Fast yachts of 1908

This page is adapted from "The Month in Yachting" (Yachting magazine, September 1908.) While it is of obvious interest to all sailors and others interested in the history of yacht racing, attention should be drawn to the Dorello, a 1907 design by George Owen, that raced in the 38 foot N-class, is unfortunately with the 46 foot M-class Dorello II of 1913, later renamed Bagatelle IV. See the N-class Dorello here.

A Man who participated in the Marblehead-New Rochelle power-yacht race, in complaining to me about the methods utilized to determine ratings, said that in that race he had been “fool enough” to allow his engine to turn at the greatest number of revolutions, whereas other entrants had devised a scheme whereby the number of revolutions was reduced even with the lever at full notch. This had been done, he said, by pouring a large quantity of gasolene in the carburettor, which resulted in a great deal of smoke and noise, but, nevertheless, prevented the engine from doing everything that it was capable of doing.

“They did not tell me of the device in time,” said my informant, “and consequently I was rated at the greatest number of revolutions of which my engine was capable.”

Now isn’t this a pretty mess! One would think that yachtsmen would be sufficiently interested in the good of the sport to go ahead and try to win events on their merits. But no. Someone with a devilishly clever mind is always seeking for some subterfuge by which rules may be “beaten.” Of course, the only thing to do is to devise some way of putting a stop to this practice. I (the author was most probably Lawrence Perry) submit the problem to all mechanical geniuses who have the good of motor boating at heart.

It is the same way in sailing. An unscrupulous yacht owner spends his time seeking to evade the measurement rule, a designer endeavours to succeed by studying rules to the end that they may be violated in spirit if not in letter, and so it goes. Happily the great majority of men having to do with yachts go in for the sport with an eye to the larger good of the game, as well as to their own.

Dorello

The triumphant visit of the down-east sloop Dorello to the Sound should in the nature of things cause some thought up in Bristol. It would appear that her designer, George Owen, of Winthrop, Mass., is beginning to come into his own, and certainly the way the boat showed her heels to the craft of her class in the Eastern Yacht Club regattas must be generally regarded as an indication that the art of turning out swift boats is not confined to the Herreshoffs. Her appearance on the Sound, following her successful career off Marblehead, was attended by keen interest, and there were not many nautical wiseacres who were willing to predict that against Mimosa III. she would continue her winning course.

But she did. She appeared at the first day of Larchmont Race Week, July 18, and, racing against the Wainwright sloop, defeated her by over seven minutes, this in spite of allowing Mimosa eleven minutes over a thirty-mile course. Throughout the week, in fact, she showed that she was a sloop of wonderful speeding qualities, and if she is ever hauled out in the vicinity of any Sound port she will attract more attention than a new-fallen meteorite. Dorello is 58.5 feet over all, 39 feet on the water line and 7.6 feet draft. She is owned by George L. Batchelder, of Boston, Eastern Yacht Club, to whom should go the thanks of every man who is interested in the success of the present yachting season. Both the Larchmont and New York clubs are thinking of building sloops in this class.

Mr. Batchelder naturally did not desert New England for his health or for any purpose other than the demonstration that the art of Burgess and other New England designers is not lost, but in this might have been read a sportsmanlike purpose, and he deserved the cups he won and many more.

Speaking of New England brings to mind the fact that there was great racing in progress between Avenger and Humma, the two Class K sloops on the annual cruise of the Eastern Yacht Club to Bar Harbor, Me., two weeks ago, with honours somewhat in favour of Avenger. Avenger was regarded as somewhat of a black sheep in the New York Yacht Club regattas last year. As is generally known she was built and designed by the Herreshoffs to shave the bottom of her class, after the Bristol wizards had produced Istalena, Winsome and Aurora, which rated at the top of the fifty-seven-foot division. The result last season was that Avenger received so great an allowance from the other three boats of the class as to leave them little or no chance of winning.

Naturally the owners of the larger sloops did not accept their defeats in the most gracious spirit. When the prospects for the present season were under consideration there was some question as to how the matter would be adjusted. It was vitally necessary that something be done, and the most important element in that “something" must be tact. It may be said that tact figured prominently in the arrangement as finally devised. In other words, the two sloops Istalena and Aurora were altered in trim so as to rate out of their class and in Class J. It is to be assumed that this would not have been done had the sixty-footer Effort been in commission, but she was not and her owner had no intention of having her out this summer. Thus the way was clear.

In the New York Yacht Club regattas Istalena and Aurora raced together in a “Special Class K,” which was really Class J, while Avenger was allowed to sail in the regular K class. Prizes were offered in each and so there was no ground for complaint on the part of anyone. It was a clever move, and congratulations to those who thought of it are in order. The only drawback would have been the sudden decision to place Effort in commission. I wonder what would have happened then. Here surely would have been fresh opportunity for the nimble mind which worked out the solution of the Class K problem in the primary instance. I understand now, however, that the two big sloops have gone back into their regular rating.

Speaking of Istalena and Aurora calls to mind the fact that there are no gamer or more sportsmanlike yachtsmen in the world than George M. Pynchon and Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, the respective owners of the two sloops. This season, when the Eastern outlook seemed poor indeed, and when the expense involved in racing a large yacht was a formidable proposition for any man whose interests lie largely in Wall Street to face, Istalena and Aurora came out primarily that the season here might be saved. And no boats have contributed so largely to the success of Eastern regattas as these two. Wherever there has been a race there have been found the two “fighting fifty-seven” and always with a Corinthian at the helm. On Aurora it has been Commodore Vanderbilt, or Butler Duncan, or one of the Maxwells, while Mr. Pynchon has had the helm of Istalena in almost all, if not all, of her races. When Mr. Pynchon sailed out on Lake Michigan, in former years, he was known as a capable and wholehearted sportsman, and his old sloop is now sailed and cherished by a clever Chicago yachtsman.

The racing between Istalena and Aurora this year has resulted in a slight preponderance of victories for the Vanderbilt sloop, but the Pynchon boat has won a satisfactory share of the regattas. Boat for boat, and in a steady, true wind, Aurora impresses one as being a trifle the swifter of the two, but the skipper of the rival single-sticker has shown rare facility in making the most of opportunities.

Larchmont Race Week

Larchmont Race Week passed off successfully, as it always does. Considering the dull season, the record of 540 entries, averaging ninety yachts of various classes for each of the six days on which the regattas were sailed, was nothing less than wonderful. Larchmont races seem wonderfully attractive for yachtsmen, however affiliated, or wherever located, and the quality of the yachts entered was the highest that Eastern waters between Boston and Philadelphia could produce.

Seneca, Addison G. Hanan’s twenty-seven-foot sloop, which won the Canada Cup over the Payne challenger Adele last year, carried off the lion’s share of the honors, defeating Mimosa III, on time allowance, on ail days but one. Dorello defeated her on the last day of the week of racing in spite of the sixteen minutes which she allowed the Hanan boat, but conditions on that day were in favor of the Boston sloop. Istalena and Aurora each won three races, and Gardenia won four out of five against Dorwina, a larger sloop. Mr. Herzig, of Gardenia, made a racing agreement with E. C. Ray, owner of Dorwina, which was in perfect consonance with the sportsmanlike spirit which characterized the entire six days racing. It was arranged between the two that the boats should race on even terms, boat for boat, until Dorwina won, and then on half allowance until Gardenia won. That is to say, Gardenia, the smaller boat, was to race Dorwina boat for boat until the larger sloop won. Thereafter Gardenia was to exact only one-half of the allowance due her until she won.

The six days’ work of the Larchmont Yacht Club’s regatta committee may be unreservedly commended as an example of general efficiency. Going on the ground that it was far better to start the racers, provided there was sufficient wind to blow them over the line, rather than to wait hour after hour for a whole sail breeze, there was only one occasion when the start was delayed as long as half an hour. The wisdom of getting the yachts under way, even with a light wind, was made manifest later in the day when on the second round the yachts caught the freshening breezes of mid-afternoon. It is the policy of some clubs racing on the Sound to hold the racers until the afternoon breeze put in an appearance, with the result that regattas are finished as late as eight o’clock. The Larchmont committee never hesitated to end a race at the end of the completion of a certain stage of the contest if conditions seemed to justify that action, and all in all the impression every day was that the events were in the hands of men who knew their business.

As for the week ashore nothing more need be said than that all the good fellowship and genial manners for which the club is famous was at all times in evidence. The Rocking Chair fleet was anchored at its station on the Larchmont bar early and late, and lived up to its reputation, which, so far as wit, geniality, capacity and anecdotal resource are concerned, is unrivalled.

The following correspondence may well be commended to yachtsmen throughout the country, but more especially to the pleasure sailors of the Great Lakes, where the merchant skippers, on the ground that might makes right, navigate the courses between Chicago and Buffalo with a high hand. On Erie, Michigan, Huron or Superior the yachtsman, whatever the situation, must make it his duty to give cargo carriers a wide berth, the price of neglect to do so being a wrecked boat and probable drowning. Last year, on the Mackinac race, the crew of one of the racing schooners saw a great ore boat approaching under full headway. Apparently no man was at the helm; and as the schooner was becalmed, it may be imagined that the Chicago Corinthians did not lightly regard their plight. All, in fact, were preparing to go overboard when the steamship, which had approached to within two hundred feet, swerved to one side, the man at the wheel, who had been crouching behind the rail, sprang to his feet, and as the vessel shot past, the captain and crew, who suddenly appeared at the rail, hurled all sorts of jocular insults at the yachtsmen. A few decided stands such as that exhibited in the letters printed below, between the President of the Yacht Racing Union in England and American maritime authorities would do much to impress captains of freight vessels that men who sail for pleasure have some rights upon the navigable waters of this country. The correspondence explains itself:

“Gentlemen — I beg to call your attention to the action of the steamboat John Sylvester, on July 4. On that day the Brooklyn Yacht Club conducted a race in which nineteen sailing yachts of different character and dimensions started in Gravesend Bay at 10.30 A.M.

“The wind was a little east of south and all boats were close hauled on the port tack considerably west of Norton’s Point shortly after the start, when the steamboat John Sylvester, coming down the bay, deliberately sailed right in the midst of the fleet, with no apparently slackened speed.

“The schooner yacht Uncas, considering her rights, stood on her course, but the Sylvester not keeping clear, the Uncas was compelled to luff and shake in the wind for quite some time in order to avoid a collision.

“There was no question of keeping clear of the channel or anything but a total disregard of rights on the part of the captain of the Sylvester, who should be called to account.

“The Coney Island steamboats generally do not pay the slightest regard to the rules of the road where sailing yachts are concerned, no matter at what point they are met. There are one or two exceptions, but yachts with rights are invariably inconvenienced and endangered by the tactics of these boats,

“It would much appreciate if you kindly advise what action can or will be taken in the specific case mentioned above.

and the reply was:

“Sir — Again referring to our letter of the 9th in reply to yours of the 8th, relative to steamer John Sylvester interfering with the yacht race in Gravesend Bay on July 4, we took the matter up with the master of said steamer and have his reply before us, which he brought in person to this office.

“He states that he did not think the yachts had started on a race until his boat was in such a position as to make it impossible for him to turn about; that he slackened speed, stopped and did all he could to keep clear of the yachts, of which there were a very large number, and it was very difficult to keep clear of all of them; but he did all that was possible under the circumstances; and that the cause of making the Uncas luff to keep clear was from the necessity of his having to stop to let some of the other small boats cross his bow.

“We have admonished him to use all due caution with reference to the navigation of his vessel, and he promises to make every effort not to interfere with sailing craft in your waters.

“We also took the matter up with the Iron Steamboat Company and are to-day in receipt of a reply from the president thanking us for calling his attention to the obligation which rests with them, to extend every possible courtesy to other craft in the harbor. He also states that the matter will be taken up with each individual master of the Iron Steamboats.

“Trusting that you may have no further cause for complaint,