Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1885-02-16
Ice Yachting on the Hudson.


Mazeppa on the back of the wild horse, or
Lulu, the circus man, fired from the mouth
of a cannon, may have attained some of the
velocity at which the shippers of ice yachts
travel But they could never equal that
speed, for ice yachtsmen profess their ability
to sail four times as fast as the wind and to
scare novice to death in FIVE minutes
Poughkeepsie is the head-centre of ice yacht
ing, and there is club there of fifty mem
bers with feet of about thirty yachts.
Among the members are men wel1-known in
New York society, and many who are promi-
nent in yachting circles.
DIR. j. c. Barron, owner of the conpro-
mise sloop Athlon, is a member, and sails in
the ice yacht Viva. Archibald Rogers, the
owner of the cutter Bedouin, has the ice
yacht Snowflake. A new yacht is building
for him the lateen sail plan. Judge
Gildersleeve owns the ice yacht Virginia
Henry Bergh, jr., has the Snow Bird. j. A.
Roosevelt has the largest ice yacht on the
river, the Icicle. He is commodore of the
club. Among the other members are J. r.
stuyvesant, Theodore Van Klseck, A. e..
Winslow, Norman Wright, George j. Gould,
W. c. Arnold, Hudson Taylor, c. D. Smith,
T. NJ. Davis and G. G. Bayley.
The club was organized in 1861, and from
then till now the members have been steadi-
ly improving the build and rig of their
yachts. They began with a yacht shaped
like an equilateral triangle, and the process
of evolution has gone Oh until the yacht has
become straight board with a cross beam
for the runners. Many, in fact most, of the
ice yachts on the river have braces FROM the
stem to the extremity of the runner beam,
which form remnant of the old triangle;
but the newest and most improved pattern
II. -
sloops the yachts have become cutters of the
extreme type. Last winter a little yacht
made its appearance on the ice below Pough-
keepsie with a lateen sail hung between
double masts, which became one above the
sail.
The ice yachtsmen down on the Shrews-
bury, either copying this rig or from the fact
that ''great minds run in the same channel, y
built similar yacht this winter, and she has
proved success. Now the Poughkeepsie
club hold the championship pennant and
when they heard of the doing of the lateen
sail ON the Shrewsbury everybody fell into a
great state of trepidation lest the pennant
should be lost. But Archie Rogers immedi-
ately told Mr.. Buckhout, the we1l-known
builder of ice yachts here, to build him a
Yacht with lateen sail, and it is already
nearly completed. Several others of like rig
will probably be built or some of the exist
ing yachts rugged over. and fight will be
made to retain the pennanG.
An ice yacht never sails directly before the
wind, but is considered to be before the wind
when the wind is just aft the beam, and in
| this position it is that she attains her great
est speed. Sailing thus the yachtsmen reach
such terrific speed that they are afraid to
tell how fast they go for fear of the jibes of
doubters. However, they think nothing of a
speed of a mile a minute. The 'crack
yachts do not carry many people. Mr.. Roose-
velt's yacht Icicle seldom has more than three
on board. Two are in the ''box' Ia cush-
| toned oval place near the stem), and one Oh
the weather end of the runner beam. In
yachts of the Icicle class the skipper steers
reclining on the cushions, but in the new
type he sits astride the beam and steers. A
good ice yacht costs about six hundred dol
lars. They are beautifully built, and the
yachtsmen vie with each other in the ele-
eance of the cushions and other fittings of
their yachts. The runners of the yachts are
of steel or of phosphor bronze. The rudder
is sharpened as finely as a razor.
In spite of the nonsense that has been
talked about ice yachts and the absurd pic
lures of them that have appeared in illustra-
ted papers, it is seldom that either of the
| runners of yacht leaves the Ice No seri-
GUS accident has ever occurred in the history
of ice yachting on the Hudson since the
Poughkespsie club was formed. There have
been one or two narrow escapes, however.
One of them came near extinguishing a lu-
minary of the New York bench. 1t was at
one of the regattas, and the yachts were fly
ing down to the turning stake with a speed
that battles comparison. Near the stake
stood Judge Gildersleeve. He looked up and
| saw one of the yachts right upon him. He
sprang into the air; the runner beam passed
| under his feet, and before he had time to re-
alize fully what had happened the yacht was
miles away up the river.
| There have been but two or three days
good ice yachting this winter on account OF
| the snow but in a few days it is hoped that
a crust will be formed, and yachting will be-
| gin in earnest, for the snow, after it lies g
| certain length of time on the ice, becomes
soaked with water and then freezes, forming
| a first class surface for the yachts to glide
over. The elegant and expensive ice yachts
! of Poughkeepsie are not the only ice yachts
on the Hudson. All along the river down
as far as Yonkers are to be seen numbers O.
small craft, many of which are ''fyers.
There are some rudely constructed ice yes
sells, also, that need scarcely be called yachts
as they are not for pleasure, but for business
They are ungainly affairs, most of these ic
boats, and are used to bring in fish that ar
caught through holes in the ice, or to carr
| things across the river. Last winter an .en