The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-10-26
Tennis Star Has Thrilling Adven'
ture in Lone Voyage From
France to U. S.

New York.-Because he wanted to
see New York, Alain ]. Gerbault, In
ternational tennis star, crossed the
Atlantic single-handed In a 3O-foot
ten-ton racing cutter built 81 years
ago by the late Dixon Kemp, famous
sailor and designer Of King Edwards
private yacht.
Gerbault started from Cannes,
France, and landed late at night at
the foot Of Fort Totten, l.. l., after
traversing 5000 miles of ocean In 142
days.
An examination of the past history
of sailing shows that Gerbault created
a record for a transatlantic voyage In
small craft. In the summer Of 1913
Capt. Thomas Drake, an Englishman
of Gravesend, near London, In the Sir
Francis sailed 25,OO0 miles In 81
foot boat, and was assisted by i've
horsepower engine.
Wanted to See New York.
When he arrived he had not closed
his eyes for 80 hours, yet he was able
TO unfold the narrative Of his trip in
unfaltering English. which he speaks
and writes with ease.
MY only home Is my boat. The Fire
crest" said Gerbault "In the inter
walls of playing In international tennis
tournaments on the Riviera and In
Spain I have lived continuously on 1t
from the moment I purchased 1t three
years ago. 1t Is typical British rae
ing cruiser cutter Of the early DOs.
1t Is 20 feet IL inches long, with ton
mage Of 9.94, has an 8 foot inch beam
and 7-foot draft.
II set out on my 5,0O0-mile voyage
because / wanted to see New York.
my first goal was Gibraltar, the i'm
pregnable British fortress at the en-
trance to the Mediterranean. As my
boat In a cutter, has only one mast and
q long boom, II Is very difficult for
one man to work. The second day out
] got Into very bad weather In the
Gulf of Lyons. Strong gales blew for
<8 hours, and I found 1t hard to reef
my sails. The wind dropped as sud-
denly as It had sprung up, and for
days there was not breath OF air.
Finally / reached Gibraltar "a days
after had set out from Cannes.
'sThe Vanderbilt yacht. the Atlantic,
a threemasted schooner, was in the
harbor. 1t Is the finest sailing yacht
/ have ever seen afioat. The Wander
bllts asked me aboard, but I unfortu-
nately had to decline as was on the
point of leaving.
From Gibraltar I set my course
straight for New York, following the
old sailing boat routes. such MS Co
Iumbus used and afterward, In the
Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries,
the pirates who sailed the main. Short
ly after leaving port l ran into an
other bad storm. which lasted for
three days and was followed by strong
winds. In this storm lost my good
weather sails and my roller boom,
which had been repaired at Gibraltar.
got hopelessly broken. The seams Of my
main sail also got burnt, as the nauti-
cal expression In
81 had to take down my main sail
and II took all day long to repair It.
For the first time I did without sleep
that night. However. afterward l soon
got used to not closing my eyes for
days on END. Then. for the next Loo
miles, I struck q fair wind and mod
crate seas. let the Firecrest sail
herself under try sails and head sails.
Behind us was fine following wind
and I went a week without touching
the tillef.
Water Went Bad.
Il was in no hurry and life was very
pleasant until the disaster Of the loss
of the greater part Of my water over
took me. How that occurred ! do not
know, but I was awakened one morn
fng to find a peculiar smell in the
locker where the water was stored In
fen-gaIlon Jars.
after examination found thst |
twothirds had gone was faced
with . perilous situation ! made .