How a Yacht Is Sailed

These victories made Burgess the most successful designer in America, and the type originated by him grew rapidly in popular ity and soon became the recognized American type. "Puritan" was followed in the next two years by the "Mayflower" and the "Volunteer," both by Burgess and each a successful defender of the America's Cup. Unfortunately, Burgess died in 1891, at the height of his career, and while still a comparatively young man.

The year that Burgess died, Nathanael G. Herreshoff, of Bristol, R.I., had turned out a yacht that focussed the attention of Ameri can yachtsmen on the plant at Bristol, owned by him and his brother, John B. Herreshoff, and that was destined again to revolu tionize yacht design and to bring fame to American yachts and to the Herreshoff family, which had been building boats on Narra gansett bay since Civil War days. This yacht was "Gloriana." When the next challenge for the America's Cup (1893) was re ceived from the Royal Yacht Squadron, Herreshoff designed the successful defender, the sloop, "Vigilant," 85ft. on the water. While practically a keel boat, she carried a centreboard, which worked through a slot in the lead keel. After the "Vigilant," N. G. Herreshoff designed the successive defenders for the America's Cup up to and including the contest in 1920, when the "Resolute" successfully defended, and Herreshoff became the foremost yacht designer in America, for either large or small yachts.

By 193o, N. G. Herreshoff had retired and the defender that year, "Enterprise," was designed by W. Starling Burgess, a son of Edward Burgess who designed the defenders of 1885, 1886 and 1887. The "Rainbow," successful defender of 1934, was also de signed by W. Starling Burgess. When the 1937 defender was built, a young designer, Olin J. Stephens, was called upon to collaborate with Burgess, and the result of their collaboration, "Ranger," was the fastest Class J yacht that had been built up to that time.

The Scow Type and the Seawanhaka Cup.—On certain wa ters of Canada, notably the St. Lawrence river, and on the lakes of Minnesota and Wisconsin, where conditions are not suited to keel boats, the Universal Rule is not used, and in these localities the scow type has been developed to a very high state. These boats are extremely flat, drawing but a few inches, having two bilge boards instead of one centreboard, double rudders, and are sailed without ballast. On a reach they are exceedingly fast, and it is claimed that the larger boats sometimes attain a speed as high as 125m. per hour in a strong breeze and smooth sea. They are usually sailed in 28-ft., 32-ft. and 38-ft. classes.

The contests for the Seawanhaka Cup between 1895 and 1912 did much for the development of the scow type. This trophy was put up by the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club, of Oyster Bay, in 1895, for international competition between small yachts, when the first race was sailed against an English challenger, "Spruce III," a "half-rater." The following year the cup was won by the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club of Canada, with an extreme scow named the "Glencairn." A long series of races followed between U.S., Canada, Great Britain and several European countries.

Recent Development of Yacht Design.—During the World War there was very little yacht building in America, and no marked development in design. But following the readjustment period there was a marked increase in interest in all forms of yachting, and larger fleets were to be seen at the principal regattas than previously. In this development the small yacht predomi

nated, due somewhat to the greatly increased cost of running large sailing craft, and to the fact that yacht-racing was making a strong appeal to those who wanted to handle their own craft. Therefore, the smaller racing classes were promoted, principally the 31-rating (Class P), 25-rating (Class Q) and 20-rating (Class R) classes, and numerous one-design classes. About 1927 several International Rule Classes made their appearance in the United States, the most popular being the 6-Metre and i 2-Metre Classes.

One-Design Classes.

As early as the late '9os several racing classes in which the boats of each class were identical in design were formed, and proved popular, both because the boats were, theoretically, of equal speed, and because there was considerable economy in building many boats exactly alike at one time. Some of the earlier of these one-design classes were the Newport 3o-ft. class of fin-keel sloops, and the 7o-ft. class of large sloops, both designed by Herreshoff. There followed, then, a great demand for such classes of yachts of one design. Among the important one design racing classes in the first third of the loth century are : The North American Yacht Racing Union.—Legislation affecting yacht-racing, the rules under which yachts were raced, and measurement rules, up to about 1900, had been in the hands of individual yacht clubs, or local yacht-racing organizations com posed of a number of clubs in the same locality. There was thus great lack of uniformity in different sections of the country. At the time of the agitation for a new measurement rule to supersede the "length-and-sail-area" rule, the New York Yacht Club took the lead and called a conference of yachting organizations of the Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes to find out what was wanted and to bring about uniformity by getting the other sections to adopt the new rule (the Universal Rule) that was then being formulated. This was a step forward, but the conference was not permanent in character, and there was no real governing body on yachting affairs in America. To remedy this situation, there was formed in 1925 a union of most of the local yacht-racing associa tions, and a number of prominent yacht clubs, the guiding spirits in the matter being Clifford D. Mallory and Commodore W. A. W. Stewart, of the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club. This organi zation, called the North American Yacht Racing Union, was the first permanent legislative and governing body of national scope in America, and through it both the racing and measurement rules have been standardized, and an appeals body for its members formed. In 1927 delegates from this union met with delegates of the International Yacht Racing Union, in London, to bring about closer co-operation internationally in yachting affairs. Sensing the value to the sport of international racing, the Union recognized, in addition to the Universal Rule of Measurement. the International Rule used in European countries, with the result that several in ternational classes such as the 6-Metre, 8-Metre, and 12-Metre were built and became popular here.