To endeavour to check the tendency to build skimming-dishes the Yacht-Racing Associa tion introduced in 1896 a new system of measurement which was proposed by R. E. Froude. The novelty of the system consisted of a tax upon the skin girth of the yacht, whereby a vessel with hollow midship section was penalized by her girth being measured round the skin surface. Froude's first system of rating began on Jan. 1, 1896, and ended at the close of the year 1900. The measure ment of the yacht was obtained by the following formula:— Length L.W.L.-1- beam + 4 skin girth + ./ (sail area) = linear
* This rule partially failed in its object. It was hoped that the skin surface measurement would prevent the fin-bulb type being suc cessful, but Froude and his colleagues had under-estimated the possible developments of exaggerated pram bows, immense scow shaped shoulders and stern-lines, all of which could be introduced into the skimming-dish type with great success. So, notwithstand ing the small premium on displacement this rule contained, the dishes could still beat the full-bodied yachts.
This rule, also sug gested by Froude, was introduced on Jan. 1, 1901. The Y.R.A. agreed to fix this rule for a period of seven years. The object of the rule was to ensure a big-bodied vessel. The formula was:— Now the novelty of this rule was the new tax d. This d represents the difference in feet between the measurement of the girth of the yacht's hull taken round the skin surface and the girth at the same place measured with a string pulled taut. This measurement is taken the distance from the fore end of the water-line. It is
easy to see that in a full-bodied yacht d = a small unit, whilst in a hollow-bodied yacht cl= a larger unit. Four times d being taken, it followed that hollow-bodied yachts were heavily penalized. This ingenious 7/ measurement was evolved by Alfred Benzon, a Danish scientist and yachtsman.
Class Racing, Handicapping and Cruiser Racing.— Yacht racing may be subdivided under these three heads. Yacht racing by rating measurement or tonnage, when either the first yacht to finish is the winner, or the yacht saving her time by a fixed scale of time allowance in proportion to the rating of the vessel and the length of the course, is called class racing, and it obviously tends to encourage the fastest possible vessel under the current rating rule to be produced. It has always been regarded as the highest form of the sport. It is naturally, however, the most expensive form, because only the most up-to-date and per fectly equipped vessels can keep in the first flight.
From time to time, chiefly,from about the years 1884 and 1885 onwards, handicaps framed according to merits have been fashion able amongst yachtsmen. They were originally devised to afford amusement and sport to out-classed racers and cruisers. Owing to the expense of class racing, handicap racing thrived greatly during the period of the first and second girth rules. During these periods, too, the third style of yacht racing came into vogue, namely, cruiser racing; either very fast cruisers were built specially for the purpose of handicap racing, or a number of yachts of exactly similar design were built specially to the owner's orders for the purpose of racing in a class together. The
fast handicap cruisers had the great advantage over class racers from 1896 up to 1906, inasmuch as they were much more strongly built. "Valdora" (107 tons), "Brynhild" (16o tons), "Leander," "Namara," "Rosamond," "Merrymaid" and many others were yachts of the former type.
Yachts Built Under the Second Linear Rating Rule.— Few large vessels were built expressly for racing under this rule; indeed the Fife 65-f ooter "Zinita" (1904) was the only light scantling yacht of any importance. However, two very handsome first-class vessels were constructed to the rule : "White Heather I." by Fife in 1904, and "Nyria" by Nicholson in 1906; they were some 12 ft. shorter than the great cutters of "Britannia's" year and altogether smaller, having less beam and draught and some 1,700 sq.f t. less sail area. The growing dissatisfaction of yacht owners at the extreme light scantling of modern racing yachts was strongly demonstrated by the fact that both "White Heather I." and "Nyria" were specially ordered to be of heavy scantling, and they were classed Ai at Lloyd's. They were therefore of the semi-cruiser type. "Nyria," however, was the extreme type of a yacht of her period in shape, although heavy in construction.
In April 1904 B. Heckstall Smith drew the attention of German, French and British yachtsmen to the fact that the yacht measurement rules (then different in the various countries) were generally due to terminate about the end of 1907, and suggested that many advantages would accrue if an international rule could be agreed upon. The Yacht-Racing Association agreed to take the matter up, and at two international conferences, held in London in January and June 1906, an international rule of yacht measure ment and rating was unanimously agreed to by all the nations of Europe. America alone refused to attend the conference. R. E. Froude, a nephew of the historian, struck the keynote of the object of the conference by a statement that the ideal yacht should be a vessel combining "habitability with speed." Old plank on-edge types under the tonnage rules were habitable but slow. Skimming-dishes attained the maximum speed, but were unin habitable. A good form was attained in i9o1 with "Magdalen." but since that year the bane of light construction had become harmful to yachting. Hence the conference aimed at a rule which would produce a yacht combining habitability with speed. They adopted a form of linear rating comprising certain penalties upon hollow midship section (i.e., Benzon's d tax) and also upon full pram bows. The following was adopted as the rule by which all racing yachts in Europe were rated : L B + 3d + A S-F rating in linear units, i.e., either feet 2 - or metres.
Where L =length in linear units.