The counter, if any, is not to exceed one-sixth of load-water-line, nor is the rabbit, where it intersects the afterside of the sternpost, to come nearer the surface of the water than 4 in. The overhang of the bow, if any, is not to exceed one-sixth of the load-water-line. Any excess of overhang beyond these limits must be added to the length of the load-water-line, and the result taken for class and time-allowance. The whole overhang of any counter, whose rabbit, where it crosses the afterside of the sternpost, is less than 4 in. above the surface of the water, must be added to the length of the load-water-line, and the result taken as the length for class and time-allowance. The crew, including helmsman, is not to exceed one man for every 7 ft. or fraction of 7 ft. One of these may be a paid hand. Centreboard boats are allowed to compete, but the plates are never to be lowered beyond the limit of one-sixth of their load-water-line and must be kept down at a fixed draught during the whole race. (If the latter part of this rule has been altered, it is only lately that the alteration has been made.) The Royal Alfred Yacht Club is still houseless, and keeps to its original purpose of devoting all its available funds to the encouragement of match-sailing. It has lost within the last few years the valuable assistance of its late secretary, Mr. James A. Lyle, who might almost be said to have fathered the club from its earliest infancy; but with a foundation so ably laid, a working team of thoroughly practical seamen to officer and steady the helm (and to whom I am greatly indebted for the help given me in compiling this paper), the members have every reason to be proud of the position their association holds as a representative racing yacht club. "GRAPHIC CRUISERS" OF DUBLIN BAY _Notes by the Hon. Skipper_ A lovely night, a gentle breeze, a glassy, heaving ebb, all sail set, the boat coaxingly pulling at her moorings, her port and starboard eyes bright and glistening, her punts (choked with artists' sketchings, gear, and a gun-case or two) safe at the davits; her deck rather littered with Gladstones and canvas bags; a murmuring sound from below, accompanied by a light clatter of coffee cups: on deck are only 'Billy' (our cook), 'Jack,' the 'boy' (general fag and washer-up), and the 'skipper' (one of the party selected by ballot for the cruise). The buoy is overboard, 'Jack' hauls the stays'l to windward, Billy lowers the chain silently through the hawse, the 'Iris' gently glides from among the surrounding boats, and is off for a week or two, heavily laden with an artistic, musical, medical, legal, and other 'crew' seeking relaxation, and a recovery from that dyspepsia which sooner or later overtakes every hard worker in this so-called temperate climate. [Illustration: Outward bound.]