+--------+--------------------+------------+---------+---------------------+ Date | Name of yacht | Rig | Tonnage | -- +--------+--------------------+------------+---------+---------------------+ 1854-58 | Spray of the Ocean | Cutter | 8 | -- 1853 | Cymba (winner of } | | | Queen's Cup in } " | 50 { Fife of Fairlie's | the Mersey, 1857)} | { favourite 1859-60 | Albatross | | 118 | -- 1863-71 | Meteor { Auxiliary } | | { schooner } 164 | -- 1871-72 | Muriel | Cutter | 60 { Dan Hatcher's | | | { favourite 1872 | Eothen | S.S. | 340 | 1874-93 | Sunbeam { Auxiliary } | | { schooner } 532 | -- 1882-83 | Norman | Cutter | 40 | Dan Hatcher 1891 | Lorna | " | 90 { Camper and Nicholson | | | { (1881) 1892-93 | Zarita | Yawl | 115 { Fife of Fairlie | | | { (1875) +--------+--------------------+------------+---------+---------------------+ _Yachts hired_ 1885 | Lillah | Cutter | 20 | -- 1863 | Eulalie | " | 18 | -- 1873 | Livonia | Schooner | 240 | Ratsey (1871) +--------+--------------------+------------+---------+---------------------+ The variety of craft in the foregoing list naturally affords opportunity for comparison. I shall be glad if such practical lessons as I have learned can be of service to my brother yachtsmen. And, first, as to the class of vessel suitable for ocean cruising. As might be expected, our home-keeping craft are generally too small for long voyages. Rajah Brooke did some memorable work in the 'Royalist' schooner, 45 tons; but a vessel of 400 tons is not too large to keep the sea and to make a fair passage in all weathers, while giving space enough for privacy and comfort to the owner, his friends, and the crew. Such vessels as the truly noble 'St. George,' 871 tons, the 'Valhalla,' 1,400 tons, and Mr. Vanderbilt's 'Valiant,' of 2,350 tons (Mr. St. Clare Byrne's latest production), cannot be discussed as examples of a type which can be repeated in ordinary practice. Yachtsmen have been deterred from going to sufficient tonnage by considerations of expense. When providing a floating home of possibly many years, first cost is a less serious question than the annual outlay in maintaining and working.