Chapter XII: THE LAST WORD—Final hints to tars who want to sail their own craft 292 (5)

The race committee, if it sees any transgression of the sailing rules, should disqualify the offender, whether a protest is made or not. For the honor of our yachtsmen be it said, that, generally, if they commit any breach of the rules, such as fouling a mark, they voluntarily report the incident to the officers and thus there is no need of an accuser.

An owner above all should make it his business to see for himself that the taxable length of his yacht is never increased. Remembering the unhappy Dunraven episode, he should not make charges against his opponent which he is not prepared to substantiate by most convincing evidence. A gentleman is as chivalrous concerning his antagonist’s honor as he is about his own. If not, he ought to be. At the same time, if he observes any “sharp practice” on the part of a competitor, it is his duty to expose it in the interest of true sport.

A racing skipper should have the racing rules at his fingers’ ends. For instance, if his yacht is sailing in the annual regatta of the New York Yacht Club, he must take care that the vessel’s private signal and her number are displayed according to the rule; that no more persons are on board than permissible by Rule 8; that a boat and two life-buoys are on deck.

I remember having been a guest on the cutter _Mayflower_ in her race against the _Volunteer_ for the Goelet cup, when a mistake was made about a boat, which, if it had not been rectified in time, might have led to our disqualification. We carried a small boat on deck, but finding it rather in the way when working ship, we passed it down the skylight into the main saloon. One of Commodore E. D. Morgan’s guests pointed out that the rule stated plainly that the boat must be carried _on deck_. In a jiffy the offending boat was lugged up out of the cabin and placed where it rightfully belonged.

The skipper must study the sailing instructions with critical care; he must not forget that, the preparatory signal once made, the yacht is amenable to the racing rules until the end of the contest; that a yacht going free keeps clear of a yacht close-hauled; that a yacht close-hauled on the port tack keeps clear of a yacht close-hauled on the starboard tack; that when going free on opposite tacks, the yacht with the wind on the port side keeps clear; that when going free on the same tack the windward yacht keeps clear; that a yacht with the wind aft keeps clear of all others; that when yachts which overlap are rounding a mark or passing an obstruction, the outside yacht must give room to and keep clear of the inside yacht.

He should remember that a yacht on the port tack can be disqualified if she strike or be struck by a yacht on the starboard tack, also if the latter luff, tack or bear away to avoid being struck. This is a most important rule, because if a breach of it occurs, the yacht responsible for it is not only disqualified but is liable for any damage that may result.

When yachts approach an obstruction close-hauled, and the leeward yacht cannot tack and clear the windward yacht, the helmsman of the leeward yacht should hail for room and the two yachts must then tack together. An overtaking yacht must keep clear of an overtaken yacht, which may luff but must not bear away out of her course to obstruct the passage of her competitor to leeward. If a yacht runs ashore, or fouls a vessel or other obstruction, she may use her own boats and gear to get clear, but she must take them aboard again, and is forbidden to accept help except from the crew of the vessel fouled. This rule is, however, qualified by another, which declares that when accidents occur competing yachts must assist to save life.

A yacht must be propelled by sail alone after the preparatory gun. If she is late and is being towed toward the starting line when the preparatory signal is given, she may be disqualified. Tardy owners and skippers should keep tab on this. A yacht may anchor during a race, but she may not slip. She must not warp or kedge, or make fast to a buoy, pier, vessel or other obstruction. The government regulations regarding lights and fog signals, shall be observed by day and by night.

These are the principal rules which the skipper should never forget if he desires to achieve or maintain a reputation. One thing I want to impress upon him is that in any emergency when his vessel may be in peril, it is his imperative duty to follow the regulations of the rule of the road at sea, as prescribed by international law, and disregard any racing rules that in the slightest degree conflict with a literal interpretation of this rule. If he fails in this duty his owner is responsible for any and all damage incurred by his vessel or by the vessel he collides with. In an admiralty court the racing rules of a yacht club or a yacht-racing association are disregarded. The case is judged by standard rules of law that prevail among all seafaring nations. Those who break the law must pay the penalty thereof. I cannot impress this little legal maxim too strongly on both owners and skippers.

]

“VIGILANT.”
]

VIII.
EVOLUTION OF THE RACER.
HOW TONNAGE AND MEASUREMENT RULES HAVE AFFECTED FORM IN AMERICA AND
GREAT BRITAIN.

The growth of the English cutter from its cradle, on the south and east coasts, where the fantail stern was created, is an interesting study. From the _Pearl_, designed by Sainty, the smuggler, for the Marquis of Anglesey, down to the modern yacht of 1899, it is apparent that the evolution of the craft was slow and gradual until about 1880, since when strides of unprecedented length have been taken. Up to 1880 yacht designing advanced sluggishly, both here and abroad, but the progress of the art could be marked by the intelligent student, even as a trained forester can tell the age of an oak from a section of the trunk. The more closely you observe, the more clearly are you convinced that the naval architects of both countries have for some time been converging to a common goal. This goal they now seem to have attained.

In order to give an intelligent summary of the development of the racing yacht of to-day, it is necessary, as we progress, to take note of the measurement or tonnage rule which caused the change in the form of the yacht.

The yacht of the early part of the century was an apple-bowed craft of about three beams to length, ballasted with stone, gravel, or old iron. Competition was restricted to matches between two yachts, the bigger craft, other things being equal, usually winning. The first rule was derived from the mercantile marine, and had been in force since 1794. It was one in which length of keel and fore-rake, and the breadth at broadest place, were the only dimensions that were measured. It did not matter how high or how low the vessel was in the hold, half-breadth was taken to represent the depth, in calculating tonnage. The tendency of this rule was to make vessels high, narrow, and flat-sided, in order to get as large a carrier as possible with the smallest registered tonnage. This was called builder’s tonnage, and was in vogue until 1854 in the mercantile marine. It was applied to yachts simply as a guide for building them or for their purchase and sale. Up to 1854 there was no time allowance whatever. Big and little yachts raced together indiscriminately, and, of course, the larger boats had the advantage. It struck Mr. Holland Ackers as being somewhat of an anomaly, so he proposed a table of time allowances between large and small yachts, the basis being the difference in size, as measured by the merchant-ship tonnage rule, as given above, and the length of the course.

Photo by J. C. Hemment.

“DEFENDER” IN DRY DOCK.
]

To evade the heavy harbor dues, etc., to which merchant vessels were liable under the 1794 tonnage rule, shipbuilders naturally reduced beam, which was penalized twice over, and increased depth, which was not taxed at all, thus creating a vicious type of vessel. Yacht builders followed suit, gradually increasing draught and decreasing beam. Then came the raking sternpost, introduced about 1850 by Wanhill, of Poole, which gave on a given length of keel a much longer water-line. Outside lead followed.

In 1854 the “Thames Rule” was adopted, by which the length on deck was measured and from this length the whole beam was subtracted.

This system did fairly well till heavy lead keels were introduced. Then builders and owners found that with a lot of length and depth yachts could carry sail enough to make them faster and more powerful vessels than their predecessors, the reason being because they were far larger in reality, carrying about 25 per cent. more sail and ballast, whereas if the actual draught of water had been used as a factor in defining the tonnage no such abortions as this rule encouraged would ever have been built.

The apple bow and barrel-like bottom flourished in England until 1851, when the schooner-yacht _America_ created a revolution in British yacht naval architecture. Then, following the shape of that memorable craft, the long, hollow bow became the fashion.

In 1878 the Yacht Racing Association decided that the length should be measured on the load water-line instead of on deck. This was principally owing to the circumstance that designers, in order to cheat the rule, had adopted such devices as a ram bow and an immersed counter.

“THISTLE,” NOW “COMÈTE,” EMPEROR OF GERMANY, OWNER.
]

The yachts continued to get longer and narrower and deeper until, in 1882, the Yacht Racing Association adopted a rule a trifle easier on beam; and in 1887 a rule was formulated in which length and sail area alone were penalized, beam being left free from any tax whatever. It is interesting to note that the first yacht built that took advantage of this rule was the _Thistle_, which challenged for the _America’s_ Cup in 1887 and was defeated by _Volunteer_. _Thistle’s_ beam was 20.3 feet, while that of _Genesta_ and _Galatea_ was 15 feet. A comparison of two crack English craft and two smart Yankee yachts of the year 1893 shows how close Mr. Herreshoff and Mr. Watson were coming:

_Length L. W. L. Feet._ _Beam. Feet._
_Britannia_ 87.8 23.66
_Valkyrie II_ 86.8 22.33
_Navahoe_, C. B. 86.93 23.00
_Vigilant_, C. B. 86.19 26.25

“VOLUNTEER.”
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Still more significant are the measurements of _Valkyrie III._ and _Defender_, both keel Craft:

_Length L. W. L. Feet._ _Beam. Feet._
_Valkyrie III_ 88.85 26.20
_Defender_ 88.45 22.20

It will be seen that not only did the American designer discard the centerboard, but he gave his craft less beam than the British boat. I remember when both vessels were hauled out in the Erie Basin, Brooklyn, the American yacht was generally mistaken for the English, and vice versa; this, too, by experts looking on from a distance too remote to distinguish the names on their sterns.

In 1892 the leading yacht designers of Great Britain, realizing the rating rule then in vogue, wrote to the Yacht Racing Association suggesting that the rule be so modified that a type of vessel having more body be evolved. In the same communication they said, defining what the general public requires in a yacht:

“That she shall be safe in all conditions of wind and weather, that she shall combine the maximum of room on deck and below with the minimum of prime cost, and that she shall be driven as fast as may be, with the least expenditure of labor, _i. e._, that she shall have a moderate and workable sail area. Therefore, as but few men can afford to build for racing, and for racing only, and as the racer of to-day is the cruiser of a few years hence, any rating rule should, by its limitations, encourage such a wholesome type of vessel.”

Photo by J. C. Hemment

“VALKYRIE III.” IN DRY DOCK.
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The Yacht Racing Association, on the other hand, held the view that what the yacht-owning public want in a racing yacht is speed first, last, and all the time, no matter what the cost. The only change made at that time was in the measurement of the fore triangle and marking the load water-line forward and aft.

Designed by Watson, 1894.

“ELLEN”—20-RATER.
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_Thistle_ was the first big English racing cutter with a clipper bow. Her advent caused much critical comment among the experts, whose eyes had become so accustomed to the “cutter stem” that they fairly blinked when they first gazed on the new Clyde craft.

Mr. Watson, writing about the defeat of the _Thistle_ in 1894, says: “Her surface was so cut down that sufficient lateral plane was not left to hold her to windward, and although she sailed the water as fast as the American champion, the _Volunteer_, she drifted bodily to leeward.”

After Mr. Watson had realized the superiority of _Vigilant’s_ model over that of _Valkyrie II._, he designed the 20-rater _Ellen_, which I reproduce from a photograph. It will be noticed that her form is strikingly similar to that of _Vigilant_. Of a verity, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

With the long overhang forward, the running bowsprit was abolished. The modified cutter rig thus resulting is practically the same in both America and England. Bobstays are now bars of steel or iron, and bowsprits are comparatively short when compared with those that used to project from the bows of the straight-stemmed cutters.

The clipper bow was gradually altered and modified until the present stage was reached.

That sterling old British racing skipper, Captain Tom Jay, talking about the modern cutter, with her cutaway forefoot and raking sternpost, being an awkward craft to handle in a seaway, said: “Believe me, sir, it’s not always so much the craft that’s awkward as the people that’s in her. Of course, being so easy to drive, they reach faster than the old-fashioned vessels, and that makes them drive harder into the seas; but that is mostly a matter of the canvas you set. Of course, the worst time is when you’re sailing a point or two free, because they go their ten knots, and that means that they throw it about a bit.”

BOW, 1892.
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In our own country the measurement rules have also had a dominant influence on the form of our racing craft as they appear in 1899.

STERN, 1892.
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MIDSHIP SECTIONS OF FIVE ENGLISH CUTTERS.
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THE CUP CONTESTANTS.

The lower lines are approximately those of the English cutters, except
in the case of “Valkyrie III.,” which is wider and shallower than
“Defender.”
]

Monstrosities with fin-keels now monopolize the races in the larger classes, while scows and ingenious nondescripts, which sailors would never mistake for boats, control all the sport in the smaller classes. How to give the owner of the honest boat a fair show, while at the same time dealing justly with the owner of the racing machine, is a problem that seeks for solution at the hands of constituted yachting authorities. The present fleet of “freaks” is due in the first instance to the want of foresight displayed by the clubs in not legislating against them when they first made their appearance. Naval architects are only human, and they cannot be blamed for taking advantage of any and every ill-considered rule adopted by the clubs. For instance, when beam was taxed in Great Britain the result was the long, deep and narrow craft which so long prevailed across the Atlantic. The tax was taken off beam in 1886, and the consequence was the practical abolition of the narrow British cutter and the adoption of a beamier type of craft. At the present time beam as a factor is utilized in much the same way both in this country and in Great Britain. Until some sage discovers what is absolutely the best type of yacht, we shall continue to go beating about the bush.

There is no doubt that a rating rule can be so framed as to make any particular type come into vogue, and in the end that type is bound to be pushed to extremes. Experience has shown that when this stage arises in an acute form the standard of rating is altered. This has been the case in the United States ever since the sport became established. When the New York Yacht Club was organized in 1844 the yachts were rated according to Custom House tonnage, first-class sloops allowing 35 seconds a ton and second-class sloops allowing 45 seconds a ton to their inferiors. This system was in force for only two years. In 1840 a startling innovation was made. It was neither more nor less than getting the actual weight of the yachts, which was computed by the revolutions of screw-jacks placed under the keel of the boat when in dry dock. Here is an example culled from the club’s archives:

“VOLUNTEER” AND “THISTLE.”
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“VIGILANT” AND “VALKYRIE II.”
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YACHT “SYREN.”
Weight of boat 115,776 lbs.
Weight of keel 3,400 lbs.
Weight of rudder 219 lbs.
———————
Total 119,395 lbs.
Racing measurement, 53 tons 6
cwt. 9 lbs.

From these data the allowances were computed. This queer rule was in vogue until 1852, when a widely different regulation was adopted. Sail area alone was taken into account, the following being the allowance:

First class—Over 3,300 square feet sail area, 1 second per foot.

Second class—Between 2,300 and 3,300 feet, 1¼ seconds per foot.

Third class—Less than 2,300 feet, 1½ seconds per foot.

“VALKYRIE II.”
]

The natural result of this rule was the adoption of the light-draught boats vulgarly designated as “skimming dishes.” It was found that it took less canvas to drive this type of yacht through the water, and the consequence was the building of many curious craft whose models may now be seen on the walls of the New York Yacht Club. Here is a striking example, which shows how the rule affected the sail area of the yachts. The schooner _Rebecca_, which, before the rule was made, used to carry a sail spread of 3,303 square feet, was cut down to an area of 1,306 square feet. This absurd rule was in force with a few modifications until 1871, when yet another sweeping change was made. This time the elements consisted of the yacht’s displacement in cubic feet and the length of the water-line. In 1873 the rule was changed so as to take into account the cubic contents of the whole hull. In 1883 a plan was adopted taking into account, as a function of the new system, twice the water-line length and once the sail area. In 1890 the present rule was adopted by the New York Yacht Club.

“VALKYRIE III.”
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MODERN TYPE OF FIN.
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“DEFENDER” AND “VALKYRIE III.”
]

Photo by J. C. Hemment

HOISTING “DEFENDER’S” MAINSAIL.
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Personally, I am opposed to any system that restricts or taxes sail, and I am glad to be able to quote the veteran Scotch yacht designer, Mr. William Fife, Sr., as being on my side of the fence. He wrote, in January, 1895: “I am not a believer in restricting sail; every yacht should get what she can carry. I know this idea has many opponents, although I never saw a valid reason against it; a yacht can be spoiled with excessive spars and sails, and sail area may therefore be left to take care of itself. To satisfy those, however, who fear that, in the absence of any tax on sail area, excessive sail areas might be introduced, a maximum allowance of so many square feet per ton might be specified.”

We are, however, confronted by conditions and not theories, but I could not help putting myself on record as being against the taxation of sail. I am almost alone in this. But to resume. _Madge_, _Clara_ and other imported British cutters had considerable influence, and caused our designers to modify the shallow underwater bodies and beamy tops, the _Puritan_ in 1885 being the first successful compromise vessel built in the United States. _Mayflower_ and _Volunteer_ followed.

Under the British tonnage rule in vogue in 1886, a 90-foot yacht of 26-foot beam would have been an impossibility, but as soon as the penalty was taken off beam the British designers took advantage of the circumstance and followed in the footsteps of the Americans, until, in the days of _Valkyrie III._ and _Defender_, the national types were practically the same, Herreshoff being a trifle in advance of Watson, as the victory of the British craft demonstrated.

Meanwhile, the only way I see out of the difficulty between racing machines and honest boats is to sail them in different classes. The plan is good to draw up tables of scantlings and rules for the construction of all racing yachts to be built in the future. As for the “freaks” unhappily now in existence, it is consolatory to be assured that they will all fall to pieces very soon. It is a great wonder, indeed, that some of them did not succumb at the close of their first season.

The photographs of _Valkyrie III._ and _Defender_, in dry dock, which, through the kindness of my friend Mr. J. C. Hemment, I am able to reproduce in this chapter, show the remarkable similarity that exists between the two yachts. Both were taken as the vessels appeared in the Erie Basin when, on the eve of the first race, they were docked to receive the final touches for the fray.

_Defender’s_ hull is of metal, as I have previously mentioned, and she was subjected to a very thorough polishing-up above and below the water-line. I had an opportunity which I did not allow to escape me of closely examining the hull of the saucy Yankee craft and comparing her lines with those of the British boat. _Defender_, when after a little while you came to appreciate the wondrous symmetry of her underbody, exhibited a fairy-like form when contrasted with the less perfect shape of her rival. I make this criticism while at the same time having the profoundest respect for the genius of Mr. Watson, whose talent as a naval architect nobody admires more than I do.

Photo by J. C. Hemment

“DEFENDER” UNDER BROOKLYN BRIDGE.
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But after my visit to the Erie Basin in Brooklyn I formed the opinion that the _America’s_ cup was, barring accidents, perfectly safe for another year. _Defender_ exhibited all the grace of a thoroughbred horse, while _Valkyrie_ was a clumsier but apparently a more powerful creation. _Defender_, in point of fact, was as highly finished a product of the skillful naval architect as was the Scotch cutter _Minerva_ when compared with some of the “brutes” that were built to beat her.

I had plenty of time to examine both vessels, and I need not say that each had a wondrous attraction for me. I saw Captain Cranfield mix his famous black varnish for _Valkyrie’s_ bottom, a compound whose two principal elements are coal tar and “turps,” but which gives a surprising gloss and sleek finish when mingled in correct proportions. I saw this applied to the wooden planking of the English clipper, and thought to myself that something more potent and speed-compelling would be necessary to plaster her with if the cup were to be carried away. My friends on the staff of OUTING remember that on my return to the office from the Erie Basin I told them my views of the rival yachts, and predicted an easy victory for the Yankee craft.

My sympathy was with the British boat. I realized that in the interest of true sport it would be a capital thing for the _America’s_ cup to leave our shores for a while, because it would put our yacht designers on their mettle, and produce something wondrous in the yacht line so far as speed is concerned. But it struck me that _Valkyrie_ was scarcely good enough to accomplish the task for which she was constructed. Now I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I simply relate facts as they occurred. I am convinced also that Mr. Watson, after examining _Defender_ in dock, realized that his work had been in vain, and that _Valkyrie_, admirable as she was and is, was a wee bit inferior to the peerless Bristol flyer.

The photograph of _Defender_ passing under Brooklyn Bridge, which her topmast truck barely cleared at the top of high water, shows the tauntness of her mast, and is a splendid object lesson, worthy of preservation for all time. The spirited photograph of her crew tailing onto the throat halyards of the mainsail shows the light but strong rig forward, the stumpy bowsprit, the batten-like bulwark, and the other modern features of the beau-ideal racing vessel of 1895.

“DEFENDER” UNDER SAIL.
]

Whatever developments there may be in store for us with regard to hull, rig and sail plan, I know not. But if within the next ten years as great progress is made as has been made during the past decade, the racing machine of that epoch will indeed be a marvelous scientific product. Personally, I am quite willing to endure my earthly burdens for a while longer if only for the pleasure of gratifying my curiosity about the yacht of the future, which has more charms for me than the evolution of the new woman, fascinating as this study doubtless is.

During the many years in which I have been interested in yachting I have seen many eventful changes in the yachts, their rig, their sail plan, and also in the rules that govern their races. Speed has perhaps been developed at the expense of seaworthiness, but yacht sailors have also become more expert at their calling, having progressed with the times. Skippers have learned to handle craft like _Valkyrie_ or _Defender_, with main booms of steel 105 feet long, in half a gale of wind; and there is no doubt that, properly rigged and under capable charge, they are as safe for an ocean voyage as any other kind of craft. I will not say a word about the comfort or the accommodations to be found in one of the big racing cutters; but sailors are accustomed to hardships, even as eels to the knife of the cook that skins them.

Much stress has been laid upon the superior advantages that _Defender_ had over _Valkyrie III._, inasmuch as the challenger was built more strongly and heavily, as she had to cross the ocean to race for the cup. I don’t think that the mere circumstance of a transatlantic voyage would induce a modern yacht designer to add a single superfluous ounce of weight to a racing craft. Luck is depended on to a certain extent, but the bold and skillful skipper is relied on most of all.

I remember reading the other day of a valiant sea captain whose steamer was disabled in a hurricane and lost her funnel. What did this brave fellow do? Give up the ship and take to the boats? Not he; he came from a different breed. He rigged up a jury funnel of timber, barrels and canvas, and by playing the hose on this improvised smokestack and keeping it continually drenched with water managed to keep up a good head of steam and eventually reach port. He came of the great Anglo Saxon race, which has done many heroic deeds afloat and will continue to achieve daring actions just as long as Old Ocean endures. Thus, while I am writing about the evolution of the racer, permit me to pay my humble tribute of praise to the brave seamen who man the racing yachts and have made as much headway in handling the marvelous pieces of mechanism as their designers have done in “creating” them.

“VALKYRIE III.”
]

IX.
THE ETIQUETTE OF YACHTING.
WHAT IS CONSIDERED TO BE “GOOD FORM” IN CRAFT, OWNER AND CREW.

Every yachtsman should be conversant with the etiquette of his calling. If ignorant of the many nice points pertaining to his own personal behavior afloat, or of the proper conduct of his craft at anchor or under way, he may become the subject of a certain amount of ridicule, which is, to say the least, annoying in the extreme. There are many commodores who would rather forgive a man for breaking the majority of the Ten Commandments between dusk and dawn than for committing a breach of nautical etiquette as handed down from the days of the fathers of the sport and added to infinitesimally year by year.

In Great Britain yachting etiquette is modeled largely after that of the Royal Navy, and the same is true in a measure of our own code of yachting manners.

It ought to be unnecessary to urge that a yacht should always be clean and bright as a new pin; her decks white as a hound’s tooth; her brasswork gleaming, and her polished or varnished woodwork with a mirror-like burnish. Her masts should be correctly stayed, her standing rigging set up to the point of rigidity, her running gear hauled taut and snugly coiled down, her flags mast-headed right up to the truck, no “Irish pennants” towing overboard, but everything from truck to keelson ship-shape and Bristol fashion. A yacht kept in good order is a credit to all aboard from owner down to the cook’s mate. Not only is she a credit to those who man her, but also to the club whose burgee she flies. In this respect all yachtsmen, but especially racing yachtsmen, should aim at perfection, and not be satisfied until they make a clear bull’s eye.

The reason for this is that a racing yacht invariably attracts more attention than does one of the purely cruising kind, and any carelessness, however minute, aboard her is generally sure to be magnified to a high degree by the microscopic eye of criticism.

Racing crews should always be clean and smart as paint. Untidiness should never be allowed.

In the matter of guns, Young America, particularly when afloat, is apt to be a trifle too demonstrative. It need hardly be said that the indiscriminate discharge of cannon from a yacht is, like the screeching salute of a steam whistle, opposed to good yachting manners. There are only a few occasions when it is necessary to waste good gunpowder on a yacht. The custom in this country is for all the yachts to salute the flag officer in command of a squadron when he joins the fleet, every boat that carries a gun banging away when the flagship drops anchor. This is a picturesque sight when the fleet is a big one. When the squadron of the New York Yacht Club used to rendezvous at New London for the annual cruise a big crowd of sightseers used to sally forth from the quaint old city to see the flagship join the squadron and receive the salutes. The bang of the big guns from the mighty steam yachts and the diminutive din from the pigmy popguns of tiny but pretentious craft made a rare noise in the harbor, especially when the fleet, as it often did, numbered more than one hundred sail. This saluting of the commodore is considered obligatory, and for the use of yachtsmen who do not care to include a brass cannon in their outfit some ingenious pyrotechnist invented a giant cracker, whose discharge is as earsplitting as that from the biggest yacht cannon ever carried. To hear such a threatening bang emanate from so small a yacht creates something akin to awe! When a squadron or part of a squadron is at anchor in a roadstead the flag officer in command or the senior captain present fires a gun at eight bells in the morning watch making “colors,” the fleet taking the time from the flagship. The same process is gone through at sundown, the fleet at the sound of the gun hauling down the ensign and the club burgee and hoisting the night pennant.

The commodore, when in command of a squadron, when hoisting a signal to get under way or perform any other nautical manœuvre, calls attention to the signal by firing a gun. The yachts, in order to show that the signal has been observed, hoist the answering pennant of the commercial code of signals.

Saluting by means of the gun when yachts meet under way is obsolete, although not forbidden by the code. Craft now content themselves with dipping the ensign, junior captains saluting first.

No firing of guns is permissible on Sunday.

Owners when not aboard should fly a blue rectangular flag from the starboard spreader (the main spreader of a schooner). In order that visitors may not intrude when the owner is at meals, a white rectangular flag is displayed from the spreader as above. A red pennant from the port fore spreader of a schooner or the port spreader of a single-masted craft denotes that the crew are at a meal.

If I may make so bold as to give a hint to a real live commodore, I venture to suggest that he shall try his level best to appoint a fleet-captain of tact, good temper, sound judgment, discretion—in fact, a gentleman as well as a man of the world. I have been on a cruise with a fleet-captain possessing all the sterling attributes above enumerated, and I have also sailed with one his direct opposite. Thus I speak from experience. A fleet-captain may do much to make or mar the pleasure of a cruise.

Single-masted vessels display the private signals of their owners when cruising; when at anchor they fly the club burgee.

In making colors, salutes, etc., the yacht always represents the rank of the owner, whether he is aboard or not.

Yachts in commission should hoist their colors at 8 o’clock A. M., and haul them down at sunset, taking time from the senior officer present.

Before colors in the morning and after colors at sunset, the ensign and distinguishing flags should be shown when entering port, and should be hauled down immediately on coming to anchor.

At all other times yachts should fly a night pennant at the main, from colors at sunset until colors the next morning.

On Decoration Day and occasions of national mourning, the ensign only should be half-masted. On the death of the owner of the yacht, both the club flag and his private signal should be half-masted, but not the ensign. When mourning is ordered for the death of a member of the club, the club flag only should be half-masted. This rule applies to yachts both at anchor and under way.

Flags should always be mast-headed before half-masting them, and should be mast-headed before hauling them down. Saluting with the ensign at half-mast should be done by mast-heading first.

The senior officer present should be in command of the anchorage, should give the time for colors, make and return salutes, visits, etc.

His yacht should remain the station vessel until a senior to him in rank arrives and assumes the command of the anchorage.

Flag officers should always fly their pennants while in commission.

From colors at sunset until sunrise the commodore should show, when on board, two blue lights, perpendicularly, at the stern; when absent, one blue light should be shown. The vice-commodore should show lights as provided for the commodore, substituting red lights instead of blue. Captains, when on board, should show a white light under the main boom; when absent this light should be extinguished.

All salutes should be returned in kind.

Yachts should always salute vessels of the United States Navy by dipping the ensign once.

The commodore, on entering port to join the squadron, should be saluted, on coming to anchor, by the yachts present. On all other occasions the commodore should be saluted, on coming to anchor, by the officer in command.

Junior flag officers should be saluted, on coming to anchor, by the officer in command, unless the latter be a senior in rank, in which case they should salute him.

Captains should, on all occasions, salute the officer in command.

The salute from yachts entering port should be made by dipping the ensign once, or by firing a gun on letting go anchor.

The senior officer, when leaving the anchorage, excepting temporarily, should indicate the transfer of command to the next in rank by firing a gun on getting under way. All other yachts should salute the officer in command.

All visits should be made according to rank.

Yachts, passing one another, should always exchange salutes by dipping the ensign once, juniors saluting first. Steam whistles should never be used to make salutes.

The salute to yachts entering port, entitled to a salute, should be made by dipping the ensign once, or by firing a gun when they let go anchor.

An official salute to a foreign club should be made by firing a gun, with the flag of the foreign club at the fore on schooners and steamers and at the main on single-masted vessels, or, in the absence of such flag, by half-masting the club flag and firing a gun. When the salute has been returned, or a reasonable time for its return allowed, the flag should be hauled down and the club flag hoisted again.

The salute from or to yachts arriving after sunset, or on Sunday, should be made immediately after colors on the following morning.

When a flag officer makes an official visit, a gun should be fired, with his pennant at the fore on schooners and steamers, and at the main on single-masted vessels, while he remains on board.

A yacht, acting as judges’ boat, should not be saluted during a race.

The quarter-deck should always be saluted by lifting the cap on coming on board or from below.

Yachts should report to the commanding officer on joining the squadron, and should obtain his permission before leaving it.

When under way with the squadron, firing guns and signaling should be avoided, except when joining or parting company, or when repeating signals.

When squadrons of different clubs meet at sea, salutes should be exchanged only by the commanding officers.

Salutes from single yachts at sea should only be answered by the flagship.

Single-masted vessels should fly the private signal of the owner when under way with the squadron; when at anchor, the club flag.

When a foreign yacht arrives, the senior officer present should send on board, without regard to rank, a tender of the civilities of the club.

Yachts should salute on entering port in the home waters of a foreign club, where any of its fleet are lying. After the tender of civilities has been made, owners of the entering yachts should visit the officer in command of the anchorage. All other visits should be made according to rank, visits to their equals in rank being made by the owners of the entering yachts.

The time for colors in the home waters of a foreign club should be given with its senior flag officer present.

The term “foreign” should be understood as applying to all clubs outside of the waters of the Gulf of Maine.

Flag officers and the fleet-captain should fly their pennants, and captains their private signals, when in their boats; members, the club flag. After sunset a white light should be shown at the bow.

Passing one another, juniors should salute seniors by raising the cap.

Following are the words of command used in the handling of rowing boats:

_Give Way._—To begin rowing.

_Hold Water._—To stop the boat’s progress by keeping the blades of the
oars in the water in a vertical position, and at right angles to
the keel.

_In Bow._—To cease pulling the bow oar and to lay it down fore and aft
within the boat, the blade forward.

_Let Fall._—To let the oars drop from the vertical to the horizontal,
the loom resting in the rowlock, the blade held out of the water
and horizontal, the oar itself at right angles to the keel.

_Oars._—To cease rowing, and to maintain the oars in the same position
that they are in after executing the order “Let Fall.”

_Ship Oars._—To lift trailing oars out of the water alongside and hold
them as described for “Let Fall.”

_Shove Off._—To force the boat away from a vessel’s side or from a
wharf or float.

_Stern All._—To row the boat backwards—the opposite to “Give Way.”

_Toss._—To lift the oars out of the water and lay them down within the
boat, fore and aft, the blades forward.

_Trail._—To throw trailing oars out of the rowlock and allow them to
_trail_ alongside by their lanyards.

_Up Oars._—To raise the oars to the vertical, the blades kept fore and
aft—a preface to the order “Let Fall.”

_Way Enough._—To cease rowing, and to lift the oars out of the water
and boat them, at the coxswain’s word, “Toss.”

When visiting a yacht at anchor, steer for the starboard gangway. The port gangway is the “back door” of a yacht and is reserved for sailors, stewards, etc.

When boarding a yacht under way, or hove to, go to the lee side, no matter whether port or starboard.

Don’t forget to “salute the quarter-deck” on reaching it by touching your cap in naval style.

As soon as you get aboard pay your respects to the owner. If you don’t see him on deck send your card to him immediately.

A young yachtsman, when about to embark in a boat from a yacht, should go over the side first and should take a modest seat. The owner of the yacht is last to leave and takes the post of honor at the tiller lines.

When disembarking at a landing, returning to the yacht, or going aboard another vessel, the owner leaves the boat first, the modest youngster last.

Photo by R. B. Burchard.

DEFENDER—STERN.
]

X.
YACHTING INSURANCE.[1]
ALSO A FEW LEGAL WRINKLES ON THE STATUS AND RELATION OF OWNER TO CREW.

Footnote 1:

The author is indebted to an eminent marine jurist (commonly known as
a sea lawyer) for all the information contained in this chapter.

Underwriters, as a rule, seem not particularly anxious to run foot-races after the owners of small yachts who navigate their own craft. For some reason or other the amateur skipper is looked upon by them with suspicion and disfavor. Why, I do not know, for considering the immense number of pleasure craft in commission every year the ratio of loss through wreck, collision, or fire is remarkably low. I think, if underwriters took this circumstance into consideration, they would find it in their interest to offer more attractive inducements to owners of yachts to insure their floating property.

The vast number of pleasure craft in commission on the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards, on our great fresh-water lakes, and on the large sheets of water that, like the Great South Bay, are divided from the ocean proper by a strip of sand, more or less narrow, should I think excite interest in marine underwriters, and induce them to offer attractive terms to yacht owners.

The most dangerous fire risk in New York or any other great city is eagerly sought for by the lynx-eyed agents of insurance companies. No tenement is too flimsy; no habitation exposed to the accident of a mouse and a nest of matches is too perilous for the competition wallahs of the gigantic corporations.

Bearing this in mind the owners of small craft have frequently tried, in the lack of aid from the large companies, to start a co-operative scheme of their own, but because of the want of an enterprising and intelligent organizer the project has always fallen through.

Early in the present year I was asked by a friend of mine to try to get a policy of marine insurance on a 35-foot yacht which is worth at least $4,000 as she floats—lead keel and all the latest improvements. I had the greatest difficulty in effecting the deal. As a matter of fact no insurance company jumped out of its shoes with alacrity to accept the risk. Had it been some ramshackle old schooner, rotten in hull, deficient in sails and rigging, and manned by a scanty crew, I was told there would be little or no trouble in consummating the transaction. Pleasure vessels are viewed with suspicion that they do not deserve. I allude principally to the smaller classes of craft, which underwriters steer clear of as though they were affected by a hoodoo worse than that of Friday and the thirteenth day of the month.

Marine insurance, so far as applicable to yachts, seems to be in a mixed and muddled condition. The owner of a steam yacht, commanded by a duly qualified master, and with the machinery in charge of a licensed engineer, has no difficulty in insuring his vessel at ordinary rates. As the risk is, generally speaking, not so hazardous as that of ships engaged in freight-carrying both summer and winter, underwriters, as a rule, give steam-yacht owners quite favorable terms, provided the yacht is seaworthy and well-found. A large, steel, steam yacht run under the foregoing conditions was insured up to her real value at a premium of three per cent. against losses by fire, collision, or the perils of the sea, the risk being divided _pro rata_ on the vessel’s hull, tackle, apparel and furniture, and the machinery and boilers.

The policy, in this instance, protected the yacht against the “perils of the seas, men-of-war, fire, enemies, pirates, rovers, thieves, jettisons, letters of marque and countermarque, surprisals, takings at sea, arrests, restraints, and detainment of all kings, princes and people, of what nations, condition, or quality soever, barratry of the master and mariners, and all other perils, losses and misfortunes that have or shall come to the hurt, detriment or damage of the said ship, etc., or any part thereof. And in case of any loss or misfortune it shall be lawful for the assured, their factors, servants and assigns, to sue, labor and travel for, in and about the defence, safeguard and recovery of the said ship, etc., or any part thereof, without prejudice to this insurance; to the charges whereof the said insurance company will contribute according to the rate and quantity of the sum herein assured.

“Each voyage to be subject to general average, particular average to be payable on each valuation separately or on the whole, if amounting to three per cent., or the vessel be _stranded, sunk, burnt, on fire, or in collision_. With leave to sail with or without pilots, to tow and to be towed, and to assist vessels and/or craft in all situations and to any extent, to render salvage services, and to go on trial trips. With leave to dock, undock, and change docks as often as may be required, and to go on slipway, gridiron and/or pontoon, and/or to adjust compasses, including the risk of launching.

“In case of any claim for average the repairs to be paid without deduction of one-third, whether the average be particular or general.

“General average and salvage charges as per foreign custom, payable as per foreign statement, and/or per York-Antwerp rules, if required; and in the event of salvage, towage or other assistance being rendered to the vessel hereby insured, by any vessel belonging in part or in whole to the same owners, it is hereby agreed that the value of such services (without regard to the common ownership of the vessels) shall be ascertained by arbitration in the manner hereinafter provided for under the collision clause, and the amount so awarded, so far as applicable to the interest hereby insured, shall constitute a charge under this policy.

“And it is further agreed, that if the ship hereby insured shall come into collision with any other ship or vessel, and the assured shall in consequence thereof become liable to pay, and shall pay, by way of damages to any other person or persons, any sum or sums not exceeding in respect of any one such collision the value of the ship hereby insured, we, the assurers, will pay the assured such proportion of three-fourths of such sum or sums so paid as our subscriptions hereto bear to the value of the ship hereby insured. And in cases where the liability of the ship has been contested, with the consent, in writing, of a majority of the underwriters on the hull and/or machinery (in amount), we will also pay a like proportion of three-fourths part of the costs thereby incurred or paid; but when both vessels are to blame, then, unless the liability of the owners of one or both of such vessels becomes limited by law, claims under the collision clause shall be settled on the principle of cross liabilities as if the owners of each vessel had been compelled to pay to the owners of the other of such vessels such one-half or other proportion of the latter’s damages as may have been properly allowed in ascertaining the balance or sum payable by or to the assured in consequence of such collision; and it is further agreed that the principles involved in this clause shall apply to the case where both vessels are the property, in part or in whole, of the same owners, all questions of responsibility and amount of liability as between the two ships, being left to the decision of a single arbitrator, if the parties can agree upon a single arbitrator, or failing such agreement, to the decision of arbitrators, one to be appointed by the managing owners of both vessels, and one to be appointed by the majority in amount of underwriters interested in each vessel; the two arbitrators chosen to choose a third arbitrator before entering upon the reference, and the decision of such single, or of any two of such three arbitrators, appointed as above, to be final and binding.

“This insurance also specially to cover loss of and/or damage to hull or machinery through the negligence of master, mariners, engineers, or pilots, or through explosions, bursting of boilers, breakage of shafts, or through any latent defect in the machinery or hull, provided such loss or damage has not resulted from want of due diligence by the manager.”

By the terms of the above policy no damage under $100 could be collected.

Another clause allowed the yacht to touch and stay at any ports or places, and for any and all purposes.

Another clause made the liability cover the hulls, spars, sails, boats, etc.

Yet another clause provided that a fixed sum should be returned for every fifteen days canceled and for a like number of days laid up dismantling, overhauling, repairing, etc. This, as the intelligent reader will see, is to guard against an usurious interest when the yacht is not exposed to the perils of corsairs or rovers on the deep green sea.

The collision clause generally provides that although the yacht insured may be in fault the underwriters must pay up to three-fourths of the value of the policy toward the repair of the damaged vessel or the general repairs. For example, a yacht insured for $5,000 runs into another craft and damages her to the extent of $4,000. In that event the underwriters are responsible to the extent of $3,750.

What is called the “racing clause” is sometimes added, which makes the underwriters liable for total or other loss while the yacht is in the act of racing.

A policy for $1,250 covering five months should cost no more than ten per cent. if the yacht is in good condition. Rates vary on laying-up policies covering risks from fire, falling over, etc., while the craft is out of commission.

A yacht should be insured for her full value. If insured for less the ratio which that amount bears to the true value will be deducted from the amount given as compensation for damages. Here is an English case in point. A man insured a boat for £200, her true value, as declared by him to Lloyd’s agent at the time, being £250. She suffered damages in a blow. The owner agreed to accept £25 for compensation. He was tendered £20, the explanation being that he had undertaken a fifth part of the risk on the craft himself, inasmuch as he had insured the boat for £50 less than her real value; also that as he had agreed upon £25 as compensation for the damage sustained, the underwriters could only be called upon to pay £20. An appeal to the courts resulted in a judgment for the underwriters.

It may be mentioned that English companies do the bulk of marine insurance, and that the law with regard to it is practically the same in the British Islands and this country.

After mentioning all the dangers that may cause total loss, which is fully insured against, the policy states that where only partial damage is sustained the underwriters will pay an average for the repair of such damage at the rate of 3 per cent.