New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-19
ICE YACHTING.
THE FLEETS THAT GO SEVENTY MILLS
AN HOUR-HOME OF THE ORANGE
tAK,1 ICE YACHT CLUB.

AN HOCR-HOME Or If1E CiNh.''~
LAKE ICE YACHT CLUB.
For those who like winter sports. the orange
Lake Ice Yacht Club has special charm' vi
tho racing OF iceboats or skating Tor Ice no.".'
mr. curling the locality offers all that couIu DC
etched One does not see all the shores or TINS
inland lake that stretches away around a wooueu
point for two miles and hair ana II i'isn' g"
tend toward the south dozen mics lot an "a
spectator at the clubhouse could tell. Inc hee'
boring woods cone down to the water Gus. VI,
bougbs Of the great trees hanging over the hhes u
,oc,rc icehoats that are drawn up at the shore'
and uhen the snow lightly covers the banhs IoohH'
.tumps and cake; OF Ice 1t rs dlihcuit ~ -" 80
snme places whethe; one ~ standing OH ilc i""' w
an terra arn,a one OF the clubhouses' the sH'.'
one stands out from the shore on niue "n"i
1tore ,berc is large to warm the iceooa'cis
and skaters after their cOursing through 'he hee'
outside air and a big kettle is smmering on the
stove where those who are stn WIN Co'u '""
brew a drop of something snort -, -,
Some of the fastest ice yachts In the "or'u lie
ranged I'D on this picturesque shore. ana Oh SUN.
~ Them a good deal Of money has been spent not
only in the matter of sails and rigging out III VI
namentation II is true that there Is Ho. ni"O,'
room for orramentation on an aHair Oh 'iis n''"'
for the boat consists only OF two long t'"'oe''
crossed and euyed with wire rigging but the cen
trail timber may be carved, gded and painted 80
as 70 give the rakish machine a smart look. for
instance the Ice King. owned by {. NJ Stepohs'
Is painted deep royal blue. and there Is sc'o'
work gliding. and the gold head OF an eagle. ",
something Is carved at the front END a soou u'
of bright paint and money can be laid out on 'he
long skates and all the boats are made TO looh
their best generally with the woods oil the nun
oiled and vanished in the same treatment as mo
received by the mast nd spars Inc Oo'u ""'
owned by the commodore; the Snow Dlllt' o"h'u
bv Vice-Commodore Wctt Kidd: the TroupleT'
owned by Robert Kernahan, and the Ice queer"
belonging 70 H. : Ramsdcll. are representative
craft These five racers are about the same SIZE
and the canvas areas Of them all are within nun
dred square feet ranging from iSi (Coid NaVe' 10
the Ice King at 53S square feet hut the ptEeS'
machine in the fleet Is the Windward another crait
owned by Commodore {. II. Higgnson. when IS
over fo1v1ve feet long and carries 72s feet OF can
vas Mr. HCginson does not conhne hiinseh 10 the
ice racing on Orange Lake. but has still another
flyer in a Hudson River club near PoughKeepSle,
called the Shadow. which carries over SIX huhuIeu
feet of sail and contests the first class with sucn
celebrated boats the Jack Frost Archipald
Roeers) the holder OF the championship pennant or
America; the Iccle John A. RoosevelO, and the
Eoreas the Flying Cloud and the Zero, all belong
ing to Irving Grinnel. of the New-Iork lacht CIup'
and also with other record boats Of that region
The boats al orange Lake are riSged as Shops
except the Graziella Oh j. Jova). when mas
atecn sail hosted between two masts joined at the
top These two spars spread out widely OH the
runner plank and are r4ked sharply forward FORM
ing a derrick. under which the long yard OF the
1ateen sail Is hosted-the arrangement looking
good deal like the rig of the small Greek fruiteis
see, among the Ionian Islands The 4iiolus owned
hx George C. Trimble is brand-new. and is built 10
the limit in the third class, carrying an even 500
feet of canvas. These ceboats all OF which can
in some directions. sail faster than the wind. may
he described roughly as being Of two spars Joined
together in the form of cross, the central timber
beng crossed by the unner-piank Stationary long
skates are bolted in place under the outer ends OF
the erpank. and at the after end or the cen
trail timber third skate which steers the craft Is
placed AT the foot of rudder-post that is worked
from above by a tiller. a small oval platform,
capable Of holding two. o. perhaps three, persons
Is perched Oh the centre timber in front of the
tler The mast is not stepped at the juncture OF
the two component tmbers but on the centre TIM
her three or four feet forward OF this, so as TO
get the centre of sail effort in the right place
There are stout vire-ropo guys running from end
to end and out on the crossbeam, to hold this kite
shaped frame in its intended shape during me
strains OF sailing ard there Is another OF sucn
guys underneath the central uInper, 10 keep IL
The present racer IS the most comfortless affar
thing has been sacrificed for speed In some locali
ties les there is possibility q jOyiality end good
wooden platform extends up from the steering
skate almost TO the runner,plank In this AFFAIR,
de2dn girls S" and as many young men, and the whole
oU1dt goes Speeding over the Ice in the joest way.
Canadians with whom the demand for speed has
not become paramount line the bottoms of their
!ceboats with buffalo robes, with thick wooen
cushions made to fit the triangular spaces. and the
passengers are warmly wrapped in sioghing robes.
In the Royal Canadian Yacht Club at Toronto
large iceboating parties are given. When the ice
ana the broozcs are good there Is no pleasanter
form Of entertainment than this but II seems to be
entirely unknown in this region. There Is not one
Yacht in the orange Lake fleet that Is adapted for
anything else than speed. The yachlsmcn have a
large clubhouse the other side of the lake, in
hch robes and all other ice boating comforts could
be stored. and which has not yet been opened this
season. The shape Of ell their boats Is the best of
evidence that they have not sought anything but
speed, and that the icebost has not yet been con,
sdered as an aid to the hospitalites 4 few, at
least of the craft on lhs lake are not adapted to
be prize-winners, ard II would be good thing for
the owners of these boats back 10 the old
despsed sde-bar rail and platform and take their
friends out in a " hClesale way.
The racing meas Irements Of fourteen Of the
Orange Lake crack boats here given. so far as
they have been ascertained by the Regatta Com
fniitoc. In this table track means the width be-
tween tho forward skates. which is practically the
beam Of the boat.