Evening star., 1911-06-11
BY William B. Laub, Jr.

by william b. AauO, Jr.
Last Friday night a meeting OF the
board of directors of the Potomac Boat
Club was held at the clubhouse, and
several bids on the concrete front were
considered The work will probably be
completed by the middle of the month, as
operations are to be started this week.
Specifications for the new landing differ
entirely from the original plans in that
they call for a concrete sea wall along
the present dock line and a heavy wooden
wharfage extending back to the house.
bridge-like construction which will allow
the tide TO rise and fall beneath. thus
making impossible any danger Of another
washout
i Owing to the fact that several dances
have been given by members of the club
during the past two weeks. the program
every two weeks. planned by the enter
1ainment committee. A. b. Dent. chair
man. will be discontinued until after the
Philadelphia regatta July 4.
| The junior crew will be sent to that
meeting, and a smoker given before the
boys depart for the Quaker city would
mean general departure from the train
ing table. According to those in charge
OF such festivities II is hard enough to
keep boatload Of men on the straight
and narrow path previous to a race
|
| wardness.
| There Is some talk among a few MEM
bers of the club about securing the serv
ices of Pat Dempsey to work the
juniors up to the "acme of perfection"
between now and the 4th of next month,
but the wiser heads In the Potomac
Camp agree that Joe" Daily has done
| and can do as much with a bunch of
youngsters as any professional coach in
mi n q
and knows how to instruct others in the
gentle art OF showing a shell through the
| water at winning speed, but he has
under him what few coaches in the coun-
try can brag ola boatload of fellows
who enter into the sport with whole
hearts and who work for all that is in
| them.
The Potomac Club has always had just
such men in its ranks. And this brings
up an important point concerning the
rivals of the Georgetown club, the rivals
who have 1t in them to become danger
ous-the Analostans.
the questioning In the world 1t has been
learned that on the morning of the Deco
ration day race member of the New
Hampshire avenue crew called up his
captain on the telephone and frankly
stated that he would not be on hand that
afternoon to row. as he knew they would
be defeated and he didn't care to pull
an oar In losing boat.
|
Capt. Rankin Middleton has to contend
with.
| Somewhere along near the middle Of
July the Analostan Boat Club will hold
a regatta in which the Potomacs will be
hinges on the arrival of the new shell,
which the Philadelphia builders have so
long delayed shipping. After that race
the crew will be gradually worked up to
1 . ~ hAz
timore on Labor day to attend the Mid
die States regatta.
| Now that the Canoe Club minstrel show
has been successfully brought aboard and
slowed below decks. more attention will
be devoted to aquatics.
| Commodore Rogers probably has some
thing UP his sleeve in the way of club
regatta, but undoubtedly the association
meet July Will be tho first canoeing
event on the program.
| The Inter-Club Canoe Association
"hosted' an open-air smoker and ladies
| night on the Virginia shore of the river
above the Three Sisters last Wednesday.
and canoeists from all the clubs attended.
Refreshments and music were provided
and the outing was heartily enjoyed by
every guest present
A serious accident came very near
marring the pleasures Of the evening
| dDOuI Cne tlme the Dulk OF the CanOolStS
were embarking for home An unidenti-
fed launch suddenly emerged from the
pall-like darkness and narrowly escaped
ramming canoe with two women and a
man aboard.
The launch carried a combination light
on the forward deck. which Is in keeping
with the law, and the canoe, like most of
its kind. showed no light Of any descrip-
ton, which is not lawful. but in the In
terest of those who go in for canoeing.
had such an accident happened, the pow
or boatist would have been responsible.
Why all this? Simply to seize an oppor-
tunity OF requesting motor boatmen to
keep on the upper river after dark. Peo-
pie owning power craft have a cruising
radius extending from Georgetown to
Halifax and back. while canoeists have to
content themselves with the only availa-
BILE canoeing water hereabouts, namely.
between the Aqueduct and the Chain
bridges.
That water should be set aside for their
use after nightfall. and 1t would seem that
In view of the facts that no canoes carry
lights. and are therefore almost impossi-
BILE to see after dark, motor boatist can
derive no pleasure In driving helter-skel-
him because of the speed Of his craft and
because OF the continuous danger Of sink
ing some one.
Last Monday afternoon the auxiliary
bugeye yacht Bonheur, owned by George e.
THAN Yacht Club burgee, dropped anchor
In the harbor for a short stay. The yacht
has attracted considerable attention since
her arrival here, as she Is unquestionably
the finest type of auxiliary ever seen in
these waters.
Her dimensions are 80 feet inches over
all, "a feet inches beam and feet draf
The rig Is that of the typical Chesapeak,
bay bugeye. the great advantage Of whic'
can be appreciated by any sailing man
One man can hoist any one of the sails
while II she had been schooner rugged at
least two men would be necessary to set
the heavy mainsail.
Another advantage Of the rig is that
should the boat be caught in sudden
sQuall she could easily be handlSl, the
amount Of sail and spars aloft being re-
duced to a minimum The power equip
ment consists of q four-cylinder forty
horsepower gasoline motor which drives
her about eight and a half miles an hour
and the engine is started, stopped and re-
versed by single lever near the steer
ing wheel, bringing the actual control OF
the boat under the direction Of one man
The photograph used last Sunday, de-
picting the start Of the Capital Yacht
Club sailing race from this city to An
napolis, has been framed and presented
to the club. with the hopes that the
fast-dying sport Of windjammer racing
will always be an annual fixture Of the
Organization as long as the Potomac
. floats it's craft. It Is regretted that Com
modore Hewins' auxiliary yawl Meme
; moosha and Charles E. James auxiliary