The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-16
YACHTING ON GRGVESEND BAY
SIX CLUBS PROVIDE GOOD SPORT
IN THE SEASON.

Small Boat Racing the chief Amusement
-IlptOn Trophy Has Stirred Up Interest
and Caused New Boats TO he Built
"wednesday and Saturday Regattas.
Graveeend Bay, a harbor on the eastern
side Of the lower bay Of New York harb or.
is during the summer months a haven for
yachts large and small. Five yacht clubs
have their houses on the shores Of the bay,
and these five with the Crescent Athletic
Club at Bay Ridge form the Yacht Racing
Association OF Gravesend Bay, and this
association is one of the best in the country.
Each club has two delegates TO the associa-
ton, and these delegates act purely in an
advisory capacity. but things are 80
smoothed out when they get together to
talk yachting that when the season opens
all is plain sailing, and the regattas of the
different clubs are sailed without a hitch,
and the rules, courses and starting signals
being uniform the yachtsmen have little to
worry about after once getting things clear
in their heads.
New York harbor has been the fighting
waters for yachtsmen ever since yachting
began to take a hold here, and many hard
fought races for yachts large and small
nave DbtH NllDobbcu ny llObS III "a iOhN
Of watching the white winged beauties sail
about the bay. In the early days of the
New York Yacht Club it's races we're started
from of the clubhouse, which then stood
at Hoboken, and the yachts would sail down
to turning marks in the lower bay and
sometimes go out to the l~ightship. Later
when began to crowd the Hudson
River the yachts went to the upper bay
and started usually on Owls Head, which is
Just above the handsome house Of the
! Crescent Athletic Club. The New York
Yacht Club then had a home at Stapleton,
and near by a few years later the Corin-
THAN Yacht Club also had a house. Across
the harbor was the house Of the Atlantic
Yacht Club, and near by was the home OF the
Brooklyn Yacht Club, and these four or
CARNATIONS were the leading ones at diff
ferent times in the sport.
From Owls Head some America Cup
races were started, and the racers would
sail with or against the tide through the
Narrows and down to the Hook and back.
Again the increasing traffic in the harbor
interfered with the yachtsmen and they
went outside the forts TO start and finish
their races. 1t was only a question of time,
however, when the harbor became too
crowded for the sport, and yachtsmen did
not like to race large vessels among the in
coming and outgoing steamers and the
| constant professions Of tows that go up an
! down the harbor, and the big regattas be-
cam unpopular. But few owners would
enter, and these did so chiefly through
sentiment and preferred TO do their real
racing on the Sound or off Newport.
The Corinthian Yacht Club dropped out
of the game. The Brooklyn club through
trouble in its ranks became a small boat
organization. The New York Yacht Club
abandoned the lower bay, and the Atlantic
Yacht Club moved from Bay Ridge to Sea
Gate, where it now has the handsomest
! house on the harbor.
I With the abandonment of racing for large
: yachts on the harbor the sport seemed 10
. be in a bad way, and yachtsmen who like
the lower bay tried in various ways to boom
, il without success. Some thought that the
owners of large yachts could still be at
tracted 10 the waters, but others who could
see further started in TO boom small boat
racing, with the result that it would be hard
| TO find better sport in the small boat classes
than can be found on Gravesend Bay,
One attractive feature of racing on
Ira vesend Bay is that the starting point
can be so easily reached from the city.
The Atlantic Yacht Club and Crescent
| Athletic Clubthave their own boat, which
leaves the Battery or schedule and touches
! at each house. The other clubhouses are
easily reached from the bridge or ferry to
South Brooklyn and then car, and for this
reason many who are busy in the city all
day are able to get down late in the after
noon, but early enough to go out sailing or
to take part in the races, which always
begin at 3 O'Clock.
The clubs in this association are the
Atlantic, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst Yacht
Clubs. the Marine and Field Club, the New
York Canoe Tub and the Crescent Athletic
Club. Each club sends two delegates TO
the Association and these delegates elect
the officers. DR.. j. +. De Mund OF the
Brooklyn Club is the president, b. V. r.
Speidel of the New York Canoe Ut sec
retary-treasurer and Henry j. Gielow of
the Atlantic Club is the associations meas
urer. Mr.. Gielow's duties, however, are
simply to measure yachts about which
some dispute may arise as each organiza-
: ton has its own measurer.
The Atlantic Yacht Clubs house is at
Sea Gate. II stands on what some years
ago was better known as Norton's Point
and that place did not bear the best of
regulations. Coney Island at the point,
was only a sand bank on which stood the
light that marks the channel. Some few
wears ago real estate men thought il an
ideal place for summer cottages and the
sand bank was transformed into a sea-
side park on which hondsome cottages
we're erected and the trustees of the At
lantic Gu secured a site having $40 feet
Of water front on the bay side and erected
a fine house. The club took its old home
which had stood at Bay Ridge for many
wears, and now that is an annex to the new
house. Commodores Gould, Adams. Tod
and Reid have worked hard to boom the
Atlantic Club during their terms of office
and each one has made il successful. 1t
was under Commodore Robert +. Tod,
though. that special attention was paid
TO the small yacht owners and members
began to take more interest in these classes.
Thirty %footers. p footers and later 81
footers and % footeTs were built and raced
successfully. Commodore Richard is now
the senior flag office and he has helped
ON the small boat racing this year by offer
ing several special prizes and at the same
time he has done all he could 10 ge
the big yacht owners by offering handsome
prizes for the yachts TO compete for in the
! a,,,nI ra1atta Jnbn n Rronhv is the