The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-05-11
Rig RACING CRAFT
WILL NOT Be OUT
wealthy Owners Find 1t I'm
possible to Keep Up With
High Cost of Yachting.
PLANS OF NEW YORK Y. G.
LITTLE Likelihood Organi-
sstion Will Hold Cruise or
Regattas This Summer.
PLANS OF NEW YORK Y. G.

Although the New York Yacht Club
80. ,.c,ed no official statement. It seems
s,,s,y improbable that the organisation,
-. ,,ost important one Of its kind In the
~. .a,n,rv II not In the whole world. viii
an a cruise or hold any races this
s,,msr There IL q feeling among the
a. osscers that the club should be con-
.,.i,nt and live up TO the answer given
- Sin Thomas Upton when the Irish
S,,onet inquired about . cup race this
year.
cub informed the owner OF the Sham
rook ". that II did not think the present
mmmsr the proper time for an interna-
tIonal cup race. II pointed out that the
construction Of the world was Of moro
IMPORTANCE than q race for q yachting
,rophy. and that the mon interested In
International yachting would be entirely
too busy solving problems OF grave i'm
nortanee to devote any time 70 yachting.
Although all hands believed that In
,.rnatlonal yacht racing wac out of the
question. many hoped that the New York
Yacht Club would take some steps to-
ward reviving the sport this summer.
n II was impossible to hold q cruise. II
vas suggested that the club resume the
aces that It formerly gave each summer
ou Long Island Sound. It was thought
that the Glen Cove cups, tho annual re.
rata, the summer regatta and the au-
.umn cup races could be held even II
they only brought a small feet to the
starting line.
Few Yachts In Consultation.
OF course these races are only for
members Of the New York Yacht Club.
Ia fact, the club gives no open races.
Also, the organization recognises no sail
nr yacht that is smaller than the popu-
lar thirty footer Of the club. It means.
therefore. that only large yachts race In
the regattas Of the club. A careful can
vass Of the owners Of the yachts showed
that few II any will be In commission
this summer.
Take as an example the nifty footers
built in 1913 for the members OF the
New York Yacht Club. Among the
owners Of this interesting division arc
some Of the richest and most important
men In the country. Commodore J. r.
Morgan owns the Grayiing. Rear Com
nodore George Nichols. his son-in-law,
owns the Carolina. Former Commodore
George F. Baker. Jr.. owns the Ventura
Then there Is the Acushla, which now
belongs to L. G. Hamersley; Samuri.
which W. Earl Dodge formerly sailed /;
Harry Payne Whitney's Barbara Spar
ton. which was owned by Henry b.
Plant. and IroQuois H.. the property Of
Ralph Ellis.
Recently the owners Of the class had
4 meeting and took up the question Of
going into commission and resuminS
their former championship racing. When
4 was discovered what It would cost Il
vas quickly decided that tho nifty footers
would not take to the water as q class.
Regardless Of the fact that tho owners
Included several Of the richest men in
The country. all decided that the racing
Of atty footer this summer was out
Of all proportion to the enjoyment or
benefit received from the sport. In
round figures It would cost about $4,000
70 keep a fifty footer in commission
during the summer montha
Even the owners OF the thirty footers
are up In the air regarding class racing.
Although they have had no meeting.
there seems TO be little or no possible
chance Of the yachts racing as a divi-
son. Although the thirty foot owners
~ "SoANAy luSh NldlOtltJ &Io nut III
the same financial class as the yachts
men who race the nifty footsrs. Natu-
rally they also are being hit by the high
cost Of yachting.
Expenses Are Heavy.
The owner Of a thirty footer generally
9as one and sometimes two paid
hands. Back In 1914 one could engage
All the a il0ro go Co. q
month, clothes and found. To-day
.ae same men are demanding $50 and
'3Oo a month, clothes and found. One
can hardly blame the men. They con-
lend they are making that money on
shore and in the shipyards and In the
commercial end OF the world of boats
BE that as 1t may. the increase IL 90
arse that several of the thirty foot own
eS have thrown up their hands and have
decided not to go into commission this
summer.
Cnder the circumstances the outlook
'cr the racing of large yachts looks very
sim this summer. A prominent owner
oi htty-footer stated the other day
mat he was thinking OF buying into the
ouf Class. providing he could purchase
one OF the little boats. 1t IL no easy
matter to either buy or build q Star boa,
Snese days. The Seawanhaka- Corinthiar
iacht Club, an organization which Il
I.e home club" of the exclusive North
Shore colony Of Long Island. though,
mat II would add to its feet another
class OF small yachts.
among It's members were owners OF
htties" "forties" and ''thirties" who
nad decided not to put their big boat,
mo commission this summer. Thess
ySchtsmen at first talked about racins
the Jewel yachts, a class of boats orig
.naliy built for yachtmen who hav,
country estates near Glen Cove, as sew
~ already were owned in the Oyster
nay club. After a canvass of the marke
,ne plan went by the boards, as II wa.
impossible 10 buy other Jewel yachts.
me stars then were considered. IN,
S S.sn also fell through, as not enough
aui: could be purchased and new onei
.ouId not be built and delivered befor,
.ne END OF tho summer. The Oyster Ba,
tcntsmen will stick to thsir little "Ffsh'
coats this summer.