Yachting, Vol. 2Dufferin and Ava, Frederick Temple Blackwood, Marquis of
History
Yachting, Vol. 2
Dufferin and Ava, Frederick Temple Blackwood, Marquis of
Yacht racing; Yachting; Yachts
One more race, which was promoted this year, must not be forgotten, as
it would prove a very advantageous item in all yacht-club programmes,
viz. a swimming match in clothes. The conditions were as follows:
'Each member must wear woollen socks, a pair of slippers, shoes or
boots, woollen or canvas trousers, a flannel shirt, with a guernsey or
yachting jacket; the distance to be covered 200 yards.'
In the Corinthian matches it may be noticed that the club not only
gives the customary helmsman's prize, and that a good one, but each
member of the winning crew receives a tankard with the yacht's
complement or the club burgee engraved on it, a principle again worthy
of adoption by all Corinthian yacht clubs in races where no paid hands
are permitted.
At this period the club had the fine total of 163 yachts to a list of
fewer than 300 members; and to show how admirably everything was
carried on to the furtherance of sport, prizes were given to the
amount of 364_l._ out of an income of 521_l._, the club expenditure
being more than covered by 78_l._ These statistics are of interest as
showing what can be done by a club when not fettered by club premises.
The entry in the season of 1875 for the No. 1 Champion Cup is worthy
of a notice here, since no fewer than seven of the large cracks of the
year put in an appearance--'Fiona,' 75 tons; 'Cuckoo,' 92; 'Neva,' 62;
'Speranza,' yawl, 85; 'Latona,' yawl, 165; 'Egeria,' schooner, 147;
and 'Gwendolin,' schooner, 197 tons; and as an example of a R.A.Y.C.
Corinthian match, that which took place on July 17, 1876, for 'Twenty
Tonners' will long be remembered, not so much for its record of
spar-breaking, as for the seamanlike way in which difficulties were
overcome. The description of the race is here given almost in the
words of an account for which the writer is indebted to Mr. James
Drury, who was himself an active witness on the occasion. The weather
was far from favourable owing to a strong gale during the previous
night having raised a nasty tumbling sea on the banks, while the wind,
though moderate in the early part of the afternoon, at times blew in
fierce squalls, rendering it necessary to reduce canvas at awkward
moments.
The entries were:--
'Hinda' 18 tons Mr. G. B. Thompson.
'Sheilah' 20 " Mr. Pascoe French.
'Challenge' 20 " Mr. Fred Thompson.
'Sunshine' 20 " Mr. D. MacIvor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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