Some News and a Little Gossip. 
Morton F. Plant is to have a schooner 
built for the 88-foot class. That is the report 
from Bristol, where the yacht is to be built by 
Herreshofif. At the close of the racing season 
it was said that Mr. Plant would have a new 
racing vessel for next season, but he had not 
then decided whether to have a new boat in 
the Shimna-Avenger class or to build a 
schooner. To have a new boat in either class 
would be good for the sport. The sloop class 
promises to be good because William Gardner 
is designing a yacht which will be raced against 
Shimna and Avenger, but a new schooner for 
Class B will mean that the racing will be of the 
best. Racing in the big classes, while relatively 
it may not be any better than in the smaller 
ones, is more spectacular, and a good fleet of 
schooners is always attractive. 
This new yacht will race against Queen and 
Elmina, and should Westward return to .this 
side of the Atlantic against that yacht. It 
would be very interesting to watch a series of 
races between a new schooner built to the 
American rule and Westward built to the 
European rule and the fastest yacht on the 
other side. Such contests would prove beyond 
a doubt which is the better rule, although in 
meeting the American yacht. Westward would 
be handicapped slightly. 
Mr. Plant formerly owned Ingomar, which 
Herreshofif built for racing on the other side, 
and which did well in German and British 
waters. When she returned to these waters she 
was beaten by Queen and Elmina. 
With a new schooner in American waters 
and a new vessel of the same class from Fife 
designs in European waters it would seem that 
Westward will have to look to her laurels, and 
that she will not have an easy time next season. 
The first yacht built for next season’s sport 
is a Sonder boat for C. H. W. Foster. This 
boat, designed by W. Starling Burgess, is 
planked. The moulds of the Beaver were used, 
and like the Beaver, the new boat is planked 
with mahogany. If other yachtsmen would take 
a cue from Mr. Foster and start building early 
in the winter, they would have their new racers 
by the opening of the season and be able to get 
them in racing trim without having to rush 
things. As a rule, yachtsmen wait before mak¬ 
ing their plans. Then when they give their 
orders they are disappointed because the build¬ 
ers cannot deliver on time. 
A new club called the Chelsea Y. C. has been 
organized at Atlantic City. Its object is the 
furtherance of water sports. The membership 
is limited to ioo, and already more than half 
that number of yachtsmen have joined. A club 
house is to be erected this winter, which will 
be ready by next Decoration Day. The officers 
of the club are: Commodore, R. R. Albertson; 
Vice-Commodore, Edward Liebe; Rear-Com¬ 
modore, William McHugh; Fleet Captain, L. F. 
Rubens; Fleet Surgeon, Dr. W. H. Schmidt; 
Treasurer, James W. Lane; Secretary, J. B. 
Gettis; Quartermaster, Edward A. Smith. 
British yachtsmen are anxious that an Amer¬ 
ican 23- or 19-meter yacht should be built to 
race against a yacht of similar size in British 
waters. The 23-meter class has been the best 
in their waters for three seasons, and next sea¬ 
son the 19-meter class is to be boomed with 
new boats. Some have wondered how West¬ 
ward and Shamrock would compare if rated ac¬ 
cording to the American rule, and referring to 
this, the Field says: “Interest has been aroused 
in America in the success of Westward at 
Cowes, but in the match she sailed against 
Shamrock. Westward won by 14m. 20s. in a 
course of fifty-two miles in a fresh breeze. It 
would be interesting to know how much time 
allowance under the American rules Westward 
would have to give the Shamrock on this 
course. Westward’s rating under the Interna¬ 
tional Rule is 94.45 feet, and the Shamrock’s 
rating is 75.4 feet. According to the American 
rules the sloop would sail at her actual rating 
and the schooner at 15 per cent, less than her 
actual rating. Taking these figures and apply¬ 
ing them to the present New York Y. C. scale, 
it would appear that in 52 miles the time allow¬ 
ance would be 9m. This is probably not a 
fair way to judge what the time allowance 
would be under the New York Y. C. scale, be¬ 
cause whereas under the International Yacht 
Racing Union rules rating practically accords 
with the load waterline of the yacht under the 
New York Y. C. rule, for which the New York 
Y. C. scale was planned the rating differs con¬ 
siderably from the load waterline in a normal 
boat. So far as we can judge the time allowance 
would be about 7m. 30s. 
“Under the International Yacht Racing Union 
rules the allowance is immensely in favor of 
the schooner because whereas under the New 
York Y. C. rules a schooner gets only 15 per 
cent, rig allowance from a cutter under our 
rules the schooner receives no less than 20 per 
cent, rig allowance. This means that in 52 miles 
Westward only had to allow the Shamrock 2m. 
36s. Perhaps some American yachtsman can 
tell us how much a normal 96-foot waterline 
would have to allow a normal 75-foot water¬ 
line sloop by the New York Y. C. rule on a 52- 
mile course? 
“We shall never know, however, whether 
Americans can really beat us in the rough-and- 
tumble weather of a British season round the 
coast until a Yankee sloop comes over to race 
either in the 23-meter, 19-meter or 12-meter 
class. This would be at level racing, without 
time allowance or conjuring with rig. allowances 
and figures, which are always misleading and 
unsatisfactory. Britannia beat Vigilant in 1894 
and Navahoe in 1893. On the other hand, there 
was no better 20-rater in her day than the 
Herreshofif Niagara. A visit of a Herreshofif 
boat in the 19-meter class next season would be 
immensely appreciated.” 
On several occasions in addition to those 
mentioned by the Field, American yachts have 
raced in British waters, while, except in races 
for the America’s Cup, which are not class 
events, no British yacht has made a season 
here. Why wouldn't it be well for some British 
yachtsman to build for out 65- or 55-foot class 
and spend the season in these waters and so try 
out our rule. The Field has made some slight 
errors in its statement about allowances. 
Schooners are rated at 90 per cent, and not 85 
per cent, of their actual rating, so the allowance 
for rig is 10 and not 15 per cent. Assuming 
that the International rating is about the same 
as the rating would be in these waters, West¬ 
ward would have to allow Shamrock 15.59 sec¬ 
onds per mile, or 13m. 30s. in a 52-mile race. 
If the two yachts are normal, according to 
the American rule, the rating would be a little 
different than under the international measure¬ 
ment, but just how much it is hard to say, and 
only the designers of the two yachts can really 
figure that out. Queen, the latest schooner 
built to the American rule, is 91.06 feet on the 
waterline, and her actual rating is 86.08. or 
about 5 feet less than her waterline length. 
Shimna, the most modern sloop, is 53 feet on 
the waterline, and her rating is 54.6. If West¬ 
ward and Shamrock compare nearly in propor¬ 
tion with these two yachts, Westward would 
rate about 90 and Shamrock about 73. Allow¬ 
ing jo per cent, difference for rig, Westward 
would rate at 80 and she would allow Sham¬ 
rock on a 52-mile course nearly 10m. Under 
any figuring the two yachts would be very 
evenly matched if racing in these waters. 
The Flint Brothers, of the Edgewood Y. C., 
have ordered a new 18-footer to be built by the 
Narragansett Bay Yacht Yard. The design is 
somewhat unique, so those who have seen it 
say. and it will be the first 18-footer designed 
and built in Rhode Island. The boat will be 
named Wanderer VI. and will combine the best 
points of Hayseed II. and Dorchen II., which 
are two of the fastest boats in the 18-foot class. 
Wanderer VI. will be somewhat beamier than 
usual for a boat of her type. It is expected that 
she will be at her best when well heeled under 
a fresh breeze. Her freeboard is low and so 
are her ends. 
The fall meeting of the Yacht Racing Asso¬ 
ciation of Long Island Sound was held last 
week, and a nominating committee was chosen. 
Ward Dickson, of the Hempstead Harbor Y. 
C., was elected chairman, and the other mem¬ 
bers are Charles P. Tower, Bridgeport Y. C.; 
Sherman Hoyt, Seawanhaka-Corinthian Y. C.; 
Harry Stevenson, Knickerbocker Y. C.,~and R. 
A. Monks, Indian Harbor Y. C. 
By an unanimous vote it was decided that 
hereafter bronze medals of special design are 
to be the prizes for the owners of winning 
yachts in the championship races instead of 
pennants. Those who have won in former 
years are also to receive medals. 
Arthur FI. Clark has allowed the model com¬ 
mittee of the New York Y. C. to place on ex¬ 
hibition his collection of marine engravings and 
prints. The pictures are shown in the commo¬ 
dore’s room in the following order: 
No. 1—Naval and merchant shipping prior to 
the year 1700; November 1-19. 
No. 2—Naval and merchant shipping from the 
year 1700 to 1800, November 21-December 3. 
No. 3—Nineteenth century merchant ship¬ 
ping. December 5-17. 
No. 4-—Nineteenth century naval shipping, 
December 19-31. 
Members desiring to give friends an oppor¬ 
tunity of viewing the pictures can secure cards 
of admission to the room containing the col¬ 
lection by applying to the house or model com¬ 
mittee. 
Iselin Schooner to Race. 
The new schooner building for William E. 
Iselin at Lawlev’s is nearly ready for launching, 
and if present plans are carried out, she will be 
in commission early next season and will be 
raced whenever possible. She will belong to 
the largest class, and in that class will meet the 
new yacht building for former Commodore 
Robert E. Tod. so that some good sport is 
to be had. 
Some time in the future the new Iselin yacht 
may be fitted with a motor and become an 
auxiliary, but at present Mr. Iselin will stick to 
sailing. She is built from the designs of Cary 
Smith and Ferris. 
This yacht has been built to race, and she 
will have every opportunity to do so, as the in¬ 
dications are that schooner competitions will 
be frequent enough in the season to come to 
allow her to prove her racing abilities. With a 
waterline length of 100 feet, an over all length 
of 135 feet, beam of 27 feet and draft of 15 feet 
without her board, the new schooner must be 
conspicuous. The schooner Westward, owned 
by Alex S. Cochran, is 4 feet less on the water¬ 
line. of the- same over all dimensions, but of 
little more beam and 17 feet draft. 
