New-York tribune., 1902-12-14

l rer1gged her as q jib and mafusail and sha WA
| considered a smart boat in her time When her
| o"her seiec'ed the crew for her he put Weber
III as SKIPPER AT that time the Neptune House
| an remain Road was resort for wealthy New
forkers, several Of whom owned boats and took
| an active interest in yachting. The Yachting
| contingent at the hotel used to offer prizes for
| races. which We're sailed on SATURDAYS Some
| Tunes the prize would take the form of q sub
stantlal purse. The course was USUALLY from
NeW-Rocheile down TO Fort Schuyler four miles
| to windward and back The Mary Emma
| sailed in nearly all Of these races. and won
| many of them, but occasionally she was beaten
| by the Pluck and Luck, which was owned by
! Jake" Smith, then famous yachtsman Of
Staten Island
sn4h arterward built the Dare Devil D.
ioot Jio and mainsail boat which soon proved
TO be a crack yacht Of her class along the Sound
Inc Dare Devil showed her heels so often to the
Mary Emma that Mr.. Isen and his brother
columbus O'Donnell. bought her from Smith
ana formed racing syndicate which was to
sweep everything off the Sound. They chose as
thelr captain Tom" Odell, who was known as
one or the most thorough old seadogs Of New
Rochelle Several weeks were spent in tuning
the Dare Devil up and drilling the crew Mr.
lseiins brother. Columbus, was with him rre-
quently aboard the boat. but c. Oliver did the
NN~Aii4S' III ldCl, IL was a rule recognized Dy
every one that nobody else was to say word
While Mr.. Iselin had the tiIler.
There was at that time speedy boat in New
Rochelle owned by Walter F. Davids. the seal
ing wax manufacturer. Mr. Davids thought so
well of his boat that he gave her his own name
the Walter F. Davids.
The Dare Devil had several brushes with the
Walter F. Davids, in which the honors- were
about even The rivalry between these boats
finally became great that a series of races
was agreed on by the owners in order 10 decide
which was the speedier. The boats were
backed at $500 side and on the days that the
races were sailed the interest was so intense
that hundreds of yachtsmen came from the
places along the Sound to witness them. The
course was from Echo Bay TO Hog Island buoy,
ten miles TO the windward and return The
shores of Echo Bay, which was the starting
point, filled with people when the two
boats crossed the line. Mr. Iselin put on every
inch OF sail that his boat would carry without
capsizing, and was we'll ahead in the race On
the beat homeward the wind died out and in
order to win the he ordered his crew to
throw the sandbags over. When this failed to
Tighten the boat sufficiently he had them rip out
the flooring from the bottom of the yacht and
throw it into the Sound. There was great cheer
ing at Hudson Park when the Dare Devil
crossed the finish line few lengths ahead OF
the Walter F. Davids Captain Ira Smith.
old Fulton-st- pilot, sailed the Walter F. Davids
in the first He thought that he knew
everything about sailing, but when he the
Iselin crew rip out the flooring and throw 1t
overheard he admitted that Mr.. Iselin had
taught him a trick The Dare Devil lost
the second race owing TO an accident. She
fairly skipping the water, when she
snapped her bowsprit and had TO put in to shore.
Mr.. Iselin only about twenty-one years
old when he beat the Walter F. Davids. but his
friends from that day hailed him the smartest
yachtsman Long Island Sound The Dare
Devil continued sail for several seasons in
the races on the Sound and on the Hudson She
went as far south the Jersey coast, where she
beat of the crack boats there. She had q
crew of ten, and with them racing meant hard
work. In the big races the Dare Devil always
carried from sixty to eighty sandbags, and II the
wind died down the men had to work like beav-
throwing them over the sides. Many thrill