Curlew. _ Of the 
A’s, such a small amount of racing gives little 
experience upon which to found a reputation. 
The wind, in each of the three races in which 
the A’s competed, was light. Nautilus came m 
first of her class in two races, and was second 
in the other; Vanessa was of the old A class. 
22 feet by 4 feet 6 inches, with some 200 feet of 
sail, but was allowed to sail against the new 
boat and class as a vested interest; but she was 
beaten on all noints. She has now been sold 
and gone to Egypt, so the class is now clear 
of old-age pensioners. 
“The general view of things is that, with 
Haze gone away, the B class will.be small in 
the coming year, unless new building unex¬ 
pectedly comes in. Mayfly has to be beaten. 
Probably several of the older boats, after the 
favorable experience of Curlew and Leda, will 
oualify for the A* class by adding weight to keel. 
The A class has been now exposed to view, and. 
whatever the racing may be in the coming year, 
the fact is manifest that a most comfortable and 
safe lake cruiser has been evolved under a very 
simple rule, and that such canoe is, in. light 
weather, able to sail about level with racing B 
canoes. ’Therefore, the man who wishes to 
combine comfortable cruising with the sport of 
racing can do so in the A class. 
“The Saltwater Meet, as a cry to entice the. 
sailing canoe owner, seems to have declined in 
power of attraction. The havoc which salt 
water, sand, and mud produce upon the canoe 
and her gear and sails absolutely counterbal¬ 
ances the pleasure to the man of open-water 
sailing. Rain and continuous hard winds have, 
this year, emphasized the discomfort. The race 
of the day being over, there was, in the wind 
and rain, the swirl tide, and amid mud banks, 
positively no inducement to go out sailing, and 
no shelter on shore in which to do any work 
required about the rigging. Thus the holiday 
was reduced to a lamentable daily waste. of 
time for those who came down for canoeing. 
Even in the racing, when the handling of the 
boat in a strong wind over a ten-mile course 
is occupying all the man’s abilities and bodily 
endurance, strong tides and shallow mud banks, 
are distinctly adverse to fair sailing. Sailing is 
properly,a test of speed and seamanship, not a 
test of pilotage and mud larking. Probably, as 
a. very decided wish has been expressed for. a 
non-tidal fresh-water meet, with agreeable cruis¬ 
ing possibilities, next season will see a fresh¬ 
water meet. The Norfolk Broads offer the best 
chance of fair sailing on tideless water; and 
probably no better place could be found than 
Oulton Broad, with the sea at Lowestoft near 
by for those who want a salt-water dusting. 
Anyway, the lively sailing company there to be 
met is in happy reverse to the monotonous 
solitude of Langston. 
“It is difficult to speak of the Clyde Canoe 
Club, and also as to some other club’s doings, 
as their races are not made of class sailing 
separately, but are rather mixed both in model 
and rig. For next year the Clyde has taken up 
the A class; but it has inserted some, stipula¬ 
tions which greatly detract from the simplicity 
of the R. C. C. class—viz., the center plate to 
be liftable above the keel; restriction as to rise 
of floor; as to fixed draft; as to size of mainsail; 
tanks as alternative to bulkhead; and two bulk¬ 
heads instead of one. There is no mention of.a 
minimum weight of keel or ballast (the main 
factor for good in the R. C. C. rule). Hence 
the differences of the two rules actually bar 
any inter-club racing.” 
ROYAL CANOE CLUB. 
RECORD OF SEASON’S RACES, I 9 O 9 . 
TJ F'l pcc 
Starts, lsts. 2ds. 3ds. Tot’l 
Curlew, R. A. Smith. 21“ 2 6 1 9 
♦Gadfly, G. E. Webster. 7 4 2.. b 
Gauntlet, W. D. Fair. 2 .. .. 1 1 
tGenetta, W. H. Heisinger. 21 1 1 2 4 
JHaze, Linton Hope . 6 3 .. - 0 
§Hebe, Guy Ellington. 9 3 4 7 
[IMayfly, B. de O. Quincy.11 3 .. 1 4 
No-No, W. Ratbbone.11 2 .. 2 
Rosamsnd, C. P. Burgess. 6 3 1-6 
Una, C. E. Browne. 9 4 3 1 a 
A Class 
Curlew, R. A. Smith. 2 .. 1 .. 1 
Leda, S. A. Smith. 2 1 .. .. 1 
Nautilus, W. Baden-Powell. 4 1 1 2 
Vanessa, B. de Q. Quincy. 2 . 
j," y E/lclSS 
Spindrift, Col. Sir H. Roberts. 1 1 .. 1 
Six-Meter Class. 
Musette, W. Rathbone. 1 1 •• 1 
♦Also Mate’s average cup. tNovices’ cup. JKnowles 
bowl. §De Quincey cup and Murphy-Howard cup. 
11Sailing challenge cup. 
CLYDE CANOE CLUB. 
RECORD OF SEASON’S RACES, I 9 O 9 . 
A Gl ace 
Starts, lsts. 2ds. 3ds. Tot’l 
Haze, Messrs. J. & R. White. 2 . 1 
B Class. 
Ithona, R. H. Yuile. 8 5 2 1 .. 
Colonsay I., J. A. Macneill.... 3 2 1 .. .. 
Colonsay III., J. A. Macneill. 5 - - 1 
Betty, G. G. Ure. 8 .. 4 4 .. 
Nellie, H. A. Yuile. 7 .. .. 1 3 
Lynwood, V. A. French. 3 . 
Marina, T. S. Donald. 1 . 
There were nine races in all. 
Special trophies: Challenge cup, won by Colonsay 1., 
Mr. J. A. Macneill; Argentine cup, won by Ithona, R. H. 
Yuile; seamanship shield, won by Colonsay I., J. A. 
Macneill; points won by Ithona, R. H. Yuile. 
Colonsay I. and III. 
Betty 
DETAILS OF POINTS (SIX IN ALL) . 
Starts. Points. 
Ithona ...;;;; 6 1 
;;”. 6 i6 
Nellie . * \ 
Haze . 2 5 
Lynwood .*. j | 
Marina .., 1 , t>. , 
Ladies’ Day—Special Race (visit by members of Rish- 
to Yacht Club, Blackburn. 
Ithona. G. G. Ure, C. C. C. 1 
Betty, J. Reeve, R. Y. C.... - 
Nellie, Wm. Murray, R. Y. C. » 
Colonsay III., R. H. Yuile, C. C. C. 4 
New York C. C. 
The thirty-eighth annual meeting of'the New 
York Canoe Club was held Thursday evening, ! 
Dec. 9, at the Hotel Astor. A very good at¬ 
tendance was present, and reports of the several 
committees showed the club in excellent con¬ 
dition. The following list of officers, was 
elected for the year 1910: 
Commodore, D. D. Allerton; Captain, W. 
Carmalt; Treasurer, Edwin Curry; Secretary, 
R M. Crossman; Trustees—R. DeFord Bayley 
(for two years), Louis M. Pultz (for three 
years); Trustees for Sinking Fund—Cfias E. 
Annett (two years), B. V. R. Speidel (one 
year); Auditing Committee—H. A. Fales, H. 
Elliott. 
A. C. A. Membership. 
NEW MEMBERS PROPOSED. 
Atlantic Division—Louis W. Halk. 68 Clay 
street. Hackensack. N. J., by H. N. Wilson; 
Frederick C. Dunham, 1811 Dorchester road. 
Flatbush, Brooklyn, N. Y„ by Walter G. Sibley. 
