Frascati and pierhead at Havre.
The year 1891 will be memorable in the history of French yachting as the date of the beginning of a thorough organisation for the encouragement of what in France is called 'navigation de plaisir,' a term which will soon contract to our simpler word 'yachting.' The French have long, however, had a taste for the sport. For half a century at least Havre has been en fête in the month of July with a great deal of rowing and sailing, encouraged by crowds on the quays of the port, whence they could enjoy the sport much more than if they were afloat. All this is due to the energy and encouragement of the Société des Régates au Havre, under the patronage of the Minister of Marine and the City of Havre.
HAVRE REGATTA CHART. HAVRE.
In the year 1891 the regatta was first conducted in a business-like manner. A yachting tribunal was instituted in Paris to make rules and arrange the details of racing. The society, styled 'Union des Yachts Français,' 45 Rue Boissy d'Anglas, Paris, was very heartily taken up by all the best men in France, and absorbed the other clubs. The President is Contre-Amiral Baron Lagé; Vice-Presidents, M. E. Pérignon, Baron Arthur de Rothschild, Comte Alain de Guébriant, and M. Henri Menier, with a Council of twenty-eight, and a tremendous administration of commissions or committees for everything. The list of members amounts to 520, and their yacht list comprises over 300 vessels of sorts and sizes.
Harbour at Havre.