New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-06-29
BOOKS ON YACHTING.
PRACTICAL CHAPTERS BY HIGH AU-
THORITTES

volumes are men who have made STUDY Vi '"e
snort both for pleasure and proht Inc "
,nost distinguished In modern yachths anu go
assigning appear the title pages OF 'heSr w.
tooks as the authors OF the papers ihciuueu' NJ
The publication is not perfect for wise
=, -, alwavs apparent in the size and number oi
,he various articles yet 1t is propaoiy f,oIe "'as
.or,ect than anything Of It's KIND here'oio'e pO
duced. ,,,,sh work the
,,ou,ledsn,ent of the influence or American
yachting. and Of the fact that us eoou 800
80 recoqnized by the more intelligent OF pii's'
,,ocbts,nen The one exception wh'ch "''s"
made Is the article by Sir George I'e"o", ,.
Amer1ca's Gun races OF last year. One VIM ma
.o,hine about those races would. after read'ns 81
, ,,o,o have remaining in his nina the
49,. ,bo+ tho Valkyrie was remarkable anu Ne''
.,,, hoa, The fact that she was Dea'eh "S '
yirilant would take its place IN an opsO" 49,
NJ his memory as something reaiiE nov - w
lance Englishmen. II must be conesse'' Wv o..
-o,,s lose gracefully The Introduction 70 'he .'S'
roluroe Is by Sir Edward Sullivan anu Is pa w,
lerlv interesting. Sir Edward says one INNS 49,
=, a., % he honed will be deeply pondered oy '"oSe
,.oxner,enced vachtsmen who. In the COSBY 'o''
~ the club are in courageous tones "o''' ~
.Tf there is anything ! Ike, II Is Sum q" -
Give me a gale and heavy sea. 'n'''" Coy
S,r Edward. there are very 10" u u ~
81, do not suffer from that hopeless anecNoh' NV
"; -, roer do not more or less enjoy lie on 'he
ooaar wave 1t is so fresh and life giving anu -
various "A home the stormy deep We W."
say so much about nave seen wv ,-,
storms at sea, but have never louHu '''N - 10
very much the contrary. There Is s''
o,, IKE but there is also terror ana horror
- Ih,son saws the pleasure Of going 20 sea
=, et,,rg ashore again Certainly the pressure u
. storm is getting into smooth water again t =,
,s another bit of wisdom by Sir Ed"a'u' VIM n
ns,sc,allv commended TO the cons'ueia "a
II.
oacu,aritv of all the seafaring class 'i"'
p. ho,obt into contact with is their entire iIee-
a., from 1ulgarity. To say that 'here - o
vulparity In yachting is not true theie - ~
e not among the men or among "'e oe
"a of,er all the vulgarity one sometimes SeeS
among the yacht owners does no' 20 '0' '
I, amuses them and hurts nopou!' +,
ca, t,award Is eminentIy fair and even generous Ill
49,, reference 10 American yachting ana American
yachts ut would appear, ne say -
Americans are still slightly ahead OF us III u''e
,nr yachts for speed but they are not heaiiy q" -s
ahead of as they were for'y EeaIS aeO ,ar,orced
% saw this most accomplished anu EMP
h,snar does not advocate international rac'hS.
Ha saws: II do not believe much IN ih'erha ''o.''
contests Of any kind. gravey douo''ns NJ,
they do much 10 promote internatio"a' an;
Ctr Edward loses sight of the fact that even " III
ternational amity is not promoted U! ii'ei -
contests (Which proposition he is nearly alo'ie
49, .,or,sr,an of the first rank in maintaining.
-, svcb contests must nevertheless promote III
ternational rivalry. which Of necessity VIII Hpu-
each nation 20 greater achievement anu oe ~ -
.., odyartaqe Without international racing
yachting would never have advanced 10 'ne pom.
,ho, II has now reached, both In England ana
.,o Tb,s advancement In these two maritime
.,r,os &c now having an influence all over 'he
,,ru,zad world and the victories ana uelea.s y.
british and American vessels on Co"es anu 0'-
sandy Hook have given an impetus to yach'ns
and awakened the maritime spirit "mch was
browsing among the nations on the sho'e' - ''
Mediterranean and Of the Baltic
rha sacond chapter in the first volume Is by Lord
r,rassev and he takes for his subject ocean Crus
ing" All those who have read-aho every one ~
loves Yachting and the sea has read or sHouiu
the "Cruse Of the Sunbeam written by tne
erst LADY Brassey, will turn 10 this article win
oor,,or interest The chapter devoted 10 the f'No-
iu,,on of the Modern Racing Yacht Is Dy u H.
Watson and certainly ne should Kho" MS SuO'eO
~ any one does 1t is thorough exposition a. '
os the space occupied permits. He gives lali anu
mn credit TO other British designers. ana acN'o"i-
.dgas the influence of American yachting upon the
s,or, IN foreign waters. The chapter "ouiu De
more Justly entitled. however, Ihe hNoiu'o" ~
the Modern British Racing Yacht LOT WINE ''
Watson apparently considers both sldes Oh 'ne
ooaan In his record of achievement ana progress III
yacht building he naturally looks upon II WIN
pr,t,sh ewes and the wonderful things IN naval
rch,,ecture the sudden leaps in the progress OF
yacht building which almost seem ike ihspra'o"'
which have been flashed from time 10 time across
the American yachting seas, he has not hearu ol
or aoas not fully appreciate. The progress OF the
evolution Of the modern racing yacht !" H'ea'
rr,a,n has heen a long slow. steady growth IL
has been a progress which seldom was at iaui' anu
. never failed In America that same progress 1"'
.heen marked by periods Of apathy and stagnation'
alternating with startling episodes OF hNeh''on.
The chap,er on sliding Keels and Centreboards'
NV r r. Pritchett. is Of special interest 10 AHeri-
cans Mr. Pritchett very truly says that centre
boards are essentially American in their genera
adoption Their origin Was the natural outcome OF
. the shallow coasts and sandbanKs OF New ioi"
Raw and the New-Jersey coast where WIZ Io"lS
Aock and the fowler finds happy hunting ground.
II is worth while TO note. however. mat the HISe
'naon,e to try the centreboard on an extensive
ecale were the English. In INA Lord Percy then
stationed with the British Army In Boston, had
an American centreboard yacht butt ana sent over
10 England a diagram Of this yacht is sun IN OK
istence and is given in Mr.. Pritchetts article The
English Immediately began to experiment with the
centreboards. in 1898 built man-of-war caHeo the
Iadv Nelson a ship Of sixty tons, which went on
q VOYAGE Of discovery in the South Paclnc ana was
the first vessel TO discover that Tasmania was an
island Various other experiments were mace WIN
centreboards in England, some OF the boats DuiI'
having as many as five centreboards. The EngHsh
mover seemed TO quite catch the hang or the
centreboard and, as Mr. Prltchett says. 'the bat
tie of the keel and centreboard Will doubtless be
continued" Other chapters in the first volume are
devoted 10 "Recolections OF Schooner Racing
1.-The Racing Rules and the Rules OF Rating
Yachts" Sailing Boats and Small Yachting on
the solent" Fitting Out Fify-tonner 10 20 For
eign" Baltic Cruiser" "Five-tonners and Five
raters in the North" and Yacht Insurance
The contributors TO the second volume are r. T.
Pritchett the Marquis Of Dufrerin and Ava. James
McFeran, the Rev. G.. l.. Blake. T. b. Middleton
o.
nher Davies Louis Herreshoff the Earl Of Onslow,
IL Horn and Sir George Leach. The subjects with
which they deal Royal Yachts and English
Yacht Clubs" Scottish Clubs" Irish Clubs
.The Thames Clubs and Wndermere." Yachting
on the Norfolk Breads" Yachting In America
nd al