304 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. 25, 1911- 
travels by sledge with a team of dogs, and the 
hardest journey on skis mean nothing to him. 
A skilled surgeon, a good executive, a man of 
the greatest personal charm and devoting his 
life to a splendid work, Dr. Grenfell is indeed a 
man who is doing much in the cause of 
humanity. 
End of the Fleetwing. 
The famous old schooner Fleetwing is now a 
scow. All her costly fittings have been removed. 
She has a short bowsprit and two pole masts 
and is tied up at Fairhaven for the winter. In 
the summer she was used in connection with 
the work of digging the Cape Cod Canal at 
the Buzzard's Bay end according to the Boston 
Globe. The Fleetwing will go back to this 
work again in the spring as soon as the ice is 
out on the bay. After the cut has been made 
the hull will probably be left on some beach to 
rot away and be forgotten by the yachtsmen. 
This yacht, one of the best known of the early 
American schooner fleet, was built in this city 
in 1865. She was designed and constructed by 
J. B. Van Deusen and her dimensions are 126 
feet 5 inches over all, 104 feet 10 inches water¬ 
line, 23 feet beam and 12 feet draft. 
The most famous yachting event that Fleet¬ 
wing ever took part in was the greatest of 
all ocean races, between the schooners Henri¬ 
etta, Vesta and Fleetwing across the eastern 
ocean in December, 1866. It seems that the 
owner of the Vesta, Pierre Lorillard, and 
George Osgood, owner of the Fleetwing, were 
discussing a race that had been sailed from New 
York to Cape May in October, 1866, at the 
Union Club of New York, and this resulted in 
a match between these two yachts and James 
Gordon Bennett’s Henrietta for $30,000 a crack. 
Capt. Johnson, an old deep water sailor man. 
was navigator, while George Drayton had 
charge of the Vesta. Capt. John Thomas of 
the ship New York navigated the Fleetwing, 
Capt. Samuel Samuels, who died at Brooklyn 
only a short time ago, navigated the Henrietta, 
and he was the dean of deep sea master 
mariners. 
On Dec. 11 all looked dark about the start¬ 
ing line off Sandy Hook lightship, wind thirty- 
four miles an hour, and the onlookers who were 
about the line on tugs and pleasure craft ex¬ 
pressed inly that the race was to be started in 
such terrible conditions. 
The Vesta was the first to cross the line, with 
the Henrietta a few lengths astern, and just to 
the weather of the former’s wake. The Fleet¬ 
wing was the last to cross, and she followed be¬ 
tween the wakes of the leaders. Once away 
they worked off shore in a bunch, and held to¬ 
gether until 8 o’clock that night, when they 
separated, and never after sighted each other 
during the race. They all headed north and 
sailed the northern course, and were spoken 
only once. 
The yachts, after a most terrible passage, 
finally arrived off the Needles, England, on 
Christmas eve, with the Henrietta in the lead. 
The Fleetwing was second and the Vesta last. 
Of the three schooners, the Fleetwing 
suffered the worst on the day and night of 
Dec. 19. A lull had taken off a bit of the gale’s 
heft, and for a few hours there was a slight 
letup. Just before dawn, on Dec. 19, the gale 
suddenly grew into a violent hurricane, accom¬ 
panied by the worst seas that the Fleetwing 
had encountered during the passage. She was 
swept time and again, forward and aft, all hands 
being in constant danger. Helmsmen and 
quartermasters were lashed to the wheel and 
life lines. 
Just before 10 o’clock in the morning the 
hurricane was at its height where the Fleet¬ 
wing was. She was eased to the sea under 
storm canvas. A look ahead showed the moun¬ 
tainous -eas, lashed into wild, roaring, jumping 
water hills. Capt. Thomas had met them be¬ 
fore, but then he had under him a clipper ship 
with a high freeboard. Not so on the Fleet¬ 
wing, for she sat low on the water and her top- 
sides were low. 
The Fleetwing under short canvas for a while 
did not answer her helm as well as she did 
under full sail and in softer weather. For hours 
the helmsman got the better of the hurricane 
high sea fight, in which nerve was at its highest 
tension. 
Finally about noon when the wind was 
heaviest and the seas most terrible of a sudden 
three great seas with the mad rush of a Niagara 
swept the Fleetwing’s deck. 
Tons of green, frothy water pounded on the 
deck and in its wild rush over the taff rail the 
seas swept eight men overboard and six were 
lost. After being hove to four hours the Fleet¬ 
wing again started on her voyage. It was a 
fearful thing, happening as it did almost in mid¬ 
ocean. It proved, however, that even death did 
not crush Yankee pluck and courage. 
The Vesta was the first to pick up the Scilly 
lights at 6:55 P. M. on Chritsmas eve. Just 
fifty minutes later those on the Henrietta made 
them out. The Henrietta won, because after 
passing the Scilly lights the Vesta got hung up 
in a fog, obliging her to slow down, and she 
lost even to the Fleetwing, which on the 19th 
had lost four hours on account of the fearful 
accident. 
The Henrietta sailed 3,106 miles in 13 days 21 
hours and 55 minutes. The Fleetwing sailed 
3,135 miles in 14 days 6 hours and 10 minutes 
and the Vesta 3,144 miles in 14 days 6 hours 
and 50 minutes. 
After this race and the return to this coun¬ 
try in the following spring the Fleetwing passed 
through many hands until purchased by Emery 
O. Maples of St. Paul, Minn. In the spring of 
1905, Mr. Maples sold the Fleetwing to the 
American Baptist Home Mission Society for 
use as a floating chapel in New York Harbor. 
Her rig was taken out and small pole masts 
substituted and she was towed around New 
York Harbor by a tug. In fair weather services 
were held on deck, under an awning, for sailors 
on vessels at anchor in the harbor. In this 
service the Fleetwing remained until she was 
taken to Buzzard’s Bay. 
The Henrietta was lost off the coast of Hon¬ 
duras many years ago, while the Vesta is owned 
at Bridgeport, Conn., and is used in connection 
with the trials of submarine torpedo boats. 
Narragansett Bay Meeting. 
The annual meeting of the Narragansett Bay 
Yacht Racing Association was held last week 
in Providence. Two new clubs were admitted 
to membership in the association and plans were 
laid for the coming yacht racing season. 
The following were elected officers of the as¬ 
sociation for the coming season: President, 
Benjamin Peckham, Edgewood Y. C.; Vice- 
President, William M. Arnold, Newport Y. C.; 
Secretary-Treasurer, W. Louis Frost, Washing¬ 
ton Park Y. C.; Chairman of Power Boat Com¬ 
mittee, J. Louis Potter, Fall River Y. C. Other 
delegate members of executive committee are 
Walter S. Almy, Bristol Y. C.; T. R. Goodwin, 
Conanicut Y. C.; Benjamin Franklin, Jr., N. B. 
18-Foot Association. 
It was voted that race week be held from Aug. 
5-12, inclusive. Tt was announced that the in¬ 
terstate series for the championship of the 18- 
foot knockabout c’ass had been arranged to be 
held on July 31, Aug. 1, 2 and 3, the week pre¬ 
ceding race week. 
A large number of delegates from the dif¬ 
ferent members of the association were in at¬ 
tendance, and there was a general discussion of 
the coming racing season. Minor amendments 
were made to the constitution, and the racing 
rules were amended in a few particulars. 
The office of Registration Secretary was con¬ 
solidated with that of the secretary and treas¬ 
urer, and the executive committee was increased 
to seven in number. 
The most imnortant amendment to the racing 
rules is the adoption of Hasses D and E for 
catboats. conforming to the limitations of the 
Narragansett Bay Cabin Cathoat Association, 
and Class F for catboats racing under a rating 
measurement based on over-all leneth. Those 
racing in Class F need not he members of the 
Narragansett Bay Cabin Catboat Association. 
An attempt was made to reinsert in the rac¬ 
ing rules the paragraph requiring each yacht to 
be steered by her owner or other amateur, which 
was dropped at the general meeting last fall, but 
the effort failed. Under the racing rules as they 
now stand the entire crew and helmsman may 
be professionals. 
The East Greenwich Y. C. and the Narragan¬ 
sett Bay Cabin Catboat Association were admit¬ 
ted to membership. This makes the member¬ 
ship roll of the Narragansett Bay Yacht Racing 
Association seventeen clubs, which is a remark¬ 
able growth during the past three years. 
The various officers rendered their annual re¬ 
ports, showing the present favorable condition 
of the association. The report of the retiring 
president, T. R. Goodwin, was listened to with 
much interest by the delegates. Among other 
recommendations made, the president said: 
“There are still many things for this associa¬ 
tion to accomplish, the greatest of which is to 
devise better methods of conducting our rac¬ 
ing. Our clubs have the very sad fault of chang¬ 
ing their race committees frequently, and elect¬ 
ing green or incompetent men for these im¬ 
portant posts. In view of the presence of visitors 
in our waters, and with the lessons of past sea¬ 
sons before us, something must be done to 
remedy this evil. I would recommend that the 
chairmen of the regatta committees be called 
together and given instructions as to the best 
method of running races, selecting courses, etc., 
and that they in turn instruct their committees. 
“The racing rules should be carefully studied. 
Protests should be thrashed out with extreme 
care, and as soon as possible after the race in 
question, and no snap judgment should he made, 
nor judgment of any kind until the facts on 
both sides are clearly established, when the rules 
covering the points at issue should be looked up 
carefully and applied. 
“Prizes should he purchased with reference 
to the number of starters and keenness of 
the racing in the different classes, and should 
be awarded as soon as possible after the finish 
of a race. The option of cash prizes or suit¬ 
able trophies to all prize winners wou’d alone 
do much to bring into the game many men who 
now feel that they cannot afford the expense of 
maintaining a racing craft. 
“It is recommended that wherever possible the 
number and value of prizes in each class be 
printed on the race circular. 
“Clubs should provide suitable marks, signals, 
guns and other paraphernalia for the proper 
conduct of races. 
“All preparations should be made and under¬ 
stood well in advance of a race day.” 
The secretary was instructed to communicate 
with the various clubs and ascertain their feel¬ 
ing in regard to the securing of a paid judge 
to assist each of the clubs at their respective 
regattas. 
Eastern Y. C. 
The Eastern Y. C. last year took a lively in¬ 
terest in ocean racing, and its race from Bar 
Harbor to Marblehead was a memorable one. 
It will do more for such contests this year. At 
the annual meeting of the club held last week 
a model of the gold cup offered by Commodore 
Clark for a race for schooners from New Lon¬ 
don to Marblehead was on exhibition. The cup 
is ten inches in height and the top is in the form 
of a Spanish galleon. The trophy becomes the 
property of the yachtsman winning it three times 
not necessarily in succession. As three other 
special cups have been offered the club for long 
distance racing this season, these events were 
the principal theme of discussion by the mem¬ 
bers. 
All the old officers were re-elected, and Com¬ 
modore F. Lewis Clark, of Spokane, Wash., 
will again fly the blue pennant from the schooner 
Emerald; Vice-Commodore Robert Treat Paine, 
2d, of Boston, the red pennant from the sloop 
Humma, and Rear Commodore Herbert M. 
Sears, of Boston, the white pennant from the 
steamer Hope. The regatta committee which 
had charge of the international sonder trial 
races last year will continue in office. The sec- 
