The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-20
THE GREAT YACHTING RACE.
Continued from Page III

take in these sheets, thereby giving the
sails more or less wind. The speed of the
yacht is dependent very largely upon the
eXactnesS with which the mainsail is
managed. If the wind is behind the boat
the sheets will, of course, be eased out I'M
til the mainsail stands at a wide angle
with the length of the boat, thereby ex-
posing as much surface as possible. In
sailing into the wind or by the wind"
as the old seamen say, the sheets are
drawn in very close; in other words, the
yacht is "close-hauled," so that the main
sail stands almost parallel with the length
of the boat. The skipper must keep his
eyes wide open and never allow his hand
to leave the sheets for a moment if he
would get the best speed from his boat
and prevent being capsized by sudden
squalls. The maiusail is assisted by
number of smaller sails before the mast.
These are attached to various ropes con-
Meeting with the tip end of the bowsprit
rope which connects the bowsprit with
the top of the topmast
Q0 is called the topmast stay,
and holds the topmast from being pulled
backward, just as the topmast backstay
(2O holds it from being driven forward.
The line which reaches from the top of
the mainmast to the stem of the boat %
mainmast from falling backward. The
sail OBJ is called the foresaiL The sail
(CO the jib, and tne sail (E) the jib top
sail. They are all held in by ropes which
can be easily extended or shortened so
as to draw more or less wind. One OF
the most picturesque of the sails is not
shown in the diagram because 1t is used
only under certain favoring conditions.
This sail, the balloon jib is an enormous
sail made of very light cloth-in the Co
lumbia of silk-and it is larger than either
the mainsail or the spinnaker It is at
tached at the very front of the boat and
it is supposed to gather up all the wind
that there is. 1t is usually used when
the winds are very light. The correct
method of using a balloon jlb is a very
important feature of the yachtsmans
work, and it may play an exceedingly i'm
pOrtant part in the coming race. The
little flag at the top OF the topmast (2O
is called the burgee. and that which flies
from the tip of the gait is called the pen
nant In case of heavy winds it is found
necessary sometimes to reef the sails
This is done by means of the little strings
which are seen hanging in rows along the
lower part of the mainsail. The canvas
IS pulled down to the boom and tied with
these strings, so that less surface will be
exposed to the wind. Reef1ng is only done
in case of a very heavy storm or squalls.
With these few definitions the ordinary
reader will be able to understand the pub
hshed account of a yachting race, or, If
the diagram is taken to the seashore 1t
Will help the visitor to pick out the sloop-
rugged vessels and to distinguish clearly
the various sails and spars, thereby add
ing very greatly to the pleasure of watch
ing a vessel under sail.
The Mother of All the Herreshoffs.
Across the street from the Herreshoff
shipyards in Bristol, where the Defender
and the Columbia were built, there stands
an old country house with a generous New
England "stoop." In front of it there is
a row of magnificent trees, and it looks out
upon the Bay of Bristol Sometimes in
pleasant weather a little old woman in
black comes out and sits for a while with
one of her daughters and watches the
stately yachts come up the harbor from
Newport and Fall River She is the
mother of all the Herreshoffs. Last Feb
ruary she celebrated her seth birthday, and
she was yet hale enough to take pride in
the Columbia, as she was building in the
shops. She is a descenandt of the famous
family of Lewises of Boston, merchants
and shipmen, and she brings to the pres
ent branch of the family much of its skill
as ship designers and builders.
Her husband Charles Frederick HERES
hof, died thirteen years ago, leaving
-
two of whom, James B. and Nat G.. are
the organizers of the famous shipbuilding
company. Never was there a family more
positively touched with genius. John B.
Herreshoff, the president of the company,
who has been blind now for more than
forty years, developed in his early boy
hood a genius for invention. Some of the
older residents of Bristol tell to-day
about the wonderful Herreshof churn.
which converted the milk on the
Herreshotf farm at Providence
Island into butter. 1t was the invention
of John B. Capt. Nat" as he is called
in Bristol, built boats from the time he
was a mere boy. AT one time he con-
structed catamaran with which he cruis-
ed up and down the harbor 1t was an
odd-lookng, wide craft, with abnormally
large sails. and when he first appeared
ne was the butt of much gOod-natured
raillery. Forthwith he began TO issue
challenges to race and much to the as
constituent of everybody, he won all the
races. And finally, to show what he could
do, he sailed down the harbor from New
port, watched for one of the big sound
steamers bound up from New York, and
veering into line, beat the steamer into
Providence.
Another of the blind Herreshoffs, Lewis
is an expert swimmer, as we'll as some,
thing of a literary man. / saw him nor
many uayo HSO HduihS Out lhtO the Day
with a flock of little girls. Two of them
held to his shoulders and he swan out
to a float anchored twenty yards away
and there he taught them to dive Still
another of the blind brothers has become
an accomplished musician, and gives les
sons in Providence. Two others are ex-
perimental chemists, and one lives on the
old homestead of the family on the quaint
named Papasquash point, across the har-
Dor from Bristol.
Robert Stephenson & Co, Newcastle
the most famous of engineering firms. has
just been turned into a limited liability