The Washington herald., 1908-01-12

the Shrewsbury River in New Jersey are
other fiourishing fee yacht clubs. The
most prominent is the North Shrewsbury
Ice Yacht Club. with over thirty yachts
enrolled. Notable among these is the
three-times pennant winner George, the
huge Scud and the big Rocket
In Canada ice yachting is stu more
popular, although not INDUCED in on
such elaborate scale as on the Hudson
The foremost club is the Kingston, Ont,
with a membership Of seyenty-six. and a
feet Of thirty ice yachts The International
Walker Cup and the Calvin Macnee Tro-
ply are the coveted emblems Of Canada
Among the noted Canadian flyers are the
WhistleWing, Blizzard, Breeze, Jack
Frost, and Pastime Lake Ontario has
numerous clubs on the NV York as
well as on the Canadian shore, on the
Bay Of Quinty and on the st. Lawrence
River. The Cape Vincent N. " club in
this vicinity boasts of d feet Of forty
FIVE yachts and a membership Of over
one hundred names. The yachts average
from 2I5 TO 500 feet of sail area
HHBEA III
In the provinces of Canada the sport
is followed with zest. From the zone Of
Canada working through the States is
a long land stretch diversified by many
lakes and bays, only TO be seen, on a
large map. where ice yachting is most
popular. At Rochester, n. Y, Is a club
kno@n as the Irondequoit Association.
On Lake st. Clair. OF Michigan. is a large
fleet of swift ice boats, and much racing
goes on. Lake Minnetonka. near Min
for ice yachting In the West This great
boom of ice yachting in the far West is
due 10 the father of ice yachting. Com
modore Theodore Wemore. Of Mime
ap0lis. Mr.. Wetmore was brought up on
the Hudson River, and moved 90 Mime
apolis. Tie saw the possibilities Of Lake
Minnetonka for ice yachting. To him it
was a promising field Quickly two boats
were dispatched from the Hudson. the
Reindeer and St. Nicholas, and the craze
spread TO Lake Pepin and White Bear
Lake.
is still room Ia ice yachting for the dar-
ing which adds zest 70 this, as 10 all
sports. The only real danger on an ice
yacht is in jumping a wide crack, or air
hole. The yacht must be run at right
angles to the fissuTe at the rate of a mile
minute. AS the fore runners strike the
protruding and slightly raised edge OF the
crack. the boat rises bodily from the ice
and flies through the air for a distance
Of from thirty TO forty feet, then strikes
again, and speeds on. Imagine a smooth
field Of ice stretching for miles. and at
its farther edge 4 tremendous crack The
yacht is tearing and sWishing along un-
der half a gale al the rate Of a mile a
minute. The air seems 10 be full OF elec-
rTic sparks: a frosty mist dances before
the eyes Of the yacht occupants They
have hardly time to think before the
crack seems 20 rush upon them, A mo-
ment Of intense aaxiety-the occupants
catch their breath. their hearts pump
wildly, a smothered exclamation Of joy,
and they are flying through the air. The
good boat has cleared the gap as a hunter
tops a fence. and with a rap full the
yacht is again tearing along at seemingly
redOubled speed.
First lee Boat.
The first ice boat in this country was
built by oliver Booth, Of Poughkeepsie.
y. Y, in 1870. and its crude runners are
still in a state Of good preservation. This
boat was simply a rough box on runners.
propelled by a small spritsail In 1853
Nathan 3. Cook. Of Red Bank. y. J..
mounted a artol.fre clyfeF 90 ,-.------
Three years later Nj. Affair, Of the same
town designed a triangular frame. Grad
ually the sport spread up the Hudson
River and extended TO all towns. from
Newburgh to Albany; but the ice yachts
were Of the lumber-bOz order-hard riding.
and difficult 70 control, often throwing
out their helmsman and occupants 10 sail
of az their own sweet will and usually
bringing up against the shore a total
wreck This style Of craft continued
through the latter part Of the '6Cs and
'59s. Not until 1879 did Mr.. II. Rel
yea revolUtiOnize the building by discard
ing the sidebars-substituting wire STAYS
in their place-and placing an elliptical
steering box at a point just forward OF
the standard Of the steering apparatus
Good ideas followed fast, and each year
has brought out new and progressive i'm
pr0vements. The origin Of the sport is
shT0uded in the darkness Of antiquity.
but 1t is known that centuries ago the
people of Northern Europe possessed ice
yachts, used them in traffic. and probably
raced with them as American yachtsmen
do now A Western novelty closely re-
sembling the ice yacht is the toboggan
or snow yacht, which skins over the
prairies at a high rate Of speed.