New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-03
YACHTING SEASONS END.
REVIEW OF THE YEARS CONTESTS-A
TALK WITH AN OLD-TIMER.

were sounded from the battlements WINE sae"-
butts psalteries and three-stringed Instruments s'e
forth glad note Newspaper trouoadours sahs ..
the glories that were to come, and great ueai VI
Wind was assed vibrating substances 10 SCUM"
the chords that tell OF excited and joyful anticpa-
tions But when the time for the passing OF TINS
season had come there was different story. Inc
interest In It had gradually leaked away.
There's only one thing to explain it, said an
old man who was one of the pioneers of the At
Iautic Yach: Club. I'm my time we used TO run
our boats out and race them for all they were
worth even II their chance OF winning was pretty
slim. We had lot Of real sport. and we werch
syerlastngly thinking Of how we could ADD 10 our
row Of cups II slow boat did pretty well she got
credit for II In the club talk. and II by huke she
won. II was the club joke for days. That was the
time when sport and the real love for sport eN-
listed But there isn't anything like that no"
Yacht racing must be the almost certain capture OF
an expensive mug. or else you dom get an! !"'i'
racing Our regattas are failures because no one
can bear to be licked. As soon as man mas 'hal
his boat is not likely to win in her class she drops
out Of sight forever. and completely as II she
had been sunk. The Joke OF the thing Is gone.
The fun OF doing your best with slower boat on
the chance of making humorous win Is gone II
- as dead mutton. All Is as serious now as
Wall Street DEAL or any other chase TOT puinO'.
And II II is not the actual love of sver-plate ana
the parading of 1t, then pride controls the "lo'e
thing. There men who have 80 many cups 'Iid'
they surely cannot care muca about the trophies
themselves and IN these few cases the piiue vi
winning and the loathing Ct defeat take iui'
charge. Tho expensive reGattas OF the pcst !"c"'
clubs In the country can go 10 the wall ana prove
fat failures when these men have found thai theH
boats are not likely to win And when TINS Is 'ile
case. would they help any club by entering 'hV''
yachts to make good show? 40. sir; not one OF
them--not even If they have already taken from a
dozen to twenty costly trophies from the same c!no
They must the bullion. OF at least the victory
hanging out in front Of them, or else Wild horses
could not bulge them Sometimes an owner thinks
he has sur enough thing In a certain Kind OF
wind, and his boat then Is seen near the starting
line but II the right weather conditions 90 not APP
pear something often happens unexpectedly on mat
yacht at the last moment and she does not cross
into the race. An elaborate explanation Is given
which finds It's way 10 the public but the fact is
that there was no intention 10 start unless certain
conditions promised win The speculation OF
yacht racing. dgnifed by the misnomer sport Is
70 unredeemably selfish that L. for one find myself
unable to recognize In 1t the generous old pastiine
that did good in the earlier days Indeed fnd
yachtsmen growing meaner in their faces instead OF
more generous-looking as the years 80 by
SOME FINE CONTESTS
Whatever flaws this general indictment may con-
tain 1t certainly holds sufficient number OF truths
to warrant Its being made known. These are the
facts that have been more or less discussed by
every person who has attended the regatias OF 1897,
especially those Of the ktter part of the season
But there was, nevertheless, large amount OF
skilful handling and close contrasting TO he wit
messed that was both admirable and exciting
So far yacht-racing. pure and simple Is con-
csrned, the best interests of the sport centred TINS
year in the smaller classes Of boats. The duty OF
tho seawanhaka C orinthian Yacht Club to win back
the challenge trophy that went TO Canada III the
previous year naturally lent opening TO any one
70 distinguish himself by building twen!y-ioo'er
which might he chosen in The trial races W Voi'-
duct the attack at Montreal These boats did not
all appear here at one time. Throughout me carr!
mart of the season they made their debut one ny
one and the way each tended TO increase punhc
interest in it's class peculiar because III
n,irnber Of each new arrivaf SUCCEEDED III nc
featinr all those which were then on the course
First the Keneu. bull; by Huntington Tor MONT
eomery Clark. appeared. and seemed aoe 10 ue
feat last years products Of the same class the
Eos and the Boge; also the Dad. smaller grant
~ this wear Then came The ASHORE. built Tor
p. T. Dodge supposed improvement Oh ms
former Eos and by the same builder Al inc "rS'
important at Oyster Bay on May - THESE
three boats met the Shark. built for Commodore
Henry c. Rouse and her skipper. young sherman
Hoyt who sailed her exceedingly well all through
che wear In this race and in subsequent ones the
Shark although not here finishing first, showed
herself TO be the best Of the quartet Later on me
Skate built for Irving Cox. trippod out 10 the
Iarchmont race OF June 10 completely distanced
her rivals
For time the Skae's races were 80 easy for
her that they were Ike valkovers. and many
people thought she sure 10 he selected. until
she hit up against another newcomer, designed by
Clinton Crane, called the Al Anka. In day OF
smoking hot squalls out OF the northwest the Al
Anka got the Skate where the sail was short. and
made & monkey OF her. This was in the Cor
1nthian Fleets regatta Of June 70. All therefore
crowned the AL Anka till the Mono. by the same
designer appeared and won. Again, al Larc!-
mont on July s. the Mono went fastest over the
course though she started five minutes late. end
did not take the first prize. Al this the Mon
tauk appeared but both she and the Ashore. by
the same builder. were failures from beginning TO
end-aways pretty boats like the Riverside but
never good enough for their company.
The first day Of the trial races at Oyster Bay
was the most exciting ever known in those waters.
Every boat got badly pummelled in the sea. and
all sailed on the edge of capsize. The big and
powerful Skate turned upside -down. the Al
Anka capsized two three times, the Shark filled
10 her decks. others were drowned out and the
Mono took win by the skin OF her teeth, MOTH
ing except the most gymnastc handling saving her
from capsize. The boats entered for these races
were the Keneu. the Montauk. the Shark the
Skate, the Al Anka. the Pioneer Odd not starO.
the Ashore, the Arauca, a monstrosity. built as
thin as a bandbox. that drowned herself in her
first race the Mary. from Indianapolis; the Va
gary barclay Ward, and the Idea belonging to
W. II. Jennings
How the Mono chosen and how she got de-
feated by Glencairn II at Montreal are now mat
tsrs Of history. Both these boats were In effect
repetitions writ large. IF their predecessors. The
elm, iow-lying Mono was practically an enlarged
Ell Heirie, while the second Gencairn was in effect
a larger edition Of the first one. 1t was another
case In which the merits and disabilities Of the
previous years nfteen-footers were merely carried