THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN YACHTINC
15
son; Adda (17), Mr. J. Rogers; Lancet
(20), Mr. G. B. Rollins.
These, then, were the men, and their
yachts with which the New York Yacht
Club went into business in 1845. The only
yachts timed at the finish were the Cygnet,
which won, in t;h. 23m. 15s., the Sybil,
coming second, in $h. 25m. 25s.; and the
Gimcrack, in 5L 30m. 30s. The prize was
as good a cup as could be purchased with
the entrance money, which was, I think,
$25 for each yacht. Schooners and sloops
were classed together, and there was no
allowance for difference of rig. The
schooner had no foretopmast, and of
course that stick-breaking sail, the jib topsail, was unknown, as was also the club
topsail. These were later inventions. In
fact I doubt whether the schooners sported
such a thing as a staysail on this occasion.
The sloop had a short bowsprit and short
topmast and no jib-boom.
The regatta was a great event, and was
witnessed by thousands of people, all New
York, who could get there, being on the
water. Now-a-days an ordinary club regatta attracts few besides club members,
and old yachtsmen shake their heads gloomily, and lament the decadence of American
yachting, saying that all interest in the
sport is dying out; but in point of fact,
there was never as much interest as at
present ; only now it is diffused, then it
was concentrated. In those early years of
American yachting, the regatta day, or
days, of the New York Yacht Club were
almost general holidays among the men
of large business, brokers and jobbers ; and
every craft that could float, from the skiff
to the large excursion steamer, was
brought into requisition for spectators.
Before the next summer arrived, the
club had built itself a house at the Elysian
Fields, Hoboken ; and for more than
twenty years the start and finish of its
races were off thh place, thousands of
MR. J. f. STEVENS' "GIMCRACK."
THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN YACHTINC
15
son; Adda (17), Mr. J. Rogers; Lancet
(20), Mr. G. B. Rollins.
These, then, were the men, and their
yachts with which the New York Yacht
Club went into business in 1845. The only
yachts timed at the finish were the Cygnet,
which won, in t;h. 23m. 15s., the Sybil,
coming second, in $h. 25m. 25s.; and the
Gimcrack, in 5L 30m. 30s. The prize was
as good a cup as could be purchased with
the entrance money, which was, I think,
$25 for each yacht. Schooners and sloops
were classed together, and there was no
allowance for difference of rig. The
schooner had no foretopmast, and of
course that stick-breaking sail, the jib topsail, was unknown, as was also the club
topsail. These were later inventions. In
fact I doubt whether the schooners sported
such a thing as a staysail on this occasion.
The sloop had a short bowsprit and short
topmast and no jib-boom.
The regatta was a great event, and was
witnessed by thousands of people, all New
York, who could get there, being on the
water. Now-a-days an ordinary club regatta attracts few besides club members,
and old yachtsmen shake their heads gloomily, and lament the decadence of American
yachting, saying that all interest in the
sport is dying out; but in point of fact,
there was never as much interest as at
present ; only now it is diffused, then it
was concentrated. In those early years of
American yachting, the regatta day, or
days, of the New York Yacht Club were
almost general holidays among the men
of large business, brokers and jobbers ; and
every craft that could float, from the skiff
to the large excursion steamer, was
brought into requisition for spectators.
Before the next summer arrived, the
club had built itself a house at the Elysian
Fields, Hoboken ; and for more than
twenty years the start and finish of its
races were off thh place, thousands of
MR. J. f. STEVENS' "GIMCRACK."
