YACHTING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 401, 9 January 1909, Page 12

YACHTING.

• v.V 0.'.. j* . " 1 ▼ —: —~ '. [Br MiiNSMto.] THE SEASON'S RACING. January 2l—Anniversary Day Regatta. January 23. —Ocean Race. • January 30.—Milk Momorial 'Handicap*• •, -.. February ■ and 'Third-class Handicaps. ' : ■ ■ . Fobtuaty Ho.ndws.tt, February s Outing. ■ March 6. —Ladies' Genoral Handicap. New Year's Daf WAS jtlfifc ffliat yachtsmen wore looking for m tho way of weather, and a good dav'« sailing: was BeoUred bv the whole of tie fleet. loratigi and waitatigi . lyero seen- out togethor, both ■ leaving their - .- moorings at the same timo. Wiutangl soon aassed tho lorangif and established tt rospefr-; : io\ .-''table'leadj 'bilt' latter, hoisted 1 a -jib : ' Waitangi followed suit, and the paces were '.".••made moro equal;.-although' Waitangi main- , tainod a lead. Tho " Wai" went to Dny's s Bay, and droppod anchor there.- lerangi ran. Ai^v'Ji^',;tTieVehtrance^aiid'S6il^:-'flt^.'...^V>4®y!'' • • ..only anchoring for about an hour for lunch. \ .Tho Wairore went down to Fitzroy Bay .'-ortho day, iVnd was:seen making good work ■ ■'tf the beat up tho ontrancb in tho afternoon ■ . . sa a freshening breejio'under, full sail. ■s-- ><;v -Tho Nancy .Stair, May, Mahaki, Rona, and. * i Huritai put in tho day; at Day's Bay, and iho Nanoya wis at; Scorching "Bay ■ for the • Say. Tho Janet was at Ward Island with a ; bicnio - party, and made a good display, of ' .buhting. ' lho breeze freshoncd un cohsider- , ably in tho afternoon, and froiri Point Halsto' the Boat' Harhour •it was. feather- ; whith between, 6 and 7.30. .. .Tho: lorangi : found a weak point in her running gearj and : 'i-A carried-away: hor" staysail; ponnantß. The > -i -.Tanot caused a littlb excitement for the taton tha Maori on their roturn from Pioton, tho steamer passing within ono fytzr: hundred yards of the yabht,,which was as fiat. . Kias'a paiicako, and throwing plenty or water about. .; The Atalanta exceeded her. limits and .went v -■:<) - <3own. to Fitzroy Bay fishing, and_ got all >: > . she wanted l benting • home' in tho afternoon. She was accompanied by tho Taipare. : Several of tho launches appeared, to have-had < , , 'a pretty wef: passage, as their'crews; on ■ ' ooming ashore were seen to! bo drenched, and sorao of, the smaller boats'shipped, a. great ideal" of : The' Janet was tho Only boatout on-Satr., ifi;V nrday morning to enjoy the. lovely; westerly • -ouii.;.for;; : a; .^trial; ruii guilder J ■ f -i-jib, and Jgtaysail, in * placo of. a ;big«jib., for.j the firßt time. In tho afterfiobn'practlcnlly everything carrying a 'sail was ont. . Sunday provided a good'wind-up for the ' s, aa thorO was a good- stiff north-, • ,w«st blowing, and most of tho yachts were . ont under two' and three tuoks, and. all pnt in the day at Scorching Bay;. .llio Flora and Ngaira: arrived from tnfe Sounds .during the 'day]'., and :hating:..hftd. a,'.yery ;good ! time, . and ■ tno-. Patrbnus: and Vida arrived back on-Tuesday- night. :; -, ; '' ; "' ; The Makaki - seem* to be, making 4 very poor showing in a blow this year. The To Rhuna had tho ijiisfortune to carry away htr. ; bowsprit tho other day, And a-few milintos afterwards down camo her mast. '. ■ ThOso -who havo -eeen tho new "Whit-o v . Heather sailing say that sho appears to'be -^V.'-^ : "' ,^-^^v•c^'f [^»i^de^ l .under .. lie seen whcn.in the racing field' oil fegatta day. ;■' Arrangements aro :well under way fot tho : 'Anniversary Day regatta, which pfon\iseß;to feT'vi/.y.ted great-success. . The programme contains ;i jiriift money amounting to £107. ■•: .. ,-xv Dr. M.'Lean Was last week:given tho credit • v >'« '-.ji{'lMtngtlieoWa6rof'th6'J6tt6li;".Thiß'good''{ortuno, as should bo generally known, belongs not to Dr. vM'Lcan, but Dr. -Mftkgill, commodore of tho P.N.Y.C.

• The King of Spain 1 has just had plans of a .■ i, ■ 15-metre racing -cutter' prepared;by Mr. Fifoi ■: The yacht will bo btiilt in Spain by British " i -workmen. It is expected that,his Majesty 1 ' will Compete in most, of tho British regattas. , , . The Hjb&ti important event IM,the|Small . ? ? •:fclaes<sa Ulltlhg.-the' recent. ■/; Reason .)va'B l .tho defonce.of:tho "£oupe des un . tonnaauit" at Kiel, when thfe German 6jnetre yacht Windspiel XT,- successfully defended the Cup "against French, Danish,' and ; ' pelgiim challengersi'. Besides.the 'latter, the only foreign-built ,boat of; tho "R" classes . competing in .Germany last season Was a 5- • - : • metre boat designed by Mylne, which proved champion of her class. ' 1 < j the fine. 'Engijslv. r&emg\6chooner ";-i ■■.;.i<263-tons),was: undergoing: alterations: .when "- last mail to. hand left tho Old Country. The . • ■ whole: of,her inside.ball&st, some. 12 tons, had. bean removed for the putting it on her keel. : In addition; she was to hare her. tffider-w&kf planking planed• off, and i: ' • •'' pltttet '.wAs > to' be. fitted for lighting- 1 her with acetylene gas. No doubt (says an exchange), v the Success df tho German schooner Ger- • mania in British waters last season has been . the cause .of , the alteration to Cicely's bal-vyiVii,-vvs:

. .-- •. Nfflrt year three Gorman Sonderklas'se boats •. ' will "bo pitted against a similar number, of ..., y'AmeHean tones cif -Marblehoads, ffir a. trophy . -whioh, it is stated)' will :be presented by the President of tho U.S.A. - EVOLUTION OP THE YACHT. 'Writing in tho Helbourno of November 21 Mr. S. E. Holroyd gives an in- ; !.- teresting account of- tho history of yachtbuilding asilnder i—At the beginning of last century yachting speak,', being -.- rocked in the Cradle. ot the deep, and ; it took ;; ; come time to wake. - All .boats • were full : and: round in the boivs,-tapering off towards tho ■CSV"vV->V v ;StSni;:«traight"in'thp v l£ed,;li#rrelrlikei'#t|'.tho . h-i' / bottom, stoutly built, and: ballasted- with ' ■ r.. \ Btono or gravel; and, except as to- internal ' fittings, t/iero !Wns. not much difference bei- '/A'i tween a' gentleman's 1 yacht and . a smart' re- ■ ' venue cutter or smuggler. The "cod'B'head ■ 'and mackerel's :tail" model,, thia-tjTM waß . i v-! .;: called.-, -Later' on that eminent Scotch naval ■-.iy-l'engineer, : John . Scott Jiussel,. took .up the , subject, and advocatedilong, fine,bowsi with' a fuller body aft. But he was a prophet without honour, in his own country;: Whenj howevor, in 1851 j the ''America/' designed and •\ -..'- built:by. (Staorgft (Steers, who had appreciated •• : v.. i; this teaching, .left 'her ■ fourteen opponents— v ■ ■ ■ thirteen-disomies of the 1 old 1 faith,.-and one -. . . ; a :half-hea'rt«d proselyte of tho new—far . astern in the raco .round tho Islo of Wight ■■■■■;■■■ -for. tho-Squadron Cup,' English and Scotch . designers .and' .owners - fell down; and worshipped slavishly . . .In addition, however, -to: creating- a revoi. -lntion in. de4ign:"America l e"-.success gave: a ; tremendous., impetus, to, the sport generally. : the measurement : -rulo;' ;■ -y v -..:: beam very heavily, .and, spurred- on- by competition, the-designers discove'r&l that by . Decreasing beam, but increasing length and .. . draught, and lowering the position of . the ; v baUast, >of,- xiominrilly :tlio edmo: aiad,. if : but capable; of; carrying much more sail; anil . so faster, could bo built. .Thus tho boats v bccamo narrower find narrower; Then some v i, genius itliought of using lead and putting it - outside, in. gradually increasing; quantities, . ..though the old salts prophesied, that, these. : •-• . -"plankS oil edgb" would one day slico their, -way-to the bottom. •In America, curiously . ' ; (enough, but probably owing to having a dif- - feront - measurement rule, and - tho \ shallowness of the New Vorlsi yachting waters/ tho 'development was in the.-.opposite direction.' ; lieaniy, shallow, ■: centre-board boats, either sloops or schooners, were all■ tho rage. It . • required . flevdfal.-serious-capsized,- such as . ■>:: that of tho huge-schbonor /'Mohawk,!!! and ; the'thorough defeat of all their crack sloops ■ bv. the Watson-dosignod- outtor "Madge," Whose canny skipper, James got all •; his matches fixed before hd: tuned, his smart ■ little 10-tonner up .to rating piteh, ,to. teach • the opponents of the' "cutter 1 eratiks" the . real merits of that typo of model. These "outter cranks," too, ttonfc to extremes, and ■ the story is told of ho)Y Olio of : thotn, having .imported tho latest thing in English cutters, a tive-tonner, of the narrowest beaiil possible, mado Up: a party, hoping .t-o show .them tho ■ advantage of s)t. of beam-over 10ft, > But oomiflg alongside, tho first man out of the dinghyi taking a nice broad stop to got well .v-v.:;:..'..j tt t6--:tb6-.(ieiitto Of- the .boat, stepped- right across into tho water on the other sido. This le 4 nautical yarn, and May or maji ; not bo true, hut it is fill undoubted fact • that BUccoss : :bad as great an-in- ' ilueiido on AmwicAn yachting as "America's" had had on English some thirty years before."- Had she not made tho trip the Jnstorj ' ■ : of tho' "Amoriea. Otip"-would ift all ity have been very different) but there wai

no.- ohallengo Bant till after, the lesson, sho taught haabeen well learnt. Since then tho special. oonditions of the Deed of Gift, tho genius of N. 6. Horreshoft in. adapting tho scow" principlo to large cutters, tho syndicate's unlimited funds, and tho New York Yacht Club's length and sail area measure? Went Irule, under which the races are sailed, havo all combined to successfully resist all attempts to "lift", it. • And-no" change may be expected as long., as' tho■ Now York Yacht Club oflloials insist on maintaining that old ruls for Oup contests,' though they . havo adopted a Iw&Vtavtt foe <AW tacts, i From time: to time alterations in tho rulo i and methods! of measurement wero tried to oncourago tho . building of, beamier ■ boats, but tho valuli of: beam, v as' inakiiig both for i Stability and spoed, Was, not fully appro-" oiated,. and it was not till. 1887. .that a complots chango was made;. That year saw tho introduction of tho famous "length and sail area" rule; thoso being the,'only,two,factors taken into consideration.- .Except as regulated '.by.,: tho laws of nature,.-beam; -and draught were left untaxed, and. the designers having a: free hand produced .all manner of strange models.-' It being discoyered. that ' s' boat Could - sail .faster, over ' tha r water than, through it, the pendulum. swung to tho other, extreme') and broad, shallow, skimming dishes, ; with ' deep 'fin:' or bulb ' keols, became the fashion. ■ ; •' I

; Mhis'rule remained/in force.'till. 1896/ and, though the.boats built undeV .it; Vrere without doubt exceedingly fast, and oapable of carrying a very large ; sail spread,; compared, with their displacement, .'they woro structurally, weak, in addition; to ; being: Very.' .wet, and,' after a few 'seasons' racing, being';useless for oruising purposes, had to bo broken up. In the'/smaller. classes,,too, ;the shallow., body left the boat without uny ■ room for accommodation, oscopt of tho most oramped description. To cross the Atlantic once more, in 1890, N. G. Herreshoff set the \wholo- yaohting world ■ talking and writing by building the "Gloriana." .Hitherto yachts' had been built with straight keels,- from which >th<i stem rose at. Or : almost atV a; right angle,, the ' draught at the foro end being' almost ' 'a? - great as astern,; so that the whole profile : was roughly rectangular. ' Tho fore-foot thus, obtained was considered necessary to give, tho! boat a,grip of tho:wftter and to prevent her sagging away to leoward when on a wind. But Mr. Horreshbff boldly cut this away, thereby greatly redooing tho. area: of. wotter surface and'consequent 1 friction. Cutting this forefoot -away naturally produced tho ■ extreme forward overhang, andi tlio profile became triangular.' Sufficient < lateral resistance- to keep tho boat up to windward was obtained by .increasing tho draught. great. success, howovor, was not solely dots tb tho startling: departure in :the % 'niodel' : of {'her f.bbws, as many ' imitators 'subsequently fonnd 'out,- but she was all over a masterpieco of form and construction, and I well of hor great designor. ' : -. Tip.to 1896 "tonnage" ,'was the method of determining'a yacht's.measurement, but in that'-year i&o rating" method waa introduced, "andj' thongh: oaoh. succossivo alteration , has rendered its calculation more complicated, it: has: remained tho method' in force ever since. - It'is so callcd because all -the measurements required for the formula a« linear,"ancl under it"wa9: : firstVintroduced the' clement of "girth."- • •• •