The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-12-26
ON FROZEN WATER
.ur SPORT or ICE TdCHTING on
THE UPPER n UDSON.

a
winged Crafts nud Their Management
travelling faster Than nilc n Miuutc.
TN the Hudson ice yachting has become
a.. Greatest ~ the winter sports, The skill re-
,i,.d to mannuVre the ice Yacht. the lightning
~, ste,d and the attendant danger. give zest
a. the amusement Crcdcncc-testiug stories
,rctoIl about speed. dangers aud obstacles. or
late years. however. the imUrovemen's In the
craft. have iessencd tho danger and now ladlee
a. mot hcsIta ate to place Themselves under the
care II a skilful helmsman. sail before a
.in wind with the sharp steel runners cutting
ont music and dashiug the Ice spray In air, beats
thec4citoment vt ocean Yachting In an eight
knothrce1r. The home Of the sport Ia on the
Hudson. and the Russian ice yachts slow and
,,m., comp red to those which may daily be
son between here and Lansineburgh. There
arc clubs At Albany. Troy, West Troy, Athens.
and other Places but the cluhs at poughkcepsie
and New Hamburg have the finest yachts. the
r,,et memncra. aud the oldest organic atoms.
prsN,us to the formation Of clubs. however,
&C.. boats were used on the Hudson. In tho
ds,e " Sir William johnson and later white
men and Indians used slcds impellcd by the
wind. Fruimure Cooper, In one OF his novels,
hint. NJ this mode NJ travel, vet II until re-
Gently slowly utilized. An leo yacht was built
byEIward Southwick, Of Poughkeepsie. In iSsi
ami was. perhaps. the frat which deserved the
name. Later atrin made by the Foss brothers.
tiit,.tvo miles, accomplished In an hour, at
ua,ted attention.
TuE MOpERNIzrD SPORT.
T. we mo-. however, until 1864 that ice Yacht
Inc VA POPULAR The cruise Of the poughkeep-
sic lee Yacht club to Albany In that wear at
iricicd attention to the sport Ice toats were
Formerly built IN the shape 81 ON equil iteral
tragic. with the eide runners a. each end ~
TIE ra-s. They mad tendency 70 II u at the
storm. and could not be kept under perfect con-
IT, This gave rise TO many accidents. Recent
improvements make them, In skilful hands.
perfectly safe. AZ seen from SHORE, they look
hke skeletons - mammoth nsh. skeleton
boats the, really are, the hull consisting
eros niece. the whole being triangul r.
with base shorter than the sides. Tho
bise u the bow. and runner plank projects for
several feet ON each side OF the hsse or cross
Tise-. Working at each end Of this runner
plank IRE the side runners. and at the stern is
another working on pivot. by which the craft
n sie"red. Inc runners are wood, shod sharp
with irun. Tue runners are rocker shaped, the
non rati Tor boiis OF medium SIZE being =
inches wide. oeVeled to nearly the angle OF a
square. On the edge Of which the yacht runs.
The side runners are about twice a. tong as
those AZ the stern. box on the stern holds the
hclmsmNn aud another. -Four to six guests may
b. accommodatcd forward. Il Is like sail
best material extra heavy canvas IA used, and
the side, back. aud forestays are wire. The bow.
spirit shruuds are steel There are only iit
and a malnsal. Both have a low hoist, and IN,
ran OF the mainsail is much shorter than II
the sails must be carried low. There are only
two rooes to handle. and one man attends e
both and steers the yacht. The dimensions al
the Oracle. just launched at Puughkec psie
are as follows: Length Of kceson. 81 feet
width oi runner plank. Is feet inches. The
Icicle Is, however the largest ice craft In Tho
Ice world. She is Gs feet long, and the length OF
her runner board between be rims Is IS feet
inches.or almost the width Of the largest schoon
MODES OF SAILING.
There IL a radical difference between sailing
syacht on ice and one on water. An Ice yacht
tio-,-hauled, viii sail nearer TO the wind by tive
D. leeway. The most extraordinary speed al.
tanned Is when going free. when on the wind
OF either tack. the fastest time ever made has
been fifteen miles nm hour. An ice yacht going
dead before the wind would soon run out of ~
Therefore in going free she has TO use un
Iautic 4 expression) to heat to leeward-to
taN with aud across tue wind. Thus OF
the Huuson Gu ice yacht sailing south
% either shore, then jibe her mainsail ovei
and iihe again as she approached the Other
shore repeating the manpuvfe a. long as she
pailed south and the wind held the same. with
Anorthcast OF northwest wind the boat could
make her course straight. Sailing thus In a st1
trreze the weather side will often be three 81
four feet In the air. and the sensation to pas-
tenser on that side Is like that experienced In q
hhuoon when paldst Is thtoWh OUT. mere i
hitle danger in an upset, or In breaking through
The Ice, except to those forward. In upsetting
the stern ALWAYS remains ON the ice, but thos,
forward are apt TO be flung. This only happen'
wnen squall throws tho windward side In tn,
ar. In breaking through the ice nothing Is e
be aUprehended except "a wetting, the grea
wldfh 81 the runner plank preventing the boa
from being submerged, and distributing ~
weight over the lcei AZ ordinary boa. en- sal
III inches. smooth Ice is requisite for extreme
speed, but II tue crust hardens over fall o
iuo~ boat can get along very WE'LL
THE CLUBs.
pouphkeenaie and Nav Hamburg climb
vii have match races and squadron cruises a.
p,on as he weather permits. The uncertaint'
uese events. l ne first race In the Poughkeersi'
tlun viii he for club pennant and burRee. Il
b. won three times before becoming the prop
rt, q the winner. The second Will be for
challenge pennant, open to all clubs on Tho
hS't There will also be races for he club pl.t'
.hd ior pennant presented by tue ladies' OF
Puusi kceu>ie. Ia addition To the regular
matches Of the New Hamburg club, champion
Teuuant j. epen to competi tion. The course OF
Tie roughkcepsle CluO il TO New HAMBURG anC
Tcturr - miles with the wind from tne nortt
ard Il with the wind from the west. The New
H4Nh4rs q b course Is to PouRhkeepsie anC
fti .ltf. ur to Milton ana back twice.
umodurr Grinnell, Of the New Hambur.
tlu1. n.- huilt two new boats this season whict
are creating "A sensation. one - the Wmf
wn,c4 wall Toe sent 70 Pniladelpha for exhhi
nNn at . rtc ntenuial. Sue II Al feet over al
fonl rud < boom 10 end 81 bOwsprit, and has
lr'"ot runner llnk. Her side pieces are hand
tuWeN truain MED with black walnut CASING
plaed.
Toe other I. 40 r. the Flvawny. She was bull
A. an experiment. aud differs from other ic'
yachts IA ueing cat-figsed and very marrow. He
Tame IL 10 feet long, a. nd she has a l5-foo
100 b runner plank She spreads 342 squar'
i'rt Of canvas on her IN insal, which ~ her onll
cal. Her performances are awaited with anx
letS. II a success, she Will cause quite change
u the rig Of boats built In the future, owing 4
tLc greater ease with which che can he handled
Ilc cost Of a good ice yacht Is about SO
TIE Han sailed once nine miles In seven min
ute, aud IN the winter Of 1868 the snowfall
ran riue miles north from NewnutRh dock II
esit uinuies. Ia 1871 the lcicle and Zephyr. o
luuehkeepsic, raced with rallroaI train f.
several miles, and, rounding to, waited severi
minutes for the train "a come up. Ia some q
TIC Faces between the POugnkecpsie END New
II inhurs clubs. where more risks arc take
thAh M ordinary cruising, the time has bee
~ re ektrdordlnary.
The Former Belle OF kcwburypOrt.
fror. ne N,-hl1 gport (Als'J H,,ud