The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-01

fine sand, and that this rendered her inn
perviouS TO any kind of marine insect In
southern waters she needed no copper
sheathing, and the gimlet-pointed worms
that attacked her found the edge quickly
taken off their boring apparatus.
About 40 men are on board the Vigilant
in a race The crew numbers about 80.
1t may be remarked that the great major
ity Of these are not Americans, and that
some of them cannot speak the English
language. The crew are mostly Swedes
and Norwegians. The Valkyrie, on the
contrary has a crew of Englishmen. A
crew of ten or twelve men could handle
the Nigilant under ordinary conditions,
but 40 men are needed in a race, not only
for pulling and hauling but to act as bal
last. In the latter capacity they simply
sit up to windward with their legs stuck
out over the edge as far as is compatible
with safety.
OF the crew number have special
duties assigned to them. One of them
constantly sits up aloft like the little
cherub that looks out for the life of poor
Jack. It is his duty not so much to see
that the coast is clear as to watch for
currents and "slants" of wind. A yacht
has more than once won a race by going
a mile or more ont of her course to slant
of wind that was seen on the water. 1t
makes no difference from what direction
the wind blows so long as it blows. A
favorable current also will help a yacht
wonderfully. For this reason the Eng
lish yachts that have contested for the
Americas Cup have always had on board
a navigator thrnughly familiar with these
waters.
While Swedes and Norwegians make
the best crew for a racing yacht, Ameri-
Cons are tittest for command. The
captains and sailing masters of the sue
cessful cup defenders of past years have
been Americans who began life as fisher
men. Hank Half was a bayman from
the Great South bay, where he sailed
cat-boats and caught fish like those who
resisted the occupation of Fire Island by
the state.
The man who commands snch a yacht
in a race is the sailing master, He steers
the boat and issues the orders. The or
ders most frequently heard in a race and
which have rung out many times on
board the Vigilant, are 'ready about -
hard alec, " and draw away These
are the orders when lacking, The order
'let go and haul' is never heard aboard
one Of these yachts. 1t belongs TO sail
ing vessels and has been supplanted on
yachts by the simpler "draw away" All
is silence during race, save for the roar
of the rushing waters and whistling of
the wind through the rigging. The sail
ors' ears are trained, however. 1t is not
necessary for the commander to roar out
his orders in stentorian tones, nor to use
the funnel-shaped speaking trumpet
much affected by traditional pirates and
by iremen. The sailing master speaks
in clear and distinct tones which are
heard all over the boat and the sailors
jump to obey,
In going about only those who have
been assigned to the work of the jib sheets
NEEDLE with them. Those having the
great mainsheet in charge keet their ears
open for the order 'mainsheet," and then
there is a united pull to get the mainsail
in few inches further. Others attend
exclusively TO the centerboard, others
look after sails like the spinnakers and
the balloon jib topsail, which are kept
below while the yachts are beating to
wlndward, others stand by" the peak
and throat halyards in the case of an
emergency, and there is man whose
duty it is to watch the other yachts. The
Volunteer had on board in the interna-
tiOnal races a big sign on which was
printed, keep back" and this was held
aloft by two men at the stern when
tugs or excursion steamers came too near
One yacht generally has a representative
upon her rival during the international
races.
The sailors wear soft shoes, many Of
them with rubber soles, and are dressed
in white. A life line is stretched around
the gunwale during the race, for all to
hang on to in case of necessity. If a man
is swept overheard life-buoy is thrown
to him, and the yacht keeps on her way
The idea of stopping to pick up man
overheard would not be entertained for an
instant.
A collision between two of these yachts
going at full speed would be worse than
the collision between the Camperdown
and Victoria. The yacht that was struck
would be cut clean in two, and the lead
on their bottoms would make them both
go down like a shot They have no water
tight compartments The Vigilant car
ries sixty tons of lead on her keel, and at
the present market price of lead this is
worth a very large sum Of money. 1t is
intrinsically the most valuable thing
about the boat.
During q race all the men lie down on
deck so as to offer as little resistance to
the wind as possible. For the same rea-
son none of the yachts carry boat, either
towing behind or at the daVits, and there
is an almost entire absence of flags, which
offer a resistance 10 the WIND common
surate with their pull upon hallyard.
The only flag carried is little pennant at
the masthead to show what way the wind
is blowing, and occasionally a diminutive
ensign or private signal at the peak. I'm
mediately under the sailing master is a
mate and cOxswain, who handle the crew
and sails. Capt. Terry, of the Grayling,
has been on board the Vigiant during
the trial races looking after the sails, and
her sailing master has been Capt. Hanson.
The Vigilant steers with a wheel, but the
Thistle, which was almost as big, steered
with a tiller, which some expert yachts
men prefer The fastest yachting has
been made before the wind, and is be-
tween thirteen and fourteen knots per
hour The fastest time Of steamer is
between twenty-five and twenty-three
knots.
There is a popular delusion that these
big sloops carry one or more silk sails
The Thistle had a spinnaker which was
partly silk but none Of the yachts of this
year have a sail Of that material The
spinnaker and balloon jib-topsail Of the
Nigilant are of Irish linen, which from
its nbleached color makes them look
like silk The whole spread Of the Vigil
liant is larger than City Hall Park. With
all their canvas the Vigilant and Valky-
RE would about cover Union Square. The
Vigilaut has a hollow boom Her peak
halyard blocks are as big as mans head
and the masthead is larger than mans
body while the mast itself is as thick as
a barrel Of -four and bigger than that Of
any ship in New York harbOr. IL is as