Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-08-06
AMERICAN YACHTING.
The International Period Since 1870
why Our Boats Excel.
LC5ptain r.. F. Coffin in Outing,l

[C1ptain r. F. Coffin in Outing
After the year 1870, yachting in this
country hroadened out-became diifused.
For the first 20 years, it had been almost
wholly confined to New York and its vi
entity and down to the end of the year
1869, % years after the parent club had
been organized, there were not more than
Il dozen yacht clubs IN the whole couh
try. There We're, however, very many
small sailing craft held by individual
owners ano from this time on, these, i'll
various sections, have banded themselves
together, and formed yacht clubs, with
very beneficial results. Designing, and
the draughtlng of sail and spar plans,
which, previously to this, had been con
fined to professionals, builders, Triggers,
add sallmakers, has been studied by the
Young men of the clubs, and the result
has been great improvement IN the APP
pearance, rs well as the performance, OF
American yachts. Young men whose
privilege it has been to travel have stud
led the methods of British yachtsmen and
the design of British yachts and have re-
turned to this country with enlrrged Ideas
as to the future possibilities of the sport,
and the result Is Il type OF yacht suited TO
our shallow and generally smooth waters,
which combines III her design and rlg
some of the best features of the British
yacht The old notion that body could
be moved over the water easier than
through ii has been found to be untena-
BILE, and we are building now vessels OF
| more moderate beam and of increased
depth. In ballasting the yacht, also, there
| has been an immense improvement. For
| merlY, it was not thought that anything
more expensive than scrap iron or paving
! stones could he afforded for ballast, and
| it was II great advance when we got TO
moulding the iron to fit the frames, and
| in this manner lowering the ballast and
]
weight than before. The substitution of
| lead for iron was another advance, ana Tor
! sharp bottomed boats the placing OF the
lead outside is an improvement; our old
fashioned, Hat bottom IShtdrauEht
! boats. however, do not need ii there, and
in some instances it has proved Il detri-
ment and has had to be removed.
In rigging and in canvass we have been
constantly improving wire has entirely
| superseded rope for standing rigging, ana
the bringing of the head stay to the
knight heads with runners from the mast
head aft, has given stability to the masts
/ which prevents the canvass from getting
out of shape in strong Oreezes. inns
necessitates IA double head sail instead of
the one large jib formerly used, and al
though there Is in this substitution Il loss
of propelling power in moderate breeZes,
"A defect of the old rig is cured by this sub
stitutiou, and the yacht Is nahuler IN 4
reeting breeze Formerly, when the wind
increased so that the mainsall or the sloop
had to be reeted, there was dlihcullY IN
reducing the forward canvas. A reef was
clumsy in jib a bonnet-for yacht-
nine tenths of whose service is in whole
sail breezes, was scarcely to be thought of,
and a bob jib" was an abominalion.
With the double head sail the difficulty Is
obviated, and generally the small jib can
be carried in any breeze 10 which the
usual service of ayacht exposes her, and
nj al llt
forestay sail. \ mistake 10y sailing mas
ters at the first introduction of the double
head sails was that in racing they took IN
the lib first This should never be don't
as long as it can be carried rs there is but
slight propelling power in the staysail.