West and Son. Southsea.
THIEF.
This was also Lord Dunraven's début on the Solent, and he was not much better off than we were, having a sister ship to ours, by name Cosette. Therefore, with the Queen Mab, G.G., Lady Nan (Mrs. Rudstan Reid), Thalassa and Madcap (Miss Cox), we had to be content to compete for second honours, the Hummer always carrying off the first.
I might here put in a word in season, on the evils resulting from keeping rival boats in the family. The battles are bound to be re-fought over the domestic board again in the evening, and of the two the wordy war is by far the most bitter and lasting. The envy and jealousy of the defeated cannot fail to show itself, and even the conqueror owes the other a grudge, for having so much as dared to get in his way at the start! We learnt the lesson in 1887, and have kept studiously clear of each other's hunting grounds ever since, even counselling our friends not to put our fidelity to so severe a test as to join the same class. It was this year that Mr. Philip Perceval made his début with the Lollypop, a boat he bought from Mr. St. Julien Arabin. Since that time Mr. Perceval has been an enthusiastic member of yacht-racing circles, and is now almost as well known on the Solent as Calshot Castle. Most lucky in his boats, whatever he touches must turn to gold, and besides this phenomenal luck, he has unrivalled skill at the helm and in the general manipulation of the craft. So his racing record must be indeed a remarkable one. Perhaps some day he will be persuaded to publish it, in all its branches.
At the end of this season, a ladies' match was sailed in the sister ships Cosette and Queen Mab. Miss Bucknill was at the helm of the former, and Miss Harvey had the Queen Mab. It is much to be regretted that Miss Harvey did not persevere in her racing career, as she showed much ability and came of a nautical family. Her father, Mr. E. Harvey, was well known as one of the original members of the squadron. The race was very interesting and well managed, but far be it from me to say which proved herself the better steerer. Lord Dunraven and Mr. Perceval who now had the racing fever, had both built five-raters at Payne's and divided the honours in that class. Mrs. Schenley determined to make another experiment with Mr. Watson's design in the five-raters. The Valentine, however, was a worse failure than the Thief had been, Glycera and Alwida being always first and second. The stern chase became rather wearisome, and we did not keep at it so steadily as we should have, only starting twenty-six times to the others forty. We managed to pick up five first and four second prizes, chiefly in light weather. The Babe, Mr. Payne's design, was champion of the two-and-a-half-raters, and poor old Hummer, which had served us in such good stead the year before, was clearly worsted. She was beginning the season in her old style, when the dreaded advent of the Babe put an end to her prosperous career, and she had a hard struggle till the end of the season to keep up her old traditions. I sailed many times on Hummer and Cock-a-whoop, my brother's two-and-a-half-rater, and on the former I said less, but thought the more, as my father's seamanship was undisputed, and his tactics a wonder to behold. That year the inventive genius of Mr. Clayton, champion designer of the old length classers, produced the Dolphin, also a two-and-a-half-rater. She was looked at with decided disapproval and some disgust by the rival faculty, as her over-hang was considered a crafty mode of cheating the rule. So it was, and continues to be to this day in a still larger degree, but after all it is the designer's object to get as much as he can out of the rule, without paying for it in time allowance. Miss Cox and her sister, now Mrs. Rudston Reid, both built two-and-a-half-raters, which they sailed most conscientiously but without much success. Miss Cox's Mliss did the better of the two, the Troublesome not being a morsel of use except in light air. However, it was a very strong class, and of course every one could not expect to win. Mrs. Schenley was at last persuaded, in 1891, to give Payne an order, and he proved himself fully equal to the trust confided in him, by producing that most delightful of boats the Windfall. Seaworthiness, dryness, roominess, and lightness of helm were some of her qualifications, besides her exceptional speed. War to the knife ensued between us and Mr. Perceval, who had likewise got a new five-rater from Payne. We came out of the fray each with thirty-four flags, Windfall's string however being the better by six firsts, indicated her superiority by six conquests out of the forty deadly conflicts. These struggles have never been renewed, the ordeal having been too great for both sides.
The small pickings left over and above, namely nine first prizes and twelve second, were shared by Alwida and Iernia respectively. The latter boat, one of Fife's failures, was owned by that genial Irishman, Mr. Langrishe, who had previously sold the famous Samæna to join the ranks of the owners of the smaller classes, to which he has remained faithful ever since. He placed his confidence from the first in young Mr. Charles Nicholson, who ultimately proved more than equal to the trust reposed in him, and he designed the Dacia in 1892. Miss Cox was again at a discount with a most unattractive two-and-a-half-rater, she called Fiera. This was one of the hard-mouthed type, and wanted a fresh wind and a strong man at the helm. She gave a good account of herself however on such occasions, and ran up a better record than Mliss. Miss Harvey was the possessor of a very pretty two-and-a-half-rater called Undine, built from a design by Mr. Clayton. This last was still more of an advance towards the type of the present day, and no doubt would have made a good performance then if she had been raced. She only showed up once or twice, however, and so of course never had a chance of getting into trim or anything else. Possibly Miss Harvey was put off by a collision she had with the Windfall during the Cowes week. It was very unfortunate, but not her fault as I can testify. Nevertheless it was none the better for that, and I remember pointing out the best place on the Windfall for her to ram with the least danger. Undine's bowsprit accordingly went clean through Windfall, just forward of the mast, and then the two boats got locked together and the spars began falling about our ears. There was a strong wind and a still stronger tide, and we were rapidly driven under the bows of a large steamer Gladwyn. The Undine had the inside berth between Windfall and Gladwyn, and as Windfall got across the tide she fairly ground poor little Undine's frail hull till the timbers groaned again. Meanwhile the gallant crew of the Gladwyn insisted on dragging us ladies up over the bows, and this was the most alarming part of all, as it was such a height. The owner of the Gladwyn, who was in the Squadron at the time, was much surprised a little later to see a strange lot of rather dilapidated females, being rowed ashore in his gig.
West and Son. Southsea.
NADADOR.