The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1870-11-29
YACHTS, SHELLS AND TRAINING.
CLUB House, FORTRESS MONROE, |
Nov. %. 1870.

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CLUB House, FORTRESS MoNRoE,l
Nov. 20, 1870. !
1870 has been an eventrul era In the annals OF
aauatcs and many improvements have been made
which not only renacr "boatingn science, but On
art The principal questions Of the day which
acltate the minds OF boatmen aud the patrons OF
tho amusement are those appertaining to the long
and short stroke, slide and steady, and Keel and
centreboard yachts. And among all the improve
ments and numerous races no one can tell which Is
the most advantageous, for the simple reason that
races occur every day In which both modes are dis
played ana the result is very nearly the same. But
this should not be taken az criterion, Us by care
full examination OF the races OF 1870 and Of the man.
ner OF pulling the proportion Is three to one In
favor Of the long slide stroke about stroke In
I ll-lo secondsl the short stroke being one every
ls.47 seconds making difference Of about nine
strokes a minute. Although this seems conclusive
proof races occur every day that seem to belle the
fact, Take the three mile race between the
Quaker Cities, OF Philadelphia, and the mid
sh,pmen at Annapolis. Here was splen.
did exhibition OF physical strength and endu.
rance and the mode or pulling entirely different;
also ia training. The Quaker Cities were coached
by the noted boatIst, Harry Coulter. The middies
were under the skllMl hand Of MI. Blake, the sec.
Rotary OF the Harvard crew. Coulter's methed con-
sists besides the regular drilling, OF placing the
men In the naked, and allowing the flesh to peal
or and In fact his idea was to pay all attention to
the muscles Of the back paying little or no atten-
ton to the other portions. Mr.. Blakies Idea is to
train the whole body which he did very eYectuay on
the day OF the race. The crew pulled into line Then
came the live words SO well known to all oarsmen-
care you ready ~ The answer eyes, came primary;
then eco ~ and OF they went the Quaker Cities
with the long, graceful strske Of thrty-seven, the
Mddies with the quick, nervous stroke Of forty-two
and spurts to forty-seven and fortY-eight. Before
they had gone length the Middies were ahead and
Kept it up until they reached the boat-one ana q
half miles. Here the bow broke his scull, but In
stead OF giving up they, by series OF spurts up to
forly-eight and ortynlne, pulled the mile and half
with three oars, bea'ins the long stroke Eve
lengths. This is almost proof conclu.
in to @ we o. have the
who pulled race Of SIX miles, long slide stroke,
and came araW asad fgE ne n
for courses three miles and UNDER and the long
stroke Tor courses over that Wonderful displays OF
Which are truly astonishing. All win acknowledge
the supremacy Of paper smells over wood boats;
but in san Francisco. last summer race took place
between the boats OF the kearsage and Saranac,
which resulted In the best time on record barring
paper Shells The boats were two In number one
fifteen men, The course was nine miles. They were
started at forty and forty-two q minute, and the
%s e Win the % aer
mlnute-tme, b. 4m.-beating the other boat
two miles. This was an average Of mile In seven
In twenty-one and a half minutes. This does not
compare unfavorably with the Yaes, who in October
only made three miles IN nineteen minutes twenty
The pulling those heavy boats that distance is feat
unparalleled n the annals Of boating. Truly the
The late improvement Of the slide stroke is Of great
advantage as brings all parts OF the body into play
be used to advantage. the Yales have slide seats;
The question Of centreboards and keel yachts has
been agitatsd by D. sachum and Others, but no one
seems to have decided opinion one way or another.
II is my opinion that Captain Shank made great
time will prove 1t to be the best keel for ali vessels.
Ftrst-Take the advantages In yacht 1t is EVIL
proportion TO the size OF her keel and the smaller
the keel the sooner she Will make her stays. Now,
this Is one Of the most important requisites OF
yacht
Second-A yacht will sail faster and work easier
In every way. as all owners of centreboard yachts
will assert. In applying this TO other vessels 1t Is OF
the greatest Importance, as 1t enables them to carry
large loads and draw comparatively little water.
world was a centrcb0ard yacht called the Corning.
This yacht. unknown t. many achieved this notable
ward She met portion Of the New York Yacht cluS
consisting Of the Oracle, the Magic, Dauntless.
abreast OF the Oracle, and made Preparations for
trial OF speed with the neet An exciting race en-
sued, which proved the superiority OF centrebOards
70 certainty. Every exertion was put forth, as
the Corning had 80 boldly thrown down the gauntlet
but they were distanced one mile in the rum Sec
ond trial took place between the Corning, Sadie and
Gracie which resulted In another decisive triumph
for the Corning as she sailed over the prescribed
course Of twenty-six miles eight and half minutes
quicker than her competitors AS the Oracle Is
sdered the fastest yacht Of her size and rig having
won the Ashbury cup for soops, the Eastern squad
ron, to which the Corning belongs have reason to be
somewhat jubilant over the two victories. The
Corning is owned by Commodore r. u. Tucker, Of
Beverly, Mass, and he Will probably have on oppor-
tunty OF proving again the superiority OF centric
board boats in 1871.
Aquatlcs has been reduced down to fine point,
and the training OF crew Is delicate matter, as
II the men trained too little or too much, there IS
large field for break down. The training that Is
recognized by scientific men Is somewhat varied
But by accurate and close observation / am con-
ynced that the painest training Is the most eifec.
tive. The first principle is to diminish the weight
and increase the strength in the same ratio. TO do
this Is the great problem OF &C Jachersn and they
succeed with various results A good example
Of the reduction Of weight 10 found in Harry
Coulter, who, out Of training weighs 214 pounds,
when In 1853; thus reducing himself fifty eight