CHAPTER XII

FIVE-TONNERS AND FIVE-RATERS IN THE NORTH

BY G. L. BLAKE

A few years ago a great sportsman, whose privilege it had been to take an active part in nearly every form of sport known to the British Isles, was asked which of them all he thought should be placed at the head of the list as being most conducive to make its follower manly, and at the same time least open to the criticism of those who are always inclined to find fault with their neighbours' methods of employing their spare time. There was some little hesitation before he gave an answer, but at length he expressed an opinion that yachting excelled all others. To enumerate a few of his reasons will not be out of place here.

The first and foremost was the utter absence of any possibility of cruelty, as calls could only be made on inanimate materials and the yachtsmen themselves. Then it was quite out of the question for a man to be a thorough yachtsman without courage and endurance being brought into play. Quickness of action, or the ability to think and act at the same time, was also a necessity in yachting, as it was in most other sports; but it was an absolute one here, because the elements were an unknown force, and sudden contingencies, not to be equalled in intensity or severity by any possible emergency ashore, had frequently to be faced. This quality--quickness of resource--was, of all others, the characteristic of the sailor.

Two more points were added, which certainly tend to place yachting, and yacht racing especially, in the fore rank of sports. The first was that yacht racing and cruising are carried on by those who enter upon them, not in any way as a business, but solely for the love of the sea. The prizes, such as they are, when bestowed in money are so small in comparison with the outlay and cost in building and sailing a racing crack, that in most of the recognised classes they only go a very little way towards lessening the general expenditure, whilst as for betting on the races, such a thing was rare in the extreme.

The last argument was that 'unfair sailing' was a thing almost, if not quite, unknown, and if there was an argument in favour of extra money for yachts' crews on racing days, it was that it helped to encourage all hands to do their utmost to make their vessels, let the look-out be ever so bad, come in and win.

To one desirous not only of enjoying the sport, but also of really understanding every detail connected with it, from splicing, knotting, sail-making, varnishing, painting, cleaning brasswork, setting, taking in, reefing or shifting sail, to steering a clean full-and-bye against a head-sea, or learning to make himself comfortable on the smallest possible fit-out, an old yachtsman's advice is, the smaller the boat chosen to begin with the better; and after a quarter of a century's experience of small yachts in all weathers, seas, and climates, he believes the vessel of about 30 feet in length, with a moderate beam and draught of water, is the smallest capable of keeping the sea with any degree of comfort and safety. There are no more suitable yachts of the size referred to than those built under the old Thames Rule of Measurement, or the late Rule of the Yacht Racing Association, to sail in the class for yachts of 5 tons and under. A restriction might be added to the exclusion of such yachts as were the extreme outcome of the rule; but as only three were built--one designed by Mr. G. L. Watson and the late Mr. Payton's two vessels, both of which were lost--there is no need for the limitation; and on looking back into the eighties it will be found that the 3-ton class in the South and the 3-1/2-ton class in the North altogether monopolised the true plank-on-edge model entirely for themselves. Though the extreme types under the old rule were long, narrow, and deep, they were fine weatherly little sea-boats to the practised hand, but as a school for the tiro, except in racing, too heavily sparred and too narrow.

The main point in favour of the 5-ton yacht built under the old rule--for the 5-rater of to-day is almost as large as the former 10-tonner, and requires quite as many, if not more, hands to work her on a racing day with her present lugsail rig--is that she is easily worked with one good hand, can be raced with three, or easily with four; and those whose early practical yachting experience was gained as small yacht sailors and yacht-owners will agree in this, that their happiest hours were spent in the boat that required fewest paid hands, or when their ship was of such a size that they were able to put to sea single-handed, or perhaps in company with a friend who could make himself useful. There are many who will say that a 10-ton or even a 20-ton yacht is too small to stand out to sea in; but when a yacht is of such a size that she requires more hands than one to work her there will be little or nothing learned, whereas, if the yacht is just a little too much for one man to handle, the owner is bound to do his portion of work each day, and what he does not know will soon be taught him by his man, so that he may enjoy his fair share of rest and not have to be called up in the middle of his watch below. Besides, if the cost is a consideration, a 5-ton yacht can be built for just half the price of a 10-tonner, and the keeping it up is very much smaller in proportion.

It is not quite twenty years since the racing yachts of 5 tons were formed into a class, and prizes awarded them. The Clyde yachtsmen were the first to appreciate the value and capabilities of the little ships for affording good all-round sport, and the small expenditure entailed at that date in building them was a consideration in their favour. It has been a favourite class ever since.

In Dublin Bay small yacht racing is far from a novelty, but it is only within the last few years that boats have been built to the class adopted in the seventies, viz., for 'yachts of 6 tons and under,' time allowance having previously been used to bring the small fry together. At that time Liverpool had two pet classes, the 20-ton and 10-ton, and such small yachts as were located on the Sloyne entered in the latter class.

It was about the middle of the summer of 1873 that the writer's attention was first drawn to small racing yachts under 7 tons, and the way in which they could face almost all weathers. It had been, as it is at the present day, the custom to decry and run down racing yachts as unfit to be made into cruisers. 'The scantlings were light,' 'the framework was weak,' 'the plank, especially at the garboards and towards the run under the counter, may have been dubbed down to almost the thickness of brown paper.' This latter process was often resorted to some twenty-five years ago, so that ballast in the form of lead sheeting might be padded on to the keel and garboards. More than one large yacht at that period had been so treated that she was supposed to have not much more than half-an-inch planking at her two lowest strakes. 'I would not buy an old racing yacht if I were you.' Such were the comments and never-ceasing advice dinned into the ear; 'besides, they are fearfully wet in a sea-way, and most uncomfortable,' and, therefore, at that time the writer's vessel was a strong, able, high free-boarded schooner of 11 tons. In that year there could not have been a dozen yachts, taking our coasts round, which were being raced as 5-tonners, but there were classes made up of yachts of 7 tons and under, which took in some stray 3- and 4-tonners, and here and there a casual 5- or 6-tonner. One of the best of these 6-ton yachts (and this is including all the Scotch and South-country boats) was a little vessel built in 1871 for Mr. W. A. Tomlinson, by Mr. Dickenson, of Birkenhead, the well-known builder and designer of the principal pioneer Liverpool 10-tonners. Unfortunately her dimensions cannot be correctly stated, but she was about 32 feet between stem and sternpost on deck, some 6 ft. 6 in. in beam, and had a draught of 5 feet or a little more--that is, she was as nearly as possible the size of the 5-tonner of a five or six years' later date.

The occasion on which the 'Wyvern' came under the writer's special notice was one long to be remembered on account of the anxiety created among the little yacht's admirers at Kingstown, owing to the severity of the gale that blew after she had left that port for Liverpool. There had been a regatta in Dublin Bay, where, as is usual, all the small boats of the St. George's Channel had collected to do battle. The 'Wyvern' had come over from the Mersey, and having won, her owner (at that time Mr. Colin Napier, of Liverpool) had left her in the hands of his two men, that he might hurry back to his business by steamer. The men were ordered to make the best of their way to Birkenhead, as the yacht had been entered for a local regatta the same week.

They started early on a Wednesday, but unfortunately ran aground on the rocks at the end of the eastern breakwater on which the lighthouse is built. For the greater part of the day the boat was standing high and dry some feet above the low-water mark, but she sustained no damage, was floated off at the return of the tide, and left at once for her destination. The hour of her departure was about three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Three yachts left the harbour in company with her, bound for the same port, all three being at least 25-tonners.

As the barometer had been falling ever since the morning, and there was every indication of bad weather, the skipper in charge of the 'Wyvern' was repeatedly advised to postpone his start till the following day, or till a change in the weather should take place; but it was to no purpose, since he was very anxious to reach the Mersey as soon as possible.

[Illustration: DUBLIN, KINGSTOWN AND MERSEY

_F. S. Weller_.]

Towards 6 P.M. the north-westerly breeze, which had been blowing since noon, increased considerably, so much so, that first one and then the other of the larger yachts gave up and turned tail before it might become too late, the last to say good-bye being the largest of the three. This yacht, a well-known hard-weather vessel of over 40 tons measurement, after trying to signal a last advice to the little 'Wyvern' to return, put her helm down (though she was well past the Kish Lightship), and made herself snug for the dusting she was in for on the journey back to Kingstown.

On shore, at both club-houses, the greatest alarm was being felt not only for the 'Wyvern's' safety, but also for the welfare of her three larger sisters, and the anxiety on the 'Wyvern's' account increased still more when her three companions put in their appearance again at their moorings. During the evening and through the night the wind increased to a whole gale, and the meteorological report next morning proved anything but pleasant reading, whilst among the old salts and those best acquainted with the capabilities of small yachts little hope was felt of ever seeing the 'Wyvern' again.

On the evening of the next day the writer left Kingstown for Liverpool in his yacht, and fell in with the Mersey 10-tonners making the best of their way down river. The nearest yacht hailed informed him that the 'Wyvern' had arrived all safe, and had made a very fast passage across to the Sloyne. A few days after, meeting the skipper, a full account of the trip was given, and there was no limit to the eulogies he had to bestow on the yacht. During the night the sea had increased the further they sailed from under the lee of the land, but for all that the only time any seas were shipped was when off Holyhead. Twice only had they to free the yacht of water, and on those occasions very little had gone into the cabin.

The 'Wyvern' was not a yacht of large displacement; she inclined, indeed, rather the other way. Those who have seen the 'Naiad' or 'Pastime' hauled up out of water (two of Dickenson's old crack 10-tonners which now frequent the South Coast ports) will have a better idea than any words can give of the 'Wyvern's' style of model and midship section. Built for length on deck, there was no necessity for shortening up the water-line, and her sternpost had no very great rake. Her buttock lines were as easy and fair as could be, giving her a slightly hollowed entrance with a nice clean run aft. Her extreme draught was not much over 5 feet, and her keel ran almost straight from the heel of the sternpost to the foot of the stem--that is, with very little if any rocker (or rounding) to it. Dickenson had a very admirable method of finishing off the after end of his yachts, and their counters were all light, and neatly put on. The 'Wyvern's' counter was particularly so. She was flush-decked save a large cockpit, which opened into the cabin, and which was surrounded by a 5-inch combing. This was the only weak or vulnerable part about her; for if a really heavy lump of water had filled it, there was nothing to prevent the cabin being swamped. Her fittings below were of the simplest description, though very comfortable. The sofas on each side of the saloon formed lockers and berths, and beyond these a pantry and a fitting for a lavatory, which was forward on the starboard side, with the usual two square lockers at the after ends of the sofas, were all the furniture of any consequence she contained. She had wood floors, iron not having come into fashion at that time, and carried the greater part of her ballast inside to the tune of 3 tons of lead and 10 cwt. of iron. Her outside ballast consisted of a 14-cwt. lead keel, which was considered in those days a very heavy keel for so small a yacht. She was one of the first small yachts of 6 tons or under that was fitted with a flush deck and ordinary skylight, and in every way she looked the picture of smartness. When she was first built her principal antagonists about her own size were the 'Adèle,' a small 5-ton yacht also by Dickenson, the 'Pet,' 5 tons, built at Douglas, Isle of Man, in 1871, and a very fast 3-tonner, the 'Barracouta,' built by Bishop in 1860, for Mr. J. M. Hannay. She was altered in 1874 into a yawl in order to race in the 5-ton class, which was at that time just beginning to be popular.

Among the most celebrated of the early 5-tonners were three yachts, the 'Pearl,' 'Torment,' and 'Arrow.' Of the three, the 'Pearl' and 'Torment' were the best known, and are still held in loving memory by many a yachting enthusiast. The 'Torment,' owned by that well-known yachtsman the late Secretary to the Royal Irish Yacht Club, was raced from the day of her birth, some time about the year 1850, and was always a leader of the van. Her racing career lasted not much less than twenty years, and it was only the lead keels and the deep bodies given to the later yachts that brought it to a close. It is when looking back on such good old warriors as the 'Torment' and the 'Mosquito,' among the larger racers, that lovers of the sport whose incomes are limited must agree that the old days were good indeed. It was not necessary then to be the fortunate possessor of a new vessel each season to enable the lover of yacht racing to win prizes and keep well in with the flyers of the year. When an old boat appeared to be not quite up to the mark, or lacking in the requisite turn of speed, little was done to make her beat some new comer beyond a few alterations, which as a rule took the form of doctoring up one or other of her ends, or, perhaps, lengthening her out amidships. The most remarkable example of how a yacht's racing life could be made to outlive many competitors and leave her a winner to the last, by effecting alteration after alteration on her hull, was that of the old 'Arrow,' which belonged to Mr. Tankerville Chamberlayne. Alas! the days when an alteration was quite sufficient to keep a yacht successful have long since passed away, and from the present outlook seem as if they will never again return.

The 'Pearl,' like the 'Torment,' was a hard nut to crack for all the new aspirants to fame which were built to beat her, and she kept her position as the fastest of the 'Mosquito' fleet for an untold number of years. She hailed from Fairlie, that birthplace of hundreds of fast, powerful winners, so dear to the hearts of all Scotch yachtsmen, and so well known in almost, every corner of the globe. She was owned and built by Mr. Fife early in the sixties, and after ending her racing career in the Clyde has found her way over to France, where she is as much appreciated as she was in the height of her day in Scotch waters, and has kept up her reputation of being a difficult boat to beat. Her dimensions were: length, 25 feet; beam, 7 feet; and draught, 4 feet. There were many yachts built to beat her, among them being the 5-tonners 'Hilda' and 'Viola,' designed, owned, and built by Mr. Inglis. This well-known yachtsman also launched a very pretty schooner of 8 tons called the 'Cordelia,' now, unhappily, lying at the bottom of the sea. She, like his other two ventures, was designed to race in the 5-ton class, and also to put the wee 'Pearl's' nose out of joint. They were all three big boats, fully decked, and veritable ships when compared with the 'Pearl.' They drew a foot or two more water, had big midship sections, and were in every way larger and more powerful yachts. Their success, however, was only partial, and it was a question whether, after all, the old boat did not in the long run hold her own.

The 'Arrow's' reputation was only of short duration in comparison with the 'Torment' and 'Pearl,' but she was a remarkably small boat, and very like them in the main features of her design. She was got out originally to play a part very different from that in which she proved herself so successful, having been built and launched for a fishing-boat to trawl in the Thames; but her speed, like that of the Liverpool 10-tonner 'Wonderful,' showed up so conspicuously when sailing in company with other fast boats that she was forthwith bought, turned into a yacht, and made to fly a racing burgee. As may be supposed, both the 'Torment' and 'Arrow,' as well as the 'Pearl,' were only half-decked boats with waterways round them.

In the year 1873, Mr. Stowe, of Shoreham, built the 'Diamond' to the design of her owner, Mr. W. Baden-Powell. She won some few races under his flag, but the chief reason of her name appearing in these pages is that she was, if the writer is not very much mistaken, the first of all the yachts of 5 tons and under in the south of England to go from port to port and race, her owner and his friends living on board. The 'Diamond' was a decided advance on the boats of her tonnage stationed between the Thames and Southampton; yet she looked small indeed when moored alongside the yachts of a year or two later date. Her length was 26 feet, with a beam of 7 feet, and an extreme draught of 4 ft. 6 in. She ran her fore and aft lines right fair to her taffrail, and had a long counter, part of which was submerged when she was down to her load-water-line. With such a small draught of water her height under the deck was necessarily low; she had however a high fixed coach roof, which helped her out of that difficulty to a certain extent. The cabin was roomy and made up four berths, but her weak point, like that of the 'Wyvern,' was her immense cockpit, which was almost as capacious as her cabin.

In 1874 the late Mr. Charles Weguelin illustrated in a prophetical manner what were to be the dimensions and proportion of length to beam of the yacht of the future. The 'Alouette' was a 5-tonner, 33 ft. 7 in. in length from stem to sternpost on deck, 5 ft. 9 in. in beam, and with an extreme draught of 6 feet. She was built from Mr. Weguelin's design by Robertson, of Ipswich, but was not a great beauty to look at out of the water. Her body was long and full, and her displacement naturally large, though nothing like that given to vessels constructed on similar dimensions during the ensuing decade. Her chief antagonists were yachts of quite an opposite design, beamy, and of no great draught, besides being of a greater tonnage, such as the 'Virago,' 6 tons, 'Rayonette,' 8 tons, and 'Zephyr,' 9 tons. Against these the 'Alouette' was very successful, but her course was run as a successful racer when the season of 1876 ushered in one of the late Mr. Dan Hatcher's most triumphant achievements. Mr. Weguelin was so satisfied with what his 5-tonner had done that he set to work, and in 1875 placed the design of a 40-tonner in the late Mr. Ratsey's hands, who launched from his yard the 'Christine,' the counterpart of the 'Alouette,' only twice her size; that is, by doubling all the dimensions of the 5-tonner, the 'Christine,' a 40-tonner, was the result. The 'Christine,' however, did not fulfil the expectations of her designer, and though her length approached as nearly as possible to that of the 60-tonners of her date, still she could do nothing with them.

Before saying farewell to the 'Alouette,' it is as well to remember that, notwithstanding her small amount of beam, she was a grand sea-boat. On one occasion she sailed from Southampton to Algiers and made a very good passage, considering that she had to face some very heavy weather on her journey. It has become the custom to run down the seaworthiness of the yachts built under the old rule, but the number of examples that could be produced, if time and space permitted, of what the old 5-tonner would go through, and that at her ease and without any fuss, would more than astonish many who now, in the faith they bestow on the boat with three beams to her length, forget the comfort and safety in which they were carried about by the old boats of five to six beams to their length. The 'Alouette' was wrecked at Algiers in 1890. She broke adrift from her moorings during a gale of wind, and was smashed up into matchwood. Nothing was saved from her.

The season of 1876 was one especially to be remembered among those interested in the now established 5-ton class, as it witnessed the advent of three grand additions to the greatly increased fleet sailing in that class. Each yacht was from the well-thought-out drawing of a master-hand, and each was the representative of the three several schools of yacht-design, the 'Freda' being the work of the late Mr. Dan Hatcher of Belvidere, Northam, near Southampton; the 'Camellia' the offspring of Mr. William Fife, jun., of Fairlie, on the Clyde; while the 'Vril' was built from the design of Mr. G. L. Watson, of Glasgow.

The 'Vril' holds the right of precedence in that she was not only designed, but built and sailed, by her three owners, Messrs. G. L. Watson, John Lawrence and J. B. Hilliard, who, assisted by two carpenters, put her together in the Messrs. Henderson's yard at

## Partick, Glasgow. She was a fine, round-bodied little vessel, with a

large sectional area and great sail-carrying powers. She had less waste surface for friction and skin resistance in proportion to her size than many a yacht of a much smaller tonnage. In several ways she might be said to have been a novelty, as she was the first yacht that was fitted with a heavy lead keel consisting of the whole of her ballast. Her counter was short and tucked up with a knuckle on the quarter. She had no bulkheads, and her fittings were only such as were absolutely necessary; still very little goes a long way towards making a small yacht comfortable, and her head-room under her deck made her 'tween decks look like a palace. She was about the last yacht that was supplied with the fore and aft studding-sail (or stu'n's'l, as it is called) known as the 'ringtail'; but it was seldom, if ever, called into use. For small yachts such wind scrapers are more trouble than they are worth, to say nothing of the room the extra spars take up. The 'Vril's' record was remarkably good, and though the three friends, assisted by an amateur or two, were her only crew during her first season--for her owners would not have a paid hand on board--she won a full quantum of first prizes, and with the clever boats she had for rivals praise must be meted out not only to the little yacht herself, but to those who sailed her for the smart manner in which she was handled.

The 'Camellia' and 'Vril' were, with the exception of their draught, almost identical in their dimensions, the 'Vril' being 28 ft. 3 in. long and the 'Camellia' 28 feet. Their respective beams were the same, 6 ft. 6 in., and they drew, the 'Vril' 6 feet and 'Camellia' about 5 feet of water. The 'Vril' at the end of her third season was sold and turned into a fast cruiser. Her fittings, as they are now, are very elaborate and are well illustrated and explained in the seventh edition of that handy and serviceable book, 'A Manual of Yacht- and Boat-Sailing.' She has been laid up for some time at Mr. Robertson's yard at Sandbank in the Holy Loch, where her proximity to many new yachts makes the signs of the sere and yellow-leaf stage of her existence, which is creeping upon her, very apparent. But there is life in the old boat yet, and her owner has in the 'Vril' a fine, able, comfortable little cruiser.

It is now some six years since the writer had the pleasure of seeing the 'Camellia.' She had just been sold to a gentleman to go to Stranraer, where she is at the present time. She was hauled up on Fairlie beach in charge of the late Mr. Boag, and was awaiting a suitable tide for being launched. The 'Camellia,' though of like dimensions to the 'Vril,' was altogether different in form, and to those acquainted with the Fairlie type was as pretty an example of what the Messrs. Fife were in the habit of turning out at that period as it was possible to select. She and her sister ship the 'Clio' were both built from the same drawing, and were the first boats in which Mr. William Fife, jun., whose name is now a household word among men interested in yachting matters, played the conspicuous part of designer. The 'Camellia' was a smaller-bodied boat altogether, more compact than either the 'Vril' or 'Freda,' with a powerful entrance and fine run, and ribbands as fair as they could be. Messrs. Craig and Lawson, for whom she was built, possessed in her a little sea-boat capable of being driven in all weathers, and the harder it blew the more she seemed to like it. With less bilge and somewhat higher floor than 'Vril,' she was fitted, like her predecessor the 'Pearl,' with simply a half-deck and waterways, and was strengthened by a strong beam running across her to which the pump was attached. Of course in smooth water it was a great advantage being able to work the yacht from below, but in anything like very heavy weather she carried hatches for covering in the open space. Both the 'Vril' and 'Freda' were fitted with topmasts, but giving the 'Camellia' the same fitting was only an afterthought, for when she was launched, like the 'Clio,' she was supplied with a polemast. Three or four years after her appearance she was decked in and provided with a very neat coach roof, or booby hatch, but her head-room below in her cabin could not have been more than 4 feet. She makes a very good cruiser now, and from the grand work put into her, as into all yachts which hail from the great Fairlie yard, her sides looked when last seen as fresh and as smooth as on the day when she first saw the water.

[Illustration: 'Freda.']

The 'Freda' is (for she is still hale, strong, and fit to show her tail to many a vessel of her size on cruising terms) a fine able boat, some 30 ft. 4 in. on the L.W.L., with a beam of 6 ft. 1-1/4 in. and draught of water 6 ft. 6 in. She is, like all the Belvidere yachts of those days, a boat of large displacement with a grand midship section, with Hatcher's well-known entrance, and a rather lighter quarter than usual. Her sternpost has very little rake in it; in fact, excessive rake of sternpost was a rarity during the seventies, and her keel was only slightly rockered. Most of her ballast, about 2 tons 14 cwt., was carried inside, and the lead on her keel was under 2 tons. She was built for Mr. Freake, her planking being altogether of mahogany. All the wood, dead woods, ribs, and planking were got out in Mr. Hatcher's yard and then taken to Mr. Freake's estate, where she was put together and finished off. As a model yacht she is a perfect picture both above and below water, as well as on deck and in the cabin. With a flush deck and a small water-tight cockpit, after the fashion of the 10-tonners, and a neat skylight, the 'Freda' looks all over fit to go, and equal to all emergencies. She has proved herself quite as much at home when cutting her way through a head sea as when smooth water and dry decks have been the rule. She was the home of her racing crew, and Mr. Beavor Webb, who sailed her during her racing career, and afterwards bought her from Mr. Freake, could spin many a yarn of the little boat's great weatherly capabilities.

No three yachts were more unlike each other, and after all the 'Freda' had done down South, and the 'Vril' and 'Camellia's' successes in the Clyde, so much attention was attracted to them that at last a series of matches was arranged to take place between them off Holyhead the following season of 1877. The place was well chosen, as in bringing the several matches off on the coast of Holyhead Island there was no chance of favouritism, since the locality was strange to all concerned, and the yachts had to prove their worth in a sea quite different from that to which any of them had been accustomed. It is not too much to say that, owing to the distance that had to be covered before the three yachts could reach Holyhead, and the fame of their doings in the yacht-racing world, no more interesting racing has since taken place, either in America or in our own home waters, than the matches that were sailed off by these little opponents.

The arrangement was that 'Freda' should sail 'Camellia' and 'Vril' separately, and the yacht that pulled off two out of each three races was to be declared the winner. The weather for some days prior to and during the race week was anything but inviting, and the manner in which the yachts worked their way to their port showed at once what kind of stuff they were. The 'Vril' was unfortunate, for owing to some gross carelessness the men who brought the yacht round from the Clyde allowed her mainsail to get damaged to such an extent that during the trials it could scarcely be made to stand. The stakes were for 100_l_. a side. The first match between 'Freda' and 'Vril' took place on May 14, 1877. The courses on each occasion were arranged by Messrs. G. L. Watson and Dixon Kemp. On the first day the course lay from the New Harbour across a line between the 20-ton yacht 'Challenge' and a buoy, round the end of the breakwater westward, rounding a flag-boat outside the inner end of the breakwater, thence eastward three miles round the Bolivar buoy; thence to a mark-boat off the old pier, twice round, finishing between the 'Challenge' and the starting buoy, 14 miles. There could not have been a finer trial than these three matches afforded. The wind on the 14th was light from E.S.E., shifting to the eastward, accompanied by rain, whilst on the second day it veered round between S.W. and N.W., and brought up with it the usual sea that most yachtsmen frequenting St. George's Channel know so well and hate so cordially. Space will not permit a full account of the races to be given here, but should details be required, they will be found most faithfully recorded in an article in 'Hunt's Magazine' for the year 1877, which has greatly assisted the writer in refreshing his memory, or in the 'Field' newspaper that was published on the Saturday following the races.

The first match was the 'Vril's.' She was the first over the line, and though the 'Freda' very soon after passed her to leeward, she soon regained her original position, and gradually so increased her lead that at the end of the first round she was 1 min. 30 secs. ahead of her rival. The two little flyers had donned for the occasion all plain lower sail with working topsails aloft. On the run out for the breakwater the second time spinnakers were set, when the 'Vril' was unfortunate enough to carry away the goose-neck of her spinnaker boom. This was followed by the boom slipping into the water and at once snapping in two. Her crew smartly cleared the wreck, the outer end of the boom was lashed to the weather rigging, and the spinnaker set once more. Those familiar with such matters will readily understand how well things must have been done on board the Scotch yacht, when it is said that 50 seconds were all that the 'Freda' made out of the mishap. Before reaching the Bolivar buoy, the 'Vril' had more than made up her lost ground; and though on the journey home the 'Freda' gained a little, she was decidedly beaten, as she came in nearly 6 minutes astern of the 'Vril,' the times being--'Vril,' 3 hrs. 40 mins. 40 secs., and 'Freda,' 3 hrs. 46 mins. 10 secs.

[Illustration: 'Challenge,' 20 tons, 1876.]

The second match on the following day was sailed in about as dirty weather as it was possible for the concentrated energy of the elements to provide, and the result was that 'Freda' turned the tables on 'Vril' and beat her by about the same amount of time. The start was made at 10.20 A.M., and this time the 'Freda' got away first. Both yachts were reefed down, the 'Freda' showing a single-reefed mainsail and foresail with the third jib, while the 'Vril' carried a whole foresail with a double-reefed mainsail and second jib. The 'Vril' also started with her topmast housed. Outside the breakwater the little boats had to face a bad wind-against-tide sea, and quite a third part of the trip was made under water. For the run to the Bolivar buoy the 'Freda' set her spinnaker with a Paddy's reef in it, which gave her a tremendous lead, because, though her extra length told, still the 'Vril' had no spinnaker boom on board, having left it ashore, and could therefore only boom out her balloon foresail. On the thrash to windward, however, the 'Vril' gained twelve seconds on her antagonist, so that the first round finished 'Freda,' 1 hr. 49 mins. 2 secs.; 'Vril,' 1 hr. 54 mins. For the second round, the 'Vril' sent her topmast on end and set a topsail, but her mainsail had been so badly treated before the races began that it was found impossible to make it stand properly, and the remarkable thing is that the little yacht worked as well as she did under the trying circumstances. The 'Freda' kept to the sail she started with. The sea smoothed down considerably during the second round, which made the sailing somewhat easier. With the exception of a slight miscalculation in distance on the part of the 'Vril,' and a consequent extra board on the beat up for the harbour buoy, nothing of any importance took place, and the two yachts came in, 'Freda' first at 2 hrs. 44 mins. 40 secs., followed by 'Vril,' 5 mins. 15 secs. after her.

The interest occasioned by the third day's sailing was extraordinary. All over the country an eagerness was displayed for news of the match almost equal to that seen on a Derby day. The wind was at about the same force, and blowing from the same quarter as on the previous day, with the addition of a harder feel in it. Both yachts, therefore, set the same amount of sail and had their topmasts housed. At the time of the start, which was made at 11 A.M., the sea was breaking over the lighthouse, and made the journey look anything but inviting.

Both yachts, keeping a sharp look out on each other, were too keen on crossing the line, and had to return and make a fresh start, which they did side by side. There were not 10 seconds between them when they jibbed round the first mark, the 'Vril' leading, and the difference was further shortened by 5 seconds at the Bolivar buoy, this run having been made under boomed-out balloon foresails. The time between the yachts might have been lessened still more had not the 'Freda' been obliged to busy herself about her boom, which came adrift. From the Bolivar buoy home the little vessels danced it merrily to the tune of 'Blow, breezes blow.'

The 'Freda,' before she made a fresh start, had placed herself 30 seconds ahead of her rival, but going out again, the 'Vril,' owing to the 'Freda's' not being able to make use of her balloon foresail, passed her before they had rounded the first mark-boat, only to be repassed on the running-reach to the Bolivar. The 'Freda's' best point of sailing brought her to the Bolivar 1 min. 30 secs. ahead, and though for the last time the 'Vril' showed her superior power in beating to windward, the 'Freda' had made up her mind to walk off with the dollars, and win she did by a few seconds over the minute. Considering the sea that was running, and the amount of broken water that was throwing itself about, this last race is one to be long remembered and handed down in the annals of small-yacht racing; and now and hereafter, when racing and cruising men feel a tendency arising in them to croak and speak ill of the little yachts that were built under the old rule of measurement, let them call to mind their mighty deeds, their racing and their voyages under circumstances and in weather that would frighten many a 50-tonner into harbour and to her moorings.

The fourth day ushered in a new competitor, and the 'Freda' had to cross the line with the 'Camellia,' which she did five minutes after the second gun. The wind and weather had changed during the night, an unfortunate circumstance for the 'Camellia,' a hard-weather boat. The wind was unsettled, hung about between N. and N.E., and was at times very shy. The 'Freda' at first, not being able to hold the wind that the 'Camellia' did, lost ground considerably in the beat up to the Bolivar buoy, and the latter had reached on her so cleverly that the 'Freda' was fully a minute astern on rounding for the run into the harbour. The 'Freda' here had the pull over the Fairlie clipper, for she was provided with two spinnakers, while the 'Camellia' had but one, and as a shift had to be made (since they had left the Bolivar with spinnakers set on the bowsprit end) before setting off for the second round, the 'Camellia' was left in the lurch, her one spinnaker having to be taken in and boomed out. Standing out again, the 'Camellia' tried her best to pass the 'Freda' to windward, but to no purpose, as the 'Freda' was always ready for her each time the attempt was made, and at the Bolivar the 'Freda' was first round by 30 seconds. Coming into the harbour, the 'Freda,' again at her best, kept increasing her lead, and finally won by 1 min. 40 secs. Hunt's correspondent writes: 'This was a closely sailed race, in which the English boat owed much of, if not all, her success to smart handling.'

The fifth day's race was sailed under something like the 'Vril' and 'Freda' weather. The wind had hardened up and freshened during the early morning, and kept increasing as the day went on. Both yachts started with housed topmasts, single-reefed mainsails, and No. 2 jibs, the 'Freda' running up and booming out her balloon foresail as she crossed the line. During the first round the 'Freda' showed herself the better boat when on a reach as well as in beating to windward in the teeth of the heavy, solid sea which was running. She, however, was only 1 min. 30 secs. ahead at the mark-boat. On the second round the boats were literally more under water than above; they were simply smothered in their efforts to windward, and had the 'Camellia' not been so persistently squeezed in order to make her look up closer to the wind than her rival, she might have gained more than she did. As it was, what she gained on one point she lost on the other, and allowed the 'Freda' to come in a winner by 1 min. 45 secs.

On the sixth and last day the umpires were obliged to alter the course owing to the heavy sea running outside the breakwater. There had been no lull during the night, and with the northerly gale blowing it was thought too dangerous a matter to allow the small yachts to face the hazards of a lee shore. The mark-boat outside was therefore brought within the breakwater, the other was left in its place off the Old Harbour, and the course made nine miles, or three times round the two marks, which lay now in more or less smooth water. The start was made at 11.50 A.M. under double-reefed mainsails and small jibs, 'Freda' having sent her topmast on deck. The 'Camellia' got away 45 seconds ahead of the 'Freda' owing to the latter not having heard the gun, and increased her lead till she came to the mark-boat. Her lead, however, did not last long, for in the beat to the next mark she missed stays and allowed the 'Freda' so to gain upon her that by the time the mark was rounded the 'Freda' had put herself 1 min. 5 secs. ahead. The yachts had quite as much as they could do, the next time they had to haul their wind, to stagger under their small canvas, as the wind blew harder than ever and with more real venom in it. The 'Freda' finished the nine miles in 1 hr. 30 mins.--quick work taking everything into consideration--but the 'Camellia,' having again missed stays, up helm and made for her anchorage. This last match exhibited the powers of the two yachts in a different way, perhaps, and under conditions other than any met with in the previous races. If the third and fifth matches showed what fine sea-boats these small 5-tonners were, and how capable, handy, and powerful, when driven in a big, broken, heavy sea, the sixth day's racing proved that they could stand up to their canvas and bear pressing when many a much larger yacht would have had to be close-reefed. No apology need be offered for introducing these six matches into this work, because not only do they form a good precedent in the manner in which all the arrangements and the choice of fighting ground were made, but it is impossible in any other way to discover how one stay-at-home small yacht compares with another at a distance, unless they are brought right away from their respective localities and allowed to fight it out in open water unfamiliar to both. Before bidding adieu to the above three little beauties, it may not be amiss to add that the 'Freda' was sailed on all six occasions by Mr. Beavor Webb with a professional crew, the 'Camellia' was in the hands of Tom Dudley, of Southampton fame, and the 'Vril' piloted by one of her owners, Mr. Hilliard.

Each year now introduces new aspirants to the Blue Ribbon fame of the well-established 5-ton class, and though few methods, if any, had been resorted to up to this time for the purpose of cheating the tonnage rule, which then took the length on deck between stem and sternpost as its measure, instead of the length along the L.W.L., still the year 1878 saw a notable tonnage-cheater launched from the Cheshire side of the Mersey in the formidable 5-tonner 'Lorelei,' designed by Mr. Wynne Eyton, her owner, and built by Messrs. Buckley & Sherlock. The 'Lorelei' was a yacht worked out purely and simply on the wave-line theory, as defined by Mr. Colin Archer, of Christiania, and her counter was partly submerged, not only to enable the lines of her after body to be carried out fair, but at the same time, without adding to her tonnage, to give her a foot and a half more length on the L.W.L., since she was 31 ft. 6 in., whether the measurement was taken on deck or along the L.W.L. Her beam was 6 feet, and she drew 5 ft. 6 in. Like the 'Vril,' her ballast, 4 tons in all, was on her keel, and her sail area 770 square feet, or 30 square feet less than that of the 'Freda.' The displacement of both these yachts was almost identically the same; yet the 'Freda' would have had a very hard struggle to keep within sight of the 'Lorelei' on an ordinary 5-ton yacht course. Frequently the 'Lorelei' very nearly beat her 10-tonner competitors on even terms, and was always fit and ready to save her time. In the smaller class, such as she would race in at Kingstown or Liverpool, there was not one boat that she could not beat. Mr. Richardson designed for the Messrs. Anderson, who used to own Hatcher's old crack the 'Queen,' 15-tonner, a 5-tonner called the 'Urchin.' She was intended to beat the 'Lorelei,' but she never could do anything when sailing against her. The 'Lorelei' carried rather a deep bilge, and her keel was well rockered. After Mr. Wynne Eyton parted with her, she went up to the Clyde, where she has done little or no racing, but has proved herself a first-class little cruiser. Her fittings below, when she was in the height of her racing career, were very good and rather unique. She had no bulkhead, but was entirely open fore and aft. She was flush-decked, and her main cabin was partly divided off by a double set of rails made of 3-inch planks, which formed an open, but double, partition to hold all her kites and other sails. This open sail locker or pen stretched right across from side to side, and was about 2 feet deep. It formed a good roomy receptacle for the sails, kept the weight amidships, and sails well aired. Something of the same kind of fitting has been applied to one or two 10-tonners, the open gratings in their case being carried right up to the deck on the starboard side, leaving the door and pantry in its usual place. The upper half of the grating facing the main cabin was on hinges, and could be removed altogether to allow of sails being taken out or replaced quickly, as, for instance, on a racing day.

As regards tonnage cheaters, the chief method employed for walking through the 'length on deck' rule was that of bending up the sternpost. The first yacht built with a knuckle in her sternpost came from Messrs. Buckley & Sherlock's yard at Tranmere, on the Mersey, and belonged to the Sloyne. She was a 10-tonner, and with the others, which followed after her, very soon brought the authorities' attention to the rule, which was promptly altered to the L.W.L. measurement. Those who wish to know more about the 'Lorelei' will find a very good description of her, with drawings, as they will also of the 'Freda,' in the third edition of Mr. Dixon Kemp's work on 'Yacht and Boat Sailing.'

In 1879 and 1880 two yachts were turned out which perhaps did more fighting as first-class 5-ton racers, and lasted throughout a greater number of seasons at the top of the tree, than any others had done since the days of the 'Torment' and 'Pearl.' The 'Cyprus' and 'Nora,' the one designed and built by Mr. William Fife, jun., the other parented on Mr. George Watson, were as distinct types in their way as were the 'Vril' and the 'Camellia' three years before. They were, besides, equally interesting, if not more so, since in them the practised eye could see how wonderfully the Fife and Watson designs had respectively developed and improved. The 'Nora,' built in 1880 for those keen racing yachtsmen of the Clyde, the Messrs. Allan, with 32 ft. 4 in. length on deck, 6 ft. 2 in. beam, and a rather deeper draught, was a veritable ship in comparison with her predecessor. More cut away forward and with greater rake of sternpost, big body and large sail-area, long counter and straight stem, nothing could touch her in light winds. The only antagonist that gave her any trouble was the 'Cyprus,' built the previous year.

This yacht, designed to sail under either measurement, length on deck, or L.W.L., was exactly 30 feet when measured along the one, and 29.5 when measured along the other. Her beam was 6 ft. 4 in., draught 5 ft 4 in., with a displacement barely equal to that of the 3-tonners, which between the years 1880 and 1884 gave so much sport and became so popular. She was one of the smartest of the small fry Fairlie had ever turned out. Certainly few would gainsay the fact that the 'Cyprus' was by far the prettiest of her class at that date afloat, and at the same time looked a racer all over. Out of the water she was a perfect study to the lover of gentle curves and fine lines, and as sweet a model as any connoisseur would wish to feast his eye on. Without a straight line up or down, diagonal or horizontal, to be found about her, to all appearance, looking at her from a beam view, she presented a longer and finer entrance than had up to that time been given to any of the Fairlie small yachts. Such an increase had been meted out to her that at first sight it was difficult to free the mind of the impression that she must be a regular diver. An end-on view, however, soon dispelled all misgivings on that score, for her vertical sections showed a round floaty bow of extraordinary power. With a low freeboard of 1 ft. 9 in. at the waist, and a grand midship section, there was no wall-sidedness about the 'Cyprus,' whilst her run was fine and clean, and her buttock lines beautifully easy. Perhaps the prettiest features about the little yacht were her shear and the sit of her counter. This latter was light and long, and had a spring upwards towards the taffrail, rather after the fashion of a duck desirous of keeping her tail dry, though the yacht was a little more moderate as regards the height necessary for so carrying her appendage.

The 'Cyprus' was kept in the family during her career in the Clyde, and was very successful during those seasons that her racing flag was seen at her topmast head, being always piloted by that prince of helmsmen, her designer and owner. In the winter of 1884 this yacht became the property of the writer, when she began a most successful career of a more all-round character than she had up to that time undergone, and it is principally from the practical experience derived from racing and cruising in her that he has been enabled to form his ideas and recommend the 5-ton yacht of ordinary dimensions as the best size and class of vessel for an inexperienced yachtsman to ship himself aboard as owner, captain, and hand.

When the 'Cyprus' came into his possession her fittings below were practically _nil_. Like the 'Vril' in her early days, she had only such contrivances as were absolutely essential for one living on board during a time bounded by hours rather than weeks or months. He was therefore obliged to make a few alterations below, such as turning her sofas into lockers, having iron bed-frames fitted in the cabin on hooks so as to be easily removable, and a box made to stand in between the after-provision sideboards and under the ladder to hold a bucket, washing basin, and lavatory conveniences. On deck the fittings were almost perfect. The jib, throat, and peak halliards led below through brass fairleads let into the deck a few inches on either side of the mast.

The forestay, instead of coming down through the stem-head along the deck, and being purchased up to the bits, was led through the stem close under the deck and set up by tackles to the mast. In place of the regular tackles to the bowsprit shrouds, two sets of selvagee strops were used, the one short and the other long. The long strops were doubled round the forearm of the belaying rail on each side, abreast of the rigging, and the standing part of the bowsprit shroud shackled on and set up with galvanised rigging screws. The short strop was employed whenever the bowsprit was reefed in. It was found strong and neat, and much better altogether than the old plan of tackles, which formed the original fitting. The 'Cyprus' was not entirely flush-decked--that is, she had a low very neat-looking 'booby hatch,' which fitted on a combing some three inches high. The combing ran from about two feet abaft the mast to within a couple of feet of the rudder-head. The after part enclosed a small water-tight lead-lined cockpit, then a foot of deck, ahead of which came the hatch, containing the after sliding hatch into the cabin and a low skylight. The width between the combings was 2 ft. 4 in. A transparent compass and binnacle fitted into the deck space ahead of the cockpit, and this was lighted by a lamp below in the cabin. This arrangement was excellent, as it prevented any of the troubles which so often arise in small yachts from the lights being washed out. At sea the boat was stowed below in the cabin, and as the hatch was very simple and easy to adjust, it was always taken off for the boat to be lowered down into its place. Another point in favour of this hatch was that on fine sunny days it could be removed and the yacht kept well-aired and sweet. A narrow strip of india-rubber, doubled, was nailed round, close up to the combing, and this proved a thoroughly effective method for keeping the hatch tight and preventing any water from coming into the cabin.

The 'Cyprus' was a particularly handy boat. As the writer had to take her round to Plymouth from Scotland, he invited an old friend, and with the help of a boy of seventeen years of age out of one of the Plymouth trawlers, left the Clyde for Kingstown, the port of call, after enjoying a few days' cruising about by way of letting everything shake into its place. It was a Tuesday morning when the start was made from Lamlash, in Arran, and the 'Camellia,' which was on her way to Stranraer, left about half an hour before. The wind was N.W. and came down off the hills in strong squalls; but the water was smooth, and under all plain sail the little vessel simply flew along.

After leaving Ailsa Craig astern, the sea began to show signs of getting up, and about 5 P.M., before reaching Corsewall Point, it had begun to take such liberties, and make such encroachments on deck whenever a big curler chose to break over aft, sometimes to the depth of three inches to four inches, that it was thought advisable to heave her to and shorten sail. About 6 P.M. the helm was put down and the foresail hauled to windward, whilst a reef was taken in the mainsail, No. 3 jib set, and our ship made snug.

It was a treat to see how well the yacht lay to, and it is impossible to describe the feeling of confidence it inspired, for not a drop of water was shipped, and she rode like a duck the whole time, coming up and falling off as each sea passed under her. From the time the foresheet was let draw to the time she dropped anchor in Kingstown Harbour all went well, the only incident being the writer's coming on deck at 6 A.M. to find that the boy, who was on watch, had mistaken the Morne Mountains to the north of Dundalk Bay for the south of Ireland, on the strength of which he had given up steering by compass, and was taking a course into Dundalk, which would have soon led to a disastrous end. The compass, though a spirit one, was rather sluggish, and his idea of safety was steering by the land. Wednesday night was spent at Kingstown, and with the first of the ebb the 'Cyprus' was again on her way with gaff-topsail set over all. Light flukey airs from the southward and westward helped the yacht along during the greater part of the forenoon, but these were eaten up by the sun as the day wore on, and gradually died out altogether, leaving us to drift along till the tide began to make, when, being in easy soundings on the edge of the Arklow Bank, the anchor was let go, and the yacht brought up to await the beginning of the ebb or the wooing of a breeze. The next morning--Friday--there was no wind of any kind; but the tides run strong on the east coast of Ireland, and a whole ebb meant many miles to the good. The time during this drifting was well employed in having a thorough clean down, in opening up the cabin, airing the bedding, and improving the stowage of the general cargo shipped on board, consisting of sails, luggage, provisions, and numerous other necessary items. In the afternoon the yacht was again brought to an anchor, and remained so till Saturday, about 4 A.M., when a breeze springing up from the southward, her head was pointed towards the Welsh coast. Travelling was very slow, for the wind was very light, and not at all true. Two short boards were made on reaching the other side, and about 8 A.M. on Sunday the yacht was laying up on the port tack for the Smalls. The wind had now some westing in it, but not sufficient to let a course be laid for the Longships; and as long rollers were coming in from the south-west, it was settled to go well away to windward in order to make Land's End in one tack and obtain a clear offing.

The Smalls was left behind about 3 P.M., and at 5 P.M. the whole face of the sky was beginning to look so threatening, and the clouds to drive past at such a rate from the southward, while the quiet rollers had already begun to break up and require such extra attention, that at 6 P.M. the 'Cyprus' was hove to, and made ready for a dirty night. The mainsail was taken off her and trysail set, the topmast housed and bowsprit reefed in, the second jib shifted for a spitfire, and the foresail double-reefed. Two hours later, the wind having sprung up into something near akin to a gale, and the yacht dancing with a light heart and by no means wet deck away out to sea, everyone on board was glad that she was under snug canvas and that time had been taken by the forelock. She could not have been more comfortable or cozy had she been a sea-going rocking-chair. On going about, the first land sighted was Cape Cornwall, but the wind, having had its say, again went down, till the yacht was left with just sufficient to keep her going, but not enough to make her steady, or prevent her knocking about in the choppy sea that remained. About noon, however, a breeze sprang up, and the Seven Stones Lightship was passed close to about 3 o'clock on Tuesday morning. Towards 8 A.M. the wind had veered round to the N.W., coming off the land in strong puffs; sail was made once more, and with fairly smooth water all the way the yacht lay herself down to her work, and finally brought to off the Hoe at 10 P.M. the same night. The lesson learnt during this cruise was a useful one--viz. that if sail is attended to in time, a 5-ton yacht is fit to face almost any weather, provided she has sea-room. During the whole trip round the crew were never without hot water when they required it, so easy was the yacht's motion to those below, even during the most disagreeable part of the journey; and no water went below even when it lay thick on deck, as, for instance, off Stranraer, and once or twice before sail was taken off her when near the Smalls.

The 'Cyprus' was raced, whenever an opportunity presented itself, in the then A, B, and C classes, and in every case the racing was against yachts larger than herself. Any amount of Channel groping had to be undertaken, both from one English port to another, as well as between the French coast and England, ocean racing being quite as much in her line as the 'Meteor's.' Her best performances took place in strong breezes, and it was a sight worth seeing to watch the wonderful manner in which she could drive through a head-sea. At Bembridge Regatta the 'Cyprus' sailed the course round the Nab on a day when the 30-ft. class of yachts (15-tonners in reality) begged to have their course, which was identically the same, altered. No matter on what point of sailing she was engaged (and she is only given in these pages as a very fair type of the 5-tonner built to sail under the old Y.R.A. Rule), blow high or blow low, a lady might have handled her tiller without experiencing any of that muscular arm exercise so common in boats built under the length and sail-area rule, or even the slightest inconvenience. The 'Cyprus' was sent out to Toronto on board an Allan Liner from London, and became an ornament to Lake Ontario, where she is at the present time.

Between the years 1880 and 1886 four 5-tonners were built from the designs of one of the most rising young naval architects the Clyde has ever produced--Mr. Payton. The first of this team was the 'Trident,' which, though not by any means a successful racer, was a fine able boat and moderately fast. She is mentioned here on account of her having made a long ocean voyage to the South of France. She was altogether bigger and a much heavier boat than the 'Nora' or 'Cyprus,' but could be worked just as easily. Five Frenchmen, however, were employed to take her South. Her behaviour under a very trying state of the weather, while crossing the Bay of Biscay, was highly spoken of, and the men who went in her declared their faith in her to such an extent as to be quite willing to take her out to the Cape.

The 'Olga' was Mr. Payton's next attempt at a flyer. She was 32 feet long, with a beam of 5.73 feet, and had a great draught of water. She was a very large-bodied boat, was built on the most advanced scientific principles, and, what is more to the point, was a complete success; but she was a most unfortunate yacht. With a very wide keel her midships section was anything but shapely, and ran down almost in a straight line from her bilge, which was very low and square, to the bottom of the lead. At the Royal Irish Yacht Club Regatta, Mr. Power's steam yacht ran into her and sank her in Kingstown Harbour, but she was brought up and floated again, Mr. Power having bought her as she lay under water. The 'Olga' after this mishap won her full share of races, and ended her first season flying 18 winning flags, of which 15 were firsts. Mr. G. B. Thompson bought her during the winter, and the following season won four first prizes with her; but before the season was half over she was again unlucky, and on June 22 was once more run into and sent to the bottom, whilst in the Mersey. She was fished out, and put up for auction, but who bought her or what became of her is not generally known.

The third yacht of 5 tons was the 'Luath.' She, however, was not such a phenomenon as the 'Olga,' and after the 'Olga's' short but brilliant existence, what was expected of her did not come off. She was, as may be supposed, very much like the 'Olga' in looks and of about the same dimensions, though of rather larger displacement. The last of the four was the 'Oona.' Her melancholy end is still fresh in the memory of many a small-yacht sailor. She was built in 1886 at Wivenhoe, in Messrs. Harvey & Co.'s yard, for Mr. Plunket, of Belfast, and was an extreme example of what could be designed under the old Y.R.A. Rule. Her length was 33 ft. 10 in. on the L.W.L., her beam 5 ft. 6 in., and draught 8 feet, but her chief characteristic was her marvellous body, which displaced 12 tons, both displacement and sail-area of 2,000 square feet and more being greater than many racing 10-tonners, and the latter over 1,300 square feet more than 'Freda' or 'Nora's' sail-spread. What she might have done as a prize-winner it is impossible to say, for she never reached her station. Coming from the eastward, she put into Southampton to effect some small repairs, and after remaining there a few days, on May 4, with her owner Mr. Payton, her designer, and a crew of three men on board, left for Belfast. It appeared that shortly after passing Dublin Bay--for she did not put into Kingstown, as might have been expected--her owner must have intended to make the best of his way up Channel, but, unhappily, terrible weather set in about the night of the 12th, and the general opinion was that, from some weakness in or lack of roping, the trysail was burst up, and that becoming unmanageable, or through her crew having been swept overboard, the yacht was driven on to the sands off Malahide and so became a wreck. Her hull was washed up without its lead keel and its fastenings or the iron floors; in fact, the whole of her keel and lower garboards had gone.

Mr. Payton's name will always be associated more especially with the 3-tonner 'Currytush.' She was a more brilliant success than even the 'Olga'; but the old 3-tonners do not come within the scope of this paper.

The last of the race of 5-tonners, if the 'Oona' be left out, is the 'Doris,' one of Mr. Watson's greatest successes in small-yacht design. She was built in 1885 for the Messrs. Allan, who had owned and sailed the little 'Nora' so pluckily and so well. Her length is 33.6 feet on the load-water-line, beam 5.6 feet, and draught about 7 feet, or a little more. The 'Doris,' like the 'Oona,' is an extreme representative of the old rule. Her displacement is very large, but there is far more shape and comeliness about her body plan than was to be found in any of Mr. Payton's designs. She has proved herself a clever boat in all weathers, and in light winds particularly so. Her chief rival, had she not been lost, would have been the 'Oona,' for there was no other 5-tonner afloat capable of tackling her, and her principal racing was against boats of a larger tonnage. She could always save her time on the crack 10-tonners of her day, such as the 'Uleerin,' 'Queen Mab,' and 'Malissa,' and the only matches of any interest that she was mixed up in were three that came off between her and Mr. Froude's 5-tonner 'Jenny Wren.' This yacht, designed by her owner, and built at Messrs. Simpson & Dennison's yard at Dartmouth, was made double-skinned for the sake of lightness. She, like the 'Doris,' was a large, big-bodied boat, but her form did not give that idea of power with which a look at the 'Doris' at once inspired the observer. Both the 'Doris' and 'Jenny Wren' are cut away forward, and carry the curve of the keel up to the water-line, finishing at the deck-line in a fiddle-head. The 'Jenny Wren' had shown herself remarkably fast in light winds and smooth water, and on certain days could leave the length classes to follow her up. Bad weather, however, was her weak point, and even in strong breezes and smooth water she did not always appear to be sailing at her best. At Plymouth, then, when the 'Doris' and 'Jenny Wren' met, everything depended on certain conditions what kind of a fight the latter would make. As the 'Doris' beat her, there is every reason to believe that it was either blowing hard or that the wind was shy and there was a certain amount of roll outside the breakwater.

[Illustration: GOOD START OF SMALL RATERS IN THE CLYDE.]

Since the measurement rule was altered, the 'Doris' has been improved by being spread out and given more beam. She still races, but cannot do much against the 10-raters, the class to which she now belongs, and has lately been sold to spend the rest of her days as a cruiser. Should she race in the future, it will be in the many Clyde handicap cruising races. With such bodies and draught there was no lack of head-room in the cabins of the latter day 'plank on edge' 'lead mines,' but the want of beam made the accommodation not exactly as grateful as it might have been had there been a little more elbow-room. The alteration in the 'Doris' has given her the requisite amount of beam, and she ought to make a very comfortable fast and able boat for cruising purposes.

THE Y.R.A. RULE AND ITS 5-RATERS

In the year 1886 the Yacht Racing Association brought in a new rule for yacht measurement, or, more properly speaking, for rating yachts to be used in racing. There is no other reason why a rule for rating should be required at all, as under the old rule, or any true capacity measurement, a naval architect or yacht designer would be sure to produce a good, serviceable vessel for cruising purposes, and according as the owner's requirements might be speed, accommodation, or light draught, so the several dimensions and design would be arranged to suit.

With regard to this rule of rating by 'length and sail-area,' and the boats which are the result of it, there appear to be many and diverse opinions; and prior to noticing any particular yacht built under it, it will be as well to look at all its points before declaring for or against it. Experience declares them to be good sea-boats, in that they rarely ship solid water, and they are very fast when sailing on a wind. Their spoon and fiddle-headed bows would help to throw the water off, while their mast being stepped almost in the eyes of the yacht, would make them eat up into the wind, because it permits of most of the driving power being concentrated in one big sail.

Their sailmaker's bill is a small item, on account of the tendency to keep the sail-area down. For instance, the 'Archee,' Mr. Lepper's 5-rater, of Belfast, with a length of 30.4 feet, a beam of 9.2 feet, and a draught of nearly 5 ft. 6 in., a length on deck of 39.5 feet, the tonnage of which, by the last rule, would have been a little over 6-1/2 tons, has a sail-area of 979 square feet against the 1,680 square feet of the 'Doris' 5-tonner.

They are bigger boats than the old 5-tonners, but then they have so much more beam. The 'Cyprus' was the same length as two-thirds of the 5-raters that have been built, but she had only 6 ft. 4 in. beam against the raters' 8 feet to 9 feet. They have very little gear with the lugsail rig, and the decks are always clear.

They can lay to, but it is on the same principle as that of a Una boat, and they would not remain on one tack all the time but for the little jib they carry, while they forge ahead at a great speed, and cannot be stopped unless a man is left at the helm to look after it.

If properly trimmed the rater can be steered by the lightest hand when beating to windward and close hauled, and she is remarkably quick in stays.

Experience, however, shows that, though the rater rarely ships a sea, still, when she does put her nose in the water, it becomes a general question on board her whether she will ever bring it out again. This is not altogether enjoyable, and such sensations were never experienced in boats built under the old rule. The one large lugsail, too, and little jib form a most unhandy rig.

Experience has also proved that, with regard to the two factors, sail-area and length, the tendency is to make the body of as small displacement as possible, taking the length into account, so that with the small area of canvas employed there may be very little weight to propel. Thus, though the early raters were big-bodied and roomy boats, with good head-room below, the boats built lately are inferior in those qualities, and those which will be put on the stocks in the future will be merely big canoes with bulb-keels.

Experience prefers for Channel seas a boat that can be driven through the water when necessity compels without any sense of danger, and that, if allowed to do so, will ride over the waves when no object is to be gained by making a short cut through. A yacht of four beams to her length or more will do this far more comfortably and with less commotion and fuss than one of three beams or less to her length.

Experience furthermore says that, though the lugsail requires very little gear, and can be hoisted with a certain amount of ease, yet if sail has to be shortened, or the lugsail to be taken in hurriedly, it requires more than three men to do it smartly; at no time is the job an easy one, but if any sea is running, or the weather squally, three men have as much as they can do to handle it. This is never the case with the gaff-mainsail. In a 5-tonner a man and a boy could have shortened sail easily, and though the sail-area was great, one man and the owner could always sail her from port to port.

Money may be saved through a small sailmaker's bill, but it must go out in wages to the crew and extra hands.

It is a good point to have very little gear about, but the 'Wenonah' and 'Wee Winn' both prove that a gaff-mainsail is quite as suitable as the lug and a better all-round sail.

_Experientia docet_ that the rater, though she can lay to, cannot be hove to and have her way stopped. And the risk with her is, that in a sudden rush, caused by her aftersail filling, she may bury herself by jumping right into a head-sea--a most dangerous performance when the weather is so bad and the seas so high that travelling can only be carried on at peril.

Again, experience tells a tale that raters are not all so very tender on the helm even when sailing on their best point, and are what would be called in horsey phraseology very hard-mouthed; and that whilst off the wind they are like star-gazers, all over the place, and ready to rush anywhere and everywhere rather than straight ahead or where the helmsmen want them to go. Some of the small yachts built latterly under the old rule had a similar inclination, but it was generally at a time when they were being very heavily pressed, carrying too much sail, or when badly trimmed.

Of the two kinds of overhang forward, the spoon-shaped bow, which Mr. G. L. Watson has given his new boats, is the best, because it adds flotation as well as length on the L.W.L. when the yacht is sailing down to her bearings, and fairs all her longitudinal curves. The fiddle-headed bow may be thought by some to look prettier, but it is not so effective, unless it helps by its flam, or flare out (which some new yachts with this kind of bow do not have), to keep the decks clear of water. The overhang bow means an extra top weight, which has to be provided for and counteracted when the calculation is being made for the ballasting; but, on the other hand, it gives enlarged deck-room. It also saves having a long outboard spar in the shape of a bowsprit, and so does away with any need of reefing. This is really only a small matter after all, since even with a rough sea there is never very much difficulty in reefing in the bowsprit providing it is properly fitted. Years ago in American waters there was scarcely a sloop built that had not an Aberdeen stem or fiddle-headed bow, but for some years they were discarded, and it is only lately they have been brought into fashion again. No American would give up anything that he had pinned his faith to unless he saw some real advantage to be gained by so doing. It is quite easy to understand why Americans should come back to the old stem now, for their waters like it, and it helps to cheat the rating for length.

The main design so common in the rating classes is perfect when regarded from two points of view only. The long, very gentle curve that runs up from the heel of the sternpost to the stem-head, and the excessive rake of the sternpost itself, allow of no more outside deadwood than is absolutely necessary to keep the yacht together, hang the rudder, and fix the lead keel on, so that whatever surface there may be to cause friction is doing its duty--that is, is caused by the skin or planking. The form thus given has its drawbacks; this experience has shown us and they are far more prominent and, therefore, serious when met with in the smaller raters than when seen in a 40- or 100-rater.

The second point is the quickness with which yachts of this new design 'stay' and 'get away.' This is a more practical benefit to large yachts than to small ones; for vessels like the 'Doris' or the old 'Solent,' 30-ft. and 25-ft. classes, could all stay and move off quite quickly enough, although they might not have manifested a desire to spin round twice when not stopped on their wild career, which is a marked peculiarity with the modern mosquitos. In the large classes a few years ago it was a common thing to make use of the time occupied in going about to take in or shake out a reef when circumstances demanded it; at the present day the skipper or sailing-master has to keep his wits about him, otherwise he may find his beauty turning round and looking him in the face; for the large rater can whip round like a top.

Now, in regard to the courses round Great Britain, two-thirds are what may be called reaching courses--that is, there is more running and reaching to be done than there is beating to windward--and though the distance to be sailed over in tacks may be only a third of the whole course, still the tacks that have to be taken will make the distance almost as long as two-thirds of the whole course itself; hence comes the advantage of having a yacht that will travel the distance quickly on a wind. Nevertheless it seems foolish to place the eggs all in one basket, and as it is an absolutely useless accomplishment for a yacht to be able to go round two or three times to the once putting down of the helm, the question may be asked whether she would not be equally quick and a better racing, to say nothing of a cruising, yacht if she were not quite so much cut away forward, or, better still, if her sternpost were not quite so much raked; and could not this be done without materially affecting the speed? If the idea is to give the yacht a great hold of the water by a deep draught, then it is easy to understand that the present fin-shaped keel is necessary; but Mr. Herreshoff has given practical proof that such a shaped keel or such excessive draught is by no means necessary to make a boat weatherly or a successful prize-winner. With a straighter sternpost a certain length of horizontal keel might be required to keep the centre of lateral resistance in the best place, but that again would only be following Mr. Herreshoff at a near distance, and would make the boats run and reach better and under a steadier helm, whilst a very imperceptible difference would be found in their rate of travelling to windward.

The two Herreshoff boats that have been sent over to England have certainly shown their tails to our smartest raters in the two rating classes, viz. the 2-1/2 and 1/2. Both the 'Wenonah' and 'Wee Winn' are fitted with bulb-keels, which run their length horizontally to their L.W.L., and they are good on all points of sailing as well as remarkably quick in stays. These two boats are rigged with regular gaff-mainsails too, so that notwithstanding the craze for lugsails, they are not essential to make a boat sail past the winning marks first. To the cruising yachtsman who lives on board his little vessel, with such an alteration or improvement as the one referred to above there would be the comfort and satisfaction, when hauled alongside the pier of a tidal harbour, of knowing, after the yacht had begun to take the ground, that he had not to sit up all night watching her, or waiting till her bow started to lift before he could turn in to his bunk, because his yacht would take the ground on a more even keel. It is no child's play looking after a fin-keeled yacht taking the ground, and the very greatest of care and most subtle precautions have to be used to avoid a fall over on the side.

[Illustration: 'WENONAH'

_2-1/2-rater (Mr. H. Allen). Designed by Nat. Herreshoff, 1893._]

In designing a small yacht there are matters that have to be considered which scarcely affect larger vessels except when comparing them, again, with larger vessels still. One of these points almost makes it worth while looking back at the reasons why certain types of small yachts have become so prominent and so much sought after and believed in. The great American designer, Mr. Herreshoff, and our own clever yacht architects here, are taking the canoe of the savage as their model; and as this is the case, it may be interesting to see how, starting from the canoe, all yachts have taken their form (no matter how deep or beamy they may have been), and perhaps, too, by so doing, it will be easier to discern and arrive at the kind of form best suited to meet special requirements, apart from the trammels of the rules, measurements, or ratings such as are or have been laid down for yachtsmen and yacht-owners by the Royal Thames, the Yacht Racing Association, the American and French yacht clubs, or other societies and authorities.

The canoe of the South Seas or the kyak of the Greenlander could not have been better chosen, had they been worked out on the most scientific principles, for the work they have to do. The shape is that best adapted for speed, lightness (which means light displacement), and, under certain conditions, for sea-going qualities. Those conditions are, of course, smooth water or big ocean rollers, which seldom if ever break, and a propulsion easy, strong, and yet not exaggerated, longitudinal and not transverse in its tendency (as in propulsion by sail). Now if this model be taken, which invariably possesses a U-shaped section, there will be no great difficulty in understanding the whys and wherefores of the several transformations it has undergone.

If it is desired that a small boat should keep the sea, the nearer she approaches to the canoe form, as far as is compatible with the limited requirements, the better able will she be to cope with the difficulties which she ought, under the circumstances, to be ready to encounter. Hence it is that those men who make great ocean voyages, as, for instance, across the Atlantic, in boats about 15 feet or thereabouts, always have their boats built as round and floaty in form as it is possible to design them, taking into account that they must be decked, have sufficient depth of hold to allow of stowage for provision and water, which act as the greater part of the ballast, with the addition of just sufficient room for lying down at full length under deck covering: 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 feet is the outside depth under the deck of any of these diminutive ocean cruisers. The entrance given to such boats is always full and buoyant, though not bluff. Rarely do they have a vertical stem, but one rather rounded up, with a slight overhang. The after-body is generally whale-shaped, with the sternpost at a somewhat less angle than the stem. Both stem and stern-posts have this inclination given them, not with the idea of making them quick in stays, but rather for the purpose of meeting and throwing off head or following seas, and adding buoyancy to both ends. The main principle in these boats is to obtain buoyancy and speed, while great sail-carrying power for driving at abnormal speeds does not so much as receive a thought. This is why it so seldom occurs that any of these little vessels fail in reaching their destination. They go over the seas and not through them, owing to lack of weight and want of power. Their worst experiences during their long, uninteresting, and perilous voyages generally begin on nearing our shores and the chops of the Channel, where the seas begin to assume a broken, short, uneven, or at the best a deep ridge and furrow, shape. These boats may be considered the first remove from the early canoe form.

The general requirements, however, in a yacht are speed, accommodation, sail-carrying power, and weight. This latter property means, in other words, the ability to drive through a sea which, from its wall-sidedness, makes it an impracticable barrier to get over. When a vessel has not the weight or power to meet such a sea, as a rule, it spells disaster, or, to say the least, very disagreeable consequences; whereas if she can climb a part of the way up and then send her nose through the top, all is sure to end well.

Accommodation is very near akin to weight, for it is impossible to have a roomy boat without weight being concerned in it as a factor of some consequence. Accommodation in a yacht of 30 feet length and 6 feet to 7 feet beam means that there should be a height between the cabin floor and the deck beams of 4 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 6 in. at least, and this will demand a big-bodied boat of rather large displacement, otherwise the deepening in the water of the original U shape. Such a boat will require a large sail-spread to propel her. Supposing, however, that such height between decks is not required--that is to say, the boat is to be only partially decked with a large open cockpit--in that case the designer can, if he chooses, give the boat very much less displacement, which, in its turn, will require less driving power. The tendency, as it has been shown, of the Length and Sail-Area Rule is to provide just such a small displacement yacht, and accordingly a large yacht will some day be launched without any accommodation whatever.

Sail-carrying power is almost entirely a matter of displacement, for it is only a large-bodied boat that will have buoyancy sufficient to carry a great weight of ballast, and the deeper that ballast is placed, the more leverage will there be to counter-balance the sail, and hence the greater may be the sail-spread. Under the new system of deep plates, with the whole of the ballast bolted on at the bottom of the plate in the shape of a cigar or Whitehead torpedo, it is impossible to say how much area of sail could not be given to a boat of a certain length, beam, and depth of hull, and the only questionable difficulty that would come in the way would be the weight of the mast and spars necessary to carry the sail. For instance, take the three principal methods of stowing ballast, inboard, outboard, as in the ordinary keel, and the plate with a bulb. The dimensions of the boat to be supplied with sails are, length 30 feet, beam 7 feet, draught to bottom of wooden keel 4 feet. If the ballast is stowed inboard (lead ballast is presumed in all the cases), and the displacement permits, the sail-area may be 800 square feet. If the ballast is taken out and moulded in a keel, the sail-area may be increased to close upon 900 square feet. Should the lead be taken out and a plate some 2 feet or 3 feet deep be fitted, with the lead in the form of a bulb fixed at the bottom, the weight of the spars and the sails would be the only obstacle to the great increase of canvas that might be spread. Suppose, again, another hull be employed for experiments, having the length the same, but the beam increased to make up for the smaller depth of body below L.W.L. of 3 feet, the new hull may have the same displacement, and therefore the power to support the same weight of ballast as the last example. If this hull were supplied with a plate 4 feet or 5 feet deep, with the same bulb of lead, she would carry a still greater amount of sail; but with such a shallow boat there would be no accommodation.

Speed, that element in design which everybody cries after, whether they be practical scientific yachting men (and there is one thing Great Britain can boast of in her yacht designers, professional or amateur, and that is, they are all, without exception, first-rate helmsmen and seamen), or only graduating in the first principles of yacht-racing, is dependent on many conditions. In the first place, it forbids the presence of all superfluous deadwood, so that the outside surface presented to the water may be all of a useful description (that is, by being part of the planking or skin, or only as much deadwood as is necessary for the strength of the vessel), and the friction caused thereby may be reduced to a minimum. With a hull of large displacement there must naturally be very much greater surface friction than in one of smaller body, and therefore the question will arise--Will not the smaller yacht be the faster of the two? This involves still deeper sifting, because sometimes the smaller yacht will beat the one built on the same length and beam, though she may be very much larger. Before we can choose which of the two kinds of boat will be the better to have for a successful racer, a second great condition has to be looked into and satisfactorily settled. This is nothing less than what kind of waters the yacht will have to race or cruise in. The question of the element water is one very frequently forgotten and lost sight of by those buying yachts, especially second-hand ones; and the purchaser, who perhaps buys a most successful small vessel in the South, is astonished to find that when he has tried her against the local Scotch cracks, her performances prove of a very poor description in comparison, and disappointment is the consequence. Water may be in the eyes of some all the same, wherever it may be, and so it is round our coasts in its smooth state; but when it is set in motion there are scarcely two of our great yachting stations alike, while the seas in our three Channels all vary in form. At the mouth of the English Channel the seas, as soon as the 'chops' are left astern, become regular, are long and deep, and more or less easy for a small yacht to negotiate; that is, she has room to work in and out of them, and at the same time avoid receiving a comber aboard as passenger. As she sails farther up and the channel narrows, the seas become more of the deep ridge and furrow order, steep, narrow, and difficult to sail over, whilst each sea will contain its full weight of water. On nearing Calais the seas have less water in them, but are very short and steep; the consequence is they are more inclined to break. In the North Sea the sea disturbance takes another and larger form, and sailing North becomes still larger, and, of course, wider and deeper, till the Northern Ocean is opened out. St. George's Channel is very much like the English Channel, except that between Port Patrick in Scotland and the Irish coast the waves are more regular than between Calais and Dover, where currents and banks tend to make dangerous cross seas. So it is found that off Plymouth and Falmouth and outside Dartmouth there is often an ocean swell running, especially after there has been a south-westerly gale. The Solent, again, is different from the Clyde in its sea disturbance, and when acted upon by a south-easterly gale the seas off Spithead, owing to the shallowness of its water, have not nearly so much weight of water in them as those of the Scotch estuary when worked up by a northerly or southerly breeze. The Liverpool and London rivers are very much alike, though perhaps of the two the Liverpool has the greater sea disturbance, owing to the strength of its tides, which at some seasons are very rapid.

To large yachts of 40 tons and over the difference in character of the seas just spoken of is not a matter of great importance. What a large yacht may treat as a mere ripple to a 5-tonner may be a 'nasty sea'; and as these pages are dealing with the smaller craft of about 30 feet length, the sea disturbance must be regarded as it affects them. On rivers and inland waters the waves, as a rule, have not much weight in them, and there is no reason why the small yacht should not be able to go through the waves she is unable to rise over. Yachts of large displacement are more likely to do that at better speed than a small vessel of the same beam and length, because they have more weight. Where ocean rollers are concerned, or a heavy swell, while there is wind both types may be equal; but when the wind is shy and light, then the yacht of large displacement will walk past her small rival. It would be noticed that the heavy displacement vessel would forge ahead apparently moved by no other force than the 'send' of her weight as she lazily pitches to the movement of each succeeding wave. The courses for small yachts where such conditions are met with are Plymouth, Dartmouth, and Queenstown, and some parts of the Clyde and St. George's Channel to a very much lessened degree. Then, if a thought be cast across the Atlantic and a look be taken at the characteristics of the waters of Long Island Sound, that favourite haunt of all American racing and cruising yachtsmen, as on our own inland waters, the seas that much disturb the small fry are, it will be observed, scarcely noticeable to the large schooners and cutters of which so much is heard. The principal form in America laid down for all yachts used to be a long flat floor with very small displacement, great beam with a centreboard--the immense beam giving great initial stability. Large as well as small yachts were built to this design, and much used to be heard about their remarkable speed. A few years ago, however, two or three small yachts, amongst them the little 'Delvin' 5-tonner, built by Mr. W. Fife, jun., were sent over, all of fairly large displacement. These, without exception, put the extinguisher on all the American small yachts, by beating them time after time. The reason of it was that the English-built yachts could drive through what broken water or sea disturbance they met with, while the 'skim-dishes' could do little against it. Since those days the Americans have very materially altered their model, and both large and small yachts have been given more power; _vide_ the examples brought out to compete with our yachts for the 'America Cup,' and those to which the 'Minerva' has so lately shown her tail.

Where, therefore, great speed is required, and there is no limitation to sail-carrying power, a large displacement vessel is the best type to choose. Some small-yacht racing men do not like to be always remaining in their home waters, but prefer to go round to the regattas at other ports, and try their luck against the small yachts that gather at these meetings. They live on board, and sail their yachts round the coast. To such the large bodied boat is a regular frigate. The head-room is good, no lack of space is wanted for a comfortable lie down, and the owner and two friends, with racing sails and all other yacht paraphernalia, can stow away in the main cabin as cosily as can be.

[Illustration: 'Minerva,' 23 tons. Designed by W. Fife, 1888.]

During the last six years yacht designers have been spending their time in perfecting a vessel to be rated by length and sail-area alone. Boats of large displacement and moderate length, with good sail-spread, limited so that the boats might be rated under their several classes, gradually, but surely, gave place to boats of greater length, smaller bodies, and a smaller sail-spread. It does not appear, from the opinions of many who have published their views, that there is at the present time any particular desire to have good accommodation in racing yachts. The owners of the greater number of the 5-raters do not live in them, and the owners of the 40-raters have been so accustomed to great head-room in their vessels, that now, when, instead of having 7 feet to 8 feet, they still find they can walk about in the cabins, no complaints are heard; but with the lessons that Mr. Herreshoff has been teaching, there is every reason to believe that we may live to see a 40-rater launched with about 3 to 4 feet depth of body under water, and then perhaps there may come a reaction, and a return may be made to a moderately large displacement. Up to the present time the 5-raters have been kept fairly large, and owing to their beam, as far as internal accommodation is concerned, have room enough and to spare; but the raters of 1893 were not nearly of such large displacement as the boats of two years before, and they are wonderful to look at outside.

The fin-keel requires great depth if it is to be of any real use, and it is in this particular point that small yachts suffer. If a 5-rater is to sail in all waters, and go the round of the coast regattas, then her draught should be limited; of course, if the sole intention of the owner is that his yacht is never to race in any other locality than his own home waters, then, if the home waters be the Clyde, or Windermere, or Kingstown, there is no reason why depth should not be unlimited. On the other hand, should the yacht be intended for a sea-going vessel, then a heavy draught of water is not altogether desirable.

There are times when a 5-tonner or rater may be overtaken by bad weather while making a passage, and when a comfortable harbour under the lee would be a most acceptable refuge to make for. There are scores of snug little places round the coast where a small craft could lie peacefully enough, provided her draught of water allowed her to make use of any one of them. The average depth of water at these bays or harbours is about 6 feet at low-water spring tides. Hence no yacht or rater of 30 feet or under should have a draught of more than 6 feet. The writer remembers only too well an occasion when, after leaving Campbeltown, in Cantyre, for a northern port in Ireland, a north-westerly gale sprang up, bringing with it rain and a sea fog. The distance across from the Mull is not more than a few miles, but when his yacht made the land it was blowing so hard he had to run for the nearest shelter. Alas! when he sighted the little tidal harbour he was steering for, it was low water, and his yacht, which drew 7 feet 6 in., could not enter. He had to lie at two anchors outside in the Roads with some half-a-dozen coasters, expecting, with every shift of the wind, that the anchorage might become one on a lee shore. The 'Humming Bird,' in 1891, left the Solent for Queenstown. She is a 2-1/2-rater. After leaving Land's End the weather, which had been more or less fine, changed, and the sea getting up, it was decided to take her into St. Ives Harbour. She unfortunately drew more than 6 feet; the consequence was, though only 25 feet on the water-line, she was compelled to take her chance and drop anchor in the bay outside, because there was only 6 feet of water in the harbour.

None know the value of a moderate draught of water better than those who have cruised or raced afar from home, and groped their way into all kinds of out-of-the-way bays and harbours in small craft. The yachtsman who builds for racing only, possesses the means, and is ready to launch a new yacht to his name every other year, should (if he be a sensible man and proposes to himself to sell the yachts he has no further use for) think of the requirements of the market and his ability to sell. Soon the yacht mart will be flooded with a number of cast-off 5-and 2-1/2-raters, all with a draught of water which would limit their sale to only a few places.

There are many living at the present moment who will remember the time when even the large yachts of 100 to 200 tons were never given more than 12 feet draught. This was done to enable them to enter tidal harbours, the greater number of which only have a depth of 15 feet at high-water neeps. But there is another argument in favour of not having too great a draught of water, and that is, it is not an element of speed, beyond helping the sail power; and the existence of yachts like the old 'Fiery Cross,' which only drew 8 feet and was a most successful winner, and of the Herreshoff boats, which do not draw so much as the English-built raters and are the cracks of the day, points the lesson that it is well to put a limit where a limit may be altogether an advantage.

Great care is necessary in apportioning out beam, no matter whether the yacht is to be of large or small displacement; great beam in the case of a yacht of small displacement is only suitable for waters such as Long Island Sound, or long rolling seas, and is useless in heavy broken water like that met with in our channels; because it is a difficult matter, without weight, to drive through the seas. When great beam is given to a yacht of large displacement, she may be able to fight her way through the water, but it will not be at the greatest speed for the given length, since it was proved by the old Solent 30-ft. and 25-ft. classes that when beating through a head sea a yacht of the same length, but of small beam, such as the 'Currytush' and the late Lord Francis Cecil's little 3-tonner 'Chittywee,' were able to travel faster through the water whenever it was a hard thrash to windward. The general opinion of those competent to judge is, that 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 beams to the length on L.W.L. is about the most advantageous proportion, some going even so far as to assert that three beams may be given; but, in dealing with small yachts, 5-raters and 5-tonners, as this chapter does, the writer believes that four beams to length is a good proportion to meet all kinds of weather with; and if 30 feet be the length 7 ft. 6 in. the beam, and 5 ft. 6 in. the draught, such proportions will be found to give quite sufficient scope to any designer in order that a remarkably fast weatherly little ship may be the result of his calculations. The height between the decks with a large displacement would give 4 ft. 6 in. to 5 feet head-room. Nothing has been said about the sail-area, which should not be taxed.

The element sail-area appears to be the stumbling-block in the present rating rule. It is limited, and the consequence is the cart is put before the horse, and the hull is built to the sail-spread. Thus the hull is being minimised to carry the small area allotted to certain lengths.

There have been so many raters built since the present rule came in that it would take too much space to mention them all with their several points, but there is this fact to notice, which backs up what has been said before, that South-country designed boats seem to do well in their own waters, while those brought out in the Clyde fare best there. When Clyde 5-raters have gone South, they have performed badly--though the 'Red Lancer' in 1893 proved the exception to the rule--and the Solent raters that have found their way up North have made but a poor show. Mr. Arthur Payne is the king of draughtsmen on the Solent, and his yachts, with those designed by Mr. Clayton, also a prince among naval architects, have all had their turn at winning prizes when they have been properly sailed. Mr. Payne's designs mostly favour a fair amount of displacement, and 'Alwida,' built by him for Lord Dunraven in 1890, is a very fine example of the kind of craft he can produce. The workmanship is fit to compare with the very neatest cabinet work. The following year the beam was increased by some inches, the length underwent a drawing out, and at the same time the body was tucked up to decrease the displacement. The next movement, if it is possible to judge by the 2-1/2-raters, will be to follow in the steps of Mr. Herreshoff--who speaks for himself in other chapters. The 'Cyane,' another of Mr. Payne's 5-raters and an improvement on the 'Alwida,' has few fittings below, but there is great height between decks, and if she were changed into a cruiser, she has enough room to make her everything that can be desired, without greatly decreasing her speed. To describe all the 5-raters sent out to do battle by those Northern champions, Messrs. Fife and G. L. Watson, would be equally out of place here. Their boats are too well known all over the world both for speed and beauty of design, and if there is a point peculiar to either of them that marks their vessels and makes their meetings interesting and exciting, it is that while Mr. Watson's are extra smart in topsail breezes, Messrs. Fife's yachts are specially good in strong winds.

[Illustration: 'RED LANCER'

_11 tons T.M., 5-rater (Capt. Sharman-Crawford). Designed by Fife of Fairlie, 1892._]

In mentioning these well-known names, it would be impossible to forget a name which will always be linked with the year 1892--viz. Mr. J. H. Nicholson, jun., of the firm of Messrs. Nicholson & Sons, Gosport, the successful designer of the 5-rater 'Dacia' and the 2-1/2-rater 'Gareth.' His boats are unique, and though they partake of the canoe form, still it is the shape adopted by Mr. Nicholson for his keel, and the design itself, which brought his name so prominently forward during the season of 1892 as one of the most successful designers in England. The 5-rater 'Dacia,' which he designed and built in 1892 for Mr. H. R. Langrishe, and which now belongs to Lord Dudley, proved herself far superior in all weathers to the yachts of her rating in the South. Most of the raters were designed with a square stern above water, whatever their shape might have been below; but the 'Dacia' is counter-sterned, and carries her ribbands fair from stem to taffrail, as far as can be judged from a long-distance view when she was hauled up. Whatever her length may be on the L.W.L., it must with a large crew aboard be so considerably increased as to almost make her another boat. At all events, she is a fine specimen of the advanced type of rater, and is good in all weathers.

The 'Natica' and 'Red Lancer,' 5-raters by Mr. Watson and Mr. Fife, jun., must not be passed over unmentioned. Both these yachts belong to Belfast, which is at present the home of 5-rater racing. In the Clyde, where 5-tonners and 5-raters were once the fashionable classes, there is now not a single representative. The 'Red Lancer' is a fin-keel shaped vessel with great angle of sternpost, from the heel of which to the stem-head the line is run in a very easy curve. She has a very long counter, more than a third of which is submerged; but she is very pretty as a design, and though not of large displacement, is very roomy both on deck and below. She was originally fitted with a centreboard, but as it was not considered of any material benefit to her, this was taken out and the hole in the keel filled up with lead. The 'Natica' has a spoon bow, and is one of Mr. Watson's prettiest models as far as the modern racer can be termed pretty. She has been very successful in the North, and as great curiosity was felt regarding her capabilities when compared with the South-country boats, she sailed round, and met the 'Dacia' at Torquay Regatta, where the best of three matches were won by 'Dacia.' It would have been better, perhaps, had the matches taken place off Holyhead--_vide_ the case of the 'Vril,' 'Camellia,' and 'Freda'; however, there is no reason to disparage them as not giving a true indication of the respective merits of both yachts. So many races come off, both on the Solent and on the Clyde, in numerical comparison with what took place a few years ago, that the owners of small yachts rarely care now to go far away from home on the chance of obtaining sport when it lies comfortably to hand; but it is a thing to be encouraged, and when yachts have proved themselves champions in any particular waters, a trysting place should be chosen for the little winners to meet and try conclusions. This would also make yachtsmen anxious to possess not merely a racing machine, but a boat capable of going from port to port with a certain amount of comfort to her crew.

[Illustration: 'Natica.' Designed by G. L. Watson, 1892.]

PRACTICAL HINTS

_Buying_

In choosing a yacht there is, as with most other occupations, a right and a wrong way of going about it. First of all, the size has to be determined upon; but this can soon be done by referring to the length of the purse out of which the funds for keeping the yacht in commission are to be supplied. Yachts are very much like houses, and it is quite possible to buy a yacht or a house for such an insignificantly small outlay that to all unconcerned in the bargain it will appear a ridiculously cheap purchase. But this might not really be the case, because, though the original outlay may have been small, if a large number of servants or hands are required to keep either the one or the other up, it would be dear at any price should money not be forthcoming to meet the annual expenditure. It is, therefore, necessary, before making a purchase, to look ahead at the probable annual cost. At a rough estimate it may be laid down that each extra hand required (this does not refer to those necessary on racing days) will cost at least 25_l._ per season. A skipper may for his wages, clothes, &c., make a hole in any sum from 30_l._ to 100_l._ per annum. In a 5-tonner, or a yacht of 30 feet and under, provided she has a gaff-mainsail and not a lugsail, one hand will be quite crew sufficient, with the owner, to take her about. The writer worked a 10-tonner with one hand for two seasons without finding her too heavy, but the addition of a boy made all the difference in the comfort.

The cost of sails, gear, and the many small items of equipment which have to be renewed from time to time, cannot or should not be treated as if such casual expenses could only come about in some dim vista of futurity; for where in the case of sails 60_l._ might see the fortunate owner of a racing 5 in possession of a brand-new suit, the man with a 20 would find that sum barely sufficient to supply his yacht with a new mainsail and topsail.

In making a purchase, it is as well if it be possible to find out what kind of a yachtsman the owner of the yacht for sale is--that is, if he is a man who has made yachts and yachting his sole hobby, and has therefore been in the habit of keeping his vessels in the best condition. It makes all the difference whether you purchase from such a man, or from one who, having extracted all the good out of his yacht's gear and sails, has placed her in the market rather than go to the expense of giving her a new fit-out. In the case of a 5-tonner the difference in price between the purchase money of vessels owned by the two men might be from 50_l._ to 80_l._ or 100_l._; but then in the case of the one there will only be one expense, viz.--that of the purchase money, whereas with the other it might be difficult to say how much might be required as outlay before the yacht could be made ready for sea. The Clyde and Southampton are the best and most likely places to find yachts for sale which have been well kept up and cared for. Buying from a thorough yachtsman who is known to spare no expense on his yacht will mean an absence of all bitterness and wrath, whereas in making the purchase from the skinflint, until a small fortune has been paid away the new owner will find that he has no satisfaction.

In buying a small yacht, in fact any yacht, unless the purchaser has met with a vessel that combines all his requirements, it is always the wisest plan for him to spend as little as possible the first season on his new purchase--of course it is taken for granted that her sails and gear are in thoroughly good order--in altering any of her fittings to suit his own private fads; for if he changes his mind about his yacht's points, or sees a vessel he may like better, he should remember that he must not expect to get his money back again when wanting to sell. By the end of the first season, he will most likely have found out whether he will keep the yacht, and therefore whether she really suits him, when he can do what he likes to her. It must be borne in mind, too, that the inside fittings of a yacht's cabin form the most expensive part of her hull; and alterations below always mean a goodly expenditure.

Avoid all yachts which are either coated outside or filled in at the garboards inside with cement, as water will leak in between the cement and skin, and rot must ensue.

_Fitting out._

In fitting out, two very important points have to be thought of--viz., if the yacht is not coppered, what is the best paint to coat her with, and what is the best method of treating the decks? With regard to the first question, there are two paints which the writer has never yet seen used in the yachting world, except on his own boat, and which can be highly recommended. One is the black priming varnish used on iron ships, and especially in the Navy. He gave this, some years ago on the Clyde, four months' good trial. It was used on a boat kept out for winter work which lay in a little harbour well-known for its fouling propensities. At the end of the four months there was absolutely no growth or sign of weed of any kind. Where it is to be obtained he is unable to say, as the coat of paint that was put on his boat was given him by a naval officer. The other paint is called after the inventor, 'Harvey's Patent.' The writer's experience of this is as follows:--A friend sent him a tin to try, and to give his opinion upon. Accordingly his boat, which had been lying up Portsmouth Harbour some six months at her moorings, was brought down to Priddy's Hard and hauled up. She had, though coated with a very well-known patent, from 7 to 10 feet of weed floating astern of her at the time, which had to be removed. After being thoroughly cleaned, left to dry for a few days, and having her paint burnt off, a coat of priming was given, followed by two coats of the Harvey. The boat was then launched and towed back to her moorings, where she was left for over 20 months. At the end of that time she was hauled up, prior to being put into commission; and there was no sign of grass or weed; slime, with an almost imperceptible shell-fish growth, being all that was visible on her bottom. The boat was seen by a good many naval and other men during the time she was at her moorings, and they remarked on the quality of the paint. One great point about the Harvey must be mentioned, and that is, it dries very quickly when put on. It is a good thing to warm it before using, as it is apt to get hard and soak up the oil; but it soon softens, and after being properly mixed works well.

Before touching the decks, the spars and blocks will always require to have the old varnish of the past season scraped off them, and will have then to be re-varnished. In scraping the spars care should be taken that the knife, scraper, or glass be drawn with, and not against, the grain of the wood. The scraping will always be achieved with greater facility if the spar or block in hand is slightly damped, and the scraper or knife-blade employed has its edge turned over a little. This latter is done by drawing the side of the edge along the back of a knife or steel tool. After scraping, the whole spar should be rubbed down with sand-paper, prior to its receiving a coat of varnish. The brushes employed should be either well-used ones, or, if new, ought to be well soaked in water prior to use, as this will prevent the bristles falling out during the process of varnishing. Nothing is so provoking as to have to be continually picking out bristles from the varnish; of course, what holds good about varnishing holds good in the matter of painting. When using copal varnish, it is as well to pour out only as much as may be wanted for the time being into an old tin or jar, because it very soon hardens on exposure to the air, and then becomes useless. For the same reason the varnish bottle or can should never be left uncorked. Two coats of varnish thinly laid on ought to suffice at the beginning of the season, and a third coat may be given as the season progresses.

With regard to the decks. Everything depends on the state of the decks themselves and how they are laid. If they are made of wide planking, which is rarely, if ever, the case when the workmanship is that of a yacht-builder, they should be painted; if, however, the decks are laid with narrow planking fined off with the deck curves at the bow and stern, then, notwithstanding the beauty of white decks, it is better to varnish them. Varnishing keeps them hard, and saves many a heart pang when the little yacht is visited by a friend with nails in his boots or a lady in small heels. If the decks be worn at all, a coat of varnish is a capital thing. After trying decks varnished and unvarnished, experience confesses that the joys of beholding a white, spotless deck in a small yacht are more than outweighed by the sorrow and annoyance of seeing deep nail-marks imprinted on it.

As decks, when cared for, are always varnished when a yacht is laid up for the winter, this varnish has necessarily to be removed prior to a start on a season's yachting. The best method by which this can be carried out is as follows:--Black ashes, Sooji Mooji, or one of the many preparations of caustic potash, should be procured from a ship-chandler, and mixed in an iron bucket with warm water in the proportion of one-third black ashes to two-thirds water, according to the strength required. As soon as the sun has set the mixture must be poured over the deck, which must be left well covered with it till an hour before sunrise. The mixture, which will have dried during the night, must now be treated with hot water and well rubbed into the varnish, and fresh buckets of water must be kept applied till every

## particle of the mixture with the varnish has been cleared off and out

of the deck planking. If the mixture is applied or allowed to remain on the deck while the sun is up, it will be certain to eat into and burn it.

There are two or three ways of laying decks. One is to have the planks nailed down to the beams, the nails countersunk, and the holes filled up with wood plugs to hide the nail-heads. This is generally done by men who have not had much to do with yacht-building. The common method employed is to drive the nails diagonally through the edge of the plank into the beam. Nails let in horizontally and driven into the next plank, two or three cotton threads having been placed between, keep the two planks in position. Each plank is similarly treated, and when all the planks have been fitted and jammed together, marine glue is poured into the seams. As soon as the glue has set and hardened the decks are planed, and finished off. The third method is not so pretty perhaps, but is believed from practical experience to be the best. The planks are mortised together, varnished, and then brought tight up. The whole deck is often built and made ready to fit before it is put into position, so that when it is laid on the beams, all that is required is to nail it down into its place. The writer has had experience with the second kind of deck mentioned here in nearly all of his yachts, and of the third method of laying decks in the 'Cyprus.' She was about five years old when he bought her, and that is a good age for a racing 5-tonner's decks to last sound and without a leaky spot to be found anywhere. Her decks were certainly kept varnished, for the simple reason stated above, that visitors might be always welcome, no matter what description of foot-gear had been supplied to them by their bootmakers.

It is not an uncommon practice to have a yacht recoppered, though her copper may be in good condition and even new. When such a proposition is made, which is not infrequently done by skippers wishing to play into the yacht-builder's hands, and thinking more of their own pockets than their master's interests, the yachtsman must remember that every time his yacht is coppered her skin is made more porous, and she herself heavier in the water, since the planking will naturally sodden with greater rapidity.

If the incipient yachtsman has bought the hull and spars of a yacht that is only partially built or finished off, a few more hints must be added, which will give him food for reflection, and may prove of service.

When a yacht likely to suit has been heard of, nothing being known of the owner, the next thing should be to try to discover whether she is sound or possesses any weak places. The purchaser should overhaul her outside just below the channels, and examine if the yacht has been frequently caulked between the seams of the planking, or if there are any signs of weeps of any kind about that part or elsewhere. The weeps will be shown most likely by a rusty discolouration. If the yacht is coppered, wrinkles must be looked for under the channels, runners, and about the bilge. They will show if the yacht has been strained at all. A knife should next be taken, and the point driven into the planking about the water-line, where it joins the sternpost and stem, and then along the two lower garboard strakes, especially if cement has been used to fill in between the keel and planking, to discover if there is any sign of dry rot, sap rot, &c. Inside, under the cabin floor, the timbers, deadwoods, and the garboard strakes if the yacht be coppered, should be tested in the same way. If the yacht has iron floors, these should be carefully examined for galvanic action or decay. The heads of the bolts which go through the lead keel should be scraped to see whether they are made of iron, metal composition, or copper. If they are iron or steel, most likely they will require to be renewed, because galvanic action is very soon set up between the lead and steel. Outside, copper shows wear and tear more quickly near the stem and sternpost and along the water-line. In the cabin itself the deck ceiling should be examined for weeps and leaks, especially about the bits forward and near the mast, also wherever a bolt-head is visible. On deck, a look round the covering board will discover whether it has been often recaulked, by the seam being extra wide. The heat of a stove below is frequently the cause of the deck forward leaking. The deck seams should not be wider there than at any other part. All the spars should be examined, and if there are no transverse cracks, longitudinal ones may be held of no consequence. The weak parts of the mast are generally to be found between the yoke and cap, where the eyes of the rigging rest. Rot is often found there, and strains are met with up the masthead. The boom shows its weakness at the outer end by small cracks, and the bowsprit by the gammon iron and stem-head. If the above rough survey proves all correct, attention must be given next to the rigging, sails, and gear. Wear in the wire rigging is shown by its being rusty, the strands stretched, or by the broken threads of a strand appearing here and there. If the jib, throat, peak halliards, and mainsheet are new, or have seen the work of one season only, they will not require much overhauling. With the other running rigging the strands should be untwisted, just enough to see whether the heart of the rope is fresh and not rotten. The blocks ought to be of a light colour without cracks in them, and iron strapped inside. The sails will not show either mildew marks or discolouration if they are in good condition. The chain and anchors to be in good order should not be rusty, but clean and well galvanised. They should be looked at to discover whether they have ever been regalvanised. This will be noticed by the links presenting a rough, uneven surface, where there was rust or decay before the repetition of the process of galvanising.

Sometimes at fitting-out time an owner finds that he has to provide his yacht with a new anchor. It may help him, therefore, in his choice if the writer gives his experience in the matter of ground tackle or mud-hooks. There are a number of patents in the market, the most patronised of which are Trotman's, Martin's, Smith's, and Thomas & Nicholson's. All these have many good points, with a weak one here and there to keep the competition in anchor designing open to improvement.

Trotman's anchor has movable arms and stock, stows away well, and is a fine holding anchor when once it bites; but it is often very slow at catching hold, and this is dangerous when the anchorage happens to be close and crowded, as, for instance, is frequently the case at Kingstown, Cowes, &c., during regatta time. If the anchor does not catch at once on such occasions the yacht may drift some distance before she is brought up, and with little room this operation is performed, more often than not, by collision with some vessel astern.

The Martin anchor and the Smith both work on a different principle from any of the others, in that their arms move together so as to allow both flukes to act at the same time. Of the two the Smith, which has no stock, is preferable for yacht work. The Martin has a stock which is fixed on the same plane with the arms. Both anchors catch quickly and hold well as long as the bottom is not rocky or very uneven, when they are apt to get tilted over and lose any hold they may have at first obtained. Their worst failing is that of coming home under the following conditions. If the yacht yaws about, owing to strong tides, winds, or boisterous weather, the flukes of the anchor are prone, when working in their holes, to make them so large that they gradually meet each other and finally become one big hole; the anchor then invariably trips, comes home, and the yacht drags. On the other hand, the Smith and Martin anchors stow away better than any others, and when on deck lie flat and compact. The Smith anchor makes a capital kedge. Its holding power is so great that it is not necessary to carry one of anything like the weight that would be required were any other patent anchor employed.

The great point in favour of Smith's over that of Martin's anchor is that, should it foul a mooring or warp, it can be easily tripped. The tripping is done by letting the bight of a bowline slip down the chain and anchor till it reaches the arms, and then hauling on it.

The best of the patents, however, is an anchor that was brought out some years ago by Messrs. Thomas & Nicholson, of Southampton and Gosport. It can be stowed away in a very small space, since the arms are removable. It is a quick catcher, and is, at the same time, very powerful and trustworthy.

The arms stand out at the most effective angle for insuring strength of grip, while the shank is long, and, though light and neat-looking--it is flat-sided--has sufficient weight and substance in it to stand any ordinary crucial test. The flukes from their shape appear somewhat longer in proportion to their width than the usual patterns; but this arises from the sides being slightly bent back, with the object of making the fluke more penetrating, which it certainly is.

The old fisherman's anchor with a movable stock is, after all, as good an anchor as any yachtsman need want. It is not a patent, and is accordingly very much less expensive. Should necessity ever compel the making of a small anchor, then the two great points which it must possess are, length of shank (because greater will be the leverage), and the placing of the arms so that they do not make a less angle with the stock than, say, 53°. After a long practical experience with almost every kind of anchor, the writer believes that two good, old-pattern fisherman's anchors, with movable stocks (the movable stock was a Mr. Rogers' patent), are all that any yacht need require or her mud-hooks; but if it is thought fit to have patent anchors, then either a couple of Thomas & Nicholson's anchors, or one of these and a Smith, ought to form the yacht's complement.

All being satisfactory, if the yacht is a 5-rater the first thing to be done will be to have the lugsail altered into a gaff-mainsail for handiness sake. This will be only a small expense, since the great peak of the lugsail will allow of its head being squared. Very little if anything need be taken off the head of a high-peaked lugsail when the gaff employed is hinged on to the jaws, as such a gaff can be peaked with far greater ease and to a much greater extent than when fitted in the ordinary. The writer has employed the following method for fitting up the interior accommodation of a 5-ton yacht, and he can highly recommend it as most convenient, and at the same time handy to clear out either on a racing day or when about to lay the yacht up:--All woodwork, such as lockers or fore-and-aft boards (used for turning the sofas into lockers), should be fixed in their places by hooks, or at any rate by screws. Nothing should be a fixture except the two sofa-seats in the main cabin, the one forward of the mast, and the two sideboards fitted aft at each end of the sofas. If the yacht has to race, these sideboards should be made self-contained, and to shape, so that they may fit into their places and be kept there by hooks or catches. There should be only a curtain forward between the forecastle and main cabin, and instead of a regular solid bulkhead aft, gratings should take its place, with one wide grating as a door. This will keep the store room aft ventilated. If there is sufficient length to permit of transverse gratings about 20 inches apart and 2 feet high by the mast, as before explained when describing the 'Lorelei,' by all means let these form one of the fittings to hold the sail bags. In the locker astern of the after bulkhead gratings, the skin should be protected by battens 2-1/2 to 3 inches wide and from 1 to 2 inches apart. This will keep whatever is stowed there dry from any little weep or leakage that may occur in the planking. There should be no ceiling either in the main or fore cabin, and if battens are thought necessary to prevent damp getting to the beds when left folded up in the bed-frames, then three, or at the outside four, some 4 or 5 inches apart, should be screwed up just in the position where the shoulders of a sitter would be likely to rest against them. Four or five may be fitted up on each side of the forecastle. The upper batten should be higher up than the top one in the main cabin, as it may be useful for screwing hooks into. The writer, however, prefers in the main cabin, instead of any battens, clean pieces of duck, or, what is better still, Willesden cloth (waterproof), made to hang loosely from hooks, reaching down to the sofas, and cut to the shape of the after sideboards, holes being sewn in to allow the iron hooks which carry the bed-frames to come through. This fitting always lightens up the cabin, and is easily taken down and scrubbed.

For beds, the iron frames supplied to all yachts' forecastles for the men, with canvas bottoms to them, are far the best and most comfortable. They take up less room than a hammock, and stow away nicely against the cabin's side when not in use. With these frames the writer has used quilted mattresses, the heads of which have ticking covers large enough to hold a pillow, and the whole is sewn on to strong American or waterproof cloth, which forms a covering when the bed and its blankets are rolled up and have to be stowed away.

In the forecastle, a movable pantry may be screwed up against the battens on the port side (the bed will be on the starboard side). This should be an open case with three shelves and two drawers underneath. The upper shelf must be divided off to take the three sizes--dinner, soup, and small plates. Between the plates, outside the divisions, there can be uprights on which to thread double egg-cups. On the lower shelf there should be holes cut to carry tumblers, and between the tumblers slots for wineglasses. The bottom shelf is for cups and saucers. One of the drawers ought to be lined with green baize to hold silver plate and knives. If the sideboards aft are fixtures, a tin case made to the shape of the yacht's side, to rest on the part of the sideboard on which the lid hinges, and reaching up to the deck, is a capital fitting to have. The inside should be arranged in partitions to hold tea, coffee, sugar, biscuit, and other square canisters, also Dutch square spirit bottles. The door may be double, or if single, should open from the bottom and trice up to a hook overhead, so that it may not in any way hinder the opening of the sideboard lid at the same time. Two or three movable shelves placed right in the eyes of the yacht forward make useful stowage room for a man to keep his clothes, as there they stand less chance of getting wet. Between the sideboards aft a removable box ought to be fixed with screws, of sufficient depth to hold an iron bucket, washing basin, and all the conveniences of a lavatory. This will be directly under the cabin hatch, and from 8 to 10 inches abaft it. The lid should leave a few inches space clear to receive it when opened back. Curtains made of duck or Willesden cloth, to hang down loose over the sideboards at each side to the depth of 6 inches, and hung from hooks in the deck above, will be found useful for keeping all stray splashes, that may fall inboard, from going on the sideboard lids, and thence among the dry goods and provisions stowed away in them. At the back of the lavatory box will be the after-grating and locker, and standing out from the grating, about 10 inches to a foot square, and 15 to 18 inches deep from the deck, there should be a cupboard, painted white inside, or, better still, lined with copper silver-plated to reflect the light, and a transparent spirit compass should then be fitted to hang through the deck above it. The brass rim for carrying the gimbles and binnacle lid outside must be screwed down to the deck on doubled india-rubber to prevent leakage. The cupboard door must have ventilating holes in it at the top and bottom, and a square hole to hold the lamp should be cut in the door between the upper and lower ventilators. On the opposite side from that on which the tin case is fixed, and coming out from the grating the same distance as the compass box, two bookshelves can be fitted, which will prove most useful. On deck, the fittings and leads that are mentioned in the description of the 'Cyprus' cannot be improved upon, except that rigging screws are neater, and give less trouble than dead-eyes and lanyards, which have to be continually set up. Lanyards, however, give more life to a mast, though it may appear almost imperceptible, and by so doing ought to render it less liable to be carried away. The sliding lid of the companion hatch should padlock on to a transverse

## partition between the combings, and it is a good plan to have this

## partition on hinges, so that at night, when the hatch-cover is drawn

over, the partition may lie on the deck and so leave an aperture for ventilation. The windows of the skylight will be all the better for being fixtures and should not open; if ventilation be required, the whole skylight can be taken off; this will prevent the leakage so common with hinged windows. A mainsheet horse and traveller with two quarter leading blocks are better than a double block shackled on to an eyebolt amidships, because a more direct up and down strain can be obtained when the boom is well in.

In any yacht of 25 feet in length or under, the wisest plan to adopt with regard to a forehatch is to do away with it and only have a large screw deadlight; if a small deadlight be preferred, then it ought to be placed about 12 to 18 inches ahead of the bits, and a copper cowl, to screw into the deadlight frame, should form part of the fittings, for use when the yacht is laid up, in order to let air into and so ventilate the cabin. It is certainly a great advantage to have the spinnaker ready in the forecastle for sending up through a hatch, but as this is the only good reason why a hatch should be thought requisite in a small yacht, and since it is a fruitful source of leakage and danger, especially when, as is sometimes the case, the lid has not been fastened down and a sea sweeps it off the deck, it is better to abolish the fitting altogether. A small rail ahead of the mast, bolted through the deck and stayed to the mast below (in order to take off all weight from the deck and beams), and a rail abreast of the lee and weather rigging, should form all that is required for belaying halliards, purchases, tacks, &c. In most of the 5- and 2-1/2-raters the halliard for the lugsail is led below the deck, and the purchase is worked by taking turns round a small mast-winch in the cabin. It is a great advantage to have a clear deck free from ropes, and it would be a saving of labour to have all a cutter's purchases led below to a winch.

For a small yacht it is as well to have the jib, throat, and peak halliards of four-strand Manilla rope, but wire topsail halliards are a very decided improvement on hemp or Manilla. Wire has little or no stretch in it, and a topsail halliard is the last rope a seaman cares to disturb after it has once been belayed, it may be to lower and take in the sail. All purchases ought to be made of European hemp-rope, with the exception of that attached to the copper rod bobstay. All headsheets should lead aft and belay on cleats bolted on to the combing of the cockpit. It is becoming the custom to have all the bowsprit fittings fixtures. A steel or copper rod from the stem to the cranze iron at the bowsprit end serves as a bobstay, which, with the shrouds, are screwed up with rigging screws. No such thing as reefing, or bringing the useless outside weight of the spar inboard, is thought of by many racing men now-a-days. Fiddle-headed and spoon bows have introduced this fashion, but 14 to 16 feet of a 5-1/2-inch spar is no trifle to have bobbing into seas, and making the boat uneasy, when half the length, or less, would be quite sufficient to carry all the jib that can be set. No bowsprit belonging to a straight-stemmed cutter should be a fixture, and the best and neatest fitting for the bobstay is a rod with a steel wire purchase at the end. The shrouds should be in two lengths of wire shackled together, as in topmast backstays, and, leading through the bulwark, should screw up to bolts in the deck especially formed to take a horizontal strain. Selvagee strops can be used for setting up the intermediate lengths.

If the eyes of the rigging are covered with leather which has not been painted, then the bight of each eye ought to be left standing in a shallow dish of oil. The leather will thus soak itself, and the oiling will preserve it from perishing.

In sending up rigging it must always be remembered that the lengths of the port and starboard rigging are arranged so as to allow of the starboard fore rigging being placed into position first, then that to port, the starboard backstay rigging going up next, followed by that to port, after which the eye of the forestay will go over the masthead and will rest on the throat halliard eyebolt in the masthead.

All block-hooks should be moused. A mousing is made by taking two or three turns of spunyarn round the neck and lip of the hook followed by a cross turn or two to finish off. This prevents the hook from becoming disengaged.

In some yachts double topmasts and double forestays are used. The former are only fitted where the yacht carries two sizes of jib-topsail, one for reaching and the other for beating to windward. Whilst one is up, the other can be hooked on, so that no time need be lost in setting. A medium-sized sail, however, capable of being used for reaching or beating, is all that is really required. The shifting of two jib-topsails entails the presence for some time of one man at least forward on the bowsprit end, and the less the men are forward of the mast the better, if it is desired to get the best work out of a small yacht, and the yacht herself is in proper trim. There is more to be said, however, in favour of double forestays, since they allow of a foresail being sent up whilst another is already set and drawing, and the work is done inboard, while the difference between a working and a balloon foresail is far greater than in that of two jib-topsails. The writer has never used double forestays, but he believes so thoroughly in the foresail, as a sail, that he has always carried three--a working, reaching, and a balloon. He has the luff of each foresail fitted with loops at regular intervals, after the manner of gaiter lacings, otherwise called 'lacing on the bight.' These are made either of light wire or small roping. The upper loop reaches down to the next below it, so that the loop below may be passed through, and so on, till the tack is reached. When setting a foresail the upper loop is passed over the forestay before the lower one is threaded through it, and so on with all the loops in turn. The tack has a single part, which, after it has been passed through the lowest loop, is made fast to the tack-downhaul. When shifting foresails, the sail is lowered, tack let go, and the lacing comes away by itself; then the new sail can be hooked on to the halliards and laced to the forestay as quickly as it can be hauled up. When the sea is smooth there may be no necessity for unlacing the working foresail should the shift have to be made from that sail, especially if it has soon to be called into use again. The above method will be found far superior to that of hanks, which are always getting out of order and not infrequently refuse to do their duty altogether.

In mentioning the shifting of sails, there is one point to which nothing like sufficient attention is paid, and that is to the lead of sheets. Many a good jib has been destroyed and pulled out of shape through a bad lead, and more than one race has been lost through the bad lead of a reaching or balloon foresail sheet. When jibs or foresails are changed, the greatest care should be taken to see that the leads told off for their sheets are really fair--that is, that the pull on the sheet does not favour the foot more than the leach of the sail, or _vice versâ_. In the case of a balloon-foresail its sheet leads outside the lee rigging and belays somewhere aft. The man attending the sheet should take it as far aft as a direct strain will permit, and not belay it to the first cleat that comes to hand; otherwise the sail will simply prove a windbag taking the yacht to leeward rather than ahead.

There is a fitting which must not be passed over that is now almost universally adopted on large yachts, but is equally important on small ones--that is, an iron horse at the main-boom end for the mainsail outhaul to travel on. It was originally invented by that most skilful helmsman Mr. W. Adams, of Greenock, to obviate a difficulty so common in square stern boats with booms stretching to _n_ length over the transom. He fitted the boom of his little racing boat with a horse, which came from the boom end to within easy reach for unhooking the clew of the sail, and so saved the trouble of having to use a dinghy for the purpose. The idea was soon taken up by Clyde yachtsmen, for it was found so much easier to get the mainsail out on the boom than with the traveller working on the boom itself.

Whilst on a subject connected with mainsails, the writer can recommend for the gaff and head of the mainsail, instead of the ordinary long rope lacing commonly in use, separate stops or seizings to each eyelet-hole. The seizing can be done in half the time it takes to properly lace the head of the sail to the spar; it looks quite as well and does its work better. For fastening the luff of the mainsail to the mast-hoops, instead of seizings he has used hanks, and has found them very handy and neat. The hanks used are riveted on to the mast-hoops. He has now had them in constant use for over twelve years, and has never had occasion to find any fault whatever with them. In one yacht he kept two mainsails in use for cruising and racing, and thus preserved the racing mainsail in good condition for a considerably longer period than would otherwise have been the case, and with the fittings just named the shift of sails was a small matter.

Topsails, perhaps, are the sails which require renewing more frequently than any other, as they get out of shape so quickly if very much is demanded from them. For a small yacht, if she carries a topmast, three topsails are a sufficient outfit. They should be a jibheader, a gaff, and a balloon or jackyarder. One yard ought to serve for both the gaff and jackyard topsail, and these sails should be made the same length on the head. This will save having to carry about a deckload of timber.

OUTFIT

It is frequently a question of great moment, what kind and what amount of outfit it is necessary to take away on a summer's cruise, and the writer finds it a great convenience to keep a list of everything that goes to form not only his sea kit, but stores and necessaries as well. Such a list prevents one from forgetting small necessaries.

A small air-tight 'uniform tin case' and a painted seaman's bag are the best equipment for carrying clothes. The lists are as follows:--

FIRST LIST: THE KIT

The tin case holds--

A dress suit and shoes A shore-going suit 3 linen shirts 6 collars White ties Gloves Ink, blotting paper, paper and envelopes Mr. Lloyd's Euxesis

As may be seen, the tin box only contains the shore-going outfit. The Euxesis mentioned is for those who shave, as with it there is no need of hot water to perform the operation.

In the bag should be--

4 flannel shirts 2 pairs of flannel pygamas 1/2 doz. pairs of socks, 2 pairs of which should be thick 2 pairs of thick warm stockings 1 pair of warm slippers 2 pairs of common blue india-rubber solid shoes 1 pair of brown leather shoes 2 blue guernseys, hand knit 4 bath towels and 1/2 doz. others Sponge bag Dressing case 1 suit of thick pilot cloth 1 old pair of thick blue trousers 1 large thick square comforter 1 common serge suit 1 pair of mittens 1 pair of tanned leather boots

For comfort in a small yacht it is impossible to do with less. Of course it may be thought foolish taking the tin case stocked as it is, but experience has taught that even in the wildest and most out-of-the-way spots occasions arise when all pleasure is spoiled by not having the evening change of kit at hand.

SECOND LIST: GROCERIES, ETC.

Matches 1/2 doz. boxes of floats for oil lamp 1/2 doz. boxes of night-lights 6 lbs. of candles 8 to the lb. and 2 bedroom candlesticks 1 doz. tins of unsweetened tinned milk 1 lb. of tea 1/2 doz. coffee and milk in tins 1/2 doz. tins of chocolate and milk Plate powder Varnish for yellow leather shoes Corkscrew Sardine-box opener 3-lb. tin of marmalade Pepper Mustard Jar of salt 1 doz. tins of sardines 3 tins of herring à la sardines 2 lb. captain's biscuits 1 doz. packages of jelly powder 6 doz. tinned soups Soap, 1 bar of common brown Soap, 1 bar of scented Wicks for stoves Plate, clothes, and boot brushes 2 chamois leathers. Cheese, butter, bread, 1/2 loaf per diem per man

THIRD LIST: YACHT NECESSARIES

Marlinespike Pricker Mop and twiddlers Hatchet Heavy hammer Small hammer Screw-driver Gimlet Bradawl Pincers Brass screws Copper nails Brass hooks 1 tin of black paint 1 tin of Harvey's Anti-fouling Paint 1 tin of Copal varnish Spare shackles, clip hooks, hooks and thimbles 1 4-lb. lead and line 1 can of methylated spirits 1 can of mineral oil 1 can of colza oil _Lamp_ showing red, white, or green, as required Riding light Binnacle and light 1 small-sized patent log 20 fathoms of Kaia grass warp 1 tail 4-in. block 2 spare blocks with hooks or thimbles 1 canvas bucket, medium size 1 iron bucket 2 brass holders for oil glass lamp, and to hold tumbler if required for flowers

4 thick common cups and saucers 1/2 doz. tumblers 1/2 doz. wineglasses 3 sodawater tumblers 1/2 doz. enamel plates 1/2 doz. enamel soup plates 2 enamel slop basins 2 enamel flat dishes 1 enamel double vegetable dish 1 deep dish for stews, &c.

3 tablespoons 3 table forks 3 table knives 1/2 doz. small forks 1/2 doz. dessert spoons 1/2 doz. teaspoons 1/2 doz. small knives Fish knife and fork 2 kitchen knives and forks 2 kitchen table- and 2 teaspoons

Binocular glasses Parallel rulers Compasses Isle of Man almanac Charts: Irish Sea, West Scotland, English Channel, &c. Books of sailing directions Channel pilot Flags: Club Burgee, Pilot Jack, and Ensign. The Pilot Jack is useful in case a pilot be required, and the Ensign to hoist upside down in case of distress, or in the rigging as a protest when racing Fishing tackle

Medicine:--

Brandy Friar's balsam Lint Bottle of Condy's fluid Carlsbad salts

[Illustration: COMMERCIAL CODE OF SIGNALS.

_Code Signal._

_When used as the Code Signal this Pennant is to be hoisted under the Ensign._]

Such lists as are given above should be kept in a small book labelled 'Fitting-out Necessaries,' because they save much time at that season, and all alterations in them that experience dictates should be noted before or at the period of laying the yacht up.

_Racing._

The yacht, let it be supposed, is fitted out. She has a racing outfit, and was the crack boat of the past season. There is a smart young fellow engaged to look after her, and the only thing that remains to be settled now is the question--Shall I give myself up to racing or shall I cruise this year? If it is to be racing, here are two or three words of advice well worth noting. The first is, never pinch the yacht when sailing on a wind. Always keep a clean full and bye--_i.e._ the yacht must be headed, as near as she will go, to the point whence the wind is blowing, but the sails must be kept well full. Then the yacht will travel. Do not, because some other yachts seem to be lying closer to the wind, try to make the little vessel head in the same direction, if she will not do so without her sails shaking. Many races are lost through this form of bad sailing. The next point to be noted is, 'mind your jibsheet.' No sheet requires such tender handling. The foresheet can be left to a tiro. All he has to do when on a wind is to take and harden in all he can, and belay. The mainsheet can also be hauled in pretty close; but when that is all done, the sailing-master must not think that he can go any closer to the wind by treating his jibsheet after the same simple fashion; for if he does he will find himself very much at fault, as it will take all the life out of the yacht, and the jib will make her bury her head in the seas. He will only stop his ship. The best plan to adopt is to get the sheet in before the yacht's head is pointed as close as it will go to the wind, and then check out inch by inch till the luff of the sail near the tack has a slight inclination to lift. At first, it is somewhat astonishing to see how much jibsheet a vessel will stand when close hauled. Pinning in the sheet tends to stop the boat, whilst, on the other hand, giving her as much as she can stand will make her fairly jump ahead. The helmsman who knows his duties ought to keep an eye open for this, and watch, in the excitement of going about or hauling round a buoy, that the poor jibsheet is not pinned in or unfairly treated.

Another piece of advice is about that other jib and yachtsman's friend, called the spinnaker. Of the two jibs, this latter suffers most at the hands of the racing sailing-master. When he sees his antagonist carrying his spinnaker with the boom right forward on the bow, only too frequently does he leave his up with the boom in the same position, too fearful lest, should he take his in, or shift it to the bowsprit end, the other yacht may steal an advantage over him. The writer has seen more than one race lost through this hanging on to the boomed-out spinnaker too long. It is a safe and wise plan to take the sail in as soon as the wind obliges the boom to be pointed forward at an angle very much under a right angle to the beam. Some years ago this was brought before the writer's notice in a clear, unmistakable way. He happened to be on the Breakwater at Plymouth on a Regatta day, when the yachts were making the harbour. They were running with the wind right aft and their booms squared off. As each yacht neared the Breakwater, the wind came round gradually on the beam, and one by one the spinnaker-booms were allowed to go right over the bow to an acute angle with the bowsprit. The spinnakers were certainly all kept full, but as each yacht's after-guy was checked, she gradually ceased to travel and almost stopped dead. Her spinnaker bellied against the topmast stay and forestay, and formed at once a backsail, if anything. Those on board a yacht do not notice the faults of the moment so quickly as those looking on, and only when the race is over does the sailing-master regret that he has not acted differently. Frequently since then has the writer, having taken note of what he saw, managed to make up a considerable amount of time by having the courage to take in his spinnaker as soon as it refused to stand without the boom going well forward. If the balloon-foresail jib and jib-topsails sheets are ready belayed, so that the sails may take the weight of the wind as soon as the spinnaker is taken in, there will be no fear whatever of the yacht losing ground, but rather she will spring into life, and most likely leave her antagonists behind. The method adopted by American yachtsmen for setting the spinnaker has many points in its favour. Instead of bringing the tack close in to the mast, the sail is taken outside the forestay and the tack downhaul belayed on the opposite side to which the sail is set. By setting the sail in this way the back draught from it goes into the jib-topsail and balloon-jib, so keeping them full and drawing. The spinnaker boom can also be allowed to range further forward on the bow than under our system. In hoisting the spinnaker it will be found a great saving of labour to send it up in stops ready for breaking out when the pull at the outhaul is taken. It can be stopped up before the race begins.

When running before the wind, it is no uncommon sight to see all hands sent aft, and as many as possible on the counter. Now there is a vast amount of 'follow my leader' in this practice. Because one crack yacht does well under this trim, therefore others are supposed to steer and sail better with the weight aft too, so that when witnessing a number of yachts sailing before the wind with spinnaker set, frequently yacht after yacht may be seen struggling along with her taffrail about level with the water, and the whole counter being sucked back by the wave raised in the yacht's run. Some yachts are bad to steer when running; this is, to say the least of it, a fault or gross peculiarity in their design, for there is no use in the helm unless it is answered, and to help to keep boats steady all available weight is fleeted aft. These must, therefore, bear the penalty and lose ground on this particular point of sailing; but there are others with fine runs, which require no weight aft, and placing weight there causes the counter to go into the water and lie flat on it. These would steer equally well with the weight forward of the helmsman, and instead of being kept back by the drag put upon them, would leave their heavy-quartered rivals away in the rear. 'Keep the counter as much as possible out of water' is a maxim to be laid to heart by all, on all points of sailing. Of course, in yachts designed to have part of the counter immersed, the maxim applies only to that part above water. A fine run is a most valuable form for a vessel large or small, especially when sailing on any point with the wind abaft the beam; and the man who is wise will do his best to keep it fine, in order that the water may be left clean and without so much as a ripple.

Before naming good cruising grounds and touching on cruising, just a word must be said about dinghies. A dinghy is a big piece of furniture for a small yacht, and at times becomes almost a white elephant, especially if the yacht has to make passages or go foreign. The writer has no hesitation in recommending the Berthon dinghy as the most useful, compact, and stow-awayable of any at present in use. After having had practical experience of nearly all sizes of Mr. Berthon's boats, from the 40-ft. launch supplied to the Navy down to the small 7-ft. dinghy, the size found to be most useful is the boat of 8 feet in length. A boat of 7 feet which he has, and which has been in use for fifteen years in all parts of the world, is a most clever little contrivance. She has carried on many occasions two big men with a portmanteau and other baggage, and when sitting on the bottom boards is hard to capsize--in fact, she has never turned turtle as yet. She is very easy to pull and light to carry, but is a little too small to ask a lady to take passage in. The odd foot, however, makes a great difference. A 9-ft. boat was the lifeboat complement of the 'Cyprus,' and this is the largest size of any real value to a small yacht, as the larger boats take too long to open out, and when in the water, unless well filled up and almost brought down to the gunwale, are too light to pull against a head wind. The 9-ft. boat is sometimes difficult to move when it is blowing very hard from the quarter to which it is desired to go, but this occurs seldom, and she is opened out so easily that there may be a question whether a 9-ft. boat might not be, after all, the best to have. The boats will stand any amount of sea, and they travel under sail or oar propulsion, when not too much pressed, very dry and easily. Should the canvas happen to get cut, the best stitch with which to sew up the wound is that known as the 'Cobbler's.' An awl is required to make the holes for the stitches and a couple of ends similar to those used by a cobbler. This stitch is not so likely to tear the canvas, and brings it closer together than the sailmaker's stitch called 'herring-boning,' which is no use at all for making a water-tight mend. The outer skin may want a coat of paint once a year, and if so, the paint should be mixed up with boiled oil; then, when it is put on, the canvas will remain flexible and will not harden up and crack. Mr. Berthon supplies a special paint for his boats, but it is not always procurable, and any paint mixed with boiled oil will serve the purpose.

_Cruising._

Fitted out with an old 5-tonner, or a yacht about the size already recommended, the whole world lies before the cruising yachtsman. She can easily be shipped on board a steamer, and can, for the sum of 50_l._ to 70_l._ or less, be launched off New York, whence there is nothing to hinder a most enjoyable cruise on the lakes (which can be reached by canal) or in the vicinity of Long Island, and along the coast. Racing can be done in the American waters should it so please the voyageur, and a hearty welcome will be met with wherever he goes. There is great scope for cruising and racing in Australia and New Zealand (as set forth at length in another chapter); but the expenses of shipping and taking out the yacht will not be much less than 100_l._ Sydney Harbour and Port Phillip are both great yachting centres, while the coast of New Zealand is a complete network of bays, inland seas, and natural harbours. The Mediterranean is a much puffed-up yachtsman's cruising ground, but during the best time of year, which is winter, it is as nasty and treacherous an expanse of water as it is possible to meet with in any part of the world. In the summer the great drawback there is lack of wind during the daytime, and calms prevail most days of the week. Among the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, however, and off the coast of Asia Minor, a breeze is always certain to spring up after sunset. There is no difficulty in reaching the Mediterranean, as a yacht drawing 5 to 6 feet can go through France by canal without any trouble, or else she can sail round. Five-tonners, it must be remembered, are serviceable for an ocean cruise should it be necessary, as has already been shown in two cases.

There are cruising grounds on the West Coast of Scotland which may well make yachtsmen in England envious, and some lovely harbours and rivers along the South Coast of England, which would delight the heart of many a Clyde yachtsman, whilst Ireland, on her West and South coasts, has very beautiful and well-sheltered bays. To a yachtsman who lives in the South, and to whom time is an object, the best plan to adopt, if a Scotch cruise be on the cards, is either to put the yacht on a truck and send her up to Gourock, or ship a second hand for the trip and let the men sail her round. Of the two ways, the latter is much to be preferred, since it will cost less money, and the yacht will not be so likely to get knocked about. If time permitted, the owner might meet the yacht at Kingstown, near Dublin. This is always a good starting point, as he can make for Campbeltown, in Cantyre, stay a night there, and go on to Gourock Bay, near Greenock, which he should make his base of operations, and where he should pick up a mooring if possible rather than drop his own anchor.

If St. George's Channel is to be the cruising ground, then Kingstown, Belfast (Bangor Bay), or the Sloyne (Liverpool) are the best ports to start from. Between Belfast and Kingstown the yachtsman will find Loch Strangford (although it has strong tides), Ardglass, and Carlingford Lough, with little Howth, all places worth peeping into; and a run over to the Isle of Man will well repay any time taken up in a visit. The best ports in the island are Ramsey and Douglas, and of the two Ramsey is to be preferred, because the yacht can always lie at anchor, and it is well sheltered from all winds with any westing in them; but Douglas ought not to be left out on that account, and the yacht, when there, should be sailed up the harbour, where she will have to take the ground. It is a first-rate place to clean a yacht's copper, as there is something in the mud which is very conducive to brightening up the metal. Peel can be seen by crossing the island. Castletown, also, is a very quaint old town, and coaches run regularly between it and Douglas. Anyone visiting the Isle of Man ought to read Sir Walter Scott's novel 'Peveril of the Peak,' for the main portion of the story lies at Peel and Castletown.

If interest is taken in iron and smelting works, from Douglas to Barrow is about 70 miles; but as the roughest sea in the Channel is met with on a line between Mougold Head (between Douglas and Ramsey) and Liverpool, where the north and south currents meet, perhaps it will be as well, unless the weather be favourable, to keep clear of that part of the English coast.

Kingstown itself is the finest artificial harbour in the world, and to anyone anchoring there for the first time there will be found plenty to occupy at least a week. The clubs are most hospitably inclined, and Dublin being so near makes it a very pleasant spot to frequent.

For the South of Ireland, Queenstown must be the centre from which to work. There are good fishing and lovely bays all round the coast westward, and nothing can equal Bantry Bay, with Glengariff, which are practically land-locked.

The Shannon and West are in no way inferior to the South coast, and there are many nooks and anchorages, too numerous to mention here, where a yacht such as the one described can very comfortably lie, fearless of ocean billows. Now and then seals are to be met with on the West coast, and care should be taken to avoid rowing into any of the numerous caves, which abound round that coast, and are frequented by them, when the tide is on the rise and at three-quarters flood; more than one shooting party has been caught in a trap through the egress having been blocked up.

The North coast is a wild one; but there, again, Port Rush and Londonderry are very safe, and Port Rush is an especially snug little harbour. Care should be taken to work Rathlin Island Sound with the tide, whichever way it is wished to sail, as the tide rush there is very strong. Between Rathlin and Belfast are bays, each of which has its small tidal harbour, and, if the weather is threatening, the distances between them are so short that opportunities can be snatched for going from one to the other. Larne itself is a fine harbour.

Coming from the North to the South of England, a yacht of 30 ft. and 5 ft. 6 in. draught can be taken by train and launched with the greatest ease in Southampton Dock, and Southampton being so near London makes it the rendezvous of many cruising yachts. A good cruise from there is to run across to Havre (Rouen is easily reached by train from Havre, and well worth a visit), thence to Cherbourg, thence through the Alderney Race, between Cape La Hogue and the back of Sark, to Guernsey.

At Guernsey the yacht's copper should be cleaned, if necessary. It is the best harbour in the English Channel for scrubbing the bottom, as there is good mud and a capital supply of running water close and handy at low water. From Guernsey, weather permitting, with the aid of a fisherman or pilot, the yacht can be taken across to Sark one day and to Herm another. Sark is one of the loveliest and most picturesque islands on our coasts. Any trip to Jersey ought to be made by steamer, as it is an abominable harbour for a yacht, the rise and fall of the tide being over 40 feet.

The next sea run may be to Falmouth, thence to Fowey, Polperro (this port had better not be entered except by dinghy, but it is a very quaint little fishing village and not much frequented except by trawlers), Looe (this is an open anchorage), and Plymouth. All these places have beautiful rivers, with the exception of Polperro, and the Fal and Tamar are both navigable at high water some considerable distance up.

Leaving Plymouth, the yacht might very well touch at the mouth of the Yalme, and the dinghy be rowed up the river. Salcomb and Dartmouth should not be left out, and both have rivers, the heads of which should be seen. Dartmouth is a well-known yachting station, and its club is very prettily situated, so that the members have a full view of the anchorage. The tide there is strong, and two anchors will prove better than one.

Torbay comes next in order, working back to Southampton, with Brixham and Torquay; both so often described that it would be wasting space to add anything to what has already been said.

The only gauntlets to be run are West Bay, which can be very troublesome at times, and the Race off Portland Bill, which can generally be avoided by hugging the shore of the Bill. Weymouth, again, requires no words of encomium. It is as well to anchor off Portland or go right up Weymouth Harbour, where the yacht will have to take the ground.

From Weymouth to Swanage is an afternoon's sail, but it is scarcely worth while going into the bay, unless the weather is boisterous from the west or south-west, when the yacht will find a very good berth free from the turmoil of the elements. There is a race off St. Alban's Head, which can always be avoided by keeping well out a couple of miles. When Swanage has been left behind, the course should be steered for the Needles. Once inside the Solent, Yarmouth in the Isle of Wight, and Lymington on the Hampshire coast, Cowes, Ryde, Bembridge, and Portsmouth all open up ports and land, not only different in scenery from any that is visible in the North, but spots and localities interesting on account of the history attached to them.

The Dutch coast with its canals, Norway with its fiords, and Sweden with its canal running from Christiania to Stockholm, all merit a description did these pages permit, and are well worth the time taken up in a summer cruise; but whichever way the yacht's head may be turned, or whatever seas may be chosen to be cruised over, the following few hints may prove serviceable.

In cruising along an unknown coast, it is always well to keep a good look out for buoys or boats at anchor inshore. It may be a great help in cheating tides. For instance if the yacht is struggling against a strong tide, an inshore eddy may be discovered from the way the boats are lying, and so, by making use of it, a long journey may be shortened and time saved.

Barges and coasters, especially small ones, should be watched. They, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, know the tides, currents, and eddies thoroughly, and the best course to be steered from one point to another. If a short cut can be taken, the coaster is sure to know it, and he can be followed through narrow channels with the greatest safety. A coaster rarely draws less than 6 feet when full up with cargo, or a barge less than 4 to 5 feet.

When sailing along the bight of a bay, with the wind off the shore and close-hauled, because in the bight itself the wind may come off a point or so free, the yacht's sheets should not therefore be checked, but she should be still kept a clean full and bye; for, as the further point of the bay is reached, the wind will be sure to head and come off the land, and instead of being able to round the head close in shore, most likely the yacht will have to be kept away, and much valuable time and distance lost.

When passing high land, with the wind off the shore, care should be exercised should a gully, valley, or ravine open out, for fear a sudden squall may take the yacht aback, and a topsail and topmast be sent flying. The wind is very much influenced by the lay of the land, not only in the matter of the direction in which it blows, but also the power of its gusts.

Regard should always be paid, on entering land-locked waters from the open sea, to the force of the wind. Many open-sea sailors, from being accustomed to a fair amount of wave disturbance whenever the wind has any strength in it, are misled when sailing in enclosed lochs by the smoothness of the water, and so, misjudging the force of the wind, are apt to carry on longer than is desirable, to the danger of spars.

When cruising in the vicinity of yachts racing, the yacht should be kept well out of the way to leeward; and if by chance she happens to find herself to windward of an approaching racing yacht, her head should be turned in whatever direction will seem the best for not taking the wind out of the racer's sails.

When coming to in unknown or any other roads or anchorage, the prevailing wind should not be forgotten, and the spot chosen for letting go the killick should be one from which a speedy retreat can be made should necessity compel. An outside berth in a close-crowded anchorage is therefore always the safest, though, perhaps, not always the most agreeable. The writer hopes that these few wrinkles may prove as serviceable to the readers of these pages as they have been from time to time to himself.

It must be remembered that, when the yachtsman is caught out in a breeze of wind and is obliged to take in a couple of reefs in the mainsail, house his topmast, and shift his jibs, it does not necessarily mean the presence of 'great guns.' It takes very little wind to raise a sea in the channels round our coasts, and to make the small yachtsman sniff a hurricane. In order, therefore, to become accurate about the force of the wind or sea, the writer recommends the 'Meteorological Notes,' supplied (at 5_s._ per annum) by Mr. Scott from the Meteorological Office, London, as being most useful for the purpose, and most interesting for reference. His principle is to have the papers sent to his home address, where they remain till the yacht's return to lay up. Then the log or note-book is brought out, notes of the dates on which he relieved his bark and had been more severely knocked about than usual are referred back to, and a very fair idea as to the true local weather is obtained. A knowledge of wind and weather is soon acquired thus.

[Illustration: In the Channel.]

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