Then followed 'Egeria' at 7.50 with 'Cetonia' in close attendance, and 'Moina' and 'Aline' respectively 16 and 35 mins. behind. The 'Irex,' as soon as she passed the west end of the breakwater, stood away close hauled for the English coast, and the other cutters followed her lead; but 'Egeria' and 'Cetonia' tacked to the westward along the French coast with the view of getting an easier tide when working to the westward, and it was not until about 11 p.m. that they started off to cross the Channel. The yachts had a nice breeze all night, and in the morning 'Irex' struck the English coast somewhere to the west of Portland. 'Egeria' found herself about 1½ mile to windward and nearly abeam of 'Cetonia,' both heading a good deal further to the westward. Unfortunately 'Egeria' had to bear down upon 'Cetonia' to request Sir Edward Guinness to allow his steamer 'Ceto,' which was accompanying the race, to take one of the former's passengers, who had broken his arm by a fall, back to Cowes, which he very kindly did. This delayed 'Egeria' fully an hour, and more than lost her the advantage she had gained, but she picked it up again during the day. The weather throughout was fine and bright, but the wind very paltry. The yachts were widely scattered, and as there was a good deal of haze it was difficult to make each other out. 'Irex' did not get round the Eddystone until about 10 p.m., 'Egeria' and 'Cetonia' about 11.30, and the other two schooners some time afterwards.
The next day the wind continued light, but the 'Irex' being lucky with the wind, managed to save the tide round all the headlands, and reached Cowes at 3 hrs. 51 mins., nearly 8 hrs. before any other vessel. 'Egeria' and 'Cetonia' made an exceedingly close race of it the whole day, never being as much as a gunshot apart. The wind had headed them when off the Isle of Wight, and several tacks had to be made after they passed Dunnose. The 'Egeria,' when making her last board off on the port tack to round the Nab, found she could not quite weather 'Cetonia,' and had to bear away under her stern. 'Cetonia' was also obliged to tack, and when they again crossed was in the same predicament, which put 'Egeria' round the Nab a minute or two before her. The 'Aline,' which had not been seen by the others for some time, had stood more out to sea, got a better wind, and, to the surprise of the others, rounded the Nab only a short distance astern of them. The run to Cowes was an exciting one, as they were all very evenly matched, but 'Egeria' managed to keep the pride of place and crossed the winning line at 1.15 a.m., 1 min. ahead of the 'Cetonia' and 6 mins. ahead of the 'Aline.' The 'Enchantress' arrived about 2 hrs. later. It was a curious sight to see the three schooners come in so close together after so long a race, and the fact of 'Egeria' and 'Cetonia' rounding the three principal points, Cherbourg Breakwater, the Eddystone, and the Nab, almost together was also remarkable. 'Egeria' of course thought she had won the schooner prize, but to the surprise of her owner he was told that the 'Dauntless' ketch had been classed with the schooners, and that, as she arrived at 2 hrs. 56 mins. within her time, she had been awarded the prize for the schooner rig. It was pointed out to the Sailing Committee that no intimation had been given that the 'Dauntless' was to sail as a schooner, that the race was sailed under the rules of the Yacht Racing Association, and that a recent decision had been given by the Council of that Association, that ketches were to be classed as yawls; but the Sailing Committee adhered to their decision, and declined to refer the question to the Association.
The 'last of the schooners' was the 'Amphitrite,' 161 tons, by Camper and Nicholson, brought out in 1889 by Colonel Macgregor, but by that time schooner racing had practically ceased, and she only sailed in mixed races. Her performances in these, however, were so good that competent judges believed that, had schooner racing been in vogue, she would have been one of the fastest of the class.
It may probably be considered that on the whole the 'Egeria' was the most successful of the schooners. She made her début in 1865 in the race for the Queen's Cup at Cowes, beating the 'Aline,' the crack of the day, and her last race was sailed in 1889. She has had a longer career than any other schooner, won seven Queen's Cups at Cowes, and about 70 other cups and prizes, each of which has an interesting story of its own.
The writer sailed in many of the races described, and of these the accounts are chiefly from personal recollection; but he must not conclude without recognising the admirable descriptions of the races published in the 'Field,' which has done so much to encourage and improve yacht racing.
CHAPTER VII
THE RACING RULES AND THE RULES OF RATING
By 'Thalassa'
PART I. THE RACING RULES
We race yachts in home waters under the rules of the Yacht Racing Association.
For a long time yacht racing was conducted without any central authority or court of appeal, and the difficulties which arose in consequence enabled a few racing owners to start the Association ('For the promotion of the interests of yacht racing,'—General Rule 1) in the year 1875; since which it has gradually and surely increased its authority until, at the present time, it is acknowledged by clubs and owners alike as the ruler of the sport, owing much to the energy and ability of Mr. Dixon Kemp, the secretary of the Association, and to the solid work done by many of the older councillors, among whom should be specially mentioned the Marquis of Exeter, Sir George Lampson, Bart., Sir William Forwood, Sir George Leach, K.C.B., Major Frank Willan, Colonel Fitzroy Clayton, Major Percy Hewitt, Mr. E. R. Tatchell, Mr. F. Cox, Mr. A. Manning, and, last but not least, Captain J. W. Hughes, who, with Prince Batthyany Strattmann, took a most active part in starting the Association.
The qualification for the Association embraces 'the owners of racing yachts, and such other gentlemen interested in yacht racing as the Council may elect'; ... 'also the representatives appointed by recognised yacht clubs' (General Rule 2). It is astonishing to find, by an examination of the list of members, how few racing owners belong to the Association and how many old cruisers and steam-whistlers show their active interest in the sport of yacht racing by paying two guineas a year to support the court of appeal. We touch our caps to them for doing so—but pray them to allow the men actually engaged in the sport to settle the details as far as possible. Indeed, it would appear desirable that the Council should be mainly composed of racing owners, and that each class of racing yacht should be represented, say, by two councillors. Thus—two for racing cruisers of the 'Columbine' type, two for the large class of racers, two for each Y.R.A. class, and two for each of the 'Minima' classes (1 and ½-raters), or 18 in all. The other six members of the Council might with advantage be selected from the appointed representatives of the yacht clubs (General Rule 3).