THE VICE OF OUR YACHTING SYSTEM. [From the " Examiner."]

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 609, 14 February 1852, Page 4

THE VICE OF OUR YACHTING SYSTEM. [From the " Examiner."]

Tlie victory of the American yacht should not discourage our vnchtf-rs n jof, but should induce tlipm to examine f heir system, and to introduce the improvement of which it may be susceptible. It has hitherto been fondly supposed that English yachuufr had bepn brought to perfection, but the question now is whether the perfection attained has not been 'the perfection of a system radically faulty. Aluch ban been done by yachtowners to improve ship building. Tbey first stuck out the long bow, and dia carded the fnlse principle of *' tlie cod's head and mackerel stern." They, too, first discovered the valuable properties of length, correcting the old notion that beam was the essential of stiffness, iind of the qualities of a seaboat. The long floor was the sole secret of the success of the Pool build, which for the last 10 years has been the fashion. These are great improvements, but the question yet ■remains whether tlipy oompiise all that could be done for improvement. Our conviction is that they do not, and that there is a counteracting false principle ntwork, winch prevents the full development of the resources of the art of shipbuilding, nnd impairs its effect to such extent as it is carried. The vice of the system is reliance on a vast spread of canvass. 19 yachts out of 20 are overdone in masts, spars, and sails. Tbey are, consequently, only fit to sail in light winds and are good for nothing when it blows. This fault, in the case of cutters especially, almost necessitates a corresponding fault in build. The 'boom is of a preposterous weight in proportion to the size of the vessel, and, to enable her to carry her huge boom, the fine quarter of the vessel is sacrificed, and it is made full nnd heavy, ihe consequence of which is that .she is uneasy, and pitches in a head sea. I'nt, supposing- the model to be generally good, the enVu of being ovt'i done in masts, spars, and s.ils is, that in a brpeze the vessel lists to such a degree that poo sails on her «ide instead of on her heel. With a breeze a list is unavoidable, it is true; but the less the better; and every degree of deviation from the even keel is so much detriment to the sailing trim, compensated, however, by increased momentum. A Dutch galliot or a Thames birge docs not, indeed, sail well, because shp is as upright as a dish; but a clipper yacht does not sail better for being laid over on Lor side, with half-a-dozen streaks of her lee-deck under water. And what do we frequently hear said when a vessel close hauled is staggering under a press of sail ? *' She would sail as fast again," says the master, "if ebe had a reef hauled down, and a smaller jib set. 1 ' But the same man who Inys down tin's principle, for ft principle it is, for ordinary occasions, will, if he be matcb- I 'ai!ing, clap on more canvas instead of leducing the detrimental excess ; or at least he will carry on with what is buoying the vessel instead of giving her speed. Ibis is a universal inconsistency of seamen, that they have one rule for match-sailing and another for ordinary occasions, though it is obvious to common sense that what is best for speed on ordinary occasions roust be best also for extraoulinary occasion.". ~*' Carrying" on,"" however, is a silly point of pride ; an if carrying anil were good for any purpose but the purpose of sail, that is, to draw a vessel through the water with the best speed consistent with the safety of her masts and spirs. We have hen ril seamen say witb satisfaction, that, though their competitors forereachpd and weathered upon them, they, on the other hand, outcarried them, as if the fact of carrying a quantity of canvass without any corresponding effect iv way were a fine thing to boast of! And this barren, foolish pride, comes of the yachting babits of taunt masts, huge spars, and overwhelming sails. But this is not all. The reliance placed on the powers of pressing a vessel with ennvas is so much taken from the care of improving or making the best of the model. If overdone masts and spars had not been the fashion, greater improvements would have bepn made in bottoms. Every excess above deck is to make up for a defect below. If bows, entrance, bearings, quarters, and run were nearer what tbey ought to be, there wonld be no mistaken need for the enormous mainsails and jibs, and for masts and spars only fitted for sailing in a mill pool in a gaff-topsail breeze. For the improvement of oar yacht build, the point of pride should be to exhibit a vessel with comparatively low masts and light spars, which should be as wholesome as fast. The two qualities of the wholesome and fast are now supposed to be irreconcilable, but that supposition comes of the vice in the existing system, and is indeed the implied condemnation of it. If an excess of canvass were looked upon, as it ought to be, as arguing a defect of structure, inasmuch, as with a better build a vessel would require less to draw her through the water, greater care and skill would be applied to the model, and with results such as have been witnessed in the instance of the America. The American challenge stipulating for at least a sixknot breeze proves that the America must be a wholesome as well as a fast cm ft. A six-knot breeze with a dead beat in a head sea would be too much for many of our crack yachts, which, if they are brought to reducing sail, are overwhelmed by the excess of their masts and spars iv a sea way. The truth is, they are built for the inside of the Isle of Wight, and for owners who take to yachting for fashion's sake, knowing nothing about the matter, having no real taste for the sea, subject to sickness, and confining their trips to Hurst Castle to the west, Ryde and Portsmouth to the east, and preferring to them tbe Southampton water if a weather tide raises a popple on the gentle Solent. The great pleasure of these gentlemen is to swagger about in sea-toggery, and to have boats-crews in smart equipment dangling after them. Many a yacht hardly stirs from its moorings at ('owes 'in a whole season ; but to make up for that inaction there is plenty of boat-work, rowing backwards and forwards, bailing and signalling. There are exceptions ; tnere-nre some score of the 200 members of tbe Royal Squadron Club who are good seamen, ay, a*d competent navigators to boot ; but the great majority are unskilled. Tbe other clubs contain a much larger proportion of seamen among their members, because with them it is not a matter of fashion as much so it is with the aristocratic squadron Some years ago a mpmbor of tbe Thames Club undertook to man his yacbt (between 60 and 70 tons) with gentlemen, members of tbe club, exclusively, not employing a single working man, and to sail her against any vessel of the squadron, manned in like manner; hut the challenge fell to the ground. And well it might, for, though there are some few members of the Royal Yacht Squadron who know whether a gaff-topsail is properly set or not, we have doubts whether there is one who could go aloft and laca it to the topmost. But, no matter bow shallow thn taste is, or how much is mere fashion, the fashion is a good one, and has excellent consequences, susceptible of further improvement, which we trust the present lesson of tbe America will stimulate. The veteran yachter, the Marquis of Anglesey, upon oeeing the America, is reported to have remarked, " If she is right, we are all wrong." It is to be borne in mind, however, that something besides speed ts t 0 be considered in a yacht. A yacht must bare «towa«e and accommodation, and both these points are in tbe America sacrificed to speed. Still we have no doubt that something may be learned from a craft which requires a six-knot breeze, and beats our -clippers ; aud it is her model, not her canvass, that must be looked to for tbe lesson.