The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-06 00:00:00

Ocean Yacht Race,

Oa Saturday the great yachting event of the
Thames season—the ocean race for schooners,
cutters, and yawls, from the Lower Hope be-
low Gravesend to H trwich Harbour—came off
with the utmost success. The first prize, for
schooners, was • X 80; and the second, for
cutters, £5O; but these rewards, as may be
guessed, were the least part of the inducements
which drew together such a beautiful fleet of
yachts—all in the finest condition as to trim and
equipment, and all anxious, and more or less
confident of their ability, to carry off the Great
Thames prize, the highest honour which can fall to
the lot of the Thames Club boats. No less than 27
yachts entered to compete for this race-13 cutters,
11 schooners, and 3 yawls, and a finer or more
numerous fleet never assembled on the Thames for
match-sailing. The yachts were the Glance, cutter,
36 tons, G. W. Cnorlwood—Vindex, cutter, 45, A.
Duncan—Surge, cutter, 52, W. W. F. Hay—Zigan,
cutter, 54, J. T. Powell—Volante, cutter, 60, H. C.
Maudslay—Marina cutter, 65, J. C. Morice, As'arte
cutter, 75, T. Seddon—Hesperus, sehoaner, 33, T.
Marriott-Dodington—Amberwitch, yawl, 51, Capt.
H. Bacon—Aquiline, schooner, 55, H. Chamier—
Clytie, schooner, 64, Capt. F. S. Clarkson—Mad
cap, schooner, 71, J. S. Abbott-Dunbar—Medea,
schooner, 70, W. J. Rideent —Whirlwind, yawl, 17,
A. Fox—Fleur de Lys, schooner, 77, H, W. Birch
—lolanthe, schooner, 81, H. Bridson—WaterLA.ilyl,
yawl, 105, Commodore Lord A. Paget, m.p......
batross, schooner, 110, J. R. Tetley—Zaraide,
schooner, 155, W. J. Pawson—Albertine, schooner,
155, Lord Londesborough—Zue, schooner, 162, Sir
Bruce Chichester. Of these vessels all with the ex-
ception of the Amberwitch and Zoraide, were yachts
of the Thames Club, the Amberwitch belonging to
the Yorkshire Club, and the Zoraide, to the Royal
Squadron. In addition to these a large number of
other yachts not entered for the race or belonging
to different clubs were at the Lower Hope as well,
so that the waters of this usually desolate-looking
part of the river were crowded with craft, gliding
in all directions, or waiting, like the competitors,
with everything ready to let go when the signet
came which was to start them out to see. The
weather from the visitors' point of view was all
that could be wished—but the competitors and
yachtsmen generally would have been well con-
tent to have exchanged their share of the bright
sunshine for rain itself, so that it brought
wind with it. It is, perhaps, one of the drawbacks
on these yacht races that the weather that suits the
yachts for racing is seldom agreeable to the visitors
who come to see them from the steamers. Cloudy
weather, with a keen and eager wind, and now and
then a squall of rain to soak the sails, is what the
yachts want, while the visitors' taste not unnattt-
turally inclines to warm sunshine and mild balmy
airs, which as often as Rot reduce the contest for
speed between the yachts into a mere drifting match
with the tide. One of the most exciting races that
was ever sailed on the Thames was about five years
ago, when the match was through a succession of
fierce squalls with torrents of blinding rain, and
when the winner, and most of the losers, too, name
in with nearly all their standing rigging carried'
away, with sails split and spars sprung. That weal
a most exciting contest, and for the spectators a
most supremely miserable one, On Saturday there
saviainsovatertyhrloilattglehoe: hitteernreancte.,
and Itw aesxvceispittorws'hweneantheaerr
aSuosuaultiffihteicenisedno,ef theayndof fora very short time, there was never
competitors,w i wind to de
especially a
develops the
ofsuch large
best s tii i tog
g
vessels as the Albertine and Z ae, or even of the
the yawl of the commodore of the club,
In
order,
orderit was to net c si
do
elarge a at
tflheeeyt
iLWnotarodtpeAr LlropfrielerycisPtaargtientg.
should start in tiers of three each, each class of °I, es..
adhereddepth
.
sels being separated, the smaller ones, of course'
wellas thees
this
water would
taking the frontper rank.
arrangementA
permit,
it,
to, the buoys which marked the stations extending
along the Essex snore from 0 wer's buoy to the light
on the Mucking eand. All the schooners had availed
themselves of the permission granted to hoist their

r mainsail and foresail, yawls their mainsail and
wizen, and cutters their mainsail, so that when at
24 minutes past 5 o'clock in the morning the signal
to Start by hauling down a flag on the Kentish
shore, the headsails were hauled home in a very
short time, and almost simultaneously the whole
of the beautiful squadron were under way for
Harwich Harbour. The Fleur de Lys schooner
failed to get off as timely eh the rest, getting into
diffieulties with her mainsail, which was not pro-
perly adjust. For the first mile or so of the course
Glance and Volante were smartly handled among
the cutters, as also were Astatte and Whirlwind, the
yawl. It was evident, however, that unless the
wind freshened the large yachts had ho chance, for,
though the Albertine, Zoe, Zaraide, and Water Lily
were beaUtifully managed, and every yachting art
resorted to to enable them to draw the wind, there
was not enough for theinl and the smaller craft
began to forge ahead, the Glance leading the cutters
by a long stretch. Next to her) and b*iclently equal-
ling her in speed, tame the Volante, which kept
well ahead of surge, which in turn was just ahead of
the Vindex, the latter being to leeward. The yawls
Whirlwind and Water Lily, cutters Marina and As-
tarte, and the schooner Albertine followed in close
order, and then came the Zigan, Madcap, Amber-
witch, and the rest of the fleet well up. Off South-
end the wind began to rise end promise strength,
and, though its increased force lasted only a short
time, it was quite enough to show how vitally its
endurance would affect the result of the race. The
Albertine at once began to show ahead among the
schooners, pressed very closely by the Water Lily,
Madcap, Amberwitch,FleurdeLys, and ot hers, while
the Astarte began to diminish the distance between
herself and the leading cutters. Marina also began
to show in the front, and for a few minutes, there
was no wind, and to spare. It did not last, how-
ever, and the Albatross lost her lead among the
schooners to the Whirlwind, which thenceforth kept
it to the end. The Volante made the first bound to
stretch out to sea, and her example was soon fol-
lowed by all the vessels, and the rest of the race,
from this time out, became a mere slow beating up
against the tide, with scarcely any wind to help
the craft, and what there was rather against them
than otherwise: The racing was very close indeed
between the Volante and the Glance, and between
the Vindex and the Surge, till most unfortunately
the Glance and Surge hung on the sand, and both
the Volante and Vindex passed their opponents,
the Astarte creeping up again. Nothing of impor-
tance now occurred for some time, except that
Astarte and Vindex had a fine close race, and the
headmost vessels passed the Mouse at 9 o'clock, the
Gle nce try ing repeatedly to go through the Vol ante's
lee, but being stopped. Vindex now began to show
in the front, and her chances seemed fast improving
till she went aground, and was thenceforward out
of the race. The Surge then became third boat,
but the Glance, which had quite recovered her slight
stoppage, came pressing up, throwing the spray
from her fine bows, and closing feat with the Vol-
ante, which was very slow in stays. The Maplin
Light was passed at 10.20, the cutters preserving
the same order, and Whirlwind leading the schooner
division, with Madcap, Water Lily, Amberwitch,
and Albertine all of a cluster. At the S win Middle
the Volante increased her lead, Glance being a
quarter of a mile ahead of Surge, and Astarte and
Marina nearly the same distance apart. A capital
race between the Surge and Astarte was now made,
the latter ultimately passing her opponent, and
subsequently weathering on the Glance into first
place. It was not in Surge'a power, however, to
retain her pre-eminence for long, end the wind be-
coming lighter Glance took the first place after the
Volante. From this time there was no change
worth recording, and in the end the boats passed
the winning post in the following order :

H. 1,4 S. H. M, s.
Volante .. 3 6 15 Whirlwind 3 34 15
Glance 3 19 5 Surge
I
Astarte .. 3 19 35 Madcap
The speed, as will be seen by the time, was not
great ; in fact, the wind, as we have said, was at no
time—except for a very few minutes, when oft
Southend—sufficient to enable any of the boats
to show their qualities, or to do justice to
the admirable manner in which they wore all
handled. According to the order of passing the
post, the Valente wzm the prize for cutters,
and the Whirlwind yawl the prize for schooners.