The first match was the 'Vril's.' She was the first over the line, and though the 'Freda' very soon after passed her to leeward, she soon regained her original position, and gradually so increased her lead that at the end of the first round she was 1 min. 30 secs. ahead of her rival. The two little flyers had donned for the occasion all plain lower sail with working topsails aloft. On the run out for the breakwater the second time spinnakers were set, when the 'Vril' was unfortunate enough to carry away the goose-neck of her spinnaker boom. This was followed by the boom slipping into the water and at once snapping in two. Her crew smartly cleared the wreck, the outer end of the boom was lashed to the weather rigging, and the spinnaker set once more. Those familiar with such matters will readily understand how well things must have been done on board the Scotch yacht, when it is said that 50 seconds were all that the 'Freda' made out of the mishap. Before reaching the Bolivar buoy, the 'Vril' had more than made up her lost ground; and though on the journey home the 'Freda' gained a little, she was decidedly beaten, as she came in nearly 6 minutes astern of the 'Vril,' the times being—'Vril,' 3 hrs. 40 mins. 40 secs., and 'Freda,' 3 hrs. 46 mins. 10 secs.
'Challenge,' 20 tons, 1876.
The second match on the following day was sailed in about as dirty weather as it was possible for the concentrated energy of the elements to provide, and the result was that 'Freda' turned the tables on 'Vril' and beat her by about the same amount of time. The start was made at 10.20 a.m., and this time the 'Freda' got away first. Both yachts were reefed down, the 'Freda' showing a single-reefed mainsail and foresail with the third jib, while the 'Vril' carried a whole foresail with a double-reefed mainsail and second jib. The 'Vril' also started with her topmast housed. Outside the breakwater the little boats had to face a bad wind-against-tide sea, and quite a third part of the trip was made under water. For the run to the Bolivar buoy the 'Freda' set her spinnaker with a Paddy's reef in it, which gave her a tremendous lead, because, though her extra length told, still the 'Vril' had no spinnaker boom on board, having left it ashore, and could therefore only boom out her balloon foresail. On the thrash to windward, however, the 'Vril' gained twelve seconds on her antagonist, so that the first round finished 'Freda,' 1 hr. 49 mins. 2 secs.; 'Vril,' 1 hr. 54 mins. For the second round, the 'Vril' sent her topmast on end and set a topsail, but her mainsail had been so badly treated before the races began that it was found impossible to make it stand properly, and the remarkable thing is that the little yacht worked as well as she did under the trying circumstances. The 'Freda' kept to the sail she started with. The sea smoothed down considerably during the second round, which made the sailing somewhat easier. With the exception of a slight miscalculation in distance on the part of the 'Vril,' and a consequent extra board on the beat up for the harbour buoy, nothing of any importance took place, and the two yachts came in, 'Freda' first at 2 hrs. 44 mins. 40 secs., followed by 'Vril,' 5 mins. 15 secs. after her.
The interest occasioned by the third day's sailing was extraordinary. All over the country an eagerness was displayed for news of the match almost equal to that seen on a Derby day. The wind was at about the same force, and blowing from the same quarter as on the previous day, with the addition of a harder feel in it. Both yachts, therefore, set the same amount of sail and had their topmasts housed. At the time of the start, which was made at 11 a.m., the sea was breaking over the lighthouse, and made the journey look anything but inviting.
Both yachts, keeping a sharp look out on each other, were too keen on crossing the line, and had to return and make a fresh start, which they did side by side. There were not 10 seconds between them when they jibbed round the first mark, the 'Vril' leading, and the difference was further shortened by 5 seconds at the Bolivar buoy, this run having been made under boomed-out balloon foresails. The time between the yachts might have been lessened still more had not the 'Freda' been obliged to busy herself about her boom, which came adrift. From the Bolivar buoy home the little vessels danced it merrily to the tune of 'Blow, breezes blow.'
The 'Freda,' before she made a fresh start, had placed herself 30 seconds ahead of her rival, but going out again, the 'Vril,' owing to the 'Freda's' not being able to make use of her balloon foresail, passed her before they had rounded the first mark-boat, only to be repassed on the running-reach to the Bolivar. The 'Freda's' best point of sailing brought her to the Bolivar 1 min. 30 secs. ahead, and though for the last time the 'Vril' showed her superior power in beating to windward, the 'Freda' had made up her mind to walk off with the dollars, and win she did by a few seconds over the minute. Considering the sea that was running, and the amount of broken water that was throwing itself about, this last race is one to be long remembered and handed down in the annals of small-yacht racing; and now and hereafter, when racing and cruising men feel a tendency arising in them to croak and speak ill of the little yachts that were built under the old rule of measurement, let them call to mind their mighty deeds, their racing and their voyages under circumstances and in weather that would frighten many a 50-tonner into harbour and to her moorings.
The fourth day ushered in a new competitor, and the 'Freda' had to cross the line with the 'Camellia,' which she did five minutes after the second gun. The wind and weather had changed during the night, an unfortunate circumstance for the 'Camellia,' a hard-weather boat. The wind was unsettled, hung about between N. and N.E., and was at times very shy. The 'Freda' at first, not being able to hold the wind that the 'Camellia' did, lost ground considerably in the beat up to the Bolivar buoy, and the latter had reached on her so cleverly that the 'Freda' was fully a minute astern on rounding for the run into the harbour. The 'Freda' here had the pull over the Fairlie clipper, for she was provided with two spinnakers, while the 'Camellia' had but one, and as a shift had to be made (since they had left the Bolivar with spinnakers set on the bowsprit end) before setting off for the second round, the 'Camellia' was left in the lurch, her one spinnaker having to be taken in and boomed out. Standing out again, the 'Camellia' tried her best to pass the 'Freda' to windward, but to no purpose, as the 'Freda' was always ready for her each time the attempt was made, and at the Bolivar the 'Freda' was first round by 30 seconds. Coming into the harbour, the 'Freda,' again at her best, kept increasing her lead, and finally won by 1 min. 40 secs. Hunt's correspondent writes: 'This was a closely sailed race, in which the English boat owed much of, if not all, her success to smart handling.'
The fifth day's race was sailed under something like the 'Vril' and 'Freda' weather. The wind had hardened up and freshened during the early morning, and kept increasing as the day went on. Both yachts started with housed topmasts, single-reefed mainsails, and No. 2 jibs, the 'Freda' running up and booming out her balloon foresail as she crossed the line. During the first round the 'Freda' showed herself the better boat when on a reach as well as in beating to windward in the teeth of the heavy, solid sea which was running. She, however, was only 1 min. 30 secs. ahead at the mark-boat. On the second round the boats were literally more under water than above; they were simply smothered in their efforts to windward, and had the 'Camellia' not been so persistently squeezed in order to make her look up closer to the wind than her rival, she might have gained more than she did. As it was, what she gained on one point she lost on the other, and allowed the 'Freda' to come in a winner by 1 min. 45 secs.