YACHTING.

Evening Star, Issue 12028, 28 October 1903, Page 3

YACHTING.

[By Staysail.]

Yachtsmen can find nothing to complain about, so far as sailing weather goes. Saturday and Sunday being ideal clays." A kruu number of boats attended the opening of the Fort. Chalmers Sailing Club, the'majority camping in Broad Buy on Saturday night. Sunday saw the Lennox Las;-, with a large numijer of visitors a bond, mailing for the* Heads. Madge. Raiuolei, Boult, and others spent Saturday nig he there. Little’s new boat (White Wingt-g Adelaide, and several others contented ;h, .usclvi.s m going for their usual Sunday unii-c. Saturday’s function at Fort- Chalmers was an unqualified success, and relh-eu-d ciedit on all the officers, who must have worked hard. Postponed inactions- usually full il.it, but this one was an exception. Tlie Otago \acht Club's boats mustered in force, the commodore’s Waitin' LaJiiw the O.Y.C. boars. °

Broad Bay still holds its own as a favorite camping ground for yachtsmen. and from Fort Chalmers it- looks as it all the boat-.- in the harbor nuke a special point of being there on Sundays.

The O.Y.C. officially open the sailing season in the Upper Harbor on S:.! unlay, October 51. when a procession at boats, on something the same, lines as llios.e of past seat-ons, will be carried out. The procession will start from the Victoria wharf at 2.50 p.m., then round a buoy off the club's proparty, and lake a turn or two round the steamers’ basin, when the commodores yacht will anchor, and the other boats- in passing will salute her. The U.S.S. Company’s oil launch will iu all probability bo available for ladies. Secretary Ewing and Moller have charge of that part of the function.

The first of the seriefi of club race.-; will be held on the 21st of November, and the second race on December 5 ; so the various boat owners should have a good opportunity of testing their craft before the Boxing Day regatta. Owners of yachts that intend competing in the club races will do well to look up rule 16.

The open-boat class Las been cut nut of t-bo club race, which v>ill now conedsfc of first, second, and third class, and a class for unballasted boats.

The handicap|x>.rs for the ensuing season will be Messrs .Sinclair, Ewing, and Molh-r. The Slip Committee pc mono el w:i! l.c Messrs Latimer, Nces, and Sinclair. Messrs W. Cutter' and P>. Nets will be duh measurers, and the. Sailing Committee will consist of Messrs Sutherland, Miller. Ewing, and H, Sees. Mr J. Xeleon will he timekeeper, and Mr Sutherland starter. The RaveGsbourne Club held their annual meeting during the past. week, and besides having a credit, balance of £ll odd, they have cleared their handsome shed of debt, which speaks volumes for the enthusiasm if the local boat owners.

Congratulations to Mr J. M'Phcrson or his being elected captain, and Mr R. M'Cnlloch on his filling the important office of secretary. The club intend opening their season on November 14, and the function will no doubt prove as enjoyable us in the past.

During the week the officials of the Yacht Club received a communication from Captain Voss, of Lih’kmu fame, stating that he wax on the point of leaving Thursday Island fer South .Africa, and wished to be remembered to all vachtsmen.

The various yachts are now afloat., except Thelma. Leader went off the slip on Thursday, and went out on Saturday. Her mainsail, which has undergone several alterations, seemed from a distance to set, a lot better, but a week or two should suffice for her skipper to judge. The order of Saturday’s procession will be as follows; Commodore Nee’s Waitiri, Vice-commodore Lane’s White Wings, It earcommodore Hazlettfs Roma, champion Kileen, Leader, Thelma, Carma, Madu; Rnru, Irene, Pera, Winifred, AdeJaide, Result, Pastime, Clematis, Nell, Skimmer. Kia Ora, Lennox Lass, Rata, Dream, Ventura, Waterwitch, Violet, Phantom, Gem, Carbine.

General regret will be aroused amonr yachtsmen by the announcement that. Mr Graham, of the Waitiri, is dangerously ill in hnspitpL and I am sure all wkh him a speedy recovery. Thus an Australian exchange:—Mr A. T. Pit tar, the well-knotvn New Zealand yachtsman, who is now practising his profession as a dentist in Sydney, asked Logan Brothers, of Auckland, to build him a fast 36-footer, to be delivered in Sydney by the end of December. The famous builders iiad reluctantly to decline the order, as they are quite rushed with work at the present’ Mr .jEifffgff rbtyggfrfc tfafi^ainfap«r^yfqr- J 'hf»y .fa

beat the Bona, but did not do so -wed as expected. .Dealing with Sir T. Lipton’s gift of a £SOO cup to the New York Yacht CJnb for a tains-Atlantic race, a contemporary says: —“ The idea is praiseworthy; but how yacht sailing can be benefited by racing across the Atlantic, over mountainous waves, and through the dangers of such an unkind course, is not apparent The best seaman is as a rule absolutely the worst yachtsman, and a crew that would be a conspicuous success on the rolling deep would be nowhere when called upon to do the delicate and agile work of yacht sailing. The man with luck would be the winner of. Liptords enp, for to escape storms would be far more profitable than to use them, even with the skill of the best seamanship. When the famous Captain Jorgenson made long and risky voyages in his galvanised iron boilerlike' boat he used to go below when a had sea was met, and did not make any attempt to combat the adverse conditions. He was a wise man, and aka ays reached the port he aimed for.” Another paper says: —“Sir Thomas Lipton’s offer will revive memories among the older generation of the. great ocean race from Bandy Hook to the Needles, Isle of Wight, between the famous schooners Fleetwing, Vesta, mid Henrietta, in the winter of 1866. The brothers Osgood and Pierre Lorilhu’d, jun.. were dining with a number of others at the New York Yacht Club iu November of that year, when the conversation turned on the* respective merits of the yachts Fleetwing (206 tons) and Vesta (201 tons), which they respectively owned. Over the wine a match was made for £6,000 a side, to be sailed the following month. Mr J. G. Bennett, jun., was the owner of the Henrietta (230 tons) at the time, and when he heard of the match he signified his desire to take pert in it. and was allowed to compete by contributing £6,000 to the stake. That vessels of the size of these schooners should cross the ocean at any time of year was considered somewhat liazardotts, but that they should cross in the dead of winter added immensely to the risk. Had they been specially prepared for the voyage by having their spars reduced before starting, it would still have been considered so me tiling of a feat to have crossed tire Atlantic in -ither of them in the mouth of December, but that they should start with racing spars and canvas to go .across at racing speed was considered highly imprudent. The result is well known, and showed how wonderfully well tltey were navigated. The Henrietta won, having sailed 3,106 miles in 13d 21h 55min. The Fleetwiug was second, liaving Sailed 5,135 miles in 14d 6h lOmin. The Vesta (fastest of the three) came hist, having sailed 5,144 miles in 144 6h 50min She was ahead of both the others the day before getting in with the land, bnt by a blunder was allowed to run past her - port in tlie channel. A serious accident happened to the Fieetwing while scudding before a hard gale. At nine o’clock in trie evening of December 19 she took a sea aboard which washed six of the crew out of the cockpit, and they were lost. The boat was then obliged Co lay-to for five hours. Another great match wss Unit from Gaunt Head, Ireland, to Sandv Hook lightsiiip, in IS7O, between the schooners Cambria and Dauntless, for £250. They started on July 4. and the Cambria passed the buoy off Bandy Hook on Jolv 27 at half-past 5 p.rn.. the Dauntless on July 27 at. thirteen mmules to o p.iiL. a'difference oi only Ih ITirun.”

A “Lallan” rciesyam from New York to the. London i 6 ily ’f cie.craph’ says: Several newspapers oi good standing print, with scathing comroonts. accounts of remarkable b-iliavioar by manv of the American recipients of Sir Thomas Lipton’s hospitality on board ibc Tvn. i‘i:;nv of those invited for a single race altanck'd eveiyone, and brought Ih.cr wrvrs .red relavicos with them, although these had not been included in the invitations. They practically nvisack.nd -lb? bout., pilfering spoons and other small things that could easily be iu.ken as souvenirs. Tlkv Im’pcd themselves u> wire- by the t.ani'iier, oik! filled their pockets with eigiu-s and eiy,irettes; even (lie matches were not spired, hut were removed wholesale. ‘ 'i'jie.v swnrmed all over the boat to such an extent that the owner and his pere.o’.ial friends were driven into narrow and exclusive quarters.” The Auckland “ Standard ” motor launch, now in harbor, has been drawing aticni.ion. S;ie has nlr-adv is a i described, l o yachtsmen the chief point of inti rest aeout. lie- is that si?-' e on leer wav to Sydney to compel- with kindr. d craft them. Her owner is hopeful, tor, that she will not make (he trip for nothing. To. ik's connect;on it is interesting to rote licet in Great Britain and America this tv>; of yacht ha.s come rapidly to the fork and almost even club of note have motor races on their programme.