"Moreover, unless the squall is a very heavy one, a yawl can be eased through it without reefing at all. For when the wind comes roaring down and the white line of froth and spray is right upon you, the boat can be brought up to the wind and the mainsheet eased handsomely out, and with jib and mizzen drawing finely and the mainboom off to leeward the wind whistles harmlessly between the masts, while the yacht, only slightly disturbed in her balance, sails steadily along. Or, if the squall is a heavy one and there is no time to reef down before it strikes, the yacht can be luffed up, the mainsail let down at a run, and with the belly of the sail held within the lazy-lines the yacht is under safe conditions. But ordinarily it is better to reef or even tie down the mainsail snugly, and as in a yawl it can be done rapidly and easily there is no reason why it should not be done and everything be kept shipshape.
"In cruising I often sailed Champlain under jib and mizzen alone, with the mainsail stowed and the boom crutched and tied snugly down amidships, especially in the night time when it was very dark and the weather foul. Under this scant canvas with a favorable wind she would sail along at a very fair rate of speed and even make good progress in beating up against quite a sea, and I need not say that it adds greatly to the pleasure of cruising in a small yacht with only one man for your crew to feel that you have your boat in a condition of perfect control. It is evident that with no other rig can this condition to the same degree be obtained or such a sense of absolute security be enjoyed.
"To an amateur nothing is more trying than coming to or getting away from moorings, especially if the wind is blowing strongly and the anchorage ground is crowded with other yachts, not to speak of vessels of commerce, bateaux, tugs and ferryboats. Under such circumstances it is no easy matter for any, save an expert, to work a sloop or cat-boat or schooner safety out through the crowded harbor or basin to the open water beyond; and it is all the more trying to a skipper if there is a strong tide running at the moment. But with a yawl the difficulties of the situation are almost wholly removed. For with mainsail unlashed he can hoist his anchor or cast off from moorings, and under his two small sails work his boat out slowly and safely from the jammed basin or crowded space within the breakwater. He must be a tyro indeed who cannot safely manage a yawl under the worst possible conditions of this sort.
"In cruising, if the weather is threatening it is well to carry a single reef in the mainsail until it clears up, for a yawl works well under such a sail with jib and mizzen furled. In such trim the yacht is as a cat-boat with a small sail, and as her main boom is shorter than a cat-boat's or a sloop's she can be worked in a very heavy sea with her boom's end well above the rollers. And I know of nothing more trying to a skipper than to sail his craft with his boom's end half the time under water. In such a condition the spars, rigging and boat are under a stress and strain which every prudent skipper dreads and seeks to avoid, and it speaks volumes in favor of the yawl rig to say that with it such a trying condition can never arise. Indeed a yawl under a double-reefed mainsail alone is in perfect trim for scudding. If well modeled she will neither yaw nor thrash the water with her boom's end, but career along almost with the speed of the wind itself. For her canvas is low down, as it should be, and her boom carried well above the seething water. In this shape, moreover, she can lay a course with the wind well over her quarter without strain, and it must be a very hard blow and rough water indeed to give anxiety to any on board of her."
That the Champlain is a capital sea-boat is beyond question. Her owner thus describes a run on the lower St. Lawrence in returning from a cruise to the Saguenay: "We passed Baie St. Paul in the evening, whirled along by a rising gale blowing directly up the river. The night was pitchy dark, the tide running fiercely on the ebb at the rate of five miles an hour at the least. The water was very wild, as one can easily imagine. Stemming such a current it would not do to shorten sail if one wished to pass Cape Tourmente and get into quiet water, the Isle of Orleans and the north shore, so we let every sail stand, cleated the sheets tightly and let her drive. How she did tear onward! The froth and spume lay deep on her pathways and after-deck. The waves crested fiercely, rolling against the current, and the black water broke into phosphor as we slashed through it. I do not recall that I ever saw a yacht forced along more savagely. How the water roared under the ledges and along the rough shores of Tourmente! And I was profoundly grateful when we were able to bear off to starboard and run into the still water back of Orleans. Perhaps that midnight cup of coffee did not taste well! Its heat ran through my chilled veins like Chartreuse. I can taste it yet!"
The ordinary jib-and-mainsail rigged boat, as seen in the waters round New York, might easily be improved upon. In the first place, the majority of them are too much after the skimming-dish pattern to suit my fancy. Then the mast is stepped as a rule too far forward for the best work, and renders reefing difficult, as she will not "lay to" comfortably under her headsail, whereas if the mast of a boat is stepped well aft, cutter fashion, the boat will lay to quite well, and reefing the mainsail is easy. The American sloop rig is open to the same criticism, and that is why the English way of rigging a single-sticker has been adopted in all our new racing craft. To my mind there is nothing more hideous than a "bobbed" jib. It renders good windward work impossible, as it causes a boat to sag off to leeward and is in other ways a detriment. A small boat with the mast stepped in the right place and carrying a jib and a mainsail is, however, a very satisfactory craft, good at beating to windward as well as reaching or running. I should advise that a "spit-fire" or storm jib be carried along whenever a sail of any distance is contemplated, and also a gaff-headed trysail, so that the adventurous skipper may be always prepared for storm and stress of weather. This extra "muslin" takes up little room when properly rolled up.
The simplest and safest rig in the world is the leg-of-mutton sail. It is the one fitted exactly for river work, where one is sure to encounter puffs of some force as ravines are reached or valleys passed. To amateurs it is the sail par excellence for experimenting with, for no matter how many blunders are made a mishap is well nigh impossible. The leg-of-mutton sail has no gaff, nor need it have a boom. There is little or no leverage aloft, and all the power for mischief it has can be taken out of it by slacking off the sheet and spilling the wind. The learner might with advantage practice with a sail of this shape until he becomes proficient. If he eventually determines upon a jib and mainsail or yawl rig for permanent use, he may avoid wasting it by having it made over into a storm trysail.
I would strongly advise every amateur skipper to shun the ballast-fin device as he would shun cold poison or a contagious disease. That is unless he intends to go in for a regular racing career, in which case the cups carried off might possibly compensate him for the woe, the anguish and the premature gray hairs inseparable from this contrivance. Mind you these remarks of mine apply only to amateurs and not to grizzled sailing-masters of yachts who fully understand how to navigate and handle all types of pleasure craft. Theoretically the ballast-fin has many obvious advantages.
TYPE OF FIN-KEEL.