The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-07-09
GOSSIP OF
YACHTSMEN

| Mr.. B. r. Banning has purchased the
yawl 'Clytie' from T. w Hebron and
this little cruiser will soon be seen in
commission. This is the first time Mr..
| Banning has taken an active part in
yachting here although he has owned
boats when living in Germany AS he
| is man of ample means and leisure
| it will probably lead up to a large
yacht in the near future.
Mr.. Scott, at Waikiki is building a
boat about the size of La Paloma and
intends to adopt the yawl rig. This
Will make four yawIs in Hawaiian
waters.
Tom Hebron has recently convert
ed his single-sticker GLADYS" into a
yawl. Inasmuch as Hebron is prob
ably the most experienced yachtsmen
in the islands. it is a matter of some
interest to know why he has done so
and accordingly an interview was
sought and obtained. In answer to a
question as to why he changed to a
ya,wl rig he said:
She was changed from sloop to yawl
rig to reduce to a minimum ease of
handling at sea and also the insurance
Of further safety in case of breakdown
or disa bling-carrying away spars or
sails. The yawl rig is unquestionably
the best cruising rig for small boats
However, our English yachtsmen favor
it for both large and small yachts,
some of their yawls are $50 tons, which
would be about the size of the schoon-
er Ka Moi. In the recent Atlantic race
for the German Emperor's Cup, one OF
the yachts was yawl rugged and she
gave good account of herself at sea.
Half the small cruising yachts being
built in the East today are yawl rig
ged, showing that yachtsmen ,are
adopting it,
In answer to the question as to
whether it would reduce her speed he
said:
Probably it would a little, because
the more you subdivide the sails of a
vessel the less speed. Still. in a rough
and tumble race to Lahaina or around
Oahu she would probably not be far
behind her old records. In our off
shore racing sail is often carried on
one masted yacht when she would
make better speed if reefed as the boat
is buried too much. In a race a skip
per hates to stop and reef and takes
the chances and Tugs sail In
sloop rig you practically lose control
of the yacht while reefing and in heavy
weather this is dangerous. 1t is at
such times that the yawl rig makes
converts. 1t admits of reef1ng the
mainsail while the yacht is going on
her course under jib and mizzen. You
retain perfect control of the yacht.
Should anything happen to the jib, she
can be handled under the mainsail
alone. This also applies to loss of miz-
zen. In case the mainsail is carried
away she can be sailed under the jib
and mizzen So you can see the adj
vantages in case of damage to sails.
There are some who will argue against
the rig because it isn't pretty This
word pretty does not carry much
weight with a cruising yachtsman but
does with the rocking chair yachts
man who never ventures off shore, es-
pecially on dark nights when our trade
winds are working overtime.
1.-THE real pleasure of yachting Is
cruising and this is the backbone OF
the sport nearly everywhere Yacht
racing constitutes but a small part or
the sport here where we have only
few boats. In a very short time the
speed of the boats is known and
race becomes a foreign conclusion that
certain boats are going to win. barring
accidents The only way slow boats
can hope to ever win is handicapplng
the speedy ones. The public and con-
testants take but little interest in such
events and it is only where boats are
of equal speed that enthusiasm runs
high. Suppose our rowing races were
handicapped events; suppose athletic
contests, horse racing, etc. were all
handicapped I think the general inter-
est would certainly wane.
st think there will be quite fleet OF
cruising yachts here in few years
as a number of yachtsmen are thinking
of getting yachts and devoting more
time to cruising about our islands. Inc
yawl and schooner rigs will be In evil
dence. too"