Photo, West & Son, Southsea. a start of twenty-raters. L AST year the fashionable class of yachts, the fin-de-siècle class, the class par excellence, so to speak, among our English cousins was that of the twenty-raters, some of which, by the aid of Messrs. West’s excellent photographs, are herewith portrayed. The class of twenty-raters is domi- nated by one type. Whether it ex- emplifies all that is good or all that is bad is a matter for discussion-and what Philadelphia lawyer is more prone to discussion than the “rocking-chair” yachtsman? The piazza admirals of the red and of the white—so titled be- cause, probably, of their several pref- erences for burgundy or champagne —may argue all night and still leave the matter in doubt. The one may contend, with undeniable plausibility, that the whole class are a lot of un- seaworthy freaks, while the other may insist, with reason, that they are the highest development of racing yachts. The contemplative man in the corner is perhaps reflecting meanwhile upon similar discussions which occurred fif- teen or twenty years ago, when good sailors—some of them since passed away—were hot, pro and con, on the cutter question; when the Volante was in commission; when Roosevelt Schuyler was playing with the Yolande, and the ill-fated C. S. Lee was building the Oriva, and, later, when the Madge was brought over to show us how little we knew about yachts. The Irex and Ge- nesta were in those days pointed out by our senior and traveled yachtsmen as illustrative of the perfect type of sail- ing craft, just as Wagner’s operas were at the same time described as exponents of the all-satisfying and abiding music of the future. Tempora mutantur! Everyone is now familiar with the old type of cutter as distinguished from the original American sloop. The struggle for speed on both sides of the
Transcript
Photo, West & Son, Southsea.a start of twenty-raters.
LAST year the fashionable class ofyachts, the fin-de-siècle class, theclass par excellence, so to speak,among our English cousins was
that of the twenty-raters , some ofwhich, by the aid of Messrs. West’sexcellent photographs, are herewithportrayed.
The class of twenty-raters is domi-nated by one type. Whether i t ex-emplifies all that is good or all that isbad is a matter for discussion-and whatPhiladelphia lawyer is more prone todiscussion than the “rocking-chair”yachtsman? The piazza admirals ofthe red and of the white—so titled be-cause, probably, of their several pref-erences for burgundy or champagne—may argue all night and still leavethe matter in doubt. The one maycontend, with undeniable plausibility,that the whole class are a lot of un-seaworthy freaks, while the other mayinsist, with reason, that they are thehighest development of racing yachts.
The contemplative man in the corneris perhaps reflecting meanwhile uponsimilar discussions which occurred fif-teen or twenty years ago, when goodsailors—some of them since passedaway—were hot, pro and con, on thecutter question; when the Volante was incommission; when Roosevelt Schuylerwas playing with the Yolande, andthe ill-fated C. S. Lee was building theOriva, and, later, when the Madge wasbrought over to show us how little weknew about yachts. The Irex and Ge-nesta were in those days pointed outby our senior and traveled yachtsmenas illustrative of the perfect type of sail-ing craft, just as Wagner’s operas wereat the same time described as exponentsof the all-satisfying and abiding musicof the future.
Tempora mutantur!Everyone is now familiar with the
old type of cutter as distinguished fromthe original American s loop. Thestruggle for speed on both sides of the
302 OUTING FOR JULY.
The expression “rater” is one ofthose colloquialisms that insinuate them-selves into a language. It originatesfrom the fact that vessels were rated orclassed approximately by their tonnage.Thus a twenty-rater was approximatelya “twenty-tonner.” Under the changeof rules, which went into effect thisSpring, the yachts are classified by a“linear rating.” These boats fall inthe 52-foot class, and will for a time becalled indiscriminately the “twenties”or the “fifty-twos.”
The formula under which they are nowmeasured is given and briefly explained
in the Records in the Junenumber of this magazine.
The formula is a compli-cated one, and was designedto put a check on the devel-opment of “freak” or ex-treme classes.
That the new rule has notfully consummated its object
Photo., West & Son, Southsea.inyoni. is indicated by the fact that
all that was required in theocean has developed a new type of boat. transformation of the most extreme ofThe change on the American side began last year’s boats in this class was ato be shown in Puritan, 1885; while slight alteration of the fin; and underGenesta was still the perfect English the new rating they are allowed an in-cutter. In the next international con- crease of sail area. In Niagara, for in-test, 1887, both sides were affected, and stance, the bulb which hung below thein Valkyrie II. and Vigilant, 1893, the fin was cut in half, from end to end, andmodern idea began to be evident and the two halves bolted on either side ofthe similarity between the contestants the bottom of the fin. The effect wasincreased. In Valkyrie III. and De- to lessen the draft by an amount equalfender the types were identical. to the distance which the lower portion
This type carried to an extreme is of the bulb hung below the fin, a footthat which dominates all of the new or thereabouts. It required no change“twenties.” in the shape of the boat.
The more moderate of them are built The twenty-raters are the result of anafter the fashion of Britannia and Val- effort to build the fastest possible boatkyrie. The extremes are of the Dilemma under certain restrictions of measure-and El Chico type. Most are of the latter ment, regardless of seaworthiness orclass, out-and-out fin-keels and canoe comfort. The class owes its existencebottoms. They are all built with bodies to the adoption of the rating rule inof shallow draught and lightest possible 1887. This was a simple rule basedconstruction; the smallest possible dis- upon only two measurements, sail area
heavy weight bolted to a deep keel orplacement, with stability afforded by a and water line length. There were two
incentives to shorten the water line, firstfin. The fin itself serves as a fixed to keep the rating down and get benefitcenter-board to offer the necessary“lateral resistance.”
of time allowances, and secondly to allowan increase of sail area. The present
In the cutter days the favorite theory type of boats, with the shortest possiblewas that a heavy boat acquired a certain water line on the longest possible boat,momentum, and, provided she was so is the result. The first boat of this classshaped as to offer the least resistance to built under the (then) new rule in 1888the opposing water, she would be faster, was the Vreda, a steel boat of Mr. Wat-even in light air and smooth sea, than son’s design. She is now sailing on Lakea lighter boat. Ontario, the property of Commodore
THE TWENTY-RATERS. 303
A. R. Boswell, Royal Canadian YachtClub. Then followed Fife’s Dragon I.(there have been two more since), builtfor F. C. Hill. Arthur Payne designedthe Chiquita and the Siola. Then Wat-son’s Velzie and Clayton’s Ghost sailedinto prominence.
In 1890 the Jessica, designed by Fife,was brought to America by W. B. Mc-Donough, but as there was no class forher here she could not do much in theway of racing. During the Summer of1894 fortune favored the raters, andthere was a brilliant season of racing.That year Lord Dunraven, then, per-haps, the most conspicuous yachtsmanin all the world, brought out the Audrey,which he himself had designed, andwhich in racing was generally con-trolled by his hand. Of the old boatsthere were the victorious Zinita, theDeirdrè and Dragon III., and of the newones, Audrey, Luna, Inyoni, Asphodel,Stephanie and Thelma.
They were an interesting lot of boats,owned by the best yachtsmen in Eng-land, including “dukes and earls anddiamonds and pearls.” But there was ahub-bub at first among the clubs as totheir admission into the Solent classes,because of the expense of getting prizesfor them; which would indicate con-cerning the clubs that,
“Though they were on pleasure bent,They had a frugal mind.”
So, charging the skippers a sufficient-ly large entrance fee to indemnify theclubs against loss, the racing com-menced, and soon no regatta was of anymoment unless the twenties were in it.
They raced all the season from the26th of May at every opportunity. Atthe end Luna, Inyoni, Deirdrè andDragon III. were about even, withZinita, Asphodel and Thelma not far be-hind.
This close racing stimulated the in-terest. The Audrey had not been a suc-
Photo., West & Son, Southsea.audrey.
304 O U T I N G F O R J U L Y .
the flower of England’s yachting chiv-alry, and he who steered a twenty-raterwas greater than he who had conquered
ican, with sportsmanlike pro-clivities; and, unabashed bythe array of aristocracy andtalent that he would have to
Photo., West & Son, Southsea.stephanie.
cess. She was launched rather late inthe season, but in every race in whichshe sailed she was beaten. Lord Dun-raven, with characteristic energy andstick-to-it-iveness, went to work in hisusual way. He didn’t want to admithis own boat Audrey was wrong. Oh,no! He cut her all up and built herover again. The displacement wasgreatly reduced, the lines of the bodywere carried out fuller forward and aft,a metal fin superseded the wooden one,and a little center-board was dispensedwith. Like the familiar jack-knife withsuccessive new blades and handles, shewas the same Audrey withal, withouteven the addition of a Roman numeral.But the Earl accomplished his object,and Audrey became the best of the lotin moderate-weather sailing. On theseason’s record for the following yearshe was second only to the AmericanNiagara. She made thirty-three starts,winning thirty-one prizes, sixteen ofwhich were firsts.
The Audrey is about forty-five feetwater line, with medium beam, veryround bottom, and metal fin and bulb.She was built by Summers & Payne atSouthampton.
At the beginning of 1895 the class was
a city.The racing of the class last season
commenced in May on the Roya lThames courses, where Audrey had itall her own way; and on the Clyde,where Zinita had no formidable com-petitor.
“All went well until, one day,A strange fish came in the bay.”
When Howard Gould went over to raceVigilant against the formidable Bri-tannia, he learned many lessons from
the defeat of the American cham-pion. One was that the best sport
is not always found in the larg-est boat. He is an unassuming,
though wealthy, young Amer-
run up against, he went homeand invoked the aid of thesage of Bristol in procuring aboat with which he couldgo back and have some fun
with those kings.The Niagara was the result.Her first couple of races were not a
success; perhaps because the boat wasnot fully tuned up; probably, however,because of the villainous sails which aregenerally provided with the Herreshoffboats.
He applied to the best English sail-makers to fit him out, but they refused,on the patriotic ground that they didnot want to assist a foreigner towardthe defeat of their own patrons. How-ever, a Samaritan sail-maker was finallyfound, and Niagara repeated the per-formances of the Herreshoff Dakotaamong the ten-raters, and gathered inthe largest number of prizes during theseason.
The Niagara is a typical example ofthe class, although of extreme type.She was built at Bristol in the Spring of’95, together with a practically identicalboat, the Isolde, which had been orderedby Prince-Leopold of Hohenzollern.
Her hull is of the now familiar canoetype, the overhangs not so long as inmost of the English boats. Her linesare fair and graceful, being neither fullnor too much
inches in length, two feet four incheswide and one foot thick at the widestpart. These are bolted on each side ofthe fin and, since being raised thisSpring, are flush with the bottom of thefin. The boat is finished with a balancerudder, as are all of the Herreshoff smallyachts. That is, a portion of the rudderprojects forward of the stock, the effectof which is to make the boat more sen-sitive to the helm. In the cabin of sucha craft there is of necessity but littleheadroom. The maximum head-roomis five feet two and a quarter inchesbut with the lessening fore and aft andthe encroachment of the side-keelsonsinto the cabin floor, there is really lessthan this allowance. The sailing mas-ter of the Niagara is Captain John Barr,who was skipper of the Thistle during
the cup races of 1887, although hehad previously been in this country
in charge of the Clara in 1885,and subsequently was on
fined down. Anoak kee l t eninches by fouri n c h e s r u n snearly the en-t i r e l e n g t h .The frames area l s o o f o a k ,spaced sixteeninches apart. General Paine’s Jubilee.T h e b o a t i s Although a naturalizedbraced inside American, he is aat intervals by Clyde sailor and pilotf o r e a n d a f t with years of experi-stringers and ence on the Englishby pine struts coasts.and bronze tie- N i a g a r a s o o nrods connect- showed her heelsing the bilges to the rest ofwith the deck the fleet, al-near amid- though hersh ip s , and sister boat,b r o n z e the I s o l d e ,s t r a p s f o r was gener-bracing di- ally beaten.rectly from It was a rev-the keel to e l a t i o n t ot h e g u n - m a n y t h a twale. For- the harder itward of the Photo., West & Son, Southsea.
eucharis. b l e w t h emast there more read-is a rod bolting the keel to the deck. ily the American “tinder-box” sailedThus knit and braced together the light away from the heavier built yachts. Inhull is strengthened to withstand the very light winds Niagara was alwaysstrain upon the fin and the weight of thebulb. The inner planking is of three-
beaten by Inyoni. Niagara and Audreymet in thirteen races, in which the
eighths cedar and the outer of one-half American beat Lord Dunraven’s boatinch mahogany. The bottom is painted.Last year the top-sides were varnished
seven times—a fairly even showing,
mahogany; this year they have beenwith Niagara holding the odds.
As soon as it was known in Englandpainted white.
The fin is not solid, but is constructedthat Niagara was coming, Fife wasordered to build a boat to meet her.
of Tobin bronze plates so as to afford The Eucharis was, therefore, put to-lightness and strength. The bulb is in gether at the Fairlie Yard in a fewtwo halves, each thirteen feet three weeks. Her owner is Lord Lonsdale,
THE TWENTY-RATERS. 307
who was one of the Valkyrie syndicate,and is one of the most prominent sports-men in England.
He had previously owned the twenty-rater Deirdrè, which he had boughtfrom Lord Dunraven. The Eucharismade a brilliant début at the Mudhookregatta, July 3d, beating Niagara andZinita in a fresh breeze. She repeatedher victory in light air at the RoyalClyde th ree day s l a t e r . Then he rwinning-spring ran down, and she neverwon any more. Last Winter she was re-built at Itchen Ferry, William Fife, Jr.,going down to direct the work. Herunderbody has been made as nearly aspossible like Mr. Jameson’s new Saint,while her upper part, which is a footwider than that boat, remains as it was.
Inyoni is the light weather champion.She was designed by Charles E. Nichol-son, and built at Gosport in 1894 byCamper & Nicholson. Her owner isthe Earl of Dudley. She was a depart-ure from previous models in being ofshorter water-line, viz., 43.62 feet. Sheis of light draught; has full sections,
but not a flat floor, as is customary inthese boats. Her lead keel is a continu-ation of a deep deadwood fin, and notbulbed. She has a long counter, partof which is immersed. She originallyhad a center-board, but it was taken out.She entered forty races in 1895, winningthirty-two prizes, of which fifteen werefirsts and twelve seconds.
Zinita was designed and built by Fifein 1893, and belongs to Mr. H. C. S. Con-nell, of Glasgow. Although she stoodfourth on the figure of merit list for lastseason, she is in no way a freak craft.Her dimensions are: over all length,58.5 feet; load-water line, 46.23; beam,12.6; depth, 6.4. She previously carriedtwo thousand five hundred and fifty-three square feet of sail, which has justbeen increased to three thousand, in-side lead being added. She has finecabins below, which are lighted by gen-erous old-fashioned skylights.
Stephanie was designed by C. P. Clay-ton, and built by W. White & Sons atCowes in 1894 for Prince Batthány-Strattmann. She was not a successduring her first season, but did fairlywell last year. Her forward sectionsare very shallow, though she has a deepbulb fin midship section. Her keel wasbulbed out to an unusual extent. Threetons of lead were removed from thesides of the bulb and placed on thebottom of the keel, without apparenteffect.
Luna was built in 1894 by Fife & Son
Photo., West & Son, Southsea.a drifting match.
308 O U T I N G F O R J U L Y .
Photo., West & Son, Southsea.luna.
for F. B. Jameson. It was found thatat first she had too much ballast and itwas great ly reduced. She was bui l tnearly up to the limit, her old ratingbeing 19.93. Her dimensions were:o. a. l., 55.3 feet; water-line, 46.1; beam,1 2 . 7 5 , and depth , 5 . 8 . She ca r r i ed2,594.4 feet of sail. Her first seasonwas very successful. She made fifty-three starts and took thirty-two flags,including twenty firsts. Last seasonshe did poorly, taking only two firstsout of thirty-three races sailed. OnAugust 9th, however, in the R. Y. S.match, when sailed by Mr. Jameson, inthe hardest blow of the season, she ledthe fleet, giving Isolde, Niagara andStephanie a fair beating. She was soldthis Spring to Mr. Fred Clyne, of Aber-deen.
Dragon III. was built by Fife in 1893.She has a fin like Inyoni’s, only longer,and is of composite construction. Shehas been owned successively by LordsLonsdale, Dunraven and Brassey. Atthe beginning of ’94 she was fitted witha center-board, by way of experiment,by Lord Dunraven. In the opinion of
“Field,” this was a decided improve-ment in sailing on the wind in a strongbreeze, but no help in light weatherand detrimental in reaching. WhenAudrey was launched, in the middle ofthe s ea son , she was so ld to LordBrassey, who raced her with spirit, butwithout much success.
Lord Lonsdale, meanwhile, had pur-chased her old rival, Deirdrè, and, hav-ing made some alterations in her, beatDragon and most of the otherboats readily. At the beginning of 1895,Dragon III. was owned by Lord Lons-dale, who raced her at Kiel. She beatIsolde once and was beaten by her once,and once again she led Isolde home,but was awarded second prize. Thesetwo boats readily outsailed Vineta andthe other twenties at the Kiel regattas.She was then sold to George Moir, andraced without success on the Clyde.Last Winter she received an additionaltwo hundred and fifty square feet ofsail, and was altered below decks, so asto p rov ide a l ad i e s ’ c ab in . V i n e t awas designed by G. L. Watson for theGerman Emperor. She was built last
THE TWENTY-RATERS. 309
year at the Germania Werft, Kiel. Herdimensions are: o. a . length, 54.75feet; water-line, 45.5; beam, 13; depth,16.3. Her sail plan brought her exactlyto the limit. She was raced at Kiel,where she was beaten by the Englishboats, and afterwards on the Clyde,where she made a dismal showing;though once, in a strong wind, she wasthird, while Stephanie was fourth, bothfollowing Audrey and Inyoni. Out ofthirteen recorded races she took nofirsts, only one second and three thirdprizes. She was lightly built, and suf-fered a severe straining in a storm atKiel, which did no injury to the Eng-l i sh-bu i l t y a ch t s . She w in te r ed a tSouthampton, and was recently givenby the Emperor to his brother-in-law,Prince Ferdinand, of Schleswig-Hol-stein. She left in April for Kiel, underCaptain Gould, of the Varuna.
There were th ree new twent i e slaunched this Spring, whose ownersare ambitious to wrest the supremacyfrom the Niagara. If none of thesesucceeds in doing so, the victory will begreat for the Herreshoffs and Mr.Gould.
The first to appear was Mr. OgdenGoelet’s Samphire, which got a start onthe others by reaping the Spring harvestin the Mediterranean. She was builtby C. Sibbeck & Sons, at Cowes, whosince last year have also produced Cap-tain J. Orr-Ewing’s Anglia, five tons;Gerald Paget ’ s Caprice , three tons;Shibbeal II., two tons; Sybille II., oneton, all of which were raced in theRiviera. A half-rater for Mr. HerbertSeeley, of New York, was recentlyshipped from the same yards. TheSamphire proved to be a witch in lightairs. She was sailed by Captain BenParker, of Itchen Ferry, the sailing-master of the forty-rater Caress. In adrifting match from Cannes to MonteCarlo, twenty-five miles, and whichlasted all day and until late into theevening, Samphire was the first to finish.Ailsa arrived second, forty-five minuteslater. In another coasting-match fromMonaco to Nice, in light air under spin-
nakers, the slippery twenty-rater wassecond only to Ailsa, and, through hertime allowance, was awarded first prize.In her own class her only worthy com-petitors were Stephanie and the Frenchraters Joyeuse and Bebelle. The newboat won eleven prizes, of which fivewere firsts, in various matches withboats of her own and higher rating.
The Saint was built by Fife for Mr. F.B. Jameson and was launched at Fairlieearly in May. She is 46 feet on thewater-line, with 12 feet 6 inches beamand 10 feet draft. She spreads aboutthree thousand square feet of canvas.There is no hard angle in her sheerplan forward, her keel deepening uni-formly from forefoot to heel. Her leadis condensed as much as possible at thebottom of the keel without making abulb. She has very long overhangs.“Yachtsman” says she looks like a morepowerful Isolde. Her topsides are ofdouble-skin mahogany and her under-body has a single planking of red elm.In sail plan the American style of longmainmast and short topmast is followed,as it is in most of the new boats of thisclass. Her mast is stepped far forward,giving her an unusually long boom.She has a comfortable cabin and ladies’cabin, with a good lavatory. The sail-ing-master of the Saint is Albert Tur-ner, who last year had command of Luna.
The Penitent was designed by ArthurPayne, and built by Summers & Payne,of Southampton, for Mr. Charles DayRose. Whether the name is expres-sive of the owner’s feelings at hav-ing offered a challenge for the AmericaCup or for having withdrawn it is notvouchsafed. Mr. Rose may be regret-ful at having kept out of yachting solong, for, during the last year, compara-tively late in life, he has been makingup for lost time. During the southernseason he raced the Satanita, the five-rater Dusky Queen and the one-raterQueen of Hearts with spirit if not withgratifying success.
The first performances of the newboats are noted in the records accom-panying this number.
