Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-09

the excitement attending a sail in a fast
ice boat on breezy day. To thoroughly
appreciate it, one must see the fun, or else
take a ride. 1t will not be your last ride,
unless the boat takes a notion to upset,
when you may find yourself sliding over the
ice on your back and going at two-mnute
clip toward a crowd of amused spectators.
In Full Swing.
The ice yachting season on the North
Shrewsbury river at this place will soon be
in full swing. The recent zero weather
coated the river with a nice sheet of ice,
and the ice boatmen commenced to be
active The boats which have been stored
away in boat houses since last winter had
to be taken out in sections and put to-
gether New bolts had to replace those
which had been strained by last season s
racing; new ropes for the rigging had to be
secured; the runners had to be carefully
smoothed down and sharpened to edges
like raZors and there was a lot of other
detail work to be accomplished to get the
boats in trim for the winters sport.
All this means work, and plenty of 1t at
that, but what does a North Shrewsbury
ice yachtsman care about work when there
is a prospect ahead Of a long spell of boat
ing?
Many New Boats.
This winter a number of new yachts will
make their appearance. Most Of these are
the smaller yachts Of the third class. Only
one of the new boats Is listed In the second
class 1t has been found by experience
that there is more genuine fun in owning a
third-class yacht than there Is In owning
one that Is in the second or first class. OF
course, q yacht in either of the larger
classes Is more speedy, and 1t Is more
costly, too. But one great advantage the
third-class yacht possesses over Its larger
sister is that 1t does not require such thick
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are many times during the season, after a
thaw, when the first and seeond-class yacht
owners are forced to take their boats of
the ice. while the little fellows can remain
there all right with no fear Of sinking
through to the bottom Of the river. The
owner Of a third-class boat thus has at
least two or three weeks more boating than
those who own the larger yachts. Then,
too, the smaller boats are easier to handle,
especially II the wind be blowing gale. A
third-class boat Is able to carry all sail.
while a larger boat may have to carry a
single or double reef. It must not be under
stood that there is no speed in a thira-class
ice yacht. One of these little fellows sailed
q twelve-mile race on the river here two
winters ago In a trifie over fifteen minutes,
which Is pretty fast travelling for even one
of the big cracks of the first class.
The first race usually decided by the
North Shrewsbury club Is that for the
prizes donated by Commodore Samuel w.
Morford. All classes of yachts are priv
ileged to enter this contest, and prizes are
given in every class. The prizes are mostly
silverware, and as the commodore Is an
enthusiastic yachtsman and a particular
lover of ice yachting, the trophies are very
valuable and there is big strife for them.
Race for the Championship.
After the Commodore's race will come the
race for the championship pennant Of the
North and South Shrewsbury rivers. For
mauy seasons this contest has been one Of
the most important features Of the ice
yachting season in this section. There has
been sharp rivalry between the North
Shrewsbury club and the clubs of the South
Shrewsbury. What rendered the contests
more interesting was the fact that the
winning yacht would alternate season after
season, that Is. one year the pennant would
be carried OF by North Shrewsbury
would be won by a South Shrewsbury