Yachting, Vol. 2
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Title: Yachting, Vol. 2
Author: R. T. Pritchett
G. L. Blake
Marquis of Frederick Temple Blackwood Dufferin and Ava
James McFerran
T. B. Middleton
Release date: February 2, 2013 [eBook #41973]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41973
Credits: Produced by StevenGibbs, Christine P. Travers and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YACHTING, VOL. 2 ***
The Badminton Library
of
SPORTS AND PASTIMES
EDITED BY
HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF BEAUFORT, K.G.
ASSISTED BY ALFRED E. T. WATSON
_YACHTING_
II.
[Illustration: Old Flags.]
YACHTING
BY
R. T. PRITCHETT
THE MARQUIS OF DUFFERIN AND AVA, K.P.
JAMES McFERRAN
REV. G. L. BLAKE, T. B. MIDDLETON
EDWARD WALTER CASTLE AND ROBERT CASTLE
G. CHRISTOPHER DAVIES, LEWIS HERRESHOFF
THE EARL OF ONSLOW, G.C.M.G., H. HORN
SIR GEORGE LEACH, K.C.B., VICE-PRESIDENT Y.R.A.
[Illustration: Yachts.]
IN TWO VOLUMES--VOL. II.
_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY R. T. PRITCHETT
AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS_
LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
1894
_All rights reserved_
CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME
CHAPTER PAGE
I. ROYAL YACHTS AND ENGLISH YACHT CLUBS 1
_By R. T. Pritchett, Marquis of Dufferin and Ava,
K.P., James McFerran, and Rev. G. L. Blake._
II. SCOTTISH CLUBS 72
_By R. T. Pritchett and Rev. G. L. Blake._
III. IRISH CLUBS 99
_By R. T. Pritchett, Rev. G. L. Blake, and T. B.
Middleton._
IV. THE THAMES CLUBS AND WINDERMERE 152
_By Edward Walter Castle, Robert Castle, and R. T.
Pritchett._
V. YACHTING ON THE NORFOLK BROADS 190
_By G. Christopher Davies._
VI. YACHTING IN AMERICA 227
_By Lewis Herreshoff._
VII. YACHTING IN NEW ZEALAND 287
_By the Earl of Onslow, G.C.M.G._
VIII. FOREIGN AND COLONIAL YACHTING 304
_By R. T. Pritchett and Rev. G. L. Blake._
IX. SOME FAMOUS RACES 324
_By R. T. Pritchett._
X. RACING IN A 40-RATER IN 1892 332
_By R. T. Pritchett._
XI. YACHT RACING IN 1893 349
_By H. Horn._
XII. THE AMERICAN YACHTING SEASON OF 1893 400
_By Lewis Herreshoff._
XIII. THE AMERICA CUP RACES, 1893 416
_By Sir George Leach, K.C.B., Vice-President Y.R.A._
APPENDIX: THE 'GIRALDA' 425
INDEX 427
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE SECOND VOLUME
(_Reproduced by J. D. Cooper and Messrs. Walker & Boutall_)
FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
ARTIST TO FACE PAGE
OLD FLAGS _R. T. Pritchett_ _Frontispiece_
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN GOING TO SCOTLAND
" 6
THE ROYAL YACHT 'VICTORIA AND ALBERT,' 1843
" 8
'PEARL,' 'FALCON,' AND 'WATERWITCH'
" 12
'MYSTERY' WINNING THE CUP PRESENTED BY R.Y.S. TO R.T.Y.C.
" 14
'CORSAIR,' R.Y.S., WINNING THE QUEEN'S CUP AT COWES, 1892
" 16
YACHT CLUB BURGEES _Club Card_ 48
'IREX' _From a photograph by Adamson_ 58
'YARANA' " 64
'ARROW,' ROYAL CINQUE PORTS YACHT CLUB, 1876
_R. T. Pritchett_ 68
'REVERIE' _From a photograph_ 70
NORTHERN YACHT CLUB CRUISING OFF GARROCH HEAD, 1825
_From a painting by Hutcheson_ 76
ROYAL NORTHERN YACHT CLUB, ROTHESAY
_From a photograph by Secretary_ 78
THE START FOR ARDRISHAIG CUP
_From a photograph by Adamson_ 84
'MARJORIE' " " 86
'MAY' " " 88
'THISTLE' " " 90
'LENORE' " " 92
'VERVE' " " 94
YACHT CLUB FLAGS 104
'ERYCINA' _From a photograph by Adamson_ 106
ROYAL IRISH YACHT CLUB CUP, KINGSTOWN, 1873
_From a picture by Admiral Beechy_ 108
MERMAIDS OF DUBLIN BAY SAILING CLUB 146
START OF 25-TONNERS, R.T.Y.C., FROM GREENWICH, 1848
_R. T. Pritchett_ 170
'DECIMA' _From a photograph by Symonds_ 176
'GIMCRACK' _R. T. Pritchett_ 240
MODEL ROOM OF NEW YORK YACHT CLUB
_From a photograph sent by
Secretary N.Y.Y.C._ 242
'BLACK MARIA,' SLOOP, BEATING 'AMERICA,' SCHOONER, IN TEST RACE,
NEW YORK, 1850 _Sent by Mr. Stevens of Hoboken,
New York_ 244
INTERNATIONAL RACE, 1886; 'GALATEA' PASSING SANDY HOOK LIGHTSHIP
_Photograph sent by Lieutenant W. Henn,
R.N._ 258
'VOLUNTEER' _From a photograph sent by General
Paine, N.Y.Y.C._ 262
'VALKYRIE' _From a photograph by Adamson_ 308
'YSEULT' " " 328
'IVERNA' AND 'METEOR,' DEAD HEAT IN THE CLYDE, JULY 4, 1892
" " 330
'QUEEN MAB' " " 346
'SAMOENA' " " 352
ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT
ARTIST PAGE
VARUNA, VENDETTA, AND LAIS (_Vignette_) _Title-page_
DUTCH YACHT. (_From drawing by Vandervelde, dated 1640_)
_R. T. Pritchett_ 2
'EEN BEZAN JAGT,' 1670 " 3
LINES OF CUTTER, 1781 _From Stalkart's 'Naval
Architecture'_ 4
YACHT STERN, 1781 " 5
COWES CASTLE. (_From drawing by Loutherburg_)
_R. T. Pritchett_ 10
SEAL OF ROYAL YACHT CLUB, COWES _R.Y.S._ 11
'PEARL,' R.Y.S. _R. T. Pritchett_ 13
'DOLPHIN,' R.Y.S. " 14
'ESMERALDA,' R.Y.S. " 14
'DE EMMETJE,' LUGGER " 15
'NEW MOON,' R.Y.S. " 16
CHART OF THE ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON--(QUEEN'S COURSE) 19
'THE LADY HERMIONE' _From working drawings lent by
Marquis of Dufferin_ 26
'THE LADY HERMIONE,' DECK PLAN " 28
'THE LADY HERMIONE,' FITTINGS " 30
'FOAM,' R.V.S. 'IN HIGH LATITUDES' 38
VIEW FROM THE ROYAL WESTERN YACHT CLUB, PLYMOUTH
_R. T. Pritchett_ 40
CHART OF THE ROYAL WESTERN YACHT CLUB. PLYMOUTH COURSE
_Club Card_ 41
CHART OF THE ROYAL VICTORIA YACHT CLUB COURSE
_Club Card_ 44
INTERNATIONAL GOLD CUP. ROYAL VICTORIA YACHT CLUB.
WON BY 'BRITANNIA' _R.V.Y. Club_ 45
FIRST RACE OF THE MERSEY YACHT CLUB, JUNE 16, 1845
_R. T. Pritchett_ 47
'QUEEN OF THE OCEAN,' R.M.Y.C., SAVING EMIGRANTS FROM
'OCEAN MONARCH' " 47
CHART OF THE ROYAL MERSEY YACHT CLUB COURSES
_From Club Card_ 48
CHART OF THE ROYAL PORTSMOUTH CORINTHIAN YACHT CLUB COURSES
" 51
'MADGE,' 1880--LINES AND MIDSHIP SECTION
_G. L. Watson_ 53
'NEPTUNE,' CUTTER, 1875--LINES AND MIDSHIP SECTION
_W. Fife_ 61
'REVERIE,' 1891--LINES AND MIDSHIP SECTION
_J. M. Soper_ 70
NORTHERN YACHT CLUB SEAL _From Secretary R.N.Y. Club_ 72
CHART OF THE ROYAL NORTHERN YACHT CLUB COURSES
_Club Card_ 73
ROYAL NORTHERN FLAGS _From Secretary R.N.Y.C._ 75
'GLEAM,' 1834--LINES AND MIDSHIP SECTION
_Fife of Fairlie_ 78
CHART OF THE ROYAL CLYDE YACHT CLUB COURSES
_From Secretary_ 80
'CLARA'--MIDSHIP SECTION _W. Fife_ 91
CHART OF THE ROYAL FORTH YACHT CLUB COURSES
_Club Card_ 97
YACHTS OF CORK WATER CLUB, 1720
_R. T. Pritchett_ 101
CHART OF THE ROYAL CORK YACHT CLUB
_Club Card_ 103
CORK WATER CLUB PUTTING OUT TO SEA, 1720
_R. T. Pritchett_ 105
CHART OF THE ROYAL ST. GEORGE'S YACHT CLUB COURSES 107
OUTWARD BOUND _Honourable Artists of the 'Iris'_ 125
'IRIS'--SECTION " 127
'IRIS'--SECTION SHOWING PERMANENT LEGS
" 128
THE BAILEY, DUBLIN BAY " 130
'GRAPHIC' ARTISTS AT WORK DURING THE GALE OF OCTOBER 5, 1892
" 132
HER MAJESTY'S MAILS " 134
STORM WITHOUT, CALM WITHIN " 135
KINGSTOWN, DUBLIN BAY " 137
RINGSEND, DUBLIN " 141
MONKSTOWN, DUBLIN BAY " 143
IRELAND'S EYE " 144
'KING'S FISHER,' 1776 _R. T. Pritchett_ 151
COMMODORE THOMAS TAYLOR, OF THE CUMBERLAND FLEET, 1776
_From a Family Portrait in possession
of Robert Taylor, Esq._ 152
'KING'S FISHER,' 1770--LINES
_Original Lines_ 153
'KING'S FISHER,' 1770--MIDSHIP SECTION
" 154
'BUTTON,' 1776 " 155
FIRST 'CUMBERLAND,' 1780--MIDSHIP SECTION
" 157
FIRST 'CUMBERLAND,' 1780--LINES
" 158
SECOND CUMBERLAND, 1790--LINES AND MIDSHIP SECTION
" 160
YACHT OF CUMBERLAND FLEET, 1781
_R. T. Pritchett_ 161
CIRCULAR OF CUMBERLAND FLEET, 1775 163
OFFICERS' BADGE, R.T.Y.C. _R. T. Pritchett_ 168
'MYSTERY' PASSING 'BLUE BELLE,' 1843
" 170
'PHANTOM,' R.T.Y.C., 1853 " 171
'CYGNET,' 1846 " 172
'DIS,' 1888--LINES AND MIDSHIP SECTION
_J. M. Soper_ 176
'TOTTIE,' ROYAL CORINTHIAN YACHT CLUB
_Photograph_ 177
UPPER THAMES SAILING CLUB AND CLUB HOUSE, BOURNE END, BUCKS
_R. T. Pritchett_ 181
UPPER THAMES STEAM YACHT 'CINTRA'
_Photograph_ 182
'FEELING IT' OFF THE FERRY
(_From a photograph by Brunskill, of
Windermere_) 184
A FAIR START. ROYAL WINDERMERE YACHT CLUB
" 185
LIMIT ANGLE OF COUNTER _Club Book_ 186
SMART BREEZE FOR RACING WINDERMERE _Brunskill, of Windermere_ 186
CHART OF THE ROYAL WINDERMERE YACHT CLUB COURSE
_Club Card_ 187
FAIR WIND ROUND THE BUOY _Brunskill, of Windermere_ 188
CALM WEATHER " 188
THE 'GREYHOUND' _R. T. Pritchett_ 191
THE FISHER'S HOME, THE BROADS " 192
REGATTA TIME " 196
WROXHAM PLEASURE CRAFT " 198
WROXHAM BROAD " 200
SMOOTH-WATER BOWSPRIT " 202
RIVER WAVENEY CRAFT " 206
'GREYHOUND'--MIDSHIP SECTION
_G. C. Davies_ 210
'GREYHOUND'--LINES OF " 211
'CASTANET' _R. T. Pritchett_ 215
HULL OF THE 'CASTANET' " 216
'MYSTERY' THAMES BOAT ('FOREIGN' BOAT)
" 218
A START " 221
IN THE GLOAMING " 223
BIRDS OF A FEATHER " 225
COMMODORE STEVENS, FOUNDER OF THE NEW YORK YACHT CLUB
_Photo sent by Mr. Stevens, of
Hoboken, U.S.A._ 227
R.Y.S. CUP WON BY THE 'AMERICA,' 1851 228
'TROUBLE'--1816, MIDSHIP SECTION
_Herreshoff_ 237
'MARIA,' SLOOP, 1846--MIDSHIP SECTION
" 238
'WAVE,' 1832--MIDSHIP SECTION
" 238
'ONKAHYA,' 1839--MIDSHIP SECTION
" 239
'AMERICA,' 1851, N.Y.Y.C. _R. T. Pritchett_ 246
'AMERICA'--LINES AND MIDSHIP SECTION
_Hunt's Magazine_ 248
'SHADOW,' 1872 _Photo, Stebbins, Boston_ 250
'SHADOW,' 1872--LINES AND MIDSHIP SECTION
_Herreshoff_ 251
MIDSHIP SECTION OF AMERICAN YACHTS
" 253
'GRACIE'--SAIL PLAN " 254
'GRACIE,' 1868--LINES AND MIDSHIP SECTION
" 255
'PURITAN,' 1885, N.Y.Y.C. _Photo, Gubalman, New York_ 260
'GOSSOON,' KEEL BOAT, 1890 _Photo, Stebbins, Boston_ 264
'GLORIANA,' 1892 " 265
'WASP,' 1892 " 267
FIN-KEEL AND BULB _Herreshoff_ 268
'CONSUELO,' CAT-YAWL " 269
HERRESHOFF CATAMARAN " 270
NEWPORT (CENTREBOARD) CAT-BOAT
" 271
'CONSTELLATION,' 1889, N.Y.Y.C.
_Photo, Stebbins, Boston_ 274
THE UBIQUITOUS CAT-BOAT _R. T. Pritchett_ 277
FRASCATI AND PIERHEAD AT HAVRE
" 304
CHART OF HAVRE REGATTA COURSES
_Club Card_ 305
HARBOUR AT HAVRE _R. T. Pritchett_ 306
CHART OF NICE REGATTA COURSES
_Club Card_ 307
LATEEN YACHTS, BOMBAY CLUB, 1887
_R. T. Pritchett_ 315
CHART OF THE ROYAL BOMBAY YACHT CLUB SAILING COURSE
_Bombay Card_ 317
FITTED RACES AT BERMUDA, 1863
_R. T. Pritchett_ 319
BERMUDA RIG " 322
DUTCH ICE BOAT OF PRESENT TIME
" 323
'WATERWITCH' V. 'GALATEA,' 1834 START OF RACE FOR 1,000 GUINEAS
" 325
'CORSAIR' V. 'TALISMAN' RACE (1842), RUNNING DOWN CHANNEL
_R. T. Pritchett, from a picture
by Condy_ 326
'CORSAIR' V. 'TALISMAN' RACE (1842), THE RETURN
" 327
'CORSAIR,' 1832--LINES AND MIDSHIP SECTION
_Michael Ratsey, of Cowes_ 328
'BRILLIANT' AND 'ARIEL' RACE, 1830
_R. T. Pritchett_ 329
GOING ALOFT " 333
DIAGRAMS SHOWING OLD AND NEW STYLES IN AFT SECTIONS OF 40-RATERS
_J. M. Soper_ 335
DIAGRAMS SHOWING RECENT STYLES IN FORE SECTIONS OF 40-RATERS
_J. M. Soper_ 336
'IREX'--MIDSHIP SECTION _A. Richardson_ 337
'IREX'--LINES _Designed by Alexander Richardson_ 338
'CORSAIR'--GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS PLANS
_A. E. Payne_ 339
'CORSAIR'--MIDSHIP SECTION " 340
LASHING THE EMPEROR'S RACING FLAG
_R. T. Pritchett_ 341
OUR MASTHEAD MAN " 341
'ALL AFT, MY SONNIES!' " 342
'ANOTHER PULL AT THE MAINSHEET, MY LADS!'
" 342
CLOSE HAULED " 343
REAL BUSINESS " 344
TORQUAY " 346
CHART OF CHANNEL RACING WESTWARD 347
A CLOSE FINISH, 'QUEEN MAB' AND 'CORSAIR'
_R. T. Pritchett_ 348
'IVERNA,' 1890 _Designed by Alexander Richardson_ 354
'IVERNA'--LINES AND MIDSHIP SECTION
" " 355
CHART OF THE THAMES, HARWICH AND CINQUE PORTS COURSES
_F. S. Weller_ 357
'CALLUNA' _From a Kodak photograph_ 361
CHART OF THE ROYAL ULSTER YACHT CLUB, BELFAST COURSES
_From Club Card_ 367
CHART OF THE ROYAL IRISH YACHT CLUB, DUBLIN BAY COURSES
" 371
'NAVAHOE,' N.Y.Y.C. _From a Kodak_ 372
CHART OF THE ROYAL SOUTHAMPTON YACHT CLUB, WARNER AND
LYMINGTON COURSE _Club Card_ 379
CHART OF THE ROYAL ALBERT YACHT CLUB, SOUTHSEA COURSE
" 381
CHART OF THE TORBAY REGATTA COURSE
" 383
'SATANITA' _From a Kodak_ 385
CHART OF THE START BAY YACHT CLUB, DARTMOUTH, COURSE
_Club Card_ 387
CHART OF THE ROYAL DART YACHT CLUB, KINGSWEAR, COURSES
" 389
'DRAGON III.' _From a Kodak_ 398
CHART OF THE NEW YORK YACHT CLUB. REGATTA COURSE
_N.Y.Y. Club Sec._ 405
'VIGILANT,' CUP DEFENDER _From a photograph by Stebbins,
Boston, Mass._ 406
'VALKYRIE' _Adamson, of Rothesay_ 408
CHAPTER I
ROYAL YACHTS AND ENGLISH YACHT CLUBS
ROYAL YACHTS
BY R. T. PRITCHETT
The innate love of the English for everything connected with
seafaring, roving and adventure, burst prominently forth in the time
of Queen Elizabeth, when Drake and Raleigh showed what could be done
in small craft in 'ocean cruising,' and, with early Corinthian crews
from Devon and the brave West, sallied forth and straightway laid the
foundation of our navy, and our present numerous fleet of yachts. In
1604 an early designer, one Phineas Pett, built a yacht for Henry of
Wales; and to him the Navy was much indebted for general improvement
in line and build throughout the early part of the Stuart dynasty.
At the Restoration we begin in earnest the History of Yachting, and
find King Charles II. taking most enthusiastically to yacht building
and even racing. That mine of wealth for the details of every-day
life, that minute recorder of modes and fashions, Samuel Pepys, Esq.,
F.R.S., Secretary to the Admiralty, first brings to our notice the
aquatic taste of His Majesty. In his delightful 'Diary' we find:--
_July 15, 1660._--Found the King gone this morning by 5 of
the clock to see a Dutch pleasure boat below bridge, where
he dines and my Lord with him.
In a further notice we find His Majesty winning the first yacht race
in the Thames, over the course of the R.T.Y. Club, Greenwich to
Gravesend and back--a wager of one hundred guineas.
_January 13, 1660-1661._--Lord's Day. To the Globe to
dinner, then to Commissioner Pett, to his lodgings there,
which he hath for the present while he is building the
King's yacht, which will be a very pretty thing and much
beyond the Dutchman's.
_January 15._--The King hath been this afternoon to Deptford
to see the yacht that Commissioner Pett is building, which
will be very pretty, as also that his brother Christopher
Pett (son of Phineas Pett) at Woolwich is making.
[Illustration: Dutch yacht. From drawing by Vandervelde
dated 1640.]
_November 8._--On board the yacht, which indeed is one of
the finest things that ever I saw, for neatness and room in
so small a vessel.
_May 21, 1661._--To Deptford and took barge and were
overtaken by the King in his barge, he having been down the
river in his yacht this day for pleasure to try it; and I
hear Commissioner Pett's do prove better than the Dutchman,
and that his brother did build at Woolwich.
_October 1, 1661._--Between Charles II. and his brother the
Duke of York for 100 guineas. Sailing match from Greenwich
to Gravesend and back. The King won.
_July 22, 1662._--Lord Sandwich in yacht to Boulogne in foul
weather.
_September, 1662._--By water to Woolwich, on my way saw the
yacht lately built by our virtuosoes. My Lord Brunkard and
others, with the help of Commissioner Pett also, set out
from Greenwich with the little Dutch 'Bezan' to try for
mastery; and before they got to Woolwich the Dutch beat them
half a mile. And I hear this afternoon that in coming home
it got above three miles, which all our people were glad of.
_July 31, 1663._--Sir William Petty's vessel, which he hath
built on two keeles, a model whereof built for the King he
showed me, hath this month won a Wager of 50_l._ in sailing
between Dublin & Holyhead with the ... Pacquett boat. The
best ship or vessel the King hath there, and he offers to
lay with any vessel in the world.
[Illustration: 'Een Bezan Jagt,' 1670.]
It is about thirty tons in burden, and carries 30 men with
good commodation, as much more as any ship of her burden
also as any vessel of this figure shall carry more men. She
carries 10 guns of about 5 tons weight. In coming back from
Holyhead they started together, and this vessel came to
Dublin by 5 at night and the Pacquett boat not before eight
the next morning.[1]
[Footnote 1: Sloane MSS., Brit. Mus., and model sent to, and
deposited by, Petty in Wadham College.]
_September 17, 1665._--Lord's Day. To church to Gravesend in
the 'Bezan' yacht, and then to anchor for all night--and
with much pleasure at last to sleep--having very good
lodging upon cushions in the cabbin.
[Illustration: Cutter, 141 tons, from Stalkart's 'Naval
Architecture,' 1781.]
_October 1, 1665._--Lord's Day. Embarked on board the
'Bezan.' ... After supper on board the 'Bezan,' then to
cards for a while and so to sleep; but Lord! the mirth it
caused me to be waked in the night by the snoring around me.
1690.--Macaulay in his 'History' mentions a yacht. Caermarthen's
eldest son--bold and volatile, fond of the sea, and living much among
sailors--had a small yacht of marvellous speed.
1697.--Peter the Great is known to have added to the advancement of
sailing and building yachts during his visit to this country.
1720-1737.--The Water Club of the harbour of Cork was established, to
be held once every spring tide in April to the last in September,
inclusive. The details of this doyen club will be found in its proper
place, p. 99 _et seq._
[Illustration: Yacht stern, 1781.]
Amidst all the voluminous MSS. of the Admiralty secured and
appropriated by Samuel Pepys, it is unfortunate that no sketch or
drawing of the Royal yacht of Charles II. is to be found. Search is
vain among the papers at Cambridge, where most of the Diarist's
gleanings are preserved. We must, therefore, start with existing Royal
yachts, beginning with that built for King George III. in 1814, and
now lying in Portsmouth Harbour.
The Royal yacht 'Royal George' was laid down at Deptford, May 1814,
designed by Sir Henry Peake, Surveyor of the Navy, and she was
launched at Deptford in July, 1817. Her dimensions were as follow:
ft. in.
Length between perpendiculars 103 0
" keel for tonnage 84 4-1/2
Breadth, extreme 26 8
" for tonnage 26 6
Depth of hold 11 6
Burden in tons, 330 tons.
The 'Royal George' was used on Her Majesty's accession, 1837; she was
rigged as a ship, and was remarkable for excellent sailing qualities.
The captain appointed was Lord Adolphus FitzClarence, G.C.B., &c. The
'Royal George' was laid up in Portsmouth Harbour, in charge of the
Master and only fitted out when specially required for Royal service.
The lieutenants, mates, assistant-surgeon, and crew were stationed on
board a 10-gun brig, H.M.S. 'Pantaloon,' attached to the Royal yacht
as tender. This vessel was employed in looking after fishermen,
carrying mails, and on other services that might be required.
'Esmeralda,' cutter, under command of the second master, was also
attached to the Royal yacht as tender.
On November 7, 1842, a new steam yacht, 'Victoria and Albert,' was
laid down at Pembroke Dockyard, and on April 26 next year she was
launched. She was designed by Sir William Symonds, Surveyor of the
Navy. Construction: diagonal principle, Dantzic oak without,
horizontal planking of Italian larch. This yacht, it may here be
stated, was subsequently, when a new 'Victoria and Albert' was built,
known as the 'Osborne.'
_Dimensions_
ft. in.
Length 200 0
Extreme length 225 0
Beam 39 0
Over paddle-boxes 59 0
Speed 11.5 knots, and commissioned at Blackwall, July 1, 1843.
In 1844, it is to be noted, it was ordered that the Royal yacht should
carry the Royal standard at the main, the Admiralty flag at the fore,
and the Union Jack at the mizzen, which order remains in force at the
present time. In this year, it should perhaps be added, the Queen
stayed at Osborne House, and in the following year the estate was
purchased from Lady Isabella Blatchford by Her Majesty. The steam
yacht 'Fairy' (screw) was built at this period.
[Illustration: Her Majesty The Queen going to Scotland.]
ft. in.
Length 160 0
Beam 21 0
Burden, 317 tons. Speed, 13.25 knots, and carrying 18 tons of coal.
The paddle steam yacht 'Elfin' appeared in 1849. It was built at
Chatham, from the design of Mr. Oliver Lang, of mahogany and on the
diagonal principle.
ft. in.
Length over all 112 3
Length 103 6
Beam 13 2
Over boxes 25 6
Burden in tons, 96 tons. Speed, 12 knots. Draught, 4 ft. 10 in.
H.P. nominal 40. Indicated 192 H.P.
Amongst interesting details which should here be recorded, it may be
remarked that in August of this year Her Majesty in the Royal yacht
visited Cork, and the Cove was henceforth called Queenstown. As
regards the speed and capacity of the 'Victoria and Albert,' her
capabilities for long cruises were tested in 1850. Leaving Plymouth
Sound June 26, 8.45, she arrived in the Tagus off Belem, June 29,
3.10. Distance 772 miles in 66 hrs. 25 mins. Average speed 11-6/10
knots. Tried at a measured mile with anthracite and Merthyr coal
mixed, three years afterwards, her average speed was 11 knots.
A new yacht, under the temporary name of the 'Windsor Castle,' was
started at Pembroke in February 1854, but a few weeks later its
progress was suspended to facilitate work for the Baltic and Black Sea
fleets.
On January 16, 1855, the 'new' 'Victoria and Albert' was launched and
christened, and the name of the old yacht (built 1843) changed to
'Osborne.' The new 'Victoria and Albert' was designed by Oliver Lang,
Master Shipwright at Pembroke Yard.
ft. in.
Length figure-head to stern 336 4
" between perpendiculars 300 0
Beam outside paddle boxes 66 6
Burden in tons 2,342 tonnage
Breadth of wales 40 0
Diameter of paddle-wheel 31 0
h. p.
Engines' power nominal 600
Indicated 2,700
miles knots
Speed 16.813 14.592
July 23 17.762 15.416
Her Majesty's first cruise in the new yacht took place on July 12, and
next day she steamed round the Isle of Wight in 3 hrs. 25 mins. The
'Victoria and Albert' proved an excellent sea-boat. In a heavy gale
soon afterwards four line-of-battle ships drove; but Captain Denman
reported of the new Royal yacht, 'Splendid sea-boat, and rode out the
gale with extraordinary ease, not pitching at all, or bringing the
smallest jerk on the cable.'
As for speed, she was tried from Cork to Madeira, and returned from
the island, 1,266 miles, at an average rate of 10.8 knots. Cork to
Portsmouth, 341 miles, 22 hrs. 7 mins., average 15.4 knots, is also
noted.
The new yacht 'Alberta' (paddle steamer) was built in 1863.
ft. in.
Extreme length 179 0
Extreme breadth 22 8
Over paddle-boxes 41 0
Burden in tons, 390. Coal stowage, 33 tons. Speed, 14 knots.
All the fittings of the Royal yachts are as simple as possible, but
the perfect quality of material is not to be surpassed.
The appointments on these vessels are as follows: The commander, three
years; lieutenants, two years. One promoted at end of each year. Names
of all officers to be submitted to the Queen.
[Illustration: The Royal Yacht 'Victoria and Albert,' 1843.
(_First cruise_, 1843.)]
The 'Victoria and Albert' always lies off Cowes during the Queen's
residence at Osborne in the summer. During the winter, when the
Queen is at Osborne, she is in Portsmouth Harbour. The 'Alberta'
always brings the Queen from Gosport to Cowes, and _vice versâ_, and,
as a rule, members of any Royal family. The 'Elfin' runs regularly
with messengers, bringing despatches as may be from time to time
required; the whole fleet is under the command of Admiral Fullerton,
A.D.C., who is always on board any of the yachts in which the Queen
may embark. The 'Osborne' brings the Prince of Wales across to Cowes
in the summer, when the Prince and Princess and family live on board,
remaining generally for about three weeks. The 'Osborne' is an
independent command, being the Prince's Royal yacht. The grandest view
of the Royal yachts is obtained when Her Majesty inspects a fleet at
Spithead. On these occasions the 'Victoria and Albert,' with the Queen
and Royal family, the Lords of the Admiralty in attendance on board,
is preceded by the Trinity yacht 'Irene,' the 'Alberta' being on the
starboard, and the 'Elfin' on the port quarter. Next come the
Admiralty yacht 'Enchantress,' and the Lords and Commons,--generally
in troopships such as the 'Himalaya,'--others according to precedence.
The stately five-knot approach of these vessels is always very
impressive, and forms a nautical pageant well worthy of the Queen of
England and Empress of India, who has bestowed such munificent
patronage on the various yacht clubs of her realms, having presented
since the Accession no fewer than seventy-two valuable challenge cups
to be sailed for by all classes, besides the annual cups to the R.Y.S.
since 1843. The details of these will be recorded later on.
THE ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON
The present club-house of the Royal Yacht Squadron is of no modern
date, but a continuance of Cowes Castle, a fort built in the time of
Henry VIII. for the protection of the Medina River, which runs south
and forms a fine harbour for laying-up yachts of all sizes and
classes, with building yards on either side; and a very busy scene it
presents during the fitting-out season.
The Castle was continued as a fort, and on the death of the last
Governor, the Marquis of Anglesey, who was a very great patron of
yachting small and great, the Marquis Conyngham took a lease of the
property from the Crown and passed it on in 1856 to the Royal Yacht
Squadron, which was established in 1812, as the seal shows. In 1815 a
meeting of the then club was held at the Thatched House Tavern, St.
James's Street, Lord Grantham in the chair, supported by Lords
Ashbrook, Belmore, Buckingham, Cawdor, Craven, Deerhurst, Fitzharris,
Kirkwall, Nugent, Ponsonby, Thomond, Uxbridge, Sirs W. Curtis, J.
Hippesley, G. Thomas, Godfrey Webster, Colonels Sheddon and Wheatley,
&c. when new life was infused into the Association, and from that time
the Squadron has held the proud position of being the first yacht club
in the world, with the much-envied privilege and distinction of flying
the White Ensign.
[Illustration: Cowes Castle, from drawing by Loutherburg.]
After 1815, the R.Y.S. met for some years at the Medina Hotel, East
Cowes, and later on the Gloucester Hotel, at West Cowes, was taken for
the club-house, close to the Fort and Castle, whither, as just
remarked, they moved in 1856. It was at once rebuilt and enlarged. The
situation is beautiful, backed by large elm-trees. The platform
commands a grand view--towards the Motherbank, Ryde, and the Forts to
the eastward, with Calshot Castle, Portdown Hill, and Southampton
Water to the northward, and, away to the westward, Lymington.
[Illustration: Seal of Royal Yacht Club, Cowes.]
Two of the old guns, formerly in the Fort, have been happily
preserved, and are now placed in the grounds which have recently been
added to the Castle property on the west side, towards Egypt.
_The History of the Royal Cups_
The first Royal Cup was presented by His Majesty King William IV.,
1830, to be competed for by yachts belonging to members of the
Squadron; and the gift was continued during His Majesty's reign. The
table appended furnishes details.
+------+----------+------+------+----------------+
| Year | Yacht | Rig | Tons | Owner |
+----- +----------+------+------+----------------+
| 1830 | Alarm |Cutter| 193 | Jos. Weld |
| 1831 | Alarm | " | 193 | Jos. Weld |
| 1832 | Alarm | " | 193 | Jos. Weld |
| 1833 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1834 | Harriet | " | 65 | G. W. Heneage |
| 1835 | Columbine| " | 90 | J. Smith-Barry |
| 1836 | Breeze | " | 55 | James Lyons |
| 1837 | Amulet | " | 51 | J. Mecklam |
| 1838 | Alarm | " | 193 | Joseph Weld |
+------+----------+------+------+----------------+
At a meeting of the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1837, it was moved and
seconded: 'That the Commodore be requested to seek an interview or
audience with Her Majesty, with a view to the continuance of the Royal
Cup to be presented to the Yacht Club at Cowes.' The request was
graciously accorded. The list of Cups presented by Her Majesty is
given on p. 18.
On the occasion of the Emperor and Empress of the French visiting
Osborne, and landing in Osborne Bay in 1857, the Royal Yacht Squadron
boats formed an escort round the Royal barge.
[Illustration: 'Pearl,' The 'Falcon' _351 tons_ (_Earl of
Yarborough_), 'Waterwitch.'
_Off Spithead with the Royal Yacht Squadron on their voyage to
Cherbourg_, 1832.]
The Squadron has always been characterised by the large and powerful
class of vessels composing it; and the oil picture now hanging in the
dining-room at the Castle, painted by W. Huggins, 1835, shows the
leading craft of that date, with the Commodore's yacht in the centre.
This is the 'Falcon,' 351 tons, full ship rigged, carrying eleven guns
on the broadside. The 'Pearl,' 130 tons, belonging to the Marquis of
Anglesey, is coming up on the left side, dipping her gaff-topsail to
the Commodore, who is under topsails with top-gallant sails loose; in
the distance is a yacht, 'Pantaloon,' belonging to the Duke of
Portland, brig rigged, with her topsail aback; a large schooner and
several cutters are included. An engraving of this picture is lettered
thus:
'The Right Honourable Lord Yarborough's yacht "Falcon," of 351 tons,
off Spithead with the Royal Squadron, on their voyage to Cherbourg.
Painted by W. Huggins, Marine Painter to His Majesty, and published
by him at 105 Leadenhall Street. January 10, 1835.
This was a grand period in the club's history for large yachts. These
included the 'Pearl' and 'Alarm' cutters, and the schooners 'Dolphin'
(217 tons), 'Xarifa,' 'Kestrel,' and 'Esmeralda.' A picture of this
schooner, by Condy, is still in the possession of Lord Llangattock of
The Hendre. Then came the 'Arrow' cutter of 'Chamberlayne' fame, with
the well-known parti-coloured streak. She won and won until she was
requested not to enter, which was hardly reasonable, as the
enthusiastic owner improved her year by year, and kept well ahead of
his day.
[Illustration: 'Pearl,' R.Y.S., 130 tons (Marquis of Anglesey).
Launched 1821.]
In 1843 the Royal Yacht Squadron gave a cup to be sailed for by the
Royal Thames Yacht Club at Cowes. A very good picture of the race was
painted by Condy of Plymouth. At that time the 25-tonners were the
representative craft in the Thames, and 'Mystery,' 'Blue Bell,'
'Phantom,' 'Cygnet,' and 'Gnome' were generally to the fore. When the
Thames matches were sailed there were invariably some representatives
from the Royal Yacht Squadron to attend the racing, and everyone
looked out for the white ensign. The 'Pearl,' belonging to the Marquis
of Anglesey, always ran up alongside the club steamer, and dipped her
ensign as her owner waved his glazed hat, standing by the gunwale of
his grand craft.
In those days there certainly was intense enthusiasm about the
25-tonners, and great was the enjoyment they afforded the visitors.
[Illustration: 'Dolphin,' R.Y.S., 217 tons, 1839. (G. H. Ackers,
Esq.)]
In 1851 the Royal Yacht Squadron gave a cup to be sailed for, and it
was won by the 'America' schooner, belonging to Commodore J. C.
Stevens, of the New York Club. In America it is always called the
Queen's Cup, and in England the 'America' Cup, but it is really the
Royal Yacht Squadron Cup. The Americans have held it ever since.
[Illustration: 'Esmeralda,' R.Y.S., 1846.]
[Illustration: The 'Mystery' Winning the Cup Presented by R.Y.S. to be
Sailed for by Yachts of R.T.Y. Club.
(_August 1843_.)]
Luggers as yachts were common. In 1827 Lord Harborough had a large
lugger, the 'Emmetje,' of 103 tons, of which he was so proud that he
entered Ramsgate Harbour flying the coach whip of the Royal Navy,
until the officer of the Coastguard came on board and hauled it down.
Some thirty years afterwards came a revival when Lord Willoughby De
Eresby brought out in 1859 his celebrated lugger the 'New Moon.' She
was larger than Lord Harborough's--209 tons, 134 ft. long, 18 ft. 5
in. beam, constructed at Hastings. Her highest speed was attained on
long reach, and was shown on the occasion of her racing back to
Harwich. In a fine breeze she went away from the other yachts, going
14 or 15 knots; but ill fate awaited her; she had to make two boards
to fetch the Cork Lightship and the Bell Buoy. That was her
destruction; the time taken to dip the enormous lugs in going about
allowed the others, who had been nearly hull down, to overhaul her, so
necessary is it to have a craft that comes round like a top with
canvas easily handled.
[Illustration: 'De Emmetje,' lugger, 103 tons, 1827 (Lord
Harborough).]
The Jubilee of the Yacht Club was celebrated at Cowes in 1865, and
another notable event took place on the occasion of the Queen's
Jubilee, June 21, 1887. A procession of the Royal Yacht Squadron
manoeuvred in two columns, canvas and steam, finishing up with a
signal from the Commodore: 'Steam ahead full speed.' A drawing of this
spectacle, by Sir Oswald Brierley, is at the Castle, Cowes.
[Illustration: 'New Moon,' R.Y.S., 209 tons, 1859 (Lord Willoughby De
Eresby).]
The fastest yachts in the Royal Yacht Squadron are shown, of course,
in the list of Queen's Cup winners, which forms a befitting annual
history. Yachting in early days, however, was real yachting in its
truest sense, cruising about, that is to say, for the sake of peace
and rest; the vessels were generally schooners of considerable tonnage
for sea cruising. We have no longer 'Alarm,' 248 tons, 'Aurora
Borealis,' 252 tons; but the faithful 'Egeria,' 152 tons, belonging to
Mr. Mulholland, now Lord Dunleath, is still with us. In 1852-53 there
were only two steam yachts in the Squadron, which was averse to the
new comers; but by degrees a fine schooner class with auxiliary steam
was introduced, including, of well-known boats, 'Sunbeam,'[2] 1874;
'Czarina,' 1877; 'Wanderer' and 'Lancashire Witch,' 1878. New
members from 1890 to 1892 added 7,000 tons to the fleet, principally
steamers up to 1,000 tons and more.
[Footnote 2: Described by Lord Brassey, in his chapter on Ocean
Cruising, Vol. I.]
[Illustration: 'Corsair,' R.Y.S., Winning the Queen's Cup at Cowes,
1892.
_40-rater_ (_Admiral the Hon. Victor Montagu_).]
The squadron at the time of writing is composed of 227 members, and
the fleet consists of 107 vessels, as follows: 44 steam yachts, 10
steam schooners, 28 schooners, 13 cutters, 12 yawls, 107 vessels,
making 20,367 total tonnage. The minimum tonnage is 30 tons register
for sailing vessels, and 30 tons net for steamers (rule, May 1870).
The Queen's Cups are sailed for by yachts belonging to members of the
Royal Yacht Squadron only, but other prizes are given during the
Squadron Week, generally the first week in August.
_Names and dates of yachts owned by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales_
+----+------------+----------+---------+
|Date| Name | Rig | Tonnage |
|----+------------+----------+---------+
|1865| Dagmar | Cutter | 36 |
|1871| Alexandra | " | 40 |
|1872| Princess | " | 40 |
|1873| Zenobia | S.-steam | 38 |
|1877| Hildegarde | Schooner | 205 |
|1880| Formosa | Cutter | 104 |
|1882| Aline | Schooner | 210 |
|1893| Britannia | Cutter | 220 |
+----+------------+----------+---------+
Beside several steam launches and sailing boats.
The German Emperor, who became a member in 1891, in that year brought
over the 'Meteor,' _née_ 'Thistle,' to compete for the Queen's Cup,
and evinced the greatest enthusiasm, sailing in her for the prize,
August 3. The 'Meteor' finished first, but the 'Corsair,' 40 tons,
Rear-Admiral Victor Montague, R.N., came up with a smart breeze, saved
her time, and won.
Much interest was also taken in the presence of a 40-tonner, designed
by Mr. G. L. Watson for Prince Henry of Prussia, and steered by the
Prince, who seemed thoroughly to enjoy it, and remained all day at the
tiller--a sort of thing the British public fully appreciate.
Unfortunately the wind was not true.
The Queen has always graciously encouraged yachting in every way. The
list of challenge cups presented by Her Majesty will amply confirm the
assertion.
_List of Yacht Clubs to which the Queen has occasionally given Regatta
Cups_
Royal Yacht Squadron (Cowes) Every year since 1843, annually
Dublin Yacht Club 1849
Royal St. George's Club 1851, 1866, 1870, 1874, 1878, 1884, 1892
Royal Thames Club 1851, 1868, 1874, 1880, 1885
Royal Victoria (Ryde) Club 1851, 1852, 1856, 1888
Royal Southern Club 1851, 1857, 1870, 1891
Royal Irish Club 1852, 1865, 1871, 1877, 1881, 1885
Royal Cork Club 1850, 1852, 1858, 1865, 1869, 1889
Royal Yorkshire Club 1853
Royal Mersey Club 1853, 1857, 1861, 1866, 1881
Royal Western (Plymouth) Club 1858, 1861, 1867, 1878, 1882
Royal Northern Club 1859, 1869, 1882, 1890
Royal West of Ireland Club 1863, 1867, 1873
Royal Cornwall 1871, 1884
Royal Alfred Yacht Club 1872, 1879, 1886
Royal Albert Club 1873, 1890
Royal Cinque Ports Club 1875, 1891
Royal Clyde Club 1876, 1883, 1888
Royal Ulster Club 1880, 1887
Royal Harwich Club 1883
Royal London Club 1886
Royal Dorset Club 1887
Royal Portsmouth Corinthian
Club 1889
Royal Forth Club 1892
_Cups given by the Queen to Clubs not Royal_
Canada Yacht Club 1891
Upper Thames Sailing Clubs
(Challenge Cup) 1893
[Illustration: Royal Yacht Squadron. Queen's Course.]
The majority of members of the Squadron own, and chiefly use, large
yachts, but not a few of them are practical seamen. One prominent
member, Lord Dufferin, is specially notable as a keen devotee of
single-handed sailing, and is the owner of a famous boat, 'The Lady
Hermione.' The Editor has thought this an appropriate place to insert
a description of the pastime kindly contributed by his lordship,
followed by an account of his well-known boat.
SINGLE-HANDED SAILING
BY THE MARQUIS OF DUFFERIN AND AVA
The wind blows fair, the vessel feels
The pressure of the rising breeze,
And, swiftest of a thousand keels,
She leaps to the careering seas.
The following description of 'The Lady Hermione' has been written by
my friend Mr. McFerran, who is a much better sailor than myself; but,
as the Editor has asked me to prefix a few observations of my own on
single-handed boat sailing, I have great pleasure in recommending to
the attention of the readers of the Badminton Library that
exceptionally pleasant form of sea adventure.
Probably the proudest moment of the life of anyone who loves the sea,
not even excepting the analogous epoch of his marriage morning, is the
one in which he weighs anchor for the first time on board his own
vessel. It is true that from the first hour he could call her his own
his existence has been a dream of delight, unless perhaps for the
passing cloud cast by the shadow of the cheque he has been required to
draw for her payment. As soon as she has come into his possession, her
ungainly naked bulk, as she lies upon the mud, assumes divine
proportions; and as by slow degrees her 'toilette' proceeds, her decks
whiten, her masts assume a golden hue and clothe themselves with sail
and rigging, his happiness becomes unspeakable. If he is animated by
the proper spirit, he has at once set himself to learn navigation; he
has plunged deep into the 'Sailor's Manual'; and, to the amazement of
his female relations, he is to be seen busily employed in tying and
untying knots on short pieces of rope. But his principal preoccupation
is the fitting of his cabins. The mystery of the ship's practical
garniture he leaves to his master, as being beyond the utmost effort
of his intellect, though he has a certain satisfaction in knowing that
he possesses a pretty accurate knowledge of the way in which the
framework of the vessel has been put together.
At last everything is reported ready. He gives the order to weigh
anchor, and, as if by a magical impulse, he finds that the being upon
whom he has lavished so much affection has become a thing of life, has
spread her wings, and is carrying him into the unknown. He paces the
deck with telescope under his arm, in the proud consciousness that he
is absolute master of her movements, and that with a wave of his hand
he can direct her to the golden islands of the west or to the fabled
homes of Calypso and the Cyclops, according as his fancy may suggest.
No emperor or autocrat has ever been so conscious of his own majesty.
But soon a most unwelcome and humiliating conviction damps his
exaltation. He discovers that for all practical purposes of command
and government he is more incompetent than his own cabin-boy or the
cook's mate: that the real ruler of the ship's movements and destiny
is his 'master,' whom his crew call the 'captain'; and that the only
orders he can issue with a certainty that they are not open to
criticism are those he gives for his breakfast and his dinner, if
indeed he is in a position to partake of either. Officially he is
gratified with the ambiguous title of 'owner,' while he is painfully
conscious that his real social status is that of a mere passenger, and
that this unwelcome servitude has every likelihood of enduring during
his whole career as a yachtsman. He may indeed, as a man of education,
or perhaps of scientific attainments, become in course of time a
better navigator than many of the splendid rough and ready sailormen
who command the ships of our squadron; but, unless he has been able to
spend more time on board than their multifarious occupations allow
most owners of yachts to devote to seafaring, he must know that it is
idle for him to pretend to compete either in seamanship or experience
with the man whom he employs to sail his vessel for him. In short, he
remains an amateur to the end of the chapter, and, if he is sensible
and honest, is always ready to acknowledge himself the disciple of the
professional sailor.
But in single-handed boat sailing this humiliating sense of dependence
and inferiority disappears. For the first time in his life, no matter
how frequent may have been his cruises on bigger vessels, he finds
himself the _bona fide_ master of his own ship, with that delightful
sense of unlimited responsibility and co-extensive omnipotence which
is the acme of human enjoyment. The smallness of his craft does not in
the slightest degree diminish the sense of his importance and dignity;
indeed, there is no reason why it should. All the problems which task
the intelligence and knowledge of the captain of a thousand-tonner
during the various contingencies of its nautical manoeuvres have to be
dealt with by him with equal promptness and precision. Anchored in a
hot tideway and amongst a crowd of other shipping, he has perhaps a
more difficult job to execute in avoiding disaster when getting under
way or picking up his moorings than often confronts under similar
circumstances the leviathans of the deep; and his honour is equally
engaged in avoiding the slightest graze or sixpence worth of injury
either to himself or his neighbours as would be the case were a
court-martial or a lawsuit and 5,000_l_. damages involved in the
misadventure. The same pleasurable sentiments stimulate his faculties
when encountering the heavy weather which waits him outside; for,
though the seas he encounters may not be quite so large as Atlantic
rollers, nor break so dangerously as in the Pentland Firth, they are
sufficiently formidable in proportion to the size of his craft to
require extremely careful steering, and probably an immediate
reduction of canvas under conditions of some difficulty.
Nor are even misfortunes when they occur, as occur they must, utterly
devoid of some countervailing joys. He has neglected to keep his lead
going when approaching land; he has misread the perverse mysteries of
the tides, and his vessel and his heart stop simultaneously as her
keel ploughs into a sandbank. The situation is undoubtedly depressing,
but at least there is no one on board on this and on similar occasions
to eye him with contemptuous superiority or utter the aggravating, 'I
told you so.' Nay, if he is in luck, the silent sea and sky are the
only witnesses of his shame, and even the sense of this soon becomes
lost and buried in the ecstacy of applying the various devices
necessary to free his vessel from her imprisonment. He launches his
Berthon boat, and lays out an anchor in a frenzy of delightful
excitement; he puts into motion his tackles, his gipsy winches, and
all the mechanical appliances with which his ingenuity has furnished
his beloved; and when at last, with staysail sheet a-weather, she
sidles into deep water, though, as in the case of Lancelot, 'his
honour rooted in dishonour stood,' the tragic origin of his present
trial quickly fades into oblivion, and during after years he only
recalls to his mind, or relates with pride to his friends, the later
incidents of the drama.
Another happiness attending his pursuit is that he is always learning
something new. Every day, and every hour of the day, the elements of
each successive problem with which he has to deal are perpetually
changing. As Titian said of painting, seamanship is an art whose
horizon is always extending; and what can be more agreeable than to be
constantly learning something new in a pursuit one loves?
I have heard it sometimes objected that single-handed boat-sailing is
dangerous. Well, all sport is dangerous. People have been killed at
golf, at football, and at cricket; nor is sitting in an easy-chair
exempt from risk; but during an experience of five and twenty years,
though laying no claim to much skill as a mariner, I have never had a
serious accident, though occasionally a strong tide may have swept me
whither I had not the least intention of going; nor have I ever done
more than 10_l._ worth of damage either to my own vessel or my
neighbour's. The principal thing one must be careful about is not to
fall overboard, and in moving about the ship one should never leave go
one holdfast till one's hand is on another. It is also advisable not
to expose one's head to a crack from the boom as one is belaying the
jib and staysail sheets in tacking, for it might very well knock one
senseless.
In conclusion, I would submit that to anyone wearied with the
business, the pleasures, the politics, or the ordinary worries of
life, there is no such harbour of refuge and repose as single-handed
sailing. When your whole thoughts are intent on the management of your
vessel, and the pulling of the right instead of the wrong string, it
is impossible to think either of your breakdown in your maiden speech
in the House of Commons, of your tailor's bills, or of the young lady
who has jilted you. On the other hand, Nature, in all her beauty and
majesty, reasserts her supremacy, and claims you for her own, soothing
your irritated nerves, and pouring balm over your lacerated feelings.
The complicated mysteries of existence reassume their primæval
simplicity, while the freshness and triumphant joyousness of early
youth return upon you as you sweep in a dream past the magic headlands
and islands of the Ionian Sea or glide along the Southern coast of
your native land, with its sweet English homes, its little red brick
villages and homesteads nestling in repose amid the soft outlines of
the dear and familiar landscape. The loveliness of earth, sea, and sky
takes possession of your soul, and your heart returns thanks for the
gift of so much exquisite enjoyment in the pursuit of an amusement as
manly as it is innocent.
N.B.--Single-handed sailing need not preclude the presence of a lady
passenger. On the contrary, she will be found very useful on occasion,
whether in starting the sheets, in taking a spell at the wheel (for
they are all familiar with the art of despotic guidance), in keeping a
sharp look-out, in making tea, or in taking her part in a desultory
conversation.
'THE LADY HERMIONE,' SINGLE-HANDED SAILING YAWL
BY JAMES MCFERRAN
In the course of two summers passed on the shores of the Gulf of
Naples the writer had frequent opportunities of becoming acquainted
with the details of the construction, fittings, and equipment of a
very remarkable little yacht, whose white canvas for a couple of
seasons was constantly to be seen on that unrivalled sheet of water
between the months of June and October. He has thought that a
description of the vessel in question may prove interesting, not only
to such of the readers of these volumes as are devoted to the art of
single-handed sailing--that most delightful, manly, and invigorating
of all sports--but also to the general body of yachtsmen who, during
the summer and autumn months, fill, in ever-increasing numbers, our
various yachting ports with the most perfect specimens of the
shipwright's craft that the world can produce.
'The Lady Hermione,' as the vessel whose qualities and characteristics
it is proposed to describe is called, is the property of Her Majesty's
Ambassador at Paris, his Excellency the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava.
His Lordship, as is well known, has from very early days been a keen
yachtsman, and though for some time past he has had no opportunities
of indulging in his favourite pastime in large yachts, he has long
been devoted to sailing in vessels in which he comprises in his own
person the hierarchy of owner, master, and crew. During the last
fifteen years, in whatever part of the world he may have been,
provided sailing were possible, he has never been without a little
ship specially constructed for this form of amusement. In each
succeeding vessel some new invention or arrangement for her safer,
easier, and more efficient handling has suggested itself, and been
worked out under the owner's direct supervision. In the present boat
the development of the single-handed sailing yacht seems at last to
have reached perfection, and it would hardly be possible for the most
inventive mind to suggest an improvement in her.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--'The Lady Hermione.']
'The Lady Hermione' is a yawl-rigged yacht (fig. 1), built by Forrest
& Son, of Wivenhoe, to the order of her owner. She is 22 ft. 9 in.
long between perpendiculars, 4 ft. 2 in. in depth, has a beam of 7 ft.
3 in., and a registered tonnage of four tons. She is built with
mild-steel frames, galvanised so as to resist the corrosive action of
sea-water--a mode of construction which has recently been adopted for
torpedo-boats--and is sheathed with East Indian teak and coppered. A
novel feature in the hull of so small a boat is its division into
water-tight compartments by transverse and longitudinal bulkheads,
composed of galvanised steel plates riveted to the steel frames. These
bulkheads form a large forward compartment, two compartments on each
side of the cabin, and a compartment at the stern, thus rendering the
vessel water-tight as long as they remain intact.
On the deck, forward and aft, are hatchways which give entrance to the
bow and stern compartments respectively. The hatches to these
openings, which are kept constantly closed at sea, are fastened down
with strong gun-metal screws fitted with butterfly nuts, the screws
being fastened to the deck and made to fold down on it with joint when
not in use. The coamings of the hatchways, as well as the inner edges
of the hatches themselves, are lined with india-rubber, so as to
render the covers perfectly water-tight. Access to the side
compartments is obtained by means of manholes opening from the cabin,
and covered with steel plates screwed into the bulkhead. In the event
of the yacht's shipping any water, it is removed by a pump leading
through the deck near to the cockpit and within easy reach of the
steersman's hand. The cover of the pump works on a hinge, and lies
flush with the deck when closed. The pump-handle is made to ship and
unship at will, and is in the form of a lever, which renders the
operation of pumping more easy than in the ordinary form of pump
usually employed in small boats (c, figs. 2 and 11).
'The Lady Hermione' is ballasted with lead, the greater portion of
which is carried outside in the form of a keel, which weighs about two
tons. On trial, it was found that the little craft was too quick on
her helm--a quality which, however useful in racing vessels, is
undesirable in a single-handed boat, where the operation of getting
aft the sheets when going about naturally requires somewhat more time
than it does when the crew is composed of more than one hand. In order
to remedy this defect a deep oak keel has been fixed outside the lead
keel, and has to a considerable extent answered its purpose. It has
also added immensely to the boat's stiffness; and it is blowing very
hard indeed when a reef requires to be taken down. In fact, owing to
her deep build and her heavy outside keels, 'The Lady Hermione' is
virtually uncapsizable, while her water-tight compartments render her
unsinkable. It is impossible to overrate the value of these two
elements of safety in a boat which is always worked by one person and
is taken out in all weathers.
Stepping on board 'The Lady Hermione,' the visitor, however much he is
accustomed to yachts, is struck by the number and apparent
complication of the contrivances which meet his eye (fig. 3), the
interior of the vessel looking, as a witty naval officer once observed
on being shown over her, 'something like the inside of a clock'; but,
after a few explanations, the usefulness and practical efficiency of
the various devices become evident. The principle which has been
adhered to throughout in the rigging and fittings is, that all
operations connected with the handling and management of the boat
shall be performed by one person without the application of any
considerable physical force. It has also been laid down as a _sine quâ
non_ that everything shall work perfectly in all weathers and under
all conditions of wind and sea. The result of the owner's ingenuity
is, that the sails can be hoisted and lowered, the sheets attended to,
the anchor let go and weighed, and the tiller fixed and kept fixed in
any desired position, without the necessity of the one person, who
composes the crew leaving the cockpit. The arrangements for carrying
out these objects will now be described in detail.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--'The Lady Hermione.' Deck plan.]
The first contrivance which claims attention is that for keeping the
rudder fixed at any desired angle (figs. 4 and 5A). In his account of
his cruise in the yawl 'Rob Roy' the late Mr. Macgregor says that he
had never seen any really satisfactory method of accomplishing this
object; but the difficulty has been solved by Lord Dufferin, who,
indeed, has had fitted in many of his previous boats an apparatus
similar to that in the present one. On the deck aft, about a couple of
feet in advance of the rudder-head, are fitted two brass stanchions.
These support a brass bar which on its lower side is indented with
notches similar to the teeth of a saw, and of a depth of about half an
inch (A, fig. 4). On the tiller there is fitted a brass tube or
cylinder made so as to slide backwards and forwards within a limit of
some eight or ten inches, and bearing on its upper surface a
triangular fin of brass (A, fig. 5). When it is desired to fix the
tiller in any particular position, the cylinder is instantaneously
slipped back until the fin catches one of the notches of the bar, and
the tiller is thus securely fixed. The tiller is unlocked by simply
flicking forward the cylinder with the hand, the locking and unlocking
being done in a second. The toothed brass bar, it may be mentioned, is
curved so that the fin may fit into any desired notch, no matter at
what an angle it may be desired to fix the rudder (A, fig. 4). The
cockpit of the yacht being somewhat small, it was found that when
there was a lady passenger on board the movement of the tiller
interfered with her comfort, and, in order to obviate this difficulty,
a steering-wheel has recently been fixed on the top of the cabin
immediately in front of where the helmsman stands (fig. 6). When the
wheel is used a short tiller is employed, with steel tackles leading
from it through pulleys and fair-leads to the wheel itself. The axis
of the wheel carries a brass cap fitted with a screw, by half a turn
of which the steering apparatus can be locked or unlocked, and the
helm fixed in any position. If it is desired at any time to substitute
steering with the tiller for steering with the wheel, the process is
very simple. A brass handle of the requisite length, and bearing a
cylinder and fin as above described, is screwed on to the short
tiller, and the tiller ropes are cast off, the whole operation being
performed in a few seconds. The wheel, the stand for which slides into
brass grooves on the cabin top, can also be unshipped and stowed out
of the way in a very short time.
[Illustration: Fittings of 'The Lady Hermione.']
We now proceed to examine the gear for letting go the anchor, which,
though difficult to describe, will readily be understood from the
drawing (fig. 7). The anchor, a Martin's patent, when stowed, rests
upon two crescent-shaped supports, which project from the bulwarks
just forward of the main rigging (A, A', fig. 7). These supports are
fixed to a bar or tumbler lying close to the inside of the bulwark,
and arranged so as to turn on its axis (B, fig. 7; and C, fig. 12).
Fixed to the tumbler inboard there is a small bar which fits into a
socket attached to the covering board. On the socket is a trigger (C,
fig. 7, and D, fig. 12) from which a line leads along the inside of
the bulwarks to within easy reach of the cockpit (D, fig. 7). By
pulling this line the socket is made to revolve, so as to release the
arm; the weight of the anchor forces the tumbler to turn on its axis,
bringing down with it the crescent-shaped supports, and the anchor
falls into the sea.
This operation having been completed, it will probably be thought that
now at last the crew must leave his point of vantage, and go forward
to stopper and bit his cable. But no; we have not by any means yet
reached the limits of ingenuity displayed in this extraordinary little
ship. The chain cable runs out through a hawse-pipe in the bow, and
across the hawse-hole a strong steel plate or compressor, with a notch
cut in it to fit the links of the cable, runs in grooves. By pulling a
line which leads to the cockpit this compressor is drawn over the
hawse-hole, and the cable is thus effectually snubbed. When the anchor
has to be got up, or it is required to let out more chain, the
compressor can be drawn back by another line which also leads to the
cockpit. These two contrivances for letting go and stopping the
anchor, together with the apparatus for weighing it without leaving
the cockpit, which will now be dealt with, get rid of that fruitful
source of discomfort in boats manned by one hand--namely, the
necessity of the solitary mariner's having to go forward to deal with
his ground tackle at a time when perhaps he has other pressing calls
on his attention in connection with the management of his vessel.
Equally as ingenious as the means of letting go the anchor is the
machinery employed for weighing it. The windlass used is an ordinary
yacht's windlass, except that on its outer end on its starboard side
it carries a cogged wheel (fig. 8). Close alongside the windlass there
rises from the deck a spindle cut with an endless screw (A, fig. 9),
the threads of which take the teeth of the cogged wheel. This spindle
runs through the deck, and has at its lower extremity a cogged wheel
(B, fig. 9), fitting into another cogged wheel attached to a shaft,
which runs aft on bearings in the ceiling of the cabin to the cockpit
(C, fig. 9). At the cockpit end it is furnished with a large wheel (D,
fig. 9, and fig. 10), on turning which the motion is communicated
through the shaft and a system of cog-wheels (figs. 9 and 11), to the
Archimedian screw rising up through the deck forward, and this screw
in its turn revolves the windlass, and the anchor comes merrily home.
The slack of the chain, as it comes in, drops perpendicularly through
the hawse-pipe to the chain-locker below, and requires no attention or
handling. The machinery for getting the anchor possesses great power,
and, even when the anchor has a tight hold of the bottom, the wheel in
the cockpit can be turned almost with one finger. The wheel is made to
ship and unship, and when not in use is hung up to the side of the
cabin. As a general rule, especially when weighing in a crowded
harbour, the anchor is simply hove up close to the hawse-hole until
open water has been gained, the ropes carefully coiled down, and
everything made snug and shipshape. The vessel is then laid to, or the
helm fixed so as to keep her on her course, as circumstances may
determine, and the crew goes forward to do the one thing he cannot
perform from aft, the catting and fishing of his anchor. Suspended
from the head of the mainmast is a tackle of the kind known to seamen
as a 'Spanish burton,' with a long iron hook attached to its lower
block. In fishing the anchor this burton is first overhauled, and,
leaning over the bow, the operator fixes the hook in a ring let into
the shank of the anchor at a point where the anchor exactly balances
itself when suspended horizontally. He then passes the various parts
of the fall of the tackle through an eye at the end of a
fish-davit--similar in shape to the boat-davits used in large
ships--which stands up from the deck close to the bulwarks, a little
forward of the supports for the anchor already mentioned (A, fig. 12).
By pulling on the hauling part of the burton the anchor is raised
close to the end of the davit, and the davit, by an ingeniously
arranged spring, on a lever at its base (B, fig. 12), being pressed
with the foot, can be swung round until the anchor is suspended
immediately above its resting-place, into which it is then lowered,
the crescent-shaped supports already referred to having been
previously placed in position, and the trigger locked. Here it rests
in perfect security, and is ready to be let go by pulling on the line
attached to the trigger. On the port side a second anchor is carried,
an Admiralty pattern, weighing about fifty pounds, and secured in
precisely the same way as the starboard or working anchor, though in
weighing it the windlass is used with an ordinary ratchet, as the
windlass barrel on the port side is not connected with the shaft
previously described. It may here be mentioned that the starboard
barrel of the windlass can also be used in the ordinary way, as the
spindle with the endless screw already mentioned is made with a joint,
so that it can be disconnected from the cogged wheel and laid down
flat on deck out of the way whenever necessary (C, fig. 8; and D, fig.
9).
We now pass on to what is the most important thing in all
single-handed sailing boats, the arrangement of the halliards and
sheets in such a manner that all operations connected with making and
shortening sail can be performed from the cockpit. In 'The Lady
Hermione' this essential principle has been carried out to its fullest
extent. At the foot of the mainmast on each side is a brass fair-lead
fitted with ten or twelve sheaves (figs. 13 and 14). Through these
sheaves all the halliards (except, of course, those connected with the
mizzen) are rove, and then led aft over the top of the cabin to within
a few inches of the cockpit (fig. 3). Here they are belayed to a
large belaying-pin rack which crosses the cabin top in front of the
steersman and within easy reach of his hand (fig. 15). The frame of
this rack is pierced with horizontal holes for the ropes to pass
through, after which they are belayed to the pins, while the falls are
allowed to drop down on to the cabin floor, where they are snugly
coiled away in a box with a number of compartments which has been made
to receive them. The object of passing the halliards through holes in
the belaying-pin rack is to afford a straight pull when getting up
sail, and to prevent the ropes from flying away out of the steersman's
reach when they are let go. 'The Lady Hermione' is, or rather was
originally, fitted with all the running rigging that would be employed
in the largest-sized yacht, and this will give some idea of the number
of ropes that have to be dealt with by one person:--main and peak
halliards, two topping-lifts, tack tackle and tack tricing line,
topsail tack, sheets, halliards, and clew line, jib and staysail
halliards, and jib and staysail down-hauls. As originally rigged,
main, peak, and jib purchases were employed for getting the mainsail
and jib well up, but the introduction of the gipsy winches mentioned
in the next paragraph rendered these ropes unnecessary, and they have
consequently been dispensed with. The system employed, however, has
always worked without the slightest hitch, and enables whoever may be
sailing the boat to attend to all the halliards without leaving the
helm. On the belaying-pin rack each pin has the name of the rope for
which it is intended engraved on a small brass plate, so that no
confusion can arise as to what part of the gear it may at any time be
desired to deal with; though, after a little practice, whoever is
sailing the boat knows the lead of each rope by instinct. At the foot
of the mizzen-mast fair-leads, similar to those near the mainmast,
bring the gear of the mizzen to within reach of the cockpit. The jib
and staysail sheets also lead aft, through bull's-eye fair-leads fixed
inside the bulwarks, and are belayed to cleats screwed on to the
coamings of the cockpit.
Even in a boat of the size now under description, it will be
understood that the hoisting of the sails and the getting aft of the
head-sheets in a strong breeze would tax the strength of an ordinary
person; but, still carrying out the principle of doing everything with
the least possible exertion, small gipsy winches of a peculiar pattern
are largely employed, and form a very remarkable feature in the
fittings of the vessel (figs. 16 and 17). These winches are all made
so as to be easily shipped and unshipped at will, as they slide into
brass grooves affixed to the deck, and are worked with ratchet
handles, to which are attached strong steel springs in order to insure
the ratchets always biting in the cogs. Altogether, there are ten
gipsy winches on board, two on the deck on each side of the cockpit,
two on the cabin top just forward of the belaying-pin rack, and two on
the deck in front of the mainmast. The two on each side of the cockpit
are used for the head-sheets. The sheets, led aft as previously
described, are given a couple of turns round the barrel of the winch,
and then belayed to their cleats. In getting them in after going
about, they are first hauled hand-taut, then the ratchet handle is
worked until they are as tight as may be desired, after which they are
belayed. These operations are performed in a very few seconds, and the
power of the winches is so great that the sheets are got in flatter
than would be possible by any other means. The four winches on the
cabin top are employed in the same manner for the main and peak
halliards, or for the topsail tack, sheet and halliards, as may be
required. The two forward of the mast are used for any purpose for
which it may be required to use a purchase. The winches have all
worked admirably from the time they were first fitted; they are not in
the least in the way, and the simplicity of their operation and the
extraordinary power which can be developed from them would scarcely be
credited by anyone who has not seen them in actual use. The jib and
staysail sheets were at first fitted with tackles; but the
introduction of the winches has rendered tackles unnecessary. For the
same reason, the main, peak and jib purchases, which were fitted when
the little vessel was first prepared for sea, have been dispensed
with, as the winches give all the power that can be desired.
Forward of, and attached to, the mainmast a long hawser is kept
constantly stowed, to be used as a tow-rope in case towing by a
steam-launch or tug should be necessary, as sometimes happens in a
calm. This hawser is bulky and unwieldy to handle when wet, and it is
understood that on the first opportunity there is to be substituted
for it a light steel-wire hawser wound on a miniature but sufficiently
strong drum, carried forward, in the same manner that steel hawsers
are disposed of on the decks of large vessels.
Having now completed the description of the main features of the
vessel, a word or two may be said about her minor fittings, which are
also worthy of notice.
In most single-handed boats the helmsman is constantly bothered by his
head-sheets, especially when there is a strong breeze, getting foul of
something, thus necessitating his going forward to clear them. In 'The
Lady Hermione' this inconvenience is entirely obviated by brass guards
placed over all the projections upon which it is possible for a rope
to catch. In this way the fair-leads in the bow, the windlass and the
gipsy winches forward, are all protected, so that it is impossible for
a rope to get foul anywhere.
In order to harmonise with the rest of the metal-work, the screws by
which the rigging is set up are all of gun-metal, instead of the
galvanised iron usually employed for the purpose.
Round the entire gunwale there runs a steel-wire ridge-rope, supported
on brass stanchions, so that anyone moving about the deck in heavy
weather may have something to hold on by.
In front of the mast there is a ladder made of steel-wire rope with
wooden steps, leading from the deck to the crosstrees, which is very
convenient in case anything has to be done aloft. This ladder is set
up to the deck with brass screws, similar to those used for the
rigging.
On the top of the cabin, in front of the steersman and between the
gipsy winches, is a lifeboat liquid-compass fitted with a binnacle,
the compass, like almost every fitting on board, being made to ship
and unship, so as to be stowed out of the way when not in use (figs.
18 and 19).
As the little vessel when abroad was frequently sailed in the winter
months, when, even in the Mediterranean, it is somewhat bitterly cold,
a brass charcoal stove or chafing-dish of the kind used in Turkey, and
there called a 'mangal,' is fitted at the bottom of the cockpit. It is
covered with a brass grating, which forms a floor for the helmsman to
stand on; and the heat from below keeps him comfortably warm, even in
the coldest weather.
Another provision against the weather is a large umbrella for the use
of any lady passenger when sailing under a strong sun. When in use the
handle is fitted into a socket on the coaming of the hatchway, the
socket being fitted with a universal joint, so that the umbrella may
be adjusted in any desired position. There are two sockets, one on
either side of the cockpit, in order that the umbrella may be carried
on whichever side is most convenient (fig. 20).
On either side of the gunwale aft is fitted a brass crutch for
supporting the main boom when the vessel is at anchor (fig. 21). At
sea the clutches also serve the purpose of receiving the topsail-yard,
one end of which is stowed in a crutch, while the other is made fast
with a tying to the outside of the main rigging, thus getting rid of
the inconvenience of having such a long spar on deck.
A very important fitting is a hatch by which the cockpit can be
completely covered in in heavy weather. The hatch is made in sections
hinged together, its two halves being also hinged to the back of the
seats in the cockpit on either side. When unfolded and fixed in
position it covers the entire cockpit, with the exception of a small
circular opening left for the steersman, and the vessel is rendered
almost as water-tight as a corked bottle. This small circular opening
can also be closed, if necessary, by a wooden-hinged cover made for
the purpose.
Most of the running rigging is of white cotton rope, which looks
exceedingly smart and has answered its purpose fairly well; but it has
not the durability of manilla, and when wet it has a great tendency to
kink.
The cabin is very plainly fitted up, and is without berths or seats,
its only furniture being some racks and cupboards used for stowing
away a few necessary articles. When anyone sleeps on board, a mattress
is spread on the floor and forms a very comfortable bed.
[Illustration: Lord Dufferin's 'Foam,' R.Y.S. 'In high latitudes,'
1856.]
In the cabin there is carried, folded up, a 10-ft. Berthon dinghy,
which can be expanded and launched in a few minutes. This does away
with the necessity of towing a dinghy, while there is not room to
carry one on deck.
In conclusion, it may be said that 'The Lady Hermione' presents a very
smart appearance and is an extraordinarily good sea-boat. The writer
has frequently seen her out in the Gulf of Naples in weather which
even the largest native craft would not venture to face. She is also
admirably sailed by her owner, and it is a great pleasure to watch her
being handled by him under sail, everything being done with great
method and system and in a highly seamanlike style. Her cruising
ground has now been transferred to the stormier regions of the English
Channel; and two summers ago she was sailed to Trouville, where she
remained for some time, running back to the Solent in October in half
a gale of wind, during which she behaved admirably, and made better
weather than many large vessels could have done.
This paper has run to a greater length than the writer at first
intended; but he trusts he will be forgiven in consideration of his
having made known to his fellow-yachtsmen the existence of what is
really a most unique and wonderful little craft. A model of her hull
was included in Messrs. Forrest & Son's exhibit in the late Naval
Exhibition at Chelsea, and it is to be regretted that the vessel
herself, or, at all events, an accurate model showing her rigging and
all her fittings, was not on view also, for she would not have been by
any means the least attractive of the many nautical objects of
interest contained in the collection in question, which has done so
much to make the British public acquainted with the maritime history
and greatness of their country.
[Illustration: View from the Royal Western Yacht Club, Plymouth.]
ROYAL WESTERN YACHT CLUB, PLYMOUTH.
No wonder Plymouth was early in the field with yachting, in view of
the tempting facilities for every variety of aquatic pastime which
nature has there provided in the midst of lovely scenery, with shelter
close at hand in case of sudden change of weather; in fact, the whole
atmosphere is nautical with mighty precedents, for is not this the
West-country long famed for mariners with stirring historical
associations? Who can walk on the Hoe without thinking of Drake, of
Armada fame, and the stout hearts that gathered round him in the hour
of need for the defence of England against an overwhelming force?
Plymouth is a delightfully picturesque spot. On the S.-W. is the seat
of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, where the timber is specially fine on
the hills which afford shelter from the prevalent S.-W. wind, and blow
it truly can on occasions, not infrequently at the Regatta time, when
it is least wanted, now that the small raters are in such force. Still
it is surprising what weather some of these little fellows make of it
as they round the Breakwater. The present club-house of the Royal
Western Yacht Club is situated at the west end of the Hoe. The view
from the club-house is extremely fine. On the right the wooded heights
of Mount Edgcumbe, with the Hamoaze beneath, a little to the right,
also Drake's Island and the starting point for yacht and trawler
racing; due south the great Breakwater, and in clear weather the new
Eddystone Lighthouse. Bearing to the left beyond the Breakwater is the
well-known 'Mewstone' and familiar 'Shag Rock,' whilst inside lie a
variety of craft. Any foreign men-of-war visiting Plymouth generally
bring up at this spot, and the training brigs 'Seaflower,' 'Pilot,'
and 'Martin' give quite an idea of old days in the British Navy,
imparting much life to the whole sea view, for the lads are always
getting under way, or loosing sails, going out or coming in. On still
to the left is a range of high hills running out to the Start Point
and Prawle Point, and just beyond the Hoe to the eastward is the
Catwater, where yachts get a snug berth clear of the entrance to the
inner harbour full of trawlers and every possible variety of hookers,
fishing craft, &c.
[Illustration: Royal Western Yacht Club Plymouth.]
The Royal Western Yacht Club was established in 1827, and was at that
time known as the Port of Plymouth Royal Clarence Regatta Club; in
1833 it became the Royal Western Yacht Club. H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex
consented to become patron and H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent patroness,
eight presidents were appointed, one of whom, Sir T. D. Acland, is
still living in Devonshire. The vice-presidents, twenty-one in number,
were all men of high position and great influence. A most interesting
list of the yachts in 1835, giving the names of the boats, is still in
the possession of the club. Unfortunately there is not space to print
this in full, valuable as it would be as a record; still certain
points must be noted. There were 43 yachts in the list: of these 17
were clinker-built, like the 'Harriet' cutter of Cowes, 96 tons,
belonging to Sir B. R. Graham, Bart., a very handsome craft carrying a
crew of eleven hands. Ten were carvel-built, 16 not classified. This
was the period of general introduction of carvel surfaces. Sir T. D.
Acland's yacht 'Lady St. Kilda' was the largest schooner and largest
yacht belonging to the Royal Western Yacht Club. Her complement of
hands was eleven. Another point worthy of attention is the proportion
of rigs adopted: out of 43 vessels, 29 were cutters, 5 schooners, 4
yawls, 5 no rig given.
The regattas were held at first on the anniversary of the coronation
of His Majesty George IV., and the members were to be distinguished by
a uniform worn on the day of the regatta, and at such other times as
they might think proper.
Undress: Short blue jacket with round collar, single-breasted--six
buttons in front, and three on each cuff. White or blue kerseymere
waistcoat, with six buttons. White trousers. Blue and white shirt.
Full dress: Blue coat, with buttons on breast and cuffs. White
kerseymere waistcoat. White shirt, black handkerchief, white trousers.
The president, the vice-presidents, and the stewards were to have
three buttons on a slash cuff, and to wear blue pantaloons.
The regatta takes place about September 1, when there is generally a
great meeting. About four hundred members and one hundred yachts
belong to the club. The Royal Navy contributes innumerable classes of
craft to compete in the racing, whilst the trawlers and fishing
vessels all come in for the sports, producing one of the most
picturesque gatherings to be seen anywhere. The secretary is Capt. H.
Holditch, who has kindly furnished the information here given.
THE ROYAL VICTORIA YACHT CLUB, RYDE
The R.V.Y.C., established in 1844, made a strong start, as the
foundation stone of the present house was laid by H.R.H. the Prince
Consort in March 1846. It is well placed close to the end of Ryde
Pier, having a commanding view of very wide range from its windows.
The club has always been noted for its encouragement of yacht racing,
and has endeavoured to bring about international contests. In 1890 a
Gold Challenge Cup was instituted, value 600 guineas, subscribed for
by the members, and the famous race for the trophy in 1893 between
H.R.H. the Prince of Wales's 'Britannia' and Mr. Carroll's 'Navahoe'
will be found described in the account of the sport which took place
in that memorable year. The R.V.Y. Club at Ryde is often called the
Red Squadron, in contradistinction to the R.Y.S. with the White
Ensign.
In 1891 the club started regattas for the small classes which were
then becoming so prominent. These have been warmly taken up and
attended with great success.
[Illustration: Royal Victoria Yacht Club.]
[Illustration: International Gold Cup, Royal Victoria Yacht Club,
1883. Won by 'Britannia.']
There is yet another Challenge Cup in the hands of the Committee,
value 100 guineas. As yet it has not been sailed for, but it is
decided that the course is to be in the open Channel, not less than
150 miles, such as Ryde, round Plymouth Breakwater, Cherbourg
Breakwater, and back to Ryde for the finish. The Cup was presented by
Mr. T. B. C. West, of 'Wendur' and 'Queen Mab' fame. Probably the
length of the course has deterred competition; at least, a well-known
skipper, Captain John Nichols, who sailed 'Alarm,' 'Mosquito,' and
'Cygnet,' always says that 'nine hours at the tiller is quite enough
to do it properly'; and his experience spreads over many years and
many a tough tussle for mastery. Mr. Fife of Fairlie declares that the
'Cuckoo,' 90 tons, never showed her real capability until 'Captain
John' sailed her. The Royal Victoria Yacht Club has recently added a
very large room fronting the sea, and acquired a 'look-out' at the end
of the Pier, which seems almost like sitting in an armchair at
Spithead. The small raters have a good friend in the Secretary, Mr.
Percy Thellusson, who dearly loves them, without neglecting in any way
the interests of the larger craft.
An eccentric finish to a yacht race occurred in connection with this
club, in the contest for Ryde Town Purse, August 11, 1892, and other
prizes for smaller classes. There was a nice breeze from the eastward
at 10 A.M., and like a flight of swans the yachts were away together.
At 2 P.M., when off the Peel Bank, not a breath of wind was there to
help them. The committee decided to run up signal to shorten course
and conclude at the first round. No sooner was this done and carried
out than a brave westerly breeze sprang up and brought in about
fifteen of the craft, all classes together, both great and small, all
with feathered bows. The whole of the starters returned together
within about ten minutes. The uncertainty of the turf is proverbial,
but the uncertainty of the sea is no less remarkable.
[Illustration: 'Princess Royal,' steamer 'Leda,' 'Seagull,' 'Hebe,'
'Phoebe.'
First race of Mersey Yacht Club, June 16, 1845.]
[Illustration: 'Queen of the Ocean,' R.M.Y.C., Commodore Littledale,
saving emigrants from 'Ocean Monarch,' August 24, 1848.]
THE ROYAL MERSEY YACHT CLUB
This club, which was established in 1844, originally had its
headquarters at Liverpool, the first commodore having been Dr.
Grinwood, whose brother is now the only original member left. About
1878 the club quarters were moved to a large house in Birkenhead,
close to the river, on the banks of which a pavilion has been
constructed, as well as a large slip and two gridirons. During the
whole time the club has only had two honorary secretaries, the past
and the present. To the late secretary, Mr. Henry Melling, we are
indebted for the two illustrations (p. 47); he drew and published them
himself, much to his credit, as valuable data showing the rig of the
time. The annual regatta is generally held at the latter end of June,
the great drawback to Liverpool yachting being the tides and the bar,
to diminish which great efforts are being made by dredging on an
enormous scale. 1893 was the Jubilee Regatta. This was a great
success. 'Britannia,' 'Satanita,' 'Iverna,' took part in the races,
which were accompanied by the club steamer, carrying the Commodore,
Col. Gamble, C.B., and the Hon. Secretary, Captain James Gladstone.
[Illustration: Royal Mersey Yacht Club.]
[Illustration: Yacht Club Burgees.]
The first illustration is most interesting as bearing the names of the
yachts which sailed in the first match of the club, Monday, June 16,
1845. The bowlines on the luff of the gaff topsails should be
particularly noticed as a feature of this period. The bowline is also
shown in the drawing of the 'Cygnet,' 35 tons, in a following chapter
on Thames Clubs.
The second outline represents the 'Queen of the Ocean' yacht,
Commodore Littledale, R.M.Y.C., going to the rescue of the 'Ocean
Monarch,' emigrant ship, on fire in Abergele Bay, North Wales,
Thursday, August 24, 1848.
THE ROYAL PORTSMOUTH CORINTHIAN YACHT CLUB
BY G. L. BLAKE
What the Clyde is to Scotland, and Kingstown and Queenstown are to
Ireland, that the Solent and Southampton Water (which constitute the
waters more or less shut off from the Channel by the Isle of Wight)
are to the South of England. It is no matter of wonderment, then, that
attempts should have been made from time to time, and dating back some
generations, to form clubs which would have for their express purpose
the encouragement of seamanship, and the racing and building of
yachts.
To many old yachtsmen the 'ups and downs' of some of these societies
which are still in existence form a history of no small interest;
while the rise, doings, and fall of those now defunct ought to teach
many valuable and important lessons to the officers and committees
that are working hard for the prosperity and welfare of present day
yacht clubs.
The club which above all others has tended to encourage the
proficiency of amateur salts, so that they have become capable of
manning, piloting, and steering their own or their friends' vessels to
glory, is the Royal Portsmouth Corinthian Yacht Club. Instituted at a
time when small-yacht sailing and amateur seamanship had little or no
patronage from the big clubs, and when no ruling spirit appeared
willing to come forward to help them on to any great degree, when the
annual local regattas of the Itchen Ferry, Ryde, and Cowes Town,
Southampton, and a few other seaside resorts, were the only
opportunities afforded for sport and racing among the small fry,
perhaps no club deserves more notice among those south of London than
the one in question. Its birth took place at a meeting held on
Saturday, May 22, 1880, in the committee-room of the Prince of Wales
Club, High Street, Portsmouth, under the patronage of the late Admiral
Ryder, R.N., and General H.S.H. Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, at that
time the Commander-in-Chief and Governor of Portsmouth, Rear-Admiral
the Honourable F. A. C. Foley, R.N., and Major-General Sir F.
Fitz-Wygram, with Captain Garrett, R.A., in the chair. A provisional
committee was elected, among whom were Messrs. W. Gilman, C. Johnson,
Thomas and Charles McCheane, F. Ruck, R.E., W. C. Storey, W. V.
Dickenson, 69th Regiment, J. Bewicke, 69th Regiment, Colonel Savory,
Admiral Hallowes, Commander Britten, R.N., H.M.S. 'St. Vincent,'
Captains Sutton, R. Kennedy, Rasch, the Reverends C. P. Grant, Vicar
of Portsmouth, and J. F. Brown, R.C. Military Chaplain. General Prince
Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Captain Garrett and Captain Sutton were the
first officers appointed to serve as Commodore, Vice- and
Rear-commodores, and Messrs. Gilman and C. McCheane with Captain
Kennedy undertook other duties. Among the yachts owned at that period
by the young club, the best known were the 'Vega,' 40 tons, belonging
to Captain Garrett; Mr. Gilman's little 'Zephyr,' 11 tons (for many
seasons one of the fastest of the old 12-ton class); and the 'Zoe,'
one of the most successful 21-ft. boats on the Solent, which was
fortunate in being owned and piloted by one of the best amateur
helmsmen and sailormen in the south of England--the late Mr. C.
Johnson, of Gosport.
[Illustration: Royal Portsmouth Corinthian Yacht Club.]
At the third meeting the Yacht Racing Association rules were adopted,
while the fourth settled that very much vext and troublesome question
as to what constitutes 'a yachting amateur,' and accordingly drew out
the rule that 'No person shall be considered an amateur who has been
at any time engaged in the navigation or sailing of a yacht for pay,'
the wording of which has since been altered to the following: 'An
amateur is a gentleman who has never received pay for sailing in a
fore-and-aft vessel, officers of the Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine
excepted.' At the same meeting Mr. C. McCheane undertook the sole
duties of honorary secretary in place of Captain Kennedy.
On June 26, 1880, the first regatta of the newly formed club was held,
when five events were pulled off under the most favourable auspices.
So successful was this first attempt at bringing the local boats
together, that the next regatta, which was similar in its classes,
brought out no fewer than eight entries in the race for the service
boats of Her Majesty's ships, all of which were steered by naval
members of the club, with the one exception of the 'Wren,' which, it
is interesting to chronicle, was steered by Miss Foley, daughter of
the Admiral commanding the Portsmouth Steam Reserve. She was the first
lady member, and one of the first ladies--if indeed there was one
before her--to pilot home the winning yacht in a race. Now that so
many ladies enter into the sport of yacht racing and come out as
famous helmswomen, the position held by Miss Foley is one to be proud
of. In the fourth race Mr. Baden-Powell's old boat, the 'Diamond,' 5
tons, at this time owned by Messrs. Sutton, put in an appearance as a
25-ft. boat; and in the fifth race Mr. J. H. Baillie's 20-ft. boat
'Kate,' the earliest of Mr. Beavor Webb's outputs, entered.
[Illustration: Midship Section.
'Madge,' 10 tons. Designed by G. L. Watson, 1880.]
Besides periodical regattas, the club was able to take in hand a good
many matches, which were made up whenever a sufficient number of
racing yachts to create sport happened to be lying off Southsea or
about the port, and good prizes were always forthcoming, for, as is
the case in the Royal Alfred Yacht Club of Kingstown, all money was
devoted at this time to racing purposes. The match held on the 14th of
August, 1880, is a very fair example of what these extemporaneous
races were like. It was for yachts of 20 tons and under. The entries
included: 'Madge,' 10 tons, Mr. J. Coats; 'Louise,' 20 tons;
'Euterpe,' 20 tons, Mr. Bayley; 'Freda,' 20 tons, Mr. Freke; 'Maggie,'
15 tons, Mr. Taylor; 'Viola,' 20 tons, Mr. Kelly; 'Sayonara,' 20 tons,
Mr. G. W. Richardson. By the end of the first season the club had
advanced to such a strong position in the eyes of yachting men and in
the public estimation, that Her Majesty was pleased to accede to the
request of the Commodore, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, to have it
made a Royal club, and accordingly commanded that from May 27, 1880,
the club should be styled the Royal Portsmouth Corinthian Yacht Club.
Except perhaps in the cases of the Royal Cork, the Royal Yacht
Squadron and Royal Highland, no yachting club has ever been known to
grow so rapidly into popularity as to obtain the Royal warrant within
the space of less than six months.
The season of 1881 began on April 6 with a yacht tonnage of 3,569 tons
and 220 members belonging to the club. The year was an important one
in its annals, for some of the best known of yachtsmen became members
of the community. Captain Garrett gave up the Vice-Commodoreship, and
was succeeded by Captain F. Sutton, late 11th Hussars, whilst Admiral
Byng undertook the office vacated by Captain Sutton.
The greater number of those who had up to this time joined the Royal
Portsmouth Corinthian Yacht Club were yachting members, and lived in
all parts of the United Kingdom. The opening regatta was held on the
glorious 4th of June, so dear to Eton and other memories. It witnessed
the entry, in the race for yachts of 11 to 25 tons, of that favourite
old 20-ton clipper the 'Vanessa,' and the old Fairlie 25-tonner
'Santry.' The courses this year finished between a mark-boat and the
Southsea Pier.
At the third regatta another famous old ship threw down the glove to
the 'Gadfly' and Mr. Arthur Glennie's 'Sonata,' viz. the 16-ton
'Satanella.' On August 13, by the special command of Her Majesty, the
club had the honour of holding its Annual Royal Regatta in Osborne
Bay. The entries were large for all the items of the programme, no
fewer than twelve boats starting in a class for 30 ft. and under, and
thirty-one for the race for centreboarders. In this last race the
Prince of Wales sailed his little crack 'Belle Lurette,' and won the
second prize. In the race for yachts of 40 tons and upwards the
'Samoena,' 'Annasona,' and 'Sleuthhound' started. It may be stated
here, that on the day of the regatta the club had 400 names on its
list of members, the greater number of whom claimed some pretensions
to being yachtsmen. This was a rapid increase of 180 in less than four
months, and distinctly proved that the club was already satisfactorily
filling the much-desired need on the Solent, and it was most
gratifying to those who had given their time and their energy towards
the success of the venture that nothing but praise poured in from all
quarters, because of the perfect organisation with which all regattas,
matches, and general arrangements were carried out. Perhaps it is not
too much to say here that the club owed much at this period of its
existence to its honorary secretary, the late Mr. Charles McCheane,
whose unflagging zeal and well-known gift of organisation helped to a
very considerable extent to bring about the prestige which it was
beginning to enjoy.
One great feature of the season of 1881 was the addition of a rule
allowing any boat that had been hired by a member for a space of over
three months to enter for the club races, in order to give every
encouragement to the sport of yacht-racing. Many have been the times
that such a rule has been begged for by yachtsmen, especially tiros at
the game; but the Yacht Racing Association, and, in fact, all Royal
Yacht Clubs with the exception of the Royal Portsmouth Corinthian,
have placed a veto on any proposition which included in any way its
introduction. With the Royal Portsmouth Corinthian the rule proved in
the early days of the club a great success, but latterly, as yacht
tonnage was added to the club and members became provided with their
own ships, the rule gradually died out, till at last it has
disappeared altogether from the Book of Rules and Regulations.
The year 1882 was notable chiefly for the introduction of a new class
in the regatta programmes, viz. that for 3-tonners. Four of these
little vessels did battle in all kinds of weather and proved most
successfully how much power and what fine sea-going qualities can be
obtained by length and depth with almost a minimum of beam. Mr. Wynne
Eyton and Mr. Quilter designed and raced the composite built
'Mascotte,' Mr. A. W. Courtney the 'Naiad,' the late Lord Francis
Cecil the 'Chittywee,' and Lord Ailsa and Mr. Baden-Powell the
'Snarley Yow.' Of these the 'Chittywee' was the best all-round boat,
though the 'Mascotte' gave her all she could do to beat her.
In the small length classes, the 20-ft. 'Kate,' which had become the
property of the Honorary Secretary during the winter of 1881, came to
the fore in a remarkable manner, saving her time when necessary, and
giving all comers a fair beating. The next year, however, witnessed
her total defeat by Mr. Popham's little 'Bird of Freedom,' a boat that
is still to the fore.
The Annual Royal Regatta of 1883 was held as before at Osborne Bay,
and proved a complete success, and the club could now boast of a
patronage second only to that of the Royal Yacht Squadron. The
programme on August 11, the day of the regatta, exhibited a great
advance on those of the two previous years, as the classes ranged more
after the fashionable formulæ, viz. for yachts of 40 tons and under,
20 and over 14, 14 and over 9 tons. The race for 40-ton yachts fell
through, but was afterwards sailed on August 22, when the 'Annasona,'
'Tara,' 'Sleuthhound,' 'Phryne,' and 'Silver Star' crossed the line,
and 'Tara' and 'Silver Star' (their first appearance under the flag of
the Royal Portsmouth Club) came in first and second. Among the
twenties, which showed up for the first time, were the 'Freda' and two
well-known old warriors from St. George's Channel, the 'Quickstep' and
'Challenge.' In the race for 10-tonners the 'Ulidia,' designed by Mr.
W. Fife, jun., was the new addition to the club, and she fought it out
with the 'Buttercup,' this latter favourite being thoroughly beaten on
all points of sailing.
During the year of 1884 the prosperity of the club was decidedly on
the increase. In the first place, during the winter, the premises in
the High Street, Portsmouth, which had up to this time formed the
Prince of Wales's Club House, had been bought, altered and improved to
suit the club's requirements. As it stands now, it is one of the most
comfortable club-houses in the South of England.
The club also opened on Southsea Beach a Station House of its own,
which has telephonic communications with the house in High Street, and
all parts of the towns of Portsmouth and Southampton. It consists of a
railed-off space, sufficient to allow of a fair frontage, besides room
for the flagstaff, guns, and all such necessary fittings. The building
is a very comfortable cabin, with all modern conveniences. The
telephonic communication with Southampton is of the greatest possible
service, as most of the small raters make the Itchen and its precincts
their home.
On June 7 in this year, the custom (which has now died out) of having
an opening cruise under the club officers was originated. Nothing can
make up for the teaching which manoeuvring under sail affords, and it
is a great pity more of such cruises do not take place, and that at
regular intervals.
The officers of the club had remained the same up to this year, when
Admiral Byng gave up the Rear-Commodoreship in favour of Mr. J. R.
West. One of the great features of the season was the recognition of
the foot classes, which became so popular during the following four
years. The first and second regattas introduced races for boats or
yachts of 25 feet and 30 feet on the load water-line. In the latter
class the 'Eclipse' and 'Keepsake' were competitors, the 'Eclipse'
being the better of the two boats; and in the former the 'Daphne,'
'Wave,' and 'Lil' were the three to race, the 'Lil' being the
principal winner. The Annual Royal Regatta, owing to the sad
bereavement that had visited the Court, took place by royal command
off Bembridge, instead of in Osborne Bay as heretofore. No fewer than
fourteen items constituted the programme, of which the most
interesting was the ten-ton match between the 'Ulidia' and 'Ulerin,'
representatives of Messrs. Fife and Watson, the great Scotch yacht
designers. On August 16 a fine match was brought off, and the
amateurs' powers put to the test, when 'A Corinthian Plate,' a very
handsome piece of silver work, weighing 134 ozs., was sailed for by
the 'Genesta,' 'Marguerite,' and 'Irex.'
Perhaps the most sporting matches that have been sailed under the red
burgee with crown, star, and half-moon in centre, were three that
sprang out of a race for yachts of 20 tons and under, and took place
at the last regatta of the season. On this occasion the 'Enriqueta,'
20-ton (cutter that was, but at this time a) yawl, snatched, by some
few seconds on time allowance, first honours from the old 'Quickstep.'
On the Monday following the regatta a friendly match was sailed
between the two vessels, ending with the same result as on the
Saturday. Two matches were then arranged to be sailed on the next and
following days, the conditions of which were that amateurs alone were
to man one yacht, while professionals were to take charge of the
other. No pilot was to be allowed, and the prize was to be 1_l._ from
each amateur should the professionals win, and a sixpenny pipe from
each professional should the amateurs be successful. Lots to be drawn
for the choice of yacht in the first race, yachts to be exchanged for
the second.
The result of the lots on the Tuesday gave the amateurs the choice of
ships, and they took the 'Enriqueta.' The course was across an
imaginary line from the Signal Station flagstaff to the mark-boat,
round the Spit buoy, Warner Lightship and East Sturbridge buoy,
leaving all on the starboard hand, thence round the Spit buoy and
mark-boat on port hand, to finish between the mark-boat on port hand
and Signal Station. Twice round, 20 miles.
[Illustration: 'Irex' _64 tons_ (_John Jameson, Esq._) _Designed by
Alex. Richardson_, 1884.]
The wind was light from the south-east. The professionals in the
'Quickstep' were the first over the line, but it was before the gun
fired, and they had to recross it. This was not taken advantage of by
the 'Enriqueta,' for the yacht, just as the gun fired, was, for some
unaccountable reason, kept in irons quite two minutes by her helmsman.
The 'Enriqueta' was steered by her owner and Major Urquhart. The
'Quickstep' won by 12 mins. 13 secs. On the following day the
conditions were identical, except that the yachts were exchanged.
The tide, wind, and weather were the same as on the Tuesday. Both
yachts crossed the line at the same time. 'Enriqueta' held the weather
berth, and, hugging the mark-boat, went about at once; but
'Quickstep,' by a very pretty piece of steering on the part of Mr.
Maxwell Heron, was put about and brought on 'Enriqueta's' weather.
'Enriqueta' got away again under 'Quickstep's' lee, owing to the
latter having her sails too closely pinned in. This error was
fortunately rectified, and the 'Quickstep,' with sheets slightly
checked, at once sprang ahead and forereached on the yawl, but not
sufficiently to prevent the 'Enriqueta,' when off Southsea Castle,
from going about and crossing 'Quickstep's' bow, a proceeding which,
had it not been for the fine helmsmanship displayed, must have ended
in a collision. When the yawl tacked the next time, however, the
'Quickstep' was to windward once more, and led round the Warner
Lightship by 4 mins. The mark-boat was rounded at the end of the first
round by the 'Quickstep' 14 mins. 15 secs. ahead of the 'Enriqueta.'
On the second round the wind fell light, shifting and flukey, and,
except that the 'Quickstep' won, offered no very interesting points of
sailing worth noting. Such matches as the foregoing are worth
repeating; for it is when acting in competition with men who make
fore-and-aft sailing their business that amateurs find out the value
of their seafaring knowledge, and can accordingly gauge their strength
and learn to amend their weak points.
In 1885 the first regatta--and regattas now took place once a
fortnight regularly--was memorable for the maiden races of the 'Elma'
among the service boats, and the 'Syren' in the 25-ft. class. The
'Elma' had been an open whale-shaped admiral's barge. She was rigged
with dipping lugs, and manned by sub-lieutenants from H.M.S.
'Excellent.' The writer had the privilege of seeing her work her way
to Bembridge late in the season, and the smart manner in which the
boat was handled, and the lugs lowered, dipped, and hoisted, was one
of the prettiest sights of the season.
The second regatta witnessed the _début_ of the two latest additions
to the 30-ft. class--the 'Curtsey' and 'Yum Yum.' The 'Curtsey' proved
herself the best boat of her year.
It was during this year that the new A, B, C classes were, for the
first time, given a prominent place in the regatta programmes. These
severally were supposed to include the full-blown racer, the
out-of-date racer, and the ordinary cruiser. The idea was to try to
create a method by which all yacht-owners might have an opportunity of
joining in yacht racing. The system proved only a partial success, and
the real gainers by the innovation, if there were any, were the
sailmakers, who were kept employed, owing to many an 'old box'
requiring spinnakers and other light muslin quite foreign to their
original sail-plan.
The fourth regatta of the season took place away from the port, and
off the new watering-place, Lee-on-Solent. The principal course
started from over an imaginary line lying between the committee vessel
and a flagstaff at Lee-on-Solent, round the north-east and east Middle
buoy, the west Middle buoy, round the Bramble buoys, omitting the
Thorn, Calshot Lightship, and Hill Head buoy, to pass between the
committee vessel and shore, leaving all marks on the starboard hand;
three times round.
On July 25, the first club match round the Isle of Wight took place.
It was open to all yachts of 9 tons and upwards in the B and C
classes. Two of Fairlie's old clippers came out in new feathers for
this race, the 'Neptune' and 'Fiona'; and the former not only in this,
but in many another thrash round a course during this and the
following seasons, kept well in the van and showed that age had in no
way been detrimental to her speed. The Royal Regatta was again held
off Bembridge on August 8, when for the 10-tonners' prize the 'Queen
Mab,' and in the 5-ton class the pretty 'Cyprus,' showed their
wonderful weatherly qualities. The day is one that will long be
remembered by those who took part in the trips round the Nab. The
course, for all the classes from 5 tons and upwards, was from an
imaginary line between the committee boat and H.M.S. 'Speedy,' round
the Warner Lightship, the Dean Tail buoy and Nab Lightship, leaving
all to starboard, to finish between the committee vessel on the port
hand and the 'Speedy'; twice round. The weather was boisterous, with
half a gale of wind blowing from the southward and westward. There was
a nasty cross sea off the Nab, which frightened more than one hardy
salt from making a start, and the owners of the 30-ft. yachts did
their best to have their course shortened. The only accident, which
might have turned out disastrous, was the capsizing of the 'Elma,'
when making a board off the Nab Lightship. She was, however, righted,
bailed out, and one by one all her crew got on board.
[Illustration: Midship section.
'Neptune,' cutter, 50 tons. Built by Fife, 1875.]
The next year (1886) exhibited a still further advance in the
well-being of the club. The number of regattas during the season was
increased from eight to ten, exclusive of matches and the annual Royal
Regatta, which this year took place at Stokes Bay. Numerous new and
old yachts were added to the club tonnage, for the B and C classes
began to fill, and many a forgotten old heroine was made to come out
and don her long-left-off racing suits. Of those which thus appeared
all spick and span were the 'May,' 40 tons; 'Foxhound,' 35 tons;
'Veronica,' 92 tons; 'Terpsichore,' 38 tons; 'Leander' and 'Nadejola,'
twenties; and 'Naiad' and 'Lily,' old Mersey tens. Of the new yachts
the 'Hyacinth' was the fruit of the new classification, as she was
designed and built by Mr. Arthur Payne, to race in the B class. This
was the last year that any yachts were built to the 25-ft. and 21-ft.
classes, the 'Verena,' 25 ft., and the 'Minima,' and 'Volador,' 21
ft., being the last that were laid down on the stocks.
The number of members up to this date had been steadily on the
increase, so that by the end of the year the list had reached over
600. Since the club had started in 1880, over 73 regattas and matches
had been held, and more than 2,600_l._ given in prizes--a past history
such as few, if any, of the older clubs can show.
In 1887 the Yacht Racing Association rating rule came into force, and
though some races were provided for the 25-ft. class, still the main
racing was among the A, B, and C and rater classes. The 'Thalassa' and
'Stella' were the first representatives of the 2-1/2-raters, the
'Sybil,' 26 tons, and 'Mary,' 25 tons, coming out to wrest the prizes
from the 'Hyacinth.'
The next year it was found quite impossible to suit all owners so as
to fill every event on a programme. This was owing to there still
being a tonnage class, A, B and C, the new rating and the length
classes. The consequence was that only seven regattas came off during
the season, exclusive of the Royal Regatta, which was again held at
Bembridge. During the season of 1888, the question of shifting keels
was brought before the club committee, and a hard fight was made to
have them abolished. There was the same curious assortment of classes
as in the preceding year, because the rating rule had not as yet taken
hold of the yacht-racing public.
By 1889 so great had become the popularity of the club and the demand
for membership that it was decided to raise the annual subscription to
2_l._ 2_s._, with an entrance fee of 5_l._ 5_s._ for non-yacht-owners,
and 2_l._ 2_s._ for yacht-owners. The rating classes had now come into
full swing, and the season started with a match for 20-raters, unique,
in that it brought together no fewer than five newly launched
competitors, viz.: the 'Chiqueta,' 'Dragon,' 'Ghost,' 'Siola,' and
'Velzie.' By the third regatta eight 2-1/2-raters were ready for the
fray, seven of which were new boats that season--'Cock-a-whoop,'
'Cosette,' 'Humming Bird,' 'Madcap,' 'Nadador,' 'Heathen Chinee,' and
'Musume.' Among the 10-raters were the old 5-ton flyer 'Doris,' now
swelled out to meet the more modern school, 'Fantan,' 'Dis,' 'Decima,'
and 'Ethel.' The new 'Blue Belle,' 'Tar Baby,' and sometimes the
'Thief,' formed the 5-rating class.
The event of the season was the handicap race for the Cup given by the
Queen, which took place on August 10. It was open to yachts of 20 tons
and over, and 17 started. The course chosen lay to the eastward, from
an imaginary line between the flagstaff on the Spit Fort, and the
committee boat, round the Nab Lightship, west buoy of the middle and
committee vessel, leaving all on the starboard hand, to finish between
the committee vessel and the Spit buoy. There was a strong
south-westerly breeze blowing all day, which suited the large yachts
well, and some of the finest sailing of the year was witnessed by
those who were fortunate enough to follow the race.
Nothing of note occurred during the 1890 period of the club's history.
The match which took place on August 2, for yachts rated at 40 tons
and over, was the most successful of the season, for it brought
together all the large cracks of the year, viz. the 'Iverna,' 119,
'Thistle,' 120, 'Valkyrie,' 76, and 'Yarana,' 72. The 5-rater class
proved a very full one, the leading yacht architects sending out as
representatives of their skill the 'Valentine,' 'Glycera,' 'Quinque,'
'Alwida,' 'Archee,' and 'Fair Geraldine.' The 2-1/2-rater class
received as new additions the 'Troublesome,' 'Babe,' 'Janetta,'
'Dolphin,' 'Camilla,' and 'G.G.' A class, however, which gave a fund
of amusement, and was allowed a place in the club's programmes for the
first time this year, was the 1/2-rater. No fewer than ten little
boats formed its racing fleet, and were always ready to cross the line
whenever a prize and race were offered them.
In 1891 these mosquitoes had a Champion Cup presented to them by Mr.
Blair Cochrane, and eleven started at the third regatta of the season
for this trophy, which was won by the little 'Kittiwake,' the
'Coquette' coming in second. Another new class, for 1-raters, was
started this year, but only four competitors composed it, among them
being the 'Kelpie,' 'Samoena,' and 'Unit.' The Royal Regatta was held
at Wootton Creek on August 8, and the annual race round the Island was
perhaps the best race of the season. It will be seen that, after the
rating rule came into force, racing among old cast-offs found no
further favour in the eyes of the community, and as an example of the
modern programme, the following on the next page, which is that of the
Royal Regatta, is a very good specimen.
Of the sailing committee, which has done so much good work, there are
names that have appeared on its list as serving members almost from
the time a sailing committee was first formed. Capt. Sutton, the
honoured Vice-Commodore, and Mr. Gilman, the Hon. Treasurer, deserve
first mention, as they have been office-holders from the foundation of
the club, and Mr. Gilman's name appears in the earliest committee
list. Admiral Hallowes and Major Bulkeley are next in order of
seniority. Capt. Hayes, R.N., Messrs. Crampton and A. H. Glennie (the
latter is the present Rear-Commodore) follow in order, while Capt.
Nottage, Messrs. Flemmich, Laity, Walford, and Wildy bring up the
rear. The membership of a sailing committee of such a club as the
Royal Portsmouth Corinthian is no sinecure, and a man must be a keen
yachtsman who will undertake the duties entailed.
[Illustration: 'Yarana' (now 'Maid Marion').
_72 tons._ _Designed by G. L. Watson_, 1883.]
ROYAL PORTSMOUTH CORINTHIAN YACHT CLUB
1891.
_Commodore_--GENERAL H.S.H. PRINCE EDWARD OF SAXE-WEIMAR, G.C.B.
_Vice-Commodore_--CAPTAIN F. SUTTON ('Gadfly,' 20 tons).
_Rear-Commodore_--J. R. WEST, Esq. ('Goshawk,' 239 tons).
THE ANNUAL REGATTA
_Under the Patronage of their Royal Highnesses_
THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES
Will take place (weather permitting)
OFF WOOTTON CREEK,
_On Saturday, August 8th._
FIRST RACE--YACHTS of 40-rating.
PRIZE, Cup value Sixty Guineas, presented by A. H. Glennie, Esq.
Helmsman, value 5_l._ 5_s._ Entrance fee, 3_l._
SECOND RACE--HANDICAP--YACHTS of 60-rating and upwards.
FIRST, value 50_l._ }
} prizes presented by A. H. Glennie, Esq.
SECOND, value 25_l._ }
Entrance fee, 50_s._ Helmsman, value 5_l._ 5_s._, presented by
F. C. Hill, Esq.
THIRD RACE--HANDICAP--YACHTS under 60-rating.
FIRST PRIZE, value 25_l._, presented by Julian Senior, Esq.
SECOND PRIZE, value 10_l._ Entrance fee, 25_s._
FOURTH RACE--YACHTS of 20-rating.
FIRST PRIZE, value 20_l._, presented by S. M. Richards, Esq.
SECOND PRIZE, value 5_l._, presented by Lt.-Col. A. D. MacGregor.
Entrance fee, 20_s._
FIFTH RACE--YACHTS over 2-1/2, but not exceeding 5-rating.
FIRST PRIZE, a Silver Cup, presented by Captain A. K. Wilson R.N.,
V.C., C.B., and Officers H.M.S. 'Vernon.'
SECOND PRIZE, value 5_l._ 5_s._, presented by W. A. Beauclerk, Esq.
Entrance fee, 15_s._
SIXTH RACE--YACHTS not exceeding 2-1/2-rating.
FIRST PRIZE, the 'Fernie' Cup, value 10_l._ 10_s._ (presented by Mrs.
Fernie in memory of the late Robertson Fernie, Esq.)
SECOND PRIZE, value 5_l._ 5_s._, presented by the Vice-Commodore,
Captain F. Sutton. Entrance fee, 10_s._ 6_d._
SEVENTH RACE--YACHTS of 1-rating.
FIRST PRIZE, value 6_l._ 6_s._, presented by Rear-Admiral Hallowes.
SECOND PRIZE, value 2_l._ 2_s._, presented by Colonel F. J. Smith, R.E.
Entrance fee, 6_s._
EIGHTH RACE--YACHTS of 1/2-rating, belonging to any recognised Yacht
Club.
FIRST, value 3_l._ _3s._ Prizes presented by Paul A. Ralli, Esq.
SECOND, value 2_l._ 2_s._ Entrance fee, 3_s._
NINTH RACE--SERVICE YACHTS.
FIRST PRIZE, value 5_l._ _5s._, presented by A. G. Wildy, Esq.
SECOND PRIZE, value 2_l._ 2_s._ Entrance fee, 5_s._
All Yachts must belong to the club, eighth and ninth races excepted.
Yachts in all the races must be steered by Amateur Members of any
recognised Yacht Club. The Races will be sailed according to Y.R.A.
Rules. Exceptions, time of entry, _two_ to compete or no race; _four_,
or no second prize.
_The second and third Races will be handicapped by the Committee
without appeal._
That the naval officers who are honorary members have been valued
friends to the club goes without saying. Nothing could exceed the
interest that has been taken in the club's welfare by the Commodore,
H.S.H. General Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, especially whilst in
command at Portsmouth. Neither must the club's mainstay, the honorary
secretary, Mr. John Main, be forgotten. Almost from the beginning Mr.
Main had acted as under-secretary to the then honorary secretary, Mr.
C. McCheane, and it is not too much to say that when acting in that
capacity he was the kedge anchor to the club, and frequently on
occasions was called upon to play the part of best bower. When Mr.
McCheane resigned his office on July 14, 1887, after an interregnum of
three months, during which Captain Haldane was made acting secretary,
Mr. Main was chosen unanimously to fill the vacant office, and not
only those connected with the club, but all who have had to hold
communication with him, know how well its arduous duties have been
performed. It is to this gentleman that the writer is indebted for
help in compiling this notice.
With a commodious house, a signal station to keep up, and prizes to be
provided (nearly 6,000_l._ have been given to be sailed for up to
1893), the expenses, it is needless to say, are great and tax the
funds considerably. Money, however, is always forthcoming through the
liberality displayed by many of the members. Among those who have come
forward to help the club with gifts of cups and prizemoney are the
following gentlemen, whose names are rarely absent from any notice or
list calling for an extra supply towards the prize fund: Captain
Sutton, Vice-Commodore; Mr. J. R. West, late Rear-Commodore; Mr. A. H.
Glennie, Rear-Commodore; and Messrs. Julian Senior, S. Richards, and
B. Paget. Mrs. Robertson Fernie makes an annual present of a purse in
memory of her late husband, who was always a contributor up to the
time of his death.
The club has certainly done more for amateur seamanship than any
other inside the Isle of Wight; it was the first to start a system of
fortnightly regattas, and has always been chosen by outside clubs to
time the arrivals of their ocean races to the port of Portsmouth.
The usual annual regatta was held last year, 1893, somewhat
unfortunately, during the squadron week at Cowes, whither the big
cutters of the season had attracted so many lovers of yacht racing as
well as general sight-seers. A very varied programme was provided,
including all classes from the 100-tonner to the 1/2-rater, in all
about five different races. The first was a handicap for yachts
exceeding 19-rating, the course being from between the
committee-vessel and the Spit Fort, round the N.E. middle buoy, Warner
lightship, and Boyne buoy, all marks to be left on the port hand. This
afforded a great opportunity for the spectators on Southsea beach to
see the racing thoroughly well, as the competitors had to accomplish
three rounds, making about a 40-mile course.
The object of handicaps is to get sport amongst craft of varied
tonnage, class, and build, by giving time allowance. In the present
case the largest vessel was 'Mabel,' late 'Irex,' 100-rating; the
smallest,'Marigold,' 22-rating; 'Mabel' allowing 'Marigold' 39
minutes. Six started. A good race ensued, as the following time of the
finish will corroborate:--'Columbine,' winner, 4 hrs. 32 mins. 41
secs.; 'Castanet,' 2nd prize, 4 hrs. 36 mins. 15 secs.; 'Creole,' 3rd
prize, 4 hrs. 33 mins. 43 secs.; 'Mabel,' 4 hrs. 38 mins. 14 secs.
+---------+------+------+----------+-----------------+
| Yacht | Rig |Rating| Handicap | Owner |
+---------+------+------+----------+-----------------+
|Mabel |cutter| 100 | scratch |Mr. Muir |
|Creole | " | 40 |10 minutes|Lieut.-Col. Bagot|
|Columbine| yawl | 50 |12 " |Mr. W. B. Paget |
|Castanet |cutter| 40 |14 " |Mr. W. R. Cookson|
|Hyacinth | yawl | 50 |27 " |Mr. T. C. Garth |
|Marigold |cutter| 22 |39 " |Mr. W. R. Martin |
+---------+------+------+----------+-----------------+
The 20-raters were represented by 'Dragon,' 'Deirdré,' and 'Molly.'
The 2-1/2-raters brought together were in number eight--'Elf,'
'Gareth,' 'Gavotte,' 'Kismet,' 'Meneen,' 'Papoose,' 'Faugh-a-Ballagh,'
and 'Undine.'
This race was for the Fernie Cup, value 10 guineas, won by 'Kismet,'
Miss Mabel Cox.
Four 1-raters started over a 12-mile course, and the 1/2-raters
finished a very successful regatta by having a match over an 8-mile
course; the 'Mosquito,' belonging to Admiral Hallowes, beating the
'Coquette' by half a minute.
ROYAL CINQUE PORTS YACHT CLUB, DOVER
ESTABLISHED 1872
_Commodore_: H.R.H. DUKE OF CONNAUGHT, K.G.
_Vice-Commodore_: EARL OF PEMBROKE
The leading feature in the regatta of the Royal Cinque Ports Yacht
Club is the race to Boulogne and back, which really is the Channel
match of the season; and in the year 1877, which was remarkable for
hard winds and even gales on racing days, such as that when the
Weymouth, as well as other regattas, was hopelessly stopped, the
grandest race of the series was sailed June 14. The following fine
fleet started:--
+-----------+-------+-----------+---------+---------------------+
| Yacht |Tonnage|Description| Builder | Owner |
+-----------+-------+-----------+---------+---------------------+
|Australia | 207 | Schooner | Inman |W. W. Hughes, Esq. |
|Phantom | 172 | " | Hoad |A. O. Wilkinson, Esq.|
|Corinne | 160 | " | Ratsey |N. Wood, Esq. |
|Sea Belle | 142 | " | Harvey |H. Taylor, Esq. |
|Miranda | 135 | " | Harvey |G. C. Lampson, Esq. |
|Lufra | 208 | Yawl | Ratsey |J. Houldsworth, Esq. |
|Florinda | 138 | " |Nicholson|W. Jessop, Esq. |
|Jullanar | 127 | " | Bentall |A. D. Macleay, Esq. |
|Vol au Vent| 103 | Cutter | Ratsey |Col. Markham |
+-----------+-------+-----------+---------+---------------------+
With a very hard E.N.E. wind blowing all reefed mainsails and
jibheaders, 1877 was a great season for carrying away spars, and June
14 added its share. The arrival time round Boulogne mark-boat is
worth recording.
[Illustration: 'Arrow,' Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club.
_117 tons_ (_Tankerville Chamberlayne, Esq._). _June 24, 1876_.]
h. m. s.
Phantom 2 17 0
Australia 2 21 30
Corinne 2 29 0
Lufra 2 29 30
Miranda 2 32 0
Florinda 2 32 19
Sea Belle 2 35 15
Jullanar 2 36 0
Vol au Vent 3 0 15
The E.N.E. was now a little before their beam; with flattened sheets
they all began to dive a little more than on the voyage out. At last,
some five miles or so after rounding the Boulogne mark-boat, the
leading schooner, 'Phantom,' took a dive that was too much for her
bowsprit, which snapped off short. Poor 'Phantom,' in the prime of
life, leading grandly and full of promise! After this there were no
more accidents. The 'Australia' had the lead, and finished, winning
the 100_l._ prize, and establishing a record, 4 hrs. 12 mins. 40 secs.
for the course, which has not been beaten up to the present.
The other racers came in as follows:--
h. m. s.
Australia 4 12 40
Corinne 4 26 18
Florinda 4 30 38
Phantom 4 33 3
Miranda 4 34 32
Jullanar 4 36 30
Sea Belle 4 37 48
Lufra 4 38 38
Vol au Vent 5 24 0
Another good race over the same course, on June 28, 1880, was won by
'Latona,' 160 tons, built by J. White; A. B. Rowley, Esq.; duration of
race, 4 hrs. 14 mins. 4 secs. Started 10.30 A.M., arrived at Dover 2
hrs. 44 min. 4 secs.
[Illustration: 'Reverie,' 40-rater. Built for A. D. Clarke, Esq.,
1891, by Messrs. Fay. Designed by J. M. Soper.]
[Illustration: 'Reverie.'
_40-rater, by Fay & Co. Designed by J. M. Soper, 1891. Hauled up at
Fay's Yard._]
On July 22, 1889, the 'Wendur,' yawl, 124-rating, 43 tons, built by
and belonging to Thos. B. C. West, Esq., ran this time very close,
starting 10 A.M., arrived at Dover 2 hrs. 14 mins. 28 secs. Duration
of race, 4 hrs. 14 mins. 28 secs., being 24 seconds longer than
'Latona.'
A race on Tuesday, June 14, 1892, was a very remarkable one, and
showed what a 40-tonner is capable of in bad weather and hard wind in
the Channel, which is not the smoothest water in a strong
North-easter. The finish was as follows:--
Arrived at Dover
h. m. s.
Lethe, yawl 3 17 11
Queen Mab, cutter (winner, 70_l._) 3 34 9
Iverna, cutter 3 38 1
Thalia, cutter (2nd prize, 5_l._) 3 47 28
Creole, cutter 3 57 32
Varuna, dismasted
Duration of race, 4 hrs. 32 mins. 11 secs. Wind north-east, strong and
squally.
CHAPTER II
SCOTTISH CLUBS
THE ROYAL NORTHERN YACHT CLUB, ROTHESAY
BY R. T. PRITCHETT
The Clyde is, and always has been, the great yachting nursery and
centre of the North. The very mention of the name arouses all who have
pleasurable recollections of the great waters which lead up to the
narrow Clutha, whence emerged those monsters of the deep, 'Lucanias,'
and other triumphs of modern science. As recently as 1886 the steamer
'Industry,' built by Fife of Fairlie in 1814, was lying in the mud at
Haulbowline, after running some sixty years between Greenock and
Glasgow. Yacht-building has always been vigorously carried on in the
Great Estuary for three generations. The Fifes of Fairlie have
designed and built grand vessels there, though the flat shore presents
immense difficulties, which are greatly added to by the present
increase of draught and lead ballast in yachts of all classes.
[Illustration: 1824. Northern Yacht Club Seal.]
The Royal Northern Yacht Club is installed at that delightful spot,
Rothesay, noted for its fine bay; and though Clyde weather is known to
yachting men as being somewhat impulsive and petulant, whipping out
spars, destructive to balloon canvas unless the skipper is very
weatherwise indeed, still for real sailing the Clyde affords some of
the best courses in the world and the grandest sport from 23-footers
to 200-tonners.
[Illustration: Royal Northern Yacht Club, Rothesay.]
The Royal Northern Club had a very interesting origin. It dates from
1824, when it was founded by some gentlemen in the north of Ireland
and west of Scotland who were devotees of yachting. A few years later
the club was separated into two branches, an Irish and Scotch
division, as will be perceived by the flags given here in
illustration. One has the shamrock wreath, the other the thistles,
each division having its own committee and officials.
_Original Members_, A.D. 1824
No.
1. Thomas Pottinger (Admiral 1825)
2. John Turnley
3. J. E. Matthews
4. R. Kennedy
5. Robert Thomson (first secretary) 1824, and admiral, 1827
6. Gordon Thomson
7. G. Matthews
8. Henry J. McCracken
9. Edward S. Ruthven
10. Thos. Ch. Stewart Corry
11. George Russell
12, 13, 14. McCrackens, junrs.
15. J. Smyth, Helensburgh (for many years Commodore of R.N.Y.C.)
16. J. Carrick, Greenock
17. Robert Langtry
18. Robert Christian, Sligo
19. Claudius Armstrong, Dublin
20. Robert F. Gordon
21. Edward Forbes Orson, Balyreggan House, Stranraer
22. John Kennedy, Cuttra
The records of the Scotch division prior to 1846 were unfortunately
destroyed by an accident some years ago. The minute-book of the Irish
division has, however, survived. From it we find that at a meeting of
gentlemen interested in the foundation of the Northern Yacht Club,
held at Belfast on November 5, 1824, it was resolved 'that the
establishment of a yacht club is a highly desirable object.' A
committee was accordingly appointed to that end, Mr. Robert Thomson
being requested to act as secretary, and at a general meeting held
April 8, 1825, Mr. John Allan of Glasgow accepted the post of
secretary for the Clyde. At a general meeting at Belfast May 2, 1825,
the secretary was instructed to write to Mr. Allan, to consult with
the Scotch members and fix with them the place of rendezvous for the
first general meeting of the boats of the club. The date arranged was
the first Monday in June, and the Irish members declared that they
were ready to meet the Scotch members 'in any part of the Clyde' on
that day.
The club was known as the Northern Yacht Club. There is no record in
the minute-book of the burgee adopted, but in an old picture, now in
the club-house at Rothesay, the yachts are shown cruising off Garroch
Head, in the Clyde, with red ensigns, the burgee also red, with the
letters N.Y.C. in white. The present secretary has courteously sent a
photograph of this picture, also of the flags, as an historical
contribution. The first prizes offered were for pulling (rowing)
matches to take place in Ireland.
The Marquis of Donegall was the first President of the club, and Mr.
Thos. Pottinger, Admiral for 1825.
[Illustration: Royal Northern flags.]
The full dress of the club consisted of a blue coat with crimson silk
lining, with 'Marall's' vest, white or black pantaloons or breeches,
and silk stockings to correspond. Members who appeared at the dinners
of the club without this dress were fined 10s. At a general meeting
held at Greenock, on August 3, 1825, Mr. James Hamilton, of Holmhead,
was appointed Admiral for the ensuing year.
In May 1826, at Belfast, the yachts were divided into three classes:--
1st class over 30 tons register
2nd " " 15 " "
3rd " under 15 " "
The first regatta took place at Belfast, June 20, 21, 22, and on June
23 pulling races were rowed by members and their friends. On June 24
the yachts were to sail together 'in a fleet,' and 'manoeuvre under the
directions of the Admiral.' This is quite an echo of the Cork Water
1720 Club.
A proposal of the Scottish members to separate the Club into two
distinct branches was agreed to on May 16, 1827. It was probably after
this date that each division had a distinguishing burgee; from an old
print of these flags now in the club-house at Rothesay, the Irish
division seems to have flown a red burgee with a harp, the Scottish
division being distinguished by a lion in white.
H.M. King William IV. became Patron of the club in September 1830, and
from that time it was known as the Royal Northern Yacht Club.
In 1831 the yachts of the Club were arranged in classes as under:--
1st class over 75 tons register
2nd " " 50 tons and under 75 tons
3rd " " 30 " " " 50 "
4th " " 20 " " " 30 "
5th " " 15 " " " 20 "
6th " under 15 tons
A two days' regatta was held at Belfast in 1836. The different classes
just described were started at an interval of half an hour between
each, beginning at 10.30 A.M., the prize for each class being ten
sovereigns. On the second day a very important event took place, the
race for the Belfast Cup, value 100_l._, a time race for all sizes.
Eight vessels to start, or no race. Entry 3_l._; the second yacht to
save her stake. It is to be regretted that the details of this race
cannot be given. On May 21, 1838, at a meeting held of the few
remaining members of the Irish division, it was resolved to dissolve
that half of the Club and hand over any funds (they amounted to 14_l._
17_s._ 2_d._) to the secretary of the Scottish division.
[Illustration: Northern Yacht Club cruising off Garroch Head, 1825.
(_From a Painting by Hutcheson at R.N.Y. Club, Rothesay._)]
It is unfortunate that the records of the Scottish division and of the
Royal Northern Club, after the dissolution and prior to 1846, have
been lost. It had prospered much. The Clyde was developing rapidly and
with great energy, as is shown by their four days' Regatta in 1835,
the first day at Helensburgh, the second at Greenock, the third at
Dunoon, the fourth at Largs, which is without doubt one of the most
enthusiastic of yachting stations.
It would be well to record here the cracks of the Clyde in 1835. The
'Gleam' (see illustration on next page), Falcon, 'Nymph' and
'Clarence,' were very leading craft.
Tartar 30 tons A. Morris
Sylph 30 " J. Crooks
Dream 66 " A. Ranken
Gleam (Fife)[3] 30 " H. Gore Booth
Clarence 15 " R. Sinclair
Amethyst 20 " J. Smith
Wave 15 " T. C. Buchanan
Emma 15 " Jas. Bogle
Falcon 15 " Jas. Kerr
Nymph 15 " H. F. Campbell
[Footnote 3: The first celebrated cutter by Fife of Fairlie was
'Lamlash,' 1814.]
Clyde yachting was now firmly established; Largs, Gourock, Greenock,
Dunoon, Helensburgh, Rothesay, were the stations most frequented, and
each successive season brings them forward more prominently, with
well-sustained reputation.
The present club-house at Rothesay was built in 1878, and the Royal
Northern Yacht Club regattas are naturally always now held at that
place, started from the Commodore's yacht which is moored off
Craigmore for that purpose. A chart of the course is given, showing
the whole set of different distances.
The prominent feature of this club is that it has from a very early
period of its history had a club yacht, which is open to hire by
members for periods not exceeding a fortnight, and fine vessels they
have from time to time chosen. The first was the well-known 'Orion,'
then came 'Mosquito,' a grand iron boat built in 1848, designed by
Waterman, and now a pilot boat doing good work. 'Æolus' came next. In
1885 the club had their present vessel, the 'Ailsa,' 66 tons, built by
Fife of Fairlie; and who better could have been chosen?
It has already been mentioned that Mr. John Allan, of Glasgow, was the
first secretary for the Clyde, 1825. Mr. E. F. Donald is the present
secretary.
[Illustration: Midship Section.
'Gleam,' designed and built by Fife of Fairlie, 1834.]
There is no doubt that, if variety be really charming, very charming
weather can be found in the Clyde waters, even within the six-hour
limit: dead calm, Zephyr, good sailing breeze, rain squalls, white
squalls, and the rest.
[Illustration: Royal Northern Yacht Club, Rothesay.]
ROYAL CLYDE YACHT CLUB
BY G. L. BLAKE
The history of the Royal Clyde Yacht Club affords one more proof of
the old belief that slow and steady progress is the most enduring.
It is now nearly forty years since the following very modest
announcement, under the heading 'Clyde Model Yacht Club,' appeared in
the 'Glasgow Herald,' of August 28, 1856:--
A number of gentlemen connected with yachting propose to
form a club under the above designation, with the view of
furthering a greater amount of emulation amongst the
proprietors of small yachts. It is proposed to take in
yachts under 8 tons only, being the smallest acknowledged by
the Royal Northern Yacht Club, and to have an annual
regatta, to be held in rotation at the various
watering-places along the coast.
In answer to this call a meeting was held shortly after at the Globe
Hotel, Glasgow, on which occasion about thirty-one gentlemen entered
their names on the club's list as members. Messrs. Jas. Gilchrist,
Archibald Kennedy, Richard Ferguson, Jas. Mum, J. Gibson, Jas.
Spencer, Jas. Sutherland, and W. Kennedy were chosen to form the first
committee and draw up a code of rules, Mr. W. Kennedy acting as
secretary and treasurer.
At a general meeting held the following month, September, the late Mr.
Jas. Smith, of Jordan Hill, was elected first Commodore, and Mr. Tom
Holdsworth Vice-Commodore, and before the end of the year the little
club boasted some fifty members.
[Illustration: Royal Clyde Yacht Club Hunter's Quay. Est. 1856.]
On January 27, 1857, the Admiralty warrant was granted, allowing the
club to fly the blue ensign with their burgee: blue with a red lion on
a yellow shield in centre. Measuring officers were told off, who had
to deal with the old Thames Rule of measurement, excepting in the
method of taking the length, the club rule being that 'the length must
be taken from outside of the stem to the outside of the sternpost at
half the depth of each from the load water-line.' A curious provision
was made, too, with regard to racing flags. The club had a series of
flags numbered from 1 to 10, and each yacht was provided with a number
according to priority of entry for a race, but this kindly
thoughtfulness on the part of the ruling powers did not continue
beyond a couple of seasons, and members had to provide racing flags
for themselves, as they have done ever since.
Though an opening and other cruises had been held, together with a
small meeting at Largs, the first great event of the Clyde Model Yacht
Club took place on August 29, 1857, off Helensburgh, when four items
made up the programme, and Captain Small, Messrs. James Rowan, James
Gilchrist, Robert Hart, Dan Buchanon and Thomas Falconer did duty as
the sailing committee. The Commodore's yacht 'Wave' was moored off the
baths for the occasion, and the course chosen was from the Commodore
round the Shoal buoy--thence round a flag boat moored off Ardmore
Point and back round the Commodore's yacht, leaving all on the port
hand; twice round for the first and second races, and once round for
the third and fourth.
The first race was for yachts of 8 tons and under, and for this the
'Fairy Queen,' 8 tons, Mr. Grant, junior; 'Armada,' 7-1/2 tons, Mr.
Dickie; 'Bella,' 8 tons, Mr. Walker; and 'Maud,' 8 tons, Mr. St. Clair
Byrne, sailed, and finished in the order given.
In the second face for yachts of 6 tons and under, the 'Pearl,' 4-1/2
tons, Mr. Ferguson; 'Maria,' 5 tons, Mr. R. Lyall; 'Leda,' 6 tons, Mr.
Alexander Finlay; 'Comet,' 5 tons, Mr. Steven; and 'Clutha,' 5 tons,
Mr. Spencer, entered, the three first coming in as named.
The third race, for yachts of 4 tons and under, brought four
competitors together--the 'Francis,' 3-1/2 tons, Mr. Miller; 'Lily,'
3-1/2 tons, Mr. Ure; 'Echo,' 2-1/2 tons, Mr. Sutherland; and the
'Banshee,' 4 tons, Mr. Taylor. The 'Francis' won, followed home in the
order as above. The fourth item was for boats of 19 ft. over all, a
class which, though developed almost out of recognition, has always
remained a firm favourite.
It may here be noted that an attempt made at the close of the season
to introduce the American 'sail area' rule of measurement signally
failed.
Between the years 1857 and 1862 little of importance took place.
During 1863 the first symptoms of a break out from bounds was
exhibited, and prizes were given for a race for yachts of 25 tons and
under, besides one for yachts of 10 tons and under. A stipulation was
made with regard to the latter race--viz. that each yacht was to be
manned by one hand only, a dangerous though sporting condition which
had previously brought disaster and proved fatal in Irish waters, and
has never been permitted since. Both races filled, Mr. Fulton's
'Glide,' 14 tons, won the first, and Mr. McIver's 'Brenda,' 8 tons,
the second.
With this divergence from the original scheme on which the club was
founded the society threw off its old name and came out under the more
independent title of the Clyde Yacht Club. To celebrate this era the
annual regatta was lengthened out to a two days' programme, and the
'Lesbia,' 37, cutter; 'Reverie,' 41, schooner; 'Kilmeny,' 30, cutter,
and 'Dawn,' yawl, met to do battle with the 15-ton 'Torch,' the crack
of the year. Besides the annual regatta, at which yachts from all
parts of the kingdom were invited to compete, the Corinthian regatta
of the club must not be lost sight of or hidden away behind the lustre
of the great event of the season. It had formed part of each season's
programme of events for some years, and had been the means of
cultivating a true taste for amateur seamanship. Many a member can
look back to his first Corinthian race as the beginning of his
practical experience in yacht racing. The races at these regattas have
been mostly handicaps, and two or three are always open to yachts in
cruising trim. The only conditions of the regatta are that 'Yachts may
carry their ordinary paid hands, but no extra paid hands, and must be
steered by members of a yacht club.'
It is always pleasant to meet with names which are as well known as
the club to which they belong, to whom their club owes much, and whose
pride and interests are centred in its prosperity. It was in 1863 that
two such members' names were added to the official list--the late Mr.
J. A. Lockett as Rear-Commodore and Mr. William York as treasurer.
Both these gentlemen have for the last thirty years been busily
engaged in furthering the welfare of the club, the one in his capacity
as secretary or treasurer, or both, the other in several offices, but
principally as one of the house committee.
When the year 1867 closed the Clyde Yacht Club's first racing decade,
the club was well under way and able to hold its own with any existing
yacht-racing community, both as a provider of sport and for the
attractions offered to the lovers of yachts and yachting, when with
their friends they were brought together on the waters of the 'Bonny
Clyde.' This was noticeable in 1863, but it became much more so in
1865, when the well-known clippers 'Mosquito,' 59 tons; 'Glance,' 35
tons; 'Fiona,' 78 tons; and the 'Vindex,' 44 tons, came round to the
Firth to sail under the Clyde Club's auspices.
Though opening and closing cruises had always been in vogue since the
foundation of the club, it was left for the tenth year to start the
long series of these expeditions, which last from a Thursday to the
Monday morning following, and, with the combined attractions of
racing, cruising and social gatherings, have proved such pleasant
features in each season's yachting. The list of members had now
reached over 100, while the yacht tonnage had risen to 1,200 gross,
comprising 87 yachts of 5 to 103 tons. Among these were included the
three most successful yachts of the year in the United Kingdom, and,
to the praise of the Clyde shores it may be said, all built and
designed by Mr. W. Fife of Fairlie--the 'Fiona' in the 1st, the
'Kilmeny' in the 2nd, and the 'Torch' in the 3rd class.
The season of 1868 would have passed without note or comment had it
not been that the club founded an annual Corinthian match, in which
two paid hands were to be allowed for yachts of 15 tons and over, and
one paid hand to all the smaller yachts. The helmsman was to be an
amateur, and no _shot-bag or shifting ballast_ of any kind was to be
permitted. Besides proving that the club possessed amateur seamen
capable of handling a racing yacht of any size, the fact that that
unseaworthy equipment shifting ballast, which had been in use in the
Clyde foot classes and in most racing yachts during the early Fifties,
was to be abolished, at all events in this race, was a move in the
right direction.
1869 is a year of real historical importance, for it not only gives
the date when the 40-, 20-, and 10-ton classes became generally
acknowledged, but it brings credit to the Clyde Yacht Club where
credit is due, as being the founder of these classes, which held sway
for so many years. A year later the club was the first to introduce
the smaller class of 5 tons as a standing dish in its regatta
programmes, and to the Clyde Yacht Club belongs the honour of being
the first in the field to recognise that this diminutive class of
flyers was well worthy on its own merits of being encouraged.
[Illustration: The Start for Ardrishaig Cup.]
Channel matches had been long ere this time a matter of annual
interest with some of the clubs in the south of England, as well as
the Royal Alfred Yacht Club at Kingstown, and Royal Northern in
Scotland; but the sport of Channel racing and open-sea work had either
not been thought of, or had met with no favour, for the first Channel
match held in connection with the Clyde Club did not take place till
1871. The race came off after the regatta held that year at Barrow and
before the Clyde regattas, the course being from Barrow to the Clyde,
so that the yachts about to visit and race in the Firth might find it
worth their while to put on a spurt and make the best of their way
to their destination. No better course could be chosen for trying a
vessel on all points of sailing, to say nothing of her sea-going
powers, including as it does the passage between the Isle of Man and
the Mull of Galloway. For this race the 'Enid,' 57 tons; 'Livonia,'
280; 'Glance,' 35; and 'Coralie,' 35, started, all yachts at that date
as racers. The 'Glance' saved her time and carried off the trophy.
If 1871 opened up Channel groping under racing trim, 'progress' must
truly be held the motto for 1872. Not only was the club made a Royal
club, and allowed the privilege of placing a crown over the lion's
head in the burgee crest, but early in the spring of this year the
Royal Clyde opened to its members the house which Mr. Hunter, of
Hafton, had built for them at Hunter's Quay adjoining the hotel.
Of course with a settled headquarters, Hunter's Quay became the future
rendezvous for all club fixtures, such as opening and closing cruises,
regattas, matches and the like; and as the opening cruise this year
may be considered the first general meeting of members afloat off the
new house, it will not be amiss to give a short description of it. The
meeting took place on Thursday, May 30, and began at 2 P.M. with a
lunch at the club-house, after which at 4 P.M. the yachts weighed
anchor under the Commodore, and sailed under his orders till the
signal was made from the flagship for them to make the best of their
way to Rothesay. On arrival there, those who were not required on
board their vessels to stow sails and clear up for the night took
their dinghies ashore, or were taken in their gigs, for a stroll
through the old town. In the meantime on board the yachts, as soon as
the decks had been cleared up and ropes coiled down in their places,
the galley fires were lighted, so that by 7 P.M. the men had had their
tea, and the cooks and stewards were ready with goodly repasts
awaiting the coming on board again of the hungry masters and their
friends.
Dinner over, the pleasures of the evening began with what is known as
'ship-visiting'--that is, the yacht-owner starts off, and either rows
himself and friends in his dinghy, or is rowed in correct form, to
some friend's yacht where he may remain, or, after a short visit,
proceed, taking with him his host and as many of his friends as he can
pack away in the gig's stern-sheets, to some other yacht, and so on
_ad infinitum_. To row himself is much the better plan, since it means
independence of the crew (which perhaps may consist only of one hand),
and avoidance of a troubled conscience, that the man or men are being
kept up and prevented from turning in.
The following morning only a few burgees were visible, most of the
yachts having donned their silken racing flags, for an early start had
to be made in a handicap race to be sailed _viâ_ the Garroch Head (the
most south-westerly extremity of the Isle of Bute) to Tignabruich.
More than half the yachts were started in this race, for which four
cups were provided as prizes. The contingent of small non-racers made
Tignabruich by way of the Kyles of Bute, as did also some of the
larger sailing yachts, which preferred calm and untroubled travelling
to a dusting round the Garroch Head. The gathering at the head of the
Kyles is, if anything, more enjoyable than that spent at Rothesay. The
anchorage is more land-locked, and therefore less liable to
disturbance from winds or sweeping seas, and ship-visiting can be
carried on without any fear of a ducking or other unpleasantness.
On the Saturday morning, the members of the club and their friends
breakfasted together at 9.30 at the Royal Hotel, when the prizes were
presented to the winners; after which a few returned to their yachts,
got under way, and dispersed with the object of extending their
cruise, while those left behind remained to enjoy the beautiful
scenery and walks with which the locality abounds, and on Sunday
attend church parade on board Lord Glasgow's yacht.
[Illustration: 'Marjorie.'
_Blue, with white cross. 68 tons_ (_J. Coats, Jun., Esq._). _Built by
Steele & Co._, 1883.]
Beyond the adoption by the club of the Royal Alfred Yacht Club rules
and regulations, nothing of any moment worth chronicling took place
till 1875, in which year the purchase was completed by the club of
the whole of the grounds and buildings, including the hotel and
club-house, and early in 1876 the members enjoyed the privilege of not
only having a club-house, but also an establishment worked on the
principle of a private hotel, where they could provide themselves and
their families or friends with comfortable quarters on very reasonable
club terms.
In this matter the Royal Clyde Yacht Club is specially fortunate, as
also in one other, viz. the magnificent scenic setting by which their
possession is surrounded. Nothing can equal the Holy Loch for beauty
and charm of colour, on a summer's evening, particularly about sunset,
or an early winter's morning, with its sunrise lowering and
accompanied by ever-changing tints lending their enchantments to the
rugged grandeur of the hills which bound it. This, with the distant
view up the Clyde, obtained from the club-house windows or frontage,
is not to be surpassed in any country in the world.
At the opening of the season of 1877, and the close of the second
decade, the club numbered no fewer than 643 members, with a fleet of
yachts computed at 195, and as the Club Regatta now occupied two days,
the three Clyde clubs--viz. the Royal Clyde, the Royal Northern, and
the four-year-old Mudhook Yacht Club--considered it necessary to work
together for the furtherance of sport, and held their first meeting to
arrange a suitable date for celebrating a 'Clyde Week.' A change was
also made this season in the several courses at the regattas, a change
which had been for some time considered desirable, and which turned
out a welcome improvement.
The new courses were as follows: For First-Class Yachts, from Hunter's
Quay to Toward buoy, thence to Skelmorlie buoy, thence to the Powder
Vessel's buoy, and thence to Hunter's Quay, leaving all on the port
hand; twice round, distance 50 miles.
The Second-Class Course lay from Hunter's Quay to Skelmorlie buoy,
thence to the Powder Vessel's buoy, and thence to Hunter's Quay,
leaving all on the port hand; twice round, distance 40 miles.
The Third-Class Course was from Hunter's Quay to a flagboat moored in
Inverkip Bay, thence to the Powder Vessel's buoy and back to Hunter's
Quay; twice round, distance 30 miles.
The Fourth-Class Course was from Hunter's Quay to the Inverkip
flagboat, and back to Hunter's Quay; twice round, distance 24 miles.
The Fifth-Class Course lay from Hunter's Quay to a flagboat moored off
Dunoon Pier, thence to a flagboat moored off Kilcreggan and back to
Hunter's Quay; twice round, distance 11 miles.
Another new feature this season was the introduction of the Yacht
Racing Association's scale of time allowances, based originally on
that drawn up for the Royal Alfred Yacht Club by their late secretary,
Mr. James A. Lyle. This scale had been in general use by the R.A.Y.C.
for many years.
In 1878, not only the club, but all those who had partaken of its
hospitality, had to lament their loss in the death of Mr. Samuel King,
one of the most kind and genial of its members. This year was
remarkable for the entry in the race for first-class yachts on the
second day of the regatta. Five yachts crossed the line for the 60_l_.
prize, not one of which was less than 100 tons measurement, viz., the
'Lufra,' 222 tons, yawl; 'Jullanar,' yawl, 130 tons; 'Condor,' 190
tons; 'Cythera,' cutter, 116 tons; and 'Formosa,' cutter, 103 tons.
From that day to this there has never been such a meeting of so many
first-class large racing yachts, showing so great a tonnage. It may be
said also of the useful little 5-ton class, at this time at its zenith
of popularity, that the entries this season were the largest that have
ever been known. No fewer than eight of these mosquitoes, including
Mr. York's pretty little 6-ton yawl 'Rocket,' came to the fore on all
the great occasions provided for their sport.
[Illustration: 'May'
_42 tons_ (_W. Chrystal, Esq., Vice-Com. Royal Clyde_). _Built by
Steele & Co._, 1881.]
During the years 1879, 1880, and 1881, there was a satisfactory
increase in the number of members, and a consequent augmentation of
the club funds. The annual amount given away at this period in prizes
had reached something over 450_l._ The entries at the regattas during
the seasons of 1880 and 1881 were splendid in the 20-ton class; no
fewer than seven 20-tonners and the 15-tonner 'Maggie' crossed the
line in 1880, and in 1881 the same number, less the 'Maggie,' did
likewise. A new class of 2-1/2-tonners was started in 1880 with seven
yachts to its name, and in 1881 still another class had to be catered
for, consisting of 3-1/2-tonners. The entries, too, this year, in the
first class must not be forgotten; for in these days of fashionable
small yacht racing it almost reads like a fairy tale when it is said
that, out of nine entries, seven yachts were of 89 tons and over, the
other two being about 60 tons each.
If the above two years are notable in the annals of the club, in the
following year, 1882, its prosperity was evinced in a marked degree by
the addition to its possessions of a club yacht; and as there are only
one or two clubs which provide such a luxury for their members, it may
not be amiss to give a short account of the _modus operandi_ employed
in connection with it. Among the 600 to 700 members of the club there
were many who did not care to keep yachts of their own, but enjoyed an
occasional cruise. It was in answer to a proposition made by one of
these gentlemen that funds were procured by means of shares, which
were bought by individual members, and by the club itself. In this way
the necessary amount of purchase money was speedily collected, and a
committee was told off to superintend the choice, purchase, and
fitting out of a yacht, with all arrangements connected with manning,
and the carrying out of the regulations in regard to hire, &c. The
yacht thus secured by the club was the 'Alcyone,' 35-ton cutter, which
had been built by Mr. D. Hatcher, and had proved herself no mean
performer in the 40-ton class. She is a good wholesome vessel, and a
fast and able sea-boat. Her accommodation is excellent, and includes
berths for five passengers at least. There is capital headroom between
decks, and any amount of space for stowage of baggage, &c.
The 'Alcyone' is manned by a captain and four hands, and when a member
hires the yacht he has no expenses whatever to provide for beyond the
hire and the keep of himself and friends while on board. Four rules
were framed by the committee in charge, as being necessary for the
working of the scheme, viz:
First.--The limit of time for hire is 14 days. Second.--The
cost of hire is 3_l._ 10_s._ per diem, including cruet
stores. Third.--The club is to keep a supply of liquors on
board, to be supplied at a small profit. Fourth.--Hirers are
bound, if called upon, to deliver up the yacht in the Holy
Loch, or at any other anchorage inside the Cumbrae Head.
If it is desired to keep the yacht for a month, then it must be done
by two members joining together in the hire, the one putting his name
down for the first fortnight, and the other for the second. The cost
of hire may seem at first sight somewhat heavy, but the 'Alcyone' is
kept up like a private yacht, and no money has been spared to provide
every possible contrivance which might be conducive to comfort. The
success of the venture is proved by the fact that she has rarely been
disengaged or unlet for more than a day or two during any one season
since her purchase.
Another sign of prosperity was the institution of an annual club ball,
which is held at the St. Andrews Hall, Glasgow, during the winter
months, and acknowledged to be one of the principal balls of the year
and one of the great events of the winter season.
The next year--1883--showed a still further advancement in the club's
popularity, for it was the chosen recipient of a Queen's Cup. This
prize was sailed for on July 14, during the 'Clyde Week,' in a race
for all yachts over 40 tons, and no fewer than eleven yachts started.
[Illustration: 'Thistle'
_Winning the Queen's Cup in the Clyde._]
If, however, 1883 has been rendered famous for being a Queen's Cup
year, 1884 will be noted for the success of its closing cruise, and
the sport it provided. This season surpassed itself in the number of
entries for the closing cruise handicap, and never have so many yachts
come forward to race for the handsome cups, the gifts of members of
the club, as on this occasion. In the first match for yachts over 40
tons, ten entered, including five over 90 tons, three 60-tonners, and
two of 40 tons. It was the race for 20-tonners, however, that gave
real character to the meeting, and there can be no mistake in saying
that no other club in the kingdom has ever had to start so many as
nine 20- and two 15-tonners in one race, all clever fast yachts, and
no third or fourth rate cruisers, as will be seen from their names:
'Clara,' 'Lenore,' 'Amathea,' 'Louise,' 'Sayonara,' 'Irene,' 'Thyra,'
'Maggie,' 'Calypso,' 'Rival,' and 'Gem.' In the race for 10-tonners
seven started, among them the old 'Helen' schooner, 17 tons, a yacht
which saw more hard sailing than perhaps any other belonging to the
club. She was built at Cowes, and was one of Halliday's pretty
creations, a few of which are still to be met with. In 1892 she was
unfortunately driven on the rocks off Hafton in the Holy Loch, during
a severe gale, and was soon smashed into matchwood. For the prize in
the 5-ton class three put in an appearance, all the fastest racing
yachts of the year.
[Illustration: 'Clara,' 10 tons, midship section.]
The courses for yachts of 40 tons and upwards were altered in 1885;
instead of rounding the Powder buoy a mark buoy anchored off
Kilcreggan became the furthest point. In 1886 the club forwarded a
challenge to the New York Yacht Club, in the name of Mr. Jas. Bell,
and this ended in the yacht 'Thistle,' now known as the 'Meteor' and
owned by H.I.M. the German Emperor, being built, and sent across the
Atlantic, to contend for the Cup won by the 'America.' The 'Thistle'
and 'Volunteer' matches were the consequence, and they are so well
known that it would be superfluous here to furnish an account of them;
suffice it to say that, though the Scotch yacht did not win the great
event, her performances with the 'Volunteer' not only taught British
yachtsmen many a lesson, but afforded not a few hints to their
American rivals.
At the beginning of 1887, the end of the club's third decade, the
finances of the club consisted of a capital of 6,990_l._, and the
amount at this time annually expended on yacht racing was 487_l._,
exclusive of gifts of money made by individual members. During the ten
years the numbers on the list of members fluctuated from 610 to 640:
in this particular year only 610 names appeared on the list. With
regard to the number of yachts sailing under the club flag, there had
been the same variation, for though always between 180 and 197, this
year the yachts numbered only 189, or 11 fewer than the previous year,
the gross tonnage amounting to 12,302 tons.
During the winter of 1886 many matters were discussed which brought
forth fruit in the season of 1887, and made that year more important
than it otherwise would have been. First of all, the club had to
regret the loss of their Commodore, Lord Glasgow, who, after acting
for over a quarter of a century in that office, was compelled to give
up the appointment owing to failing health. Mr. John Clark was elected
to take his place, and Messrs. Jas. Bell and H. Lamont became Vice-
and Rear-Commodores. Mr. York, to whom the writer is much indebted for
assistance given him in compiling this notice, held the office of
secretary and treasurer, which he had so ably filled for over twenty
years. During the winter the club had acquired three boats, of 19 ft.
length on the load water-line, for the benefit of those members who
wished to go out for a day's sail; the three boats being made, as far
as the designer, builder, and sailmaker were concerned, as nearly
equal in merits as it was possible for them to be, in order that they
might show good sport when taken out racing together. Prizes for a
race for these boats have since been regularly given at the regattas,
to encourage members to take them out match sailing. In this way
they have proved very useful in initiating many a tiro into the
secrets and mysteries of yacht racing.
[Illustration: 'Lenore'
_Fife of Fairlie_, 1882.]
This year, too, witnessed another change in yacht measurement. The
Yacht Racing Association had formulated and passed a rule of
measurement by length and sail area, the length to be taken along the
load water-line. This rule was adopted by the club, and at the
regattas all yachts were rated according to it, with the exception of
the 3-1/2-tonners; these, as they happened to be the class of the
year, were allowed to race under the old rule for which they were
built. As many as six of these little vessels made the Clyde their
headquarters and sailed at the regattas.
Through the club's agency, it must not be forgotten, telegraphic
communication was opened up between Hunter's Quay, Glasgow, and the
outer world. The club provided an office and guaranteed the sum
required by the Post Office authorities, and by so doing conferred a
benefit not only on themselves but on the whole surrounding
neighbourhood.
Early in 1888 the club was engaged in determining the several classes
under which yachts built to the 'rating rule,' as it was called,
should sail. For this purpose, Messrs. R. Wylie and J. B. Hilliard,
the two well-known representative Clyde yachtsmen, were chosen
delegates to consult with the other leading yacht clubs in the North
regarding the adjustment of a classification for the smaller yachts
and sailing boats racing on the Clyde, and full powers were given them
to carry out any decision that might be arrived at. Those adopted were
the 10, 6 and 3 rating classes with two length classes, one of 17 ft.
on the water-line and 19 ft. over all, with a sail area limited to 530
ft.; the mainsail or lugsail not to exceed .75 of the total sail area;
the other class to be for boats 15 ft. on the water-line. The 6-rating
class was chosen that it might form one in which the 3-tonners of the
preceding year would be able to enter, as they ranged over 5 and under
6 as raters. At the time these changes were taking place a rule was
introduced that there were to be no 'restrictions on the use of
centreboards.'
The great feature of this year's regatta was the 'Queen's Cup,' the
second presented to the club within five years, an event of which the
members may justly be proud. In the interim between the Corinthian and
annual regattas a channel match round Arran was inaugurated, for
yachts not exceeding 9 tons Thames measurement and belonging to any
recognised yacht club, for 50_l._, given in two prizes of 35_l._ and
15_l._, and presented by two members of the club. The course lay from
Hunter's Quay down the Firth, through the Kyles of Bute, down
Kilbrennan Sound between Arran and Cantyre, rounding Pladda Island,
and home by any route. The yachts were to be _bona fide_ cruisers, and
only jib-topsails were prohibited. No restrictions were made as to
crew or helmsman. No fewer than eight small yachts sailed in the race,
and it proved a far greater success than was at first expected.
If this is to be known as the second Queen's Cup year, it will also
have to be remembered for the terrible fire and loss of the club-house
and hotel on July 12, nothing of which was saved, with the exception
of some furniture, one or two models, and a few odds and ends. A club
could be called upon to face no greater calamity, especially at a time
when the season is at its height. Craigend Villa, within a short
distance of the old house, was promptly rented as a makeshift for a
year, and fitted up to meet all immediate necessities, while steps
were taken at once to make arrangements for the building of a new
house on the old site. To forward this the sum of 10,000_l._ was
voted, which with another 8,000_l._ did not cover all the expenses. At
the present moment there does not exist a more beautiful or
conveniently arranged yacht club-house in the kingdom.
[Illustration: 'Verve'
_23-footer_ (_Robert Wylie, Esq._)]
Notwithstanding the liberal sums devoted by the club to match sailing,
there have always been at each regatta meeting a plentiful supply of
cups and purses forthcoming to swell the list of prizes, the gifts of
individual members. To enumerate all the donors would be out of place
here, but it is impossible to overlook such names as Bell, Buchanon,
Clark, Coates, Falconer, Ferguson, Forrester, Lockett, Ure, Wylie,
and York, names which will ever be linked with the club's successful
past.
The year 1890 was remarkable principally for the number of 10-raters
belonging to members, and entered for races in that class. It seemed
like a resuscitation of the old 10-tonner days. On the other hand, the
Clyde, the home of the 5-tonner, had not a single 5-rater to its name,
and a 6-rating class had to be formed to take in the Irish contingent,
which with Mr. Inglis's little 'Darthula' raced for the prizes
provided for them. The 2-1/2-rater class made its entry in the club
programmes, and started with a small fleet of seven yachts, including
four belonging to the Royal Ulster Yacht Club; but in 1891 this class
became the fashionable class of the year, and the club of itself could
boast of no fewer than eight of these small fry.
The fleet belonging to the club in the year 1857 numbered 56 yachts,
mostly of very small tonnage. By 1867 the number had risen to 87 only,
but then the gross tonnage was very much greater, viz. 1,200 tons. In
1877 there were 194 yachts, including a few screw steamers. In the
year 1887, 189 names appeared on the club yacht list, i.e. five fewer
than in 1877, but the total tonnage on the other hand amounted to
12,302 tons. The last half-decade, however, has quite eclipsed all
preceding years, for the yachts now flying the Royal Clyde Yacht Club
burgee number 267, which represent a gross tonnage of no less than
14,407 tons. Last year not far short of 1,000_l._ was given in prizes.
The club at the present time numbers 951 members, which will be seen
to be an increase of over 300 within the last five years. It is a
pleasure seldom accorded to writers of club histories to have to
record such an exceptional advance, and in bidding farewell to the
society, it may be firmly hoped and prophesied that long ere the close
of its fourth decade the R.C.Y.C. will have increased its list of
members to over four figures and its yachts and yacht-tonnage in
proportion.
THE ROYAL FORTH YACHT CLUB
BY R. T. PRITCHETT
The Forth Club was established in 1848 under the name of the 'Granton
Yacht Club,' and received permission from the Queen to assume the
title of 'Royal Forth' in 1883. The flag of the club is the blue
ensign of Her Majesty's fleet, with a gold crown and Maltese cross.
The club is now well supported, having as patron the Duke of
Buccleuch, K.T. Sir Donald Currie, K.C.M.G., is Commodore, backed by
a very influential staff. The Hon. Secretary is Mr. Bruce Fenwick. The
number of members amounts to nearly 2,000, with a total tonnage of
about 4,600; but the Firth of Forth has serious disadvantages as a
yachting centre, being favoured neither by nature nor circumstances as
is the Firth of Clyde, which absorbs all yachting interests. Mr. T. B.
C. West, who carried off the Queen's Cup at the Regatta in 1892 with
his well-known 40-rater 'Queen Mab,' presented a challenge cup of 100
guineas, to be sailed for annually in the month of June. That,
however, was not sufficient inducement to get a large entry. The fact
is there are so many regattas now that the tendency is to
concentration, and consequently outlying stations suffer.
The Royal Forth Yacht Club had a match in June 1893, at the beginning
of their water sports, from Hartlepool to Granton, for a prize of
30_l._ The starters were
The Creole Cutter 40-rater Lieut.-Col. Bagot.
Daydream Yawl 89- " Mr. James Shepherd.
[Illustration: Royal Forth Yacht Club Courses.]
The wind was very light at the start, which took place at 10.50 A.M.
on Thursday, June 22. Later on light airs from east-north-east helped
them; but off the Farne Islands--without any notice or disturbed
appearance in the sky--a tremendous squall struck 'Creole'; she,
however, behaved splendidly, and was specially well handled. By
Saturday morning the weather had moderated and they got the mainsail
on her and ran up past Inch Keith, getting the gun at 11.34 A.M. from
the 'Iolanthe.'
The larger vessel, the yawl of 89-rating, had her troubles too, and
finally got into the Tyne on Saturday morning, under storm canvas.
On the last day of the racing--June 26--there was a match for yachts
belonging to the Royal Forth Yacht Club, for the T. B. C. West
Challenge Cup, the entries confined to members of the club. Five
yachts entered for the race, over a course of forty miles. The tonnage
was very small, and the handicap one of large range; it will be noted
that 'Ida,' at scratch, allowed 'Lintie' 1 hr. 23 mins. 48 secs.
+---------------+--------+-------------------+-----------------------+
| | | | |
| Yacht Rig | Rating | Handicap | Owners |
|---------------+--------+-------------------+-----------------------|
| | | | |
| Ida Cutter | 12 | Scratch | Messrs. Park & Wilson |
| Nora " | 8 | 12 m. 24 s. | Dr. W. S. Armitage |
| Uranus " | 3.9 | 36 m. 47 s. | Mr. F. A. Robertson |
| Glance " | 3.7 | 40 m. 42 s. | Mr. W. A. Bell |
| Lintie Lug | -- | 1 hr. 23 m. 48 s. | Mr. G. W. Mitchell |
+---------------+--------+-------------------+-----------------------+
The start took place at 10.37 A.M., with a nice breeze from the
north-west. 'Lintie' led off, but 'Nora' soon took up the running and
led all the way home, finishing at Granton:--
h. m. s.
Nora (winner) 6 21 32
Ida 6 29 30
Uranus 6 47 0
Glance 7 42 32
Lintie 7 58 0
This will give some idea of the application of time allowance.
The ROYAL EASTERN, established 1835, is a small Scottish Club whose
existence may be noted; but yachting does not flourish much on the
East Coast.
CHAPTER III
IRISH CLUBS
THE ROYAL CORK YACHT CLUB
BY R. T. PRITCHETT
The ancestral origin of this club, which has its station at
Queenstown, was the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork, established in
1720. It is therefore the _doyen par excellence_, and its rules and
orders as carried out in its early days are original and entertaining.
A few of the rules may be quoted:
I. Ordered that the Water Club be held once every spring
tide, from the first spring tide in April to the last in
September inclusive.
II. That no Admiral do bring more than two dishes of meat
for the entertainment of the club.
III. Resolved that no Admiral presume to bring more than two
dozen of wine to his treat, for it has always been deemed a
breach of the ancient rules and constitutions of the club,
except when my Lords the Judges are invited.
V. Ordered that the Secretary do prepare an Union flag, with
the Royal Irish harp and crown on a green field in the
centre.
Ordered that the Water Club flag be hoisted on club days
early in the morning on the Castle of Haulbowline.
IX. Ordered that no long tail wigs, large sleeves or ruffles
be worn by any member at the club.
Ordered that when any of the fleet join the Admiral, if they
have not guns to salute they are to give three cheers, which
are to be returned by the Admiral, and one cheer to be
returned by the Captain so saluting.
XIII. Resolved that twenty-five be the whole number of the
members that this club may consist of.
XIV. Resolved that such members of the club or others as
shall talk of sailing after dinner be fined a bumper.
XX. Ordered that the Knight of the Island for the time being
do suffer no person or persons whatsoever to go into the
club room, unless brought by a member, or by an order of
five members at the least, under their hands, on pain of
being cashiered.
XXI. That the Admiral singly, or any three captains whom he
shall appoint, do decide all controversies and disputes that
may arise in the club, and any Captain that shall refuse to
abide by such decision is to be expelled. N.B. This order to
extend to the Chaplain, or any other inferior officer.
_April 21, 1737._--Ordered that for the future, unless the
company exceed the number of fifteen, no man be allowed more
than one bottle to his share, and a peremptory. [What a
'peremptory' was remains a mystery.]
_Old Members_, 1720
Lord Inchiquin
Hon. James O'Bryen
Charles O'Neal
Henry Mitchell
Rich. Bullen, Chaplain
John Rogers
_New Members_, 1760
* Thomas Newenham
Morough O'Bryen
George Connor
Rich. Longfield
James Nash
William Hodder
* Philip Lavallin
John Newenham
Walter Fitzsimonds
* Samuel Hoare
William Hays
Michael Parker
* Abraham Devonshere
John Bullen
* Robert Rogers
* James Devonshere
John Walcot
Thomas Parsons
Henry Puxly
Robert Newenham, Sec.
1760.--Members whose names are marked thus * subsequently died or left
the club; the following were elected in their room, and are added in
MS. in the old copy:--
Edward Roche
Edmund Roche
Richard Dunscombe
John Atkins
John Baldwin
Robert Baldwin
Sampson Stawell
[Illustration: Yachts of Cork Water Club, 1720. From an old picture
at the R.C.Y.C., Queenstown.]
_Sailing orders for the Water Club fleet_, 1720
The fleet to rendezvous at Spithead on club days by the
first quarter ebb, any boat not being in sight by the time
the Admiral is abreast of the Castle in Spike Island, to
forfeit a British half-crown for gunpowder for the fleet.
When the Admiral hoists his foresail half up, it is for the
fleet to have a peak upon their anchor, and when the
foresail is hoisted up and a gun fired, the whole fleet is
to weigh.
_Observe_ that if the Admiral wants to speak with any of the
fleet he will make the following signals.
If with the Vice-Admiral he will hoist a white flag at the
end of the gaff or derrick, and fire two guns.
If with any private Captain he will hoist a pendant at his
derrick, and fire as many guns as the Captain is distanced
from him and from the same side.
When he would have the fleet come to an anchor, he will show
double Dutch colours at the end of his gaff and fire a gun.
When the Admiral will have the whole fleet to chase he will
hoist Dutch colours under his flag, and fire a gun from each
quarter; if a single boat he will hoist a pendant and fire
as many guns from the side as a boat is distanced from him.
When he would have the chase given over, he will haul in his
flag and fire a gun.
Some storm seems suddenly to have burst upon the gay fleet, for after
the year 1765 there is a long vacuum in the records. The club journal
sets forth, however, that on July 1, 1806, the Marquis of Thomond,
Lord Kingsale, the Fitzgeralds, the Penroses, the Newenhams, the
Drurys, and others, styled therein 'original members,' met, and agreed
to revive the old Water Club; but there is no reason to suppose that
the club was set afloat in its ancient splendour, and the attention of
the members would appear to have been chiefly directed to the useful
purpose of exciting competition among the fishing and rowing boats in
the harbour, to which they gave annual prizes.
[Illustration: Royal Cork Yacht Club Queenstown.]
Towards the end of the year 1821, the yachting spirit of both sexes in
Cork Harbour declined, and the Water Club was but feebly kept up;
indeed, Lords Thomond and Kingsale, Messrs. Savage, French, Cooper
Penrose, Thomas Roland, John Marragh, William Harrington, John Roche,
with a few others, were its sole representatives; and the club as a
body at this period may be almost said to have become extinct, as no
meetings were held, or proceedings recorded.
But the next year a party of youngsters, higher up the river, took
possession of the vacant territory, and in 1822 a little fleet was
again seen in the harbour. This society, originating in a picnic club,
having its rendezvous at Monkstown, and consisting of small craft, did
not assume the title of the Cork Harbour Club, but contented itself
with the more humble appellation of the 'Little Monkstown Club.' From
these small beginnings, however, the present Royal Cork Yacht Club had
its immediate origin, in 1828, when Thomas Hewitt, Caulfield Beamish,
and a few other enterprising individuals of the Monkstown Club,
supported by the patriotic proprietor of 'Footy,' John Smith-Barry,
and the greater part of the old Water Club members then living, met
and resolved to revive and re-establish it on a solid and permanent
basis.
The new arrangements were judiciously made, and the club,
re-established under the title of the Cork Yacht Club, rose rapidly to
eminence.
The Water Club is ably and favourably noticed in the 'Tour through
Ireland.' (London. Printed for J. Roberts, in Warwick Lane, 1748.)
[Illustration: Yacht Club Flags.
_The dates show when the Clubs were established._]
[Illustration: Cork Water Club putting out to sea, 1720.]
I shall now acquaint your Lordships with a ceremony they
have at Cork. It is somewhat like that of the Doge of Venice
wedding the sea. A set of worthy gentlemen who have formed
themselves into a body, which they call the 'Water Club,'
proceed a few leagues out to sea once a year, in a number of
little vessels, which for painting and gilding exceed the
King's yacht at Greenwich and Deptford. Their Admiral, who
is elected annually, and hoists his flag on board his little
vessel, leads the van and receives the honours of the flag.
The rest of the fleet fall in their proper stations and keep
their line in the same manner as the King's ships. This
fleet is attended with a prodigious number of boats, which,
with their colours flying, drums beating, and trumpets
sounding, forms one of the most agreeable and splendid
sights your Lordships can conceive.
The Union with harp and crown in the centre on a green
field, was granted by the Lords of the Admiralty to William,
Earl of Inchiquin, for the Cork Harbour Yacht Club, in 1759.
The present club-house is delightfully situated at Queenstown; though
old association clings rather to Haulbowline, with its quaint history.
The old pictures in the club-rooms of the Water Club yachts are
valuable as showing what the craft were in those days. Age has sombred
them down so much that many details are unfortunately lost. We are
indebted to Major H. H. Newman, the Hon. Secretary, for his
assistance, and also to Major Lysaght, who kindly photographed these
paintings.
THE CLUBS AT KINGSTOWN, DUBLIN Co.
Kingstown Harbour, so admirably adapted for sailing, has long been a
favourite spot with yachtsmen. Formerly Kingstown was a small creek
called Dunleary, but King George IV. embarked there on September 3,
1821, and promised a grant for a new harbour, which was finished in
1859 at a cost of 825,000_l._ This harbour encloses a clear sheet of
water 250 acres in extent, of depth from 15 ft. to 27 ft. at low
water, with a rise of 8 ft. or 9 ft. It affords good holding ground
and shelter from all winds, and, being a harbour of refuge, there are
no harbour fees. As a yachting station, in addition to being a safe
anchorage, it has the advantage of enabling a yacht to get in or out
to the open sea in a few minutes at any tide. The East Pier is a mile
long, and forms one of the most perfect marine promenades in the
world. Yachting took root here when the St. George's Yacht Club was
established in 1838, though perhaps it should more strictly be dated
from 1845 as it was in the latter year it obtained its Admiralty
warrant. It has now become Royal, with Her Majesty the Queen as
Patroness; Lord Dunleath (formerly John Mulholland, Esq.,)
Vice-Commodore. A remarkably fine class of yachts is brought
together in this club, and when the regatta is held Kingstown Harbour
presents one of the finest aquatic spectacles in the world, embracing
yachts and sailing boats of all classes. The 'Mermaids' and the 'Water
Wags,' which give annually great sport in the Bay, are described in a
following chapter. The Royal Irish Club has its club-house in a fine
and convenient situation; established as it was in 1846, there will
soon be two yachting jubilee regattas in Dublin Bay. July is the month
when aquatic revelry is in full swing. Many is the hard race sailed
from the harbour round The Kish, and many the spar carried away when
the high-spirited Corinthians have been cracking on. The Royal Ulster
meets at Bangor, Co. Down, having the Marquis of Dufferin as
Commodore; Lord Dunleath as Vice-Commodore; Captain Sharman-Crawford,
of 'Red Lancer' fame, as Rear-Commodore.
[Illustration: 'Erycina'
_96 tons_ (_F. B. Jameson. Esq., R. St. George's Yacht Club_). _Built
by Fife_, 1881.]
[Illustration: Royal St George's Yacht Club, Dublin Bay.]
ROYAL ALFRED YACHT CLUB
BY G. L. BLAKE
No sporting society in the whole of the three kingdoms has done more
to encourage seamanship than that which has its station in Dublin Bay,
and has been known for so many years past as the Royal Alfred Yacht
Club. Worked on a basis somewhat different from that of most clubs,
whose object is the encouragement of amateur sailing, this community
sprang into being on March 19, 1857, at a meeting held in Gilbert's
Hotel, Westland Row, Dublin, under the chairmanship of that fine
practical yachtsman the late Mr. William Cooper, so well known to all
patrons of the sport by his valuable works on the pastime he loved so
well, written under the pseudonym 'Vanderdecken.'
[Illustration:
'Oimara' _169 tons_
'Flying Could' _75 tons_
'Iona' _63 tons_
'Fiona' _78 tons_
'Arethusa' _58 tons_
'Flag Boat'
'Pantomine' _142 tons_
'Gwendoline' _197 tons_
'Garrion'
_Royal Irish Yacht Club Cup, Kingstown, July 24, 1873_
(_from a picture by Admiral Beechy_).]
'Smartness' might have been the motto of the newly launched club, for
within a few weeks of the above date the Irish Model Yacht Club--thus
it was christened while yet on the ways--had taken on board all the
essentials necessary for a lengthened and prosperous voyage. Acker's
signals were its code, and words of wisdom in the form of club rules
had been duly got out and printed. A captain of the fleet, secretary,
and treasurer, backed up by a very able committee of thirteen,
constituted the 'powers that be'; and under their auspices, on May 21,
the yachts of the club made their début in company in Ireland's Bay of
Naples.
It was during the following year that one of those rules was framed
which proved for so many years such a notable club feature. It ran as
follows: 'Every Saturday shall be a Fleet day unless there be notice
to the contrary, and all yachts on the station, under a fine of 5_s._,
shall be bound to join the fleet at a given hour, unless a
satisfactory reason for the yacht's absence be given to the Sailing
Committee. No yacht is to join unless the owner, or a member of a
Yacht Club, be on board.' Of course this regulation has had to be
rescinded in order to allow of club matches taking place, and the
cruises in company have become less frequent; but it is impossible to
estimate the value to seamanship of fleet sailing, because there is no
method by which the sailor can more readily attain to the complete
command of his vessel, and make her answer to his bidding. Sailing as
he will be on such occasions in company with yachts of various sizes,
sail-carrying power and speed, the yachtsman who can keep station will
have learnt not only to have a confidence in himself and his vessel,
but also how to vary her degrees of sailing from the reeling off of
knots to an up and down log line.
In 1859 the club was practically reorganised. A new book of amended
rules and regulations was printed, and a book of signals produced and
compiled by Mr. Jas. A. Lyle, who had been appointed honorary
secretary. Among these new rules was this very useful and simple one:
'Each owner is to lodge with the secretary a duplicate of his racing
flag, and this flag is to be carried on board the Commodore's yacht of
the day, to facilitate signalling and avoidance of mistakes.'
Towards the end of the season Lord Otho Fitzgerald, who had up to this
time acted as captain of the fleet, gave up the office, and till it
was eventually done away with, a Challenge Cup was instituted, open to
all yachts of 15 tons (the largest size among the racing fleet) and
under, to be sailed for annually. It was ruled that in future the
holder of this cup should fill the office of captain of the fleet for
the ensuing year.
So far the club matches had been few and somewhat irregular. Three
classes had been formed, consisting of yachts of 10 and not exceeding
15 tons, of 6 and not over 10, and of others under 6 tons. This year,
however, was started the annual series of racing matches, which have
for over thirty years been so popular with the racing fraternity of
St. George's Channel and the Clyde; and each season's programme has
only undergone such alterations as have been necessitated by the
increased tonnage of the competing yachts, or as may further racing
according to the fashionable sizes of the yachts of the period. About
this date, too, it was found necessary to obviate the difficulty which
was being felt with regard to manning and sailing yachts, owing to the
number of large yachts, which already flew the club burgee; the
original rule, that permitted members only to be employed, was
therefore stretched, in order to admit of any member of a Royal Yacht
Club, who had paid his subscription, or any gentleman amateur not a
seafaring man, being entered as a racing hand.
In 1864 the club advanced another step safely, and emerging from its
chrysalis stage of a model yacht club, butterflied it in public as the
Prince Alfred Yacht Club, keeping the same objects in view as
hitherto, viz., the encouragement of mat
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