New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-07-09


GENESTA.
his contest for the cup 1t was at first proposed
that il the Gcncsta failed to win the cup the
Galatca a cutter belonging TO Lieutenant Hcnn,
Of the ROYAL Navy, and member Of the Royal
Northern Yacht Club should race for tho trophy
after brief time. There was the usual amount
Of spondcncc and all that sort or thing, nut
finally il was 80 arranged that tho Genesa raced
for the cup in the fall of 1855 and the Gaatea
came over anG raced for il the next wear
Tho contest for the cup that year brought N
public view the genius Of Burgess and broke
down the prejudice which had been hampering
the development OF American yachting. Inc
races Of the tenesta and Puritan began that rapid
interchange Of ideas between the two nations OF
England and America which has brought anout
the present condition of affairs and male the
terms of cutter and sloop TO lose their meaning
Of sicnifyng radically opposed types tn"
Genesta came the nearest 20 taking back IN" cup
TO England Of any boat before since which
has come over for it, Lord Dunravcn. tho
present challenger for the cup. SAYS Of rhc
Gcn,sta: "Thc Goncsta was lr,t-cas, vessel
if not tho best she was at least the srcond best
English Yacht Of her size afloat at tho time, and
she made a crcditablc iieht
In tie liaht Of the G"nc>tas performances on
the other side there seems lt'l" doubt that So"
was the best all-arounl boat of l|r ~" on 'h'
other side ~ the time. and could larli h" con
,idcrcd as representing the b'o' of British sNnI .
in Yacht designing. She was designed ~
Beaver Webb. now Of this city ~ soon as II
was settled that there was 10 h" race for th'
cup tho Ncw-York Yacht 'lub s"n' ont circnlar
70 al tho Yacht clubs Of IN" United States III
wiling them to furnish boat 60 J." entered III
fffnF,f
officer. Of th.. Xow-Yorl Yacht Club, Jane Cor lon
Bennett and William Z Douglas, gave y. Cary
Smith an order e. dc~l.n a ccnlrcholrl Nlo'P "'
ahou, the length Of tine Gcncsta. and som" gentle
man oC fine Eastern Yacht Clup formed >vnd-
eat. and ordered a cup defender from tlward
Eurcc,s The principal members Of tie Eastern
syndicate were General Charles J. Ihlne ana I
J. Malcolm Forbes
Enrrc,4 had local reputation rs yacht
designer. bat was not we'll known ou',lH" o'
Massachusetts, He had taken mp ya'ht "Hi'H-
ing - a q" fad" in the day, of hiN wealth. an
,,.ho, financial rcycr-,.. COMPELLED linn 10 work
for his daily bread be- had gone into II a Il ou-l.
moss He had boon successful III designing sinai
hoo,o and General ralnc and Mr. Forbes In -
confidence in him. \. Cary Smith was th"n' ana
:; NOT, orc of ,hc best and the bcs'known d'-
;,ors NJ tho corIntrv u man who never bNh'
had boat ana II was - th" boat designed ny
linn that most people looked rs III" yacht 10
save the cup. although there was general "ou'.
y faster sloop- could De- built than the Mi~ch'''
and Oracle This doubt, II may D" ~'i'' ne"
ever was not strong III H." nInhS oil "'"-n
formed vachtsurn who knew WHAT ""n'"''"'
strides Yacht building had mad" on the o'"''
side and had hccdci 70 th" lessons td"9h' ~
thc cutter Madgr In fact. There was 9"'n"
Marty Of the most prosr"S-lv" Yach'Nh'h WV
did not believe il posSihl" III the c"h'Il'i "
American Yachting AT that time 10 DIN"
on this sid, TO beat the English CHAMPION
pr;scilla WAS built by the Harlan u liolllhs'
worth COMPANY at Wilmington, Del. She was VI
iron and Of the following dimensions: Lehs'h
over all % feet on watcr-lin" - icr'' "'"r o.,
Goo, : inches. draueht feet inches. Inc
pnri,ar v.,. built AT Iawl"y- yard at Boston
cto was o. feet over all, 20 feet on the water
limo o3 feet beam and drew feet incica VI
.,or She WAS built OF wood and was, lh'
,bc PRISCILLA a ccntrrboard. Both hpHlN az
.tm in existence the Priscilla as IN" Scho'"''
rIra aud the Puritan under her old form "r'
name ,h1
The Gcncsta, built on the Clyde, was iauh'h''
in Nav Of 1854 She was of composite huh"' '''''
is, with a steel frame and elm ana YEA" pan"
ing She was 30 feet over ALL ~ feet OH ,"'
water line, u feet beam and - feet h'r"'N
dr,uoht She arrived in NcW-l Ork on july
16. 1851 having made ia" extremely last 'n''
for a boat Of her size across the Atlantic OF t"'nl'
four days, and doing it under a jury rig i'i
record on the other side was well known an"
vachtsmcn felt little nervous about her "h'"
-hc got her racing sparS III and went sailing ABOUT
the bay to get tuned up she displayed piIall'h''
which far from aaycd this anxiety. Every daN
she went sailing about in the Lower Bay, towing
a little pumpkin seed boat astern, and ydch''
used to out and try to get "A brush with h"r' ~
,o 10 take her measure But the Gcncsta was
wary and avoided all offers Of battle Anxious
watchers among whom was the writer, who used
to observe her daily from the heights Of Fort
Wadsworth, saw enough Of what she could no.
however, to disturb their peace of mind Inc
Genestas quickncss i'll stays one thing whl"h
especially struck that little group of yachting
critics, and the writer remembers scvera! learned
dissertations in which it sought to DC
demonstrated that this was positive disadvantage
Well, the Puritan arrived from Boston. ana
came in for good share Of criticism, and inc
Priscilla came up from Wilmington. and came IN
for good share of praise, and the oio
guard sneered at both of them and declared that
time allowance.
On August II the first Of the trial races was |
sailed, and Burgess and the Puritan burst upon !,
the yachting world. The race was in charge oil
a special committee appointed by the Ncw-l ork |
Yacht oiub, consisting Of j. Frederick lams'
philip SCHUYLER II Sfoht;pa IuIas A MOntaut |