■ ■HHiiiiainiBiniiiBiniiBiSiir; [jMiniiHiiHiiiinaa) ) Book X4X PRESENTED EPT C^ S^Lr^v.^ ^. 5,c M^ e-xj-p^ "a. HIS BOOK IS PVBLISHED FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBVTION ONLY BY II THOMAS W LAWS ON ^^IN AN EDITION OF THREE THOVSAND COPIES OF WHICH THIS COPY NVMBBR 1225 IS PRESENTED TO >r>t^.^l-'tx^ THE LAWSON HISTORY ^THE AMERICA'S CVP .'^aMA ;;i THE AMERICA'S CUP From a photograph, by corirUsy of Tiffany e^ Co. I- f'^«?^ L A W S O N H I S TO PoY OF THE AMERICA'S CVP AjRecord^ fyfty Years BY WINFIELD M THOMPSON AND THOMAS WLAWSON BOSTON MASSACHV5ETTS M C MI I I GVB29 Copyright^ igo2 By Thomas W. Lawson Boston 7 N'02 To SPORTSMEN — MANLY MEN, MEN OF GENTLE MIND AND SIMPLE HEART, BRAVE MEN, FAIR MEN ; TO MEN WHO SAY TO THE WEAK, "MAY I ? " — AND TO THE STRONG, "I WILL!"— TO MEN TO WHOM SHAM IS DISHONOR AND TRUTH A GUIDING STAR; TO MEN WHO LOOK UPON THE SEA, THE PLAIN, THE FOREST, THE MOUNTAINS, THE RISING AND THE SETTING SUN, AND THE IMMUTABLE HEAVENS, WITH A DEEP SENSE OF THEIR OWN LITTLENESS IN THE GREAT SCHEME OF THINGS — I DEDICATE THIS BOOK THOMAS W, LAWSON CONTENTS Introduction xiii Chapter Page I. England invites Comparison of Speed in Vessels, and THE America is built : 1850-1851 1 II. The America wins a Royal Yacht SquADRON Cup, and " There is no second : " 1851 16 III. The America is visited by Queen Victoria, and enters ON A VARIED Career : 1851 30 IV. The America's Cup is established as an International Trophy, and defended : 1857— 1870 44 V. A SECOND Challenge for the Cup results in a Series OF Races and a Wrangle : 1871 59 VI. Canadians twice challenge for the Cup, and race WITH little Satisfaction : 1876-1881 .... 76 VII. England sends a Cutter, which is defeated by an Eastern Yacht Club Vessel :1885 90 VIII. Massachusetts again defends the Trophy against an English Cutter : 1886 107 IX. Scotland sends a Challenger, and a third Boston Boat defends THE Cup : 1887 115 X. The Trust Deed is altered, and Concessions are ex- acted by Dunraven : 1887-1893 128 XI, Lord Dunraven's second Effort to m^n the Cup ends with a Cloud on the Sport : 1895 . . . . 153 XII. Lord Dunraven makes Charges of Fraud, and a Hear- ing is held on them : 1895-1896 179 XIII. Thomas J. Lipton, Merchant and Knight, challenges AND meets Defeat : 1898-1899 198 XIV. Two Vessels are built for Cup Defence, but nei- ther OF them is chosen : 1901 216 [vii] CONTENTS Chapter Page XV. Second Challenger of Sir Thomas Lipton is de- feated BY A former Cup Defender : 1901 . . 246 XVI. Economic Conditions produce a vicious Class in American Yachting : 1870-1901 277 XVII. Boston's Cup-defence Vessel, as Exponent of a Principle makes History : 1901 292 XVIII. Data concerning Independence given in full for THE Benefit of Yachtsmen :1901 335 Appendix 355 Index 381 [ viii ] ILLUSTRATIONS The America's Cup Frontispiece To FACE Page Queen Victoria on Board the America 1 Contract (Letter) for building the America 4 Maria, Sloop, outsailing the America 8 Portrait of George Steers 12 Portrait of Commodore John C. Stevens 14 The America as she appeared August 22d, 1851 . . . . 17 Sailplan of the America and of an English Schooner con- trasted 20 Course of the Royal Yacht SquADRON around the Isle of Wight 24 Victoria and Albert, Royal Yacht of 1851 29 Cowes Roads, the Royal Yacht Squadron Castle, and Osborne House 32 Brilliant and Pearl, English Yachts of 1851 . . . . 37 Lines of the America 41 SvERiGE, Swedish Schooner, and the America 42 The America off Newport, 1901 44 Lines of Cambria and Titania, Schooner ...... 49 Cambria, Schooner, winning the Ocean Race of 1870 . . 50 Cambria, Challenger, in the first Challenge Contest for THE America's Cup 53 Magic, Winner of the first Challenge Contest for the America's Cup 56 Livonia, Schooner, second Challenger for the America's Cup 60 [ix] ILLUSTRATIONS To FACE Page Dauntless and Palmer, Schooners reserved for the Cup's Defence in 1871 65 Columbia, Schooner, first Defender of the Cup in 1871 . 68 Sappho, Schooner, second Defender of 1871, and Livonia, IN New York Bay 72 Lines of Livonia and Sappho 75 Countess of Dufferin, Schooner, Challenger for the Cup in 1876 76 Madeleine, Schooner, Defender of the Cup in 1876 . . . 78 Madeleine and Countess of Dufferin in their first Race . 80 Atalanta, Sloop, Challenger for the Cup in 1881 . . . 82 Mischief, Sloop, Defender of the Cup in 1881 .... 84 Pocahontas, Sloop, first Vessel built for Cup Defence . . 86 Mischief and Atalanta in their first Race 88 Portrait of George L. Schuyler 90 Genesta, Cutter, Challenger for the Cup in 1885 . . . 92 Galatea, Cutter, Challenger for the Cup in 1886 . . . 94 Puritan, Sloop, Defender of the Cup in 1885 96 Bedouin, Cutter, and Gracie, Sloop, Candidates for Cup- Defence Honors in 1885 98 Lines of Puritan and Genesta . . 101 The Puritan-Genesta Foul 103 Puritan and Genesta in their last Race 104 Mayflower, Sloop, Defender of the Cup in 1886. . . . 107 Lines of Mayflower and Galatea 108 Mayflower and Galatea in their first Race Ill Mayflower and Galatea in their final Race 112 Thistle, Cutter, Challenger for the Cup in 1887 . . . 115 Volunteer, Sloop, Defender of the Cup in 1887. . . . 116 [xj ILLUSTRATIONS To FACE Page Priscilla, Sloop, and Atlantic, Sloop, built in 1885 and 1886, respectively, as Candidates for Cup Defence . . 118 Volunteer and Thistle on the Inside Course of the New York Yacht Club 121 Volunteer and Thistle in their final Race 123 Lines of Volunteer and Thistle 125 Boston's three Cup Defenders, Puritan, Mayflower and Volunteer, in Schooner Rig 132 Valkyrie IL, Cutter, Challenger for the Cup in 1893 . . 136 Vigilant, Centre-board Cutter, Defender of the Cup in 1893 138 Three unsuccessful Candidates for Cup-Defence Honors in 1893, Colonia, Jubilee and Pilgrim, Cutters . . . 140 Lines of Atalanta, Challenger of 1881, and Valkyrie IL . 143 Start of final Race between Vigilant and Valkyrie II. . 144 Finish of final Race between Vigilant and Valkyrie IL . 148 Valkyrie III., Cutter, Challenger for the Cup in 1895. . 153 Defender, Cutter, which sailed in Defence of the Cup in 1895 157 Valkyrie III. and Jubilee in Dock 160 Defender and Valkyrie III. in their first Race .... 165 Five Seconds after the Foul of Defender by Valkyrie III. . 168 Defender starts alone in final Race of 1895 Series . . . 172 The Home of the New York Yacht Club . . . . . . 179 Chart of Waters over which the America's Cup Races are sailed . . . i 180 Shamrock L, Cutter, tenth Challenger for the America's Cup 200 Columbia, Cutter, and Shamrock I. in their final Race . . 208 Columbia near the Finish Line in final Race against Sham- rock 1 212 [xi] ILLUSTRATIONS To FACE Page Independence in Massachusetts Bay 218 Constitution, Cutter, Columbia and Independence off New- port 224 A close Start off Newport, 1901 228 Independence loses her Topmast ....231 Independence sails through Columbia's Lee in a Start . . 233 Shamrock 11. , Cutter, eleventh Challenger for the Amer- ica's Cup . 246 Three Accidents : Columbia, Constitution and Shamrock II. dismasted 248 Shamrock II. in Dock at EIrie Basin 253 Shamrock II., a Photographic Study ........ 256 Start and Finish of first Race between Columbia and Sham- rock II 261 Finish of second Race between Columbia and Shamrock II. . 266 Finish of final Race between Columbia and Shamrock II. . 269 Columbia and Constitution hauled out after the 1901 Season 272 An Advertisement 288 Independence as she appeared in her last Race 296 Independence, a Photographic Study 316 Independence, a Study in Color 329 The End OF Independence 331 Lines of Independence 335 Sailplan and principal Hull Dimensions of Independence and Puritan contrasted 338 Interior Construction of Independence 340 Independence in Dock 342 [xii] INTRODUCTION. THE America's cup — won at Cowes from an English fleet August 22d, 1851, by the schooner America, pre- sented as an international challenge trophy to the Ameri- can people in 1857, and ten times fruitlessly sailed for by foreign challengers before the close of the century which gave it birth as the world-conceded blue ribbon in yachting — in the yachting season of 1901 was made the subject of an international discussion such as never before had risen in its history ; a discus- sion touching not only the vital principles of international sport, but dealing with the very existence of the cup as the premier emblem of sea-supremacy between the world's two greatest maritime na- tions ; for the custodians of the cup, trustees whose responsibility had ever sat lightly upon them, then ruled that no ship belonging to any American other than a member of a certain yacht club — their own — would be permitted to defend the nation's trophy. My refusal, as owner of the American -built and American- manned yacht Independence, to recognize the right of the custodi- ans of the America's cup to compel me, or any American, to join any club in order to compete for the honor of defending an Amer- ican national trophy, led to this extraordinary ruling, which dazed the yachting world and at once brought into asking the ques- tion: "Has one of the great sports of America, yachting, been syndicated ? ' ' The discussion that ensued lasted for months. The press of two hemispheres questioned the fairness, not only of the ruling of the cup's custodians, but of the general conduct of recent America's cup contests. The "Independence episode" was hotly debated wherever newspapers were read. Americans of all classes were never before so deeply interested in a question of sporting ethics. Patriotism was aroused, for the people of the country felt the nation's honor was involved, and from my pecu- liar position, as owner of Independence, I found myself in the storm-centre of these debates. The issue resolved itself into the contention on the one hand, supported by practically the entire press and people of the coun- try, that the America's cup, as the nation's trophy, should be free for any American to defend, could he produce a vessel worthy of the honor ; and on the other hand into the dogged iteration of the custodians of the cup that no American other than a member of their own club could defend the cup. That such a controversy was possible in the history of so noble a trophy as the America's cup showed something was rotten in Denmark, and before the season of 1901 was half over the world saw what that something was : the cup had ceased, in effect, to be a [ xiii ] INTRODUCTION national trophy, and was held as a club prize, to be raced for only under such conditions as the club holding it saw fit to lay down. Evidence was not wanting to prove this condition of affairs. As owner of an American vessel denied an opportunity to race for the defence of an American national emblem of sea-supremacy, I received not only thousands of letters endorsing my stand in the controversy — letters representing men in all walks of life, in and out of sports, from prominent yacht club members of America and Europe (including many members of the New York Yacht Club) , to patriotic citizens of the interior states, who while admitting they had never seen salt water, were eager to show they boiled with enthusiasm for the protection of the good name of American sports — as well as many others from owners, officers and build- ers of former cup-defence vessels ; from various yachtsmen, American and foreign, connected at different times with cup matches ; and from professional yachting writers possessed of much of the unwritten history of the cup, — all of which showed me that the ' ' Independence episode ' ' was by no means the result of fortuitous circumstances, but the logical outcome of a system which had debased the sport of racing for the blue ribbon of the seas from its former level of true sportsmanship to that of a social- business game played by a few persons for their own ends. So much was demonstrated by the "Independence episode," by which an epoch was marked in the history of the America's cup ; and so important did the revelation appear to me that I resolved to collect and collate, not only the facts and fancies that were coming to me regarding the various phases of the incident in which I figured, but all other data obtainable about the cup, its inception as a trophy, its known history, and the unwritten annals of its defence, in order that its modern status might in my own mind be given a proper relation to the events of its past. The execution of this purpose led me to the question, "Will the publication of a history of the America's cup, showing the conditions which have shaped and are shaping its destiny, make for the betterment of American sports ? ' ' My answer was a res- olution to publish such a history, to constitute a record for all time, and give the yachtsman and student of to-day, and of the future — (this book is published solely for private distribution to yachtsmen and the libraries of America and Europe) — not only the information which had come to me almost wholly because of my ownership of Independence and the stand I had been forced to take in connection with such ownership, but as complete a tran- scription as could be made of the story of the cup. As one who had spent his life in the birthplace of American yachting, and carried its welfare close to his heart, the task seemed an important duty. [xiv] INTRODUCTION I recognized the vital importance of making my history carry proof beyond peradventure that it was a history, — a fair presenta- tion of what had been, — that it was free from those sins of omis- sion and commission that might, perhaps pardonably, be looked for in a book having for its top, sides and bottom a subject around which has surged white-heat controversy, and which was created by one of the parties to that controversy. I saw the vital impor- tance not only of making the book a fair history, but of imprinting it with proof positive of its fairness. Therefore I laid it out, as will be seen in the following pages, first, as a continuous photo- graph of events from the first day of the America's cup to the last day of the first year of its second half-century ; secondly, with the interpolation of vivid word-pictures from the pens of writers of the times in which those events occurred ; thirdly, with authentic illustrations from original drawings and paintings such as no other ' ' history ' ' of the cup contained ; the whole to be spliced together and made history, by whom ? Bearing in mind that however fair and free from bias my treatment of the past of the America's cup might be, my critics would have ammunition with which to attack my book were it entirely the work of one of the parties to the con- troversy mentioned, I decided to confine myself personally to that period in the cup's history with which I was directly connected, and to a description of the various conditions which at different periods surrounded it, conditions which made possible the men and circumstances controlling the cup from its creation to the end of the " Independence episode " ; and to place the compilation of the chronological history of the cup in the hands of another. For this task I selected a writer, my collaborator, Mr. Win- field M. Thompson, the product of whose pen in yachting and other fields of literature was a guarantee not only of graceful thoroughness, but of a conscientious adherence to facts and all men's rights. To Mr. Thompson I said: "Write the history of the America's cup, and while writing it forget my personal interest in the book — forget that the same covers which contain your work will hold mine. I do not want to know what you write until it is printed, and I will not confuse you in your work by allowing you to read my part until both are printed." With what fairness each has performed his task the reader may in a measure judge ; but as time alone can give a proper per- spective to events, it will be for the historian of the second fifty years of the America's cup to say whether or not the Lawson History of The America's Cup made for the betterment of American sports THOMAS W. LAWSON. [xv] <1 u -§ ^ 1— ( 5 'rt cA '^ W § k4 % ^ E < 1 a o w a S T) 1 o M c" o 3 Q 5 CO > ^ •^ «• J3 o < I— 1 CN o p^ ^ a o ^1 ^ £ tfi H ■V tt, o c U > o S c W ^ £ ■"^ t) ^ 1 — . C •S „• ■a o ■«^ t. c THE LAWSON HISTORY of THE AMERICA'S CVP ENGLAND INVITES COMPARISON OF SPEED IN VES SELS, AND THE AMERICA IS BUILT: 1850-1851. CHAPTER I. JNGLAND was holiday making in the year of grace 1851, and of the reign of Victoria the fourteenth, on the occasion of a great industrial exhibition held at London, to which the nations of the earth were invited to send examples of their arts and crafts for comparison with her own. In keeping with the spirit of this period of national activity and vainglory, Britons of means and leisure indulged with more than their usual enthusiasm in various sports, in which they sought to excel all foreigners who by their invitation competed with them. As befitted a people whose su- premacy on the seas had been long undisputed, an important part of the season's program of sport was contests of speed between pleasure vessels, open to all comers. To enter in whatever compe- tition might be vouchsafed her in these contests, the United States of America sent a champion schooner, named for the country from which she hailed. The entry of this champion at first gave her opponents no concern, but the fruits of her visit to Britain remain when the exhibition and its results, except this, are forgotten. With her the traditions of centuries ended, for she sailed with ease away from the fastest English craft put against her, and showed the old world that the art of building fast vessels had its home in the West. Half a century has proved too short a time for England to recover the trophy the America snatched from her self-satisfied yachtsmen with so little effort. Her cleverest designers have built ships in which her pluckiest sportsmen have come over-seas, one after another, to regain it, only to go back empty-handed. Millions have been spent in these attempts, and other millions in defence, while a simple silver cup, valued originally at $500, has come to represent the supremacy of the seas. When the trophy now known as the America's cup, won by that vessel from the Royal Yacht Squadron August 22d, 1851, was brought to this country, yachting in the United States was in its infancy. Men rich enough to follow the sport were few, and the national life had not reached a point where time and money could [1] [X850-X8SX] THE LAWSON HISTORY be spared for pleasure sailing. The temple of the nation's indus- trial greatness was being built. The country already was hearing the mutterings that forewarned it of the approaching storm of civil war. The great West was unconquered, and the South was hastening toward the end of the old regime. The people were too busy and too much absorbed in the development of their for- tunes and those of their country to care for the sport of racing boats , It remained for merchants in the large ports, whose business was with shipping and the sea, to find means and leisure for yachting. At various places on the coast, from Virginia to Massachusetts, small pleasure craft had been owned from the days of the Colonies. Few if any attempts had been made, however, to form sailing clubs at any Atlantic port until 1835, when a few Boston merchants formed a club for fishing and pleasure sailing which they called the Boston Yacht Club. It had no fleet, and lived but two years. The name is now borne by its successor. In the year the America was sent abroad to try conclusions with the formidable pleasure fleets of England, the New York Yacht Club* was the only yacht club in America. It was then seven years old, and * The New York Yacht Club was formed July 30th, 1844, at five o'clock in the afternoon, in the cabin of John C. Stevens' 25-ton schooner yacht Gimrack, while she lay at anchor off the Battery. Nine yacht owners were present, their fleet being schooners and sloops of 25 tons and less, in which they sailed about New York Bay and Long Island Sound. These nine formed the club. They were : John C. Stevens, Hamilton Wilkes, William Edgar, John C. Jay, George L. Schuyler, James M. Water- bury, Louis A. Depau, George E. Rollins and James Rogers. John C. Stevens was unanimously named as commodore. The first squadron run of the club began the next day. It was to Newport, where the club members fell in with Capt. R. B. Forbes, of Boston, cruising on the chartered pilot-boat Belle, and Col. W. P. Winchester, of Boston, cruising on his schooner Northern Light. Capt. Forbes, Col. Winchester and David Sears were the first three Bostonians to join the club. The first stated meet- ing of the New York Yacht Club was held at Windhorst's coffee house on Park Row, March 17th, 1845, when these officers were elected: John C. Stevens, Commodore j Hamilton Wilkes, Vice Commodore ; John C. Jay, Recording Secretary ; George B. Rollins, Corresponding Secretary; Wil- liam Edgar, Treasurer. On July 15th, 1845, the club began the occupancy of its first house, a modest structure built on Commodore Stevens' grounds, on the level shore above Castle Point in Hoboken known as the Elysian Fields. Commodore Stevens was the foremost patron of the club, and its most progressive member through- out his life. He served as commodore of the club until 1854, and was succeeded by William Edgar, who served through 1 855-1858, and he by Edwin A. Stevens, who held the office from i858tol865. Feb. ;6th, 1865, the club was incorporated, "for [2] the purpose of encouraging yacht building and naval architecture, and the cultivation of naval science." In June, 1868, it removed from the house in Ho- boken to one at Clifton, Staten Island. In 1871 it took rooms in the city, on the second floor of a house at Madison Avenue and Twenty-Seventh Street, it having become something of a social organ- ization. In 1876-7 the club was in financial straits, and at a meeting held Feb. i6th, 1877, it was voted, seven to two, to give up the Staten Island house and city quarters, store the models and other property, and wait for better times. Wealthy members saved the club from this step, though the Staten Island house was given up. In May, 1884, the club removed to a house at 27 Madison Avenue, where it remained until Jan. l8th, 1901, when it removed to its present palatial home, 37-41 West Forty-fourth Street near Fifth Avenue. The land on which the club-house stands was given the club by Ex-Commodore J. Pierpont Morgan. The house cost ^350,000 with- out its furnishings, and is the finest yacht-club house in the world. The club has stations of call for the use of its members, at points in New York waters, and on Long Island Sound. In 1 846 its member- ship was 122, and the number of vessels enrolled under its flag was 12. Its membership in 1901 was 1734, and 474 vessels flew its flag, the fleet compris- ing 84 schooners, 10 schooners with auxiliary motors, 120 single-masted vessels and yawls, six single-masted vessels with motors, 229 steamers, and 25 launches. In 1902 1928 members were enrolled and 468 vessels. The officers for 1902 were : Lewis Cass Ledyard, Commodore ; Frederick G. Bourne, Vice Commodore ; C. L. F. Robinson, Rear Commodore ; G. A. Cormack, Secretary, (^-vice J. V. S. Oddie, deceased Jan. i6th, 1902); Tarrant Putnam, Treas- urer ; John Hyslop, measurer ; J. McG. Wood- bury, M. D., fleet surgeon. ^THE AMERICA'S CVP [i^so-issi] John C* and Edwin A. Stevens, those sterling brothers who have been given a niche in the sportsmen's temple of fame as the founders of American yachting, and George L. Schuyler, were its sponsors. America then led the world with her clipper ships and coastwise vessels, while the New York pilot-boats, trim, weatherly little schooners that could sail fast and far through any sort of blow, at- tracted the attention of every captain who came on the coast. The fastest of these vessels were designed by George Steers, a genius destined to leave a stronger imprint on America shipping than any other man of his time. The yard in which he turned out his famous pilot-boats was in Williamsburgh, across the East River from lower New York city, and now a part of the city itself. The year 1850 found George Steers, then thirty years old, pre-eminent among designers of small vessels in the United States, while in New York seafaring men believed nothing afloat of their inches could distance his pilot-boats. In the course of business vicissitudes it happened that George Steers in that year was employed in the yard of William H. Brown, New York's leading shipbuilder, as foreman of the mold loft, work in his own yard across the river being for the time suspended. Mr. Brown, whose yard was at the foot of 12th street. East River, was a builder of ships and steamers, being asso- ciated in various ventures with New York's leading business men. George Steers had never designed such large vessels as Mr, Brown built in his yard, but he had not long been employed there before a plan was arranged which would permit him to exercise his talent by designing a schooner to outdo any he had turned out before. It seems that Steers was not only to design the vessel, but have charge of her construction as well, while Mr. Brown was to supply the means for building her, and attend to the business of selling her. The execution of this plan resulted in the production of the yacht America, as hereinafter appears. The creation of the America was the result of a most happy combination of favorable circumstances. The idea of building * John C. Stevens, first commodore of the than in yachting. He introduced cricket into this New York Yacht Club, was the son of Col. John country, and had a base-ball diamond on his grounds Stevens, a contemporary of Fulton and Livingston, where any club was free to play. He was also a and like them a pioneer in the application of steam gentleman farmer, having a fine place in Dutchess to the propulsion of vessels, he being the inventor County, New York. He was educated at Colum- of the steam screw-propeller. John C. Stevens had bia College, and married Miss Maria Livingston, a three brothers, James, Robert L. and Edwin A. , all famous New York belle, who presided over his three of whom, like himself, were deeply interested household with distinguished grace. They spent a in invention and the development of steam naviga- serenely happy married life of thirty years together, tion. With his brother Robert, John C. Stevens but left no children to inherit their fortune. Mrs. started the first day-line of steamers between New Stevens died in 1855, and Commodore Stevens on York and Albany, in 1827, and throughout his life June loth, 1857, at the age of 72, of enlargement he was interested in building various kinds of steam of the heart, at the homestead of his father. The craft, from ferry boats for the Hudson to floating Castle, in Hoboken, on the banks of the Hudson, batteries, at the Stevens yards in Hoboken. Com- opposite the city of New York. He was sincerely modore Stevens was a liberal patron of art, and was mourned as a gentleman and sportsman of the high- no less active in amateur field sports, and the turf, est honor and widest sympathies. [3] [,850x85.] THE LAWSON HISTORY such a yacht was the result of correspondence that took place in the autumn of 1850 between an English merchant and some New York business men regarding the forthcoming exhibition at London, the Englishman suggesting that one of the famous New York pilot- boats be sent over in the summer of 1851 to sail against the fast schooners of England in the regattas that were to be a feature of the exhibition celebration. The epistle containing this suggestion was shown to George L. Schuyler and John C. Stevens, then the foremost sportsmen in New York. This timely suggestion found these gentlemen prepared to go beyond the letter of the proposi- tion, for they had the man at hand in George Steers, young, talented, and burning with the fire of ambition and the purpose that knows no such word as fail, ready to create for them a vessel that should be finer and faster than any pilot-boat, and in every sense a national champion. The project took shape logically, from one tentative step to another, as most great projects do, informal talks on the subject leading to a written proposal, signed by Mr. Brown, to build a vessel that should be faster than any craft of her size afloat. Although the name of George Steers did not appear in this pro- posal there could have been no doubt of the part he was to play in the creation of the vessel, for he was the only designer in the United States who could put forth such confident assurances for a schooner as those made to the men interested in building the America. His ambition was well known, and his ability in yacht designing had already been demonstrated in the fast centreboard sloop Una,* 46 tons, long champion of her class, which he de- signed and built in 1847 for James M. Waterbury, one of the original members of the New York Yacht Club. George Steers f was personally well known to members of the club, and especially to the Stevens brothers, with whom he had been associated in business pertaining to yacht building and repairs. * Una was a radical departure from the style of York, where he built the first government dry- design for sloops then prevailing, and was a proto- doclc. He also constructed a semaphore telegraph type of the kind of boat made famous forty years system between Sandy Hook and New York, after her by the cup defenders Puritan and May- George Steers grew up in the atmosphere of a ship- flower. She was 65 feet water-line, 17.8 feet beam, yard, and learned his father's trade, as did also three 6.3 feet depth, and 6.5 draft. She was able as of his brothers, James R., Henry T. and Philip, well as fast, and once made the run from New In 1839, when 16 years old, George Steers de- York to Boston in thirty-two hours. She lasted a signed and built his first boat, the Martin Van good half-century, her last days being passed on the Buren, 17 feet long, with which he attracted the lakes, as a schooner. attention of New York sportsmen by defeating the f The talent of George Steers as a designer may champion Gladiator three miles in twenty-four, for be said to have been inherited, for his father was a a prize offered by John C. Stevens. In 1 841 he shipwright of ability and resource. He was a native built a rowboat 30 feet long that weighed but 140 of Devonshire, England, and learned his trade at pounds, and with its crew aboard drew but four the Royal dockyard at Devonport, coming to this inches of water. Racing with rowboats was then country in 1 8 19, and securing employment at the in favor in New York, and this boat was named for Washington navy yard. George, one of thirteen John C. Stevens, who was a leading patron of the children, was born in Washington in 1820. In 1827 sport. In 1 845 George Steers entered into business the elder Steers removed with his family to New with a partner, under the firm name of Hathorne [4] ^ ^ ^ > .5 ^ i K i u C/2 yA .s W tj O C .8 P^ ^ ■1= .■ O s W ■^ 1i Ji o ? «5 o lo ^^ h 1 5 S 1 .e !^ ■S ^ =3 o t2 1^ f^ $: "^ s pq "S > § 5 CQ « td -=0 V.^ h-5 o w ■i^ 1^1 S ^ ^##'t h:i4i -y i ^'1 ^.* v^ ^Ji-H .'^ 1' i>^-^ « ^ -^v l.W'" I- ^THE AMERICA'S CVP ['«so-«8si] Publication of some of the correspondence which passed in the business of building the America led, a few years ago, to con- fusion in the minds of many who read it as to how much credit George Steers should be given for building the vessel. While Willianl H. Brown unquestionably supplied the capital to build her, and nominally stood as builder of the vessel, there can be no doubt she was the creation of George Steers' brain and hand. It is to be noted that full credit for building her was given George Steers by the vessel's owners, in a line engraved on the cup which bears her name, descriptive of the vessel, containing the words : " Built by George Steers of New York, 1851." The correspondence relating to the building and delivery of the America is here published in connected form for the first time. It begins with a formal proposal to build the vessel, as follows : New York, Nov. 15th, 1850. George L. Schuyler, Esq. Dear Sir, — I propose to build for you a yacht of not less than 140 tons custom-house measurement on the following terms : — The yacht to be built in the best manner, coppered, rigged, equipped with joiner's work, cabin and kitchen furniture, table furniture, water closets, etc., etc., ready for sea — you are to designate the plan of the interior of the vessel and select the furniture. The model, plan and rig of the vessel to be entirely at my discretion, it being understood however that she is to be a strong seagoing vessel, and rigged for ocean sailing. For the vessel complete and ready for sea you are to pay me $30,000 upon the following conditions : — When the vessel is ready, she is to be placed at the dis- posal of Hamilton Wilkes, Esq., as umpire, who, after making such trials as are satisfactory to him for the space of 20 days, shall decide whether or not she is faster than any vessel in the United States brought to compete with her. The expense of these trials to be borne by you. If it is decided by the umpire that she is not faster than & Steers, their yard being in Williamsburgh. Here that George Steers designed and built the America he designed and built the pilot-boat Mary Taylor at the at the yard of William H. Brown in New York, beginning of his business career,the principle of her Shortly after the building of the America George design being that which he afterward employed in Steers formed a partnership with his brother James, every craft he laid down — " that for a vessel to under the firm name of J. R. & G. Steers. They sail easily, steadily and rapidly, the displacement revived building at the Williamsburgh yard, and of water must be nearly uniform along her lines." turned out several famous vessels, including the The Mary Taylor was followed by several other fast U. S. frigate Niagara. George Steers was cut off craft. The firm of Hathorne & Steers was dis- at the height of his career, dying in September, solved in 1849, and it was while waiting a proper 1856, at the age of 36 years, from injuries received opportunity to engage again in business for himself by being thrown from a carriage while driving. [5] [.850-1850 THE LAWSON HISTORY every vessel brought against her, it shall not be binding upon you to accept and pay for her at all. In addition to this, if the umpire decides that she is faster than any vessel in the United States, you are to have the right, instead of accepting her at that time, to send her to England, match her against anything of her size built there, and if beaten still to reject her altogether. The expense of the voyage out and home to be borne by you. The test of speed in England to be decided by any mode acceptable to you and consented to by you in writing. Respectfully yours, W. H. Brown. This letter was composed and written by Mr. Schuyler, showing that the details of the plan to build the vessel carne in completed form from himself and his associates, who had thoroughly discussed them before preparing the agreement for Mr. Brown to sign. The building of the vessel was in every sense an indi- vidual enterprise, and in no way a club venture. Those agreeing to take shares in her were George L. Schuyler, John C. and Edwin A. Stevens, Col. James A. Hamilton, J. Beekman Finlay, and Hamilton Wilkes. Mr. Schuyler was the active representa- tive of the associates in their dealings with Mr. Brown, chiefly because he was in closer touch than the others with the builder in business matters, he being engaged in shipping. Mr. Brown's proposal was accepted on the day it was written, the acceptance being written by Mr. Schuyler, undoubtedly at the same sitting as the original proposal, and being as follows : W. H. Brown, EsqR. Dear Sir, — Your proposal to build for me a yacht of not less than 140 tons, custom-house measurement, for $30,000, payable on certain conditions detailed in your letter of the 15th inst., has been submitted by me to some of my friends interested in the subject. The price is high, but in consideration of the liberal and sportsmanlike character of the whole offer, test of speed, etc., we have concluded that such a proposal must not be declined. I therefore accept the proposal, and you will please go ahead without loss of time. I only stipulate as a condition on my part that the yacht must be ready for trial on the first day of April next. Very truly yours, George L. Schuyler. New York, Nov. 15th, 1850. [6] of THE AMERICA'S CVP [.850-1851] Work on the America did not progress as rapidly as the owners and builders had hoped it would, and the vessel was not ready for trial, or even for launching, on the day set in the agree- ment for her delivery, April 1st. Mr. Brown therefore requested an extension of the contract. On April 2d Mr. Schuyler wrote Mr. Brown the following letter : W. H. Brown, EsqR. Dear Sir, — I have this morning laid before the gentlemen associated with me your proposal to renew the contract between us for building a yacht, the time for delivery to be fixed on the 1st of May next. The delay has been one of more consequence to the con- venience of some of these gentlemen than I had supposed. One of them is obliged to sail for Europe on the first of May, and consequently will lose all the trials, and another who is ready to sail at that time is obliged to change all his plans. I propose to continue the contract between us, which ex- pired April 1st, to May 1st, 1851, as the time for the delivery of the vessel, all other conditions to remain as before, providing you consent to the following alterations in your letter of Nov. 15th, 1850: On the first page, after the words, "The expense of these trials to be borne by you," you agree to insert the words, " The vessel to be at my risk as regards loss, or damage from any source." The last clause of your letter to read as follows : " In addition to this, if the umpire decides that she is faster than any vessel in the United States, you are to have the right, instead of accepting her at that time, to send her to England, match her against anything built there, which in your judgment gives her a fair chance in a trial of speed, and, if beaten, reject her altogether ; the expense of the voyage out and home to be borne by you, and the vessel to be at your risk. The test of speed in England above referred to shall be decided by the result of any one or more trials acceptable to you, and to which you, or some person authorized by you, shall have consented in writing." Please answer immediately whether you accept these changes, and if you do, go ahead without loss of time. Yours truly, George L. Schuyler. New York, April 2d, 1851. Mr. Brown accepted the amended conditions, but was unable to deliver the vessel at the stipulated time, though she was launched on the 3d of May. [7] [:85o-.85r] THE LAWSON HISTORY Mr. Schuyler on the 24th of May made a proposal to buy the vessel outright, for two thirds the original price, writing Mr. Brown as follows : W. H. Brown, EsqR. Dear Sir, — So much more time has elapsed than was anticipated by you in completing the yacht America that I fear, if delayed much longer by further trials, the proper season for sending her to England will have passed. The gentlemen interested with me in the contract I have with you have consented that I should make an offer for the vessel as she is, releasing her from further trials and despatching her forthwith. I will give you $20,000 in cash for the yacht, finished as per contract, equipped and ready for sea, to be delivered to me on or before the second day of June next. All expenses of trials, etc., heretofore incurred by you to be paid by you. Yours truly, George L. Schuyler. New York, May 24th, 1851. The trials of the America, referred to in the correspondence here given, were against the Maria,* Commodore Stevens' fast sloop, which, in smooth water in the neighborhood of Sandy Hook, easily outsailed the new schooner. This did not discourage the owners of the America, as she outsailed all other craft quite as easily as the Maria outsailed her, while the Maria was good only in smooth water, and the test with her therefore was not conclusive. The sportsmanship of the owners of the America was such as to rise superior to any discouragement caused by delays in prepa- ration, or apparent lack of the degree of speed they had expected in her. They were sending her abroad without any definite * The Maria was described as being " the fastest had a full, round bow, though with a shallow and yacht afloat." She was about 18 feet longer on easy entrance, in eflTect not unlilce the '•scow" the water-line than the cup racers of the present bow of racers of to-day, her draft at the cutwater day, and held the record throughout her career, and being only 8 inches. Her original lines are said to for many years after its close, as the largest single- have been suggested by those of the North River stick vessel ever built. In equipment she repre- sloop Eliza Ann, which, though not a yacht, sented ideas far in advance of the period in which showed great speed for those days. When launched she flourished, having, among other innovations of the Maria was 9a feet long on deck. In 1850 equipment, hollow spars, outside lead ballast, and she was lengthened by the addition of 1 8 feet to her crosscut sails. The Maria was designed in 1844 bow, which made it long and sharp. Her dimen- by Robert Livingston Stevens, working in con- sions were then ; Length on deck no feet, water- junction with his brothers John C. and Edwin A., line 107.9, beam 26 feet 6 inches, depth 8 feet for whom the vessel was built by William Capes in 4 inches, greatest draft 5 feet 2 inches. Her his yard in Hoboken. She was launched in 1845, centre-board, 24 feet long, with a draft of 20 feet, and began her racing career Oct. 6th, 1846, in the was heavily weighted, and was raised by the aid of first amateur, or Corinthian, regatta of the New strong spiral springs from which one end was sus- York Vacht Club, beating the fleet by an hour over pended. Her outside lead ballast was fixed to the a 40-mile course from the club-house in Hoboken, hull in strips, and covered with copper sheathing, up the Hudson to Fort Washington, and down to the The Maria was heavily sparred, her mast being 92 Narrows and back. As originally built the Maria feet long, and 2 feet 8 inches diameter at the [8] ^ ^ f^ ^ S 5S :i ft a § ^1 t^ s *^ \ ^ op't 3 s' § 1- s h o. > v2- ^ J 1— 1 > a. Jo o i^ c! 1 O! s- > ^ HH S" §. •Z o s> in W 5S > ^ ^ tij '^w ^ Oi 1— 1 Co n ^ > ^THE AMERICA'S CVP [«8so-.8si] engagements, for no races were arranged for her before her departure from this side of the ocean. She was merely to go for such glory and trophies as it might be reasonably expected she would find in England during the World's Fair season. That a hospitable reception would be granted the Yankee craft and crew there was no question, for in March Commodore Stevens had received the following letter from the Earl of Wilton, Com- modore of the Royal Yacht Squadron : 7 Grosvenor SquARE, London, Feb. 22nd, 1851. Sir, — Understanding from Sir H, Bulwer that a few of the members of the New York Yacht Club are building a schooner which it is their intention to bring over to England this summer, I have taken the liberty of writing to you in your capacity of Commodore, to request you to convey to those members, and any friends that may accompany them on board the yacht, an invitation on the part of myself and the mem- bers of the Royal Yacht Squadron to become visitors of the Club House at Cowes during their stay in England. For myself, I may be permitted to say that I shall have great pleasure in extending to your countrymen any civility that lies in my power, and shall be very glad to avail myself of any improvements in shipbuilding that the industry and skill of your nation have enabled you to elaborate. I remain, Sir, Your obdt servt., Wilton, Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron. deck. For the first ao feet it was bored out to a Commodore Stevens delighted to sail the great diameter of 12 inches, in the next 20 feet to 10 sloop, and was a familar figure to frequenters of New inches, and the rest of the way to 7 inches. Her York Bay, standing at her helm, his broad-brimmed mainboom was 95 feet long and hollow, being made hat flapping in the wind, and his face alight with of white oak staves, dowelled and hooped with iron, animation as he watched his vessel bowl along, pass- strengthened with inside trusses, and outside rods ing even steamers who tried conclusions with her. and struts, and nearly nine feet in circumference The commodore was fond of entertaining his friends in its thickest part. Her gaflp was 61 feet long, on the Maria, whose pennant, he proudly boasted, and bowsprit 38 feet outboard, entering the hull "flew 150 feet above the waves," — and he often below decks. The area of her mainsail was 5790 took half a hundred at a time down the bay for a square feet, and of her jib 2100 square feet, making sail, serving them with a frugal spread of fish chow- a total working sail-spread of 7890 square feet, der, cooked in her galley, and washed down with She had a small working- topsail, but it was rarely something cheering. The Maria is said to have set. On her mainsheet traveller was a rubber com- cost the Stevens brothers in all about ^100,000. pressor to take up strain, the first one used on a She was frequently altered and improved, and always yacht. She steered with a 12-foot tiller, and to represented advanced ideas. Owing to the size prevent her from yawing when off the wind she had of her sail-spread she was dismasted several times, a small centre-board aft. The Maria rarely met She was finally rigged as a schooner, and in the defeat, and it was claimed for her that in smooth 6o's was sold, and renamed Maud. She then en- water with a strong breeze she sometimes logged gaged in the fruit trade between New York and " nearly 17 knots," which may have been rather a Honduras ports, and in October 1870, when bound strong claim. In the trials with the America she for New York with a cargo of cocoanuts, she was is said to have sailed completely around the schooner lost at sea, with all hands. The Maria affords an three times in a short distance. She was essentially interesting basis for comparative study of the progress a smooth-water boat, and in heavy weather was no made in racing sloops. Her memory should ever match for the America or any other smart schooner, be kept green by American yachtsmen. [9] [.850-.8S.] THE LAWSON HISTORY To this letter Commodore Stevens replied as follows : New York, March 26th, 1851. My Lord, — I regret that an accident prevented the re- ception of your letter until after the packet of the 12th had sailed. I take the earliest opportunity offered to convey to the gentlemen of the Royal Yacht Squadron, and to yourself, the expression of our warmest thanks for your invitation to visit the Club House at Cowes. Some four or five friends and myself have a yacht on the stocks which we hope to launch in the course of two or three weeks. Should she answer the sanguine expectations of her builder and fulfil the stipulations he has made, we propose to avail ourselves of your friendly bidding and take with a good grace the sound thrashing we are likely to get by venturing our longshore craft on your rough waters. I fear the energy and experi- ence of your persevering yachtsmen will prove an overmatch for the industry and skill of their aspiring competitors. Should the schooner fail to meet the expectations of her builder, not the least of our regrets will be to have lost the opportunity of personally thanking the gentlemen of the Royal Yacht Squadron and yourself for your considerate kindness. With the hope that we may have the pleasure of recipro- cating a favor so frankly bestowed, I remain your lordship's most obedient servant, John C. Stevens, Commodore New York Yacht Club. Much interest was manifested by New York merchants and seamen in the America, which was the finest schooner they had ever seen. The following description of the vessel appeared in the Spirit of the Times shortly before her departure for England : " She is 95 feet from stem to stern, 80 feet keel, 23 feet amidships, and her measurement is 180 tons [correctly 170^%5 tons]. She draws 11 feet of water in sailing trim. Her spars are respectively 19% and 81 feet long, with 2%\h.. inches rake to the foot ; her main-gaff is 26 feet long, her main-boom 58 feet. She carries a lug foresail, with fore-gaff 24 feet long ; length of bowsprit 32 feet. Her frame is composed of five different species of wood, namely, white oak, locust wood, cedar, chestnut, and hackmatack, and is supported by diagonal iron braces equal dis- tant from each other four feet. From stem to amidships the curve [of shear] is scarcely perceptible, her gunwales being nearly straight lines, and forming with each other an angle of about 25 degrees. The cutwater is a prolongation of the vessel [10] of THE AMERICA'S CVP ['^so-issi] herself, there being no addition of false wood as is usual in most of the sharpest-bowed craft of similar description. ' ' Her sides are planked with white oak three inches thick ; the deck with yellow pine 2^ inches thick ; three streaks of the clamps are of yellow pine three inches thick ; the deck beams are also of yellow pine ; all the combings are of the finest description of mahogany ; the rails, which are composed of white oak, are 14 inches high, 6 inches wide, and 3 inches thick. She is copper- fastened throughout, and copper-sheathed from keel to 6 inches above the water line, making 11 feet and a half in all. Her sides are painted of a uniform lead color, and her inside pure white. There is an open gangway extending the whole length from the extreme points of the after and fore cabins. " The fore cabin is a spacious and elegantly fitted up apart- ment, 21 feet by 18 feet clear, on each side of which are six neat lockers and china rooms ; it contains six commodious berths. Adjoining the cabin are two large staterooms, each 8 feet square, with wardrobes and water-closets attached ; between them and the fore cabin there are two other staterooms, joining which are a wash-room and pantry, each 8 feet. The fore cabin is venti- lated by a circular skylight about 12 feet in circumference, and it contains fifteen berths. Directly under the cockpit, which is 30 feet in circumference, and which forms the entrance to the after cabin, there is a tastefully fitted up bathroom on the starboard side, and on the larboard side a large clothes-room. Farther aft under the cockpit is the sail-room. " She has a plain raking stern adorned with a large gilt eagle resting upon two folded white banners, garnished with beautiful flowers of a green color." An English description of the America stated that ' ' Her saloons are finished in carved rosewood, polished rosewood, polished American walnut, and green silk velvet." Racing sails were made for the America by R. H. Wilson of New York. Her three lower sails had a spread of 5263 feet. A draft of her sail plan, from the original of the sail-maker, is presented here. The America was fitted for her voyage across the Atlantic with sails belonging to the pilot-boat Mary Taylor. She carried forty-five tons of ballast, her racing canvas and gear were stowed in her hold, she was well provisioned, and, according to the cus- toms of the times she carried a stock of liquor for regular con- sumption, and with which to drink the healths of victors and vanquished on the other side.* On the 17th of June the America's * The late W. T. Porter, for many years editor in connection with the America's voyage to Eng- of the Spirit of the Times, and a friend of Commodore land : Stevens, is the author of the following anecdote *' Before the America sailed Mr. Steven* placed [11] [X8SO-I8S.] THE LAWSON HISTORY certificate of registry was issued at the New York custom-house. It was as follows : "Register 290, June 17th, 1851: William H. Brown, master, builder and sole owner of the yacht schooner America. Built in New York in 1851. Length 93 feet six inches, breadth 22 feet six inches, depth 9 feet, measurement 170, 50-95ths tons." The America was delivered to her owners next day, was ready for sea on June 20th, and sailed the next morning for Havre. She carried but six men before the mast. Capt. ' Dick" Brown, a Sandy Hook pilot, part OAvner of the Mary Taylor, was sailing- master, and Nelson Comstock mate. Messrs. George Steers, James R. Steers, and young Henry Steers, the latter's son, aged 15, went as passengers, and helped on occasion to work ship or stand watch. The total ship's company, with cook and boy, num- bered thirteen. Commodore Stevens, Edwin A. Stevens and George L. Schuyler purposed joining the yacht in France, but as Mr. Schuyler was prevented almost at the last moment from go- ing. Col. Hamilton, his father-in-law, went in his place, crossing the ocean, as did the Messrs. Stevens, by steamer. Incidents of the America's voyage across the Atlantic, which was made in 17/^ days, are especially interesting, as she was the first yacht to cross the ocean in either direction. The only facts concerning the voyage that have been preserved are contained in a personal journal, or log, kept by James R. Steers. This book came into the possession of James W. Steers, son of George Steers, of Brooklyn, and is still in his family. There is a droll humor shown in parts of the log, which begins with the following entry on June 21st, 1850 : Left the foot of 12th Street 8 a.m. Nine o'clock took steamer and towed out of the East River. Eleven o'clock, 10 miles out, parted with our friends. One o'clock George Gibbons came on board, with ofiicers. One o'clock and 12 minutes the steamer Pacific [one of the early Atlantic liners] passed us and gave us nine cheers and two guns, which were returned by us with as good heart as given. At 3 o'clock passed Sandy Hook bar going 11 knots. At 10 o'clock p. m. rather squeamish ; Captain, second mate and carpenter took a little brandy, say about 10 drops." on board two dozen of the celebrated Bingham wine, cranny in the vessel, so that when he sold her, derived from the cellars of the late Mr. Bingham of without his knowledge the wine went with her. Philadelphia, father of the wife of the late English He presumed that through some oversight it must minister to the United States, Lord Ashburton. It have been taken ashore, and never discovered the was more than half a century old, and the Commo- mistake until his return home, when he immediately dore designed to drink it to the health of Her wrote Lord de Blaquiere [then owner of the Majesty. It would appear that the Commodore's America] that if he would look in a certain hidden excellent wife in ' setting to rights ' various little locker in the America he would find some wine matters in relation to the outfit of the America, ' worth double the price of her,' of course making concealed these two dozen of Madeira in a secret him a present of it." [12] GEORGE STEERS From a ivoodciil. ^THE AMERICA'S CVP [x^so-.ssi] Having thus conscientiously recorded the extent of his ship- mates' indulgence, Mr. Steers entered into nautical data, with frequent references to the cuisine of the ship. On June 22d he put down : ' ' Set the square-sail, or Big Ben, the Captain calls it." On that day the vessel made 284 knots, the best 24-hours' run of the voyage. Two days later she made 276 knots in 24 hours, The log for that day reads : " Commenced with light breeze. Passed a ship with a large Cross in her fore topsail. Was not near enough to speak. Had for dinner to-day a beautiful piece of Roast Beef, and green peas, rice pudding for dessert. Everything set, and the way she passed everything we saw was enough to surprise everybody on board." On June 26th they had "good winds, roast turkey, and brandy and water to top off with," and made 254 knots. The next day, with light winds, the run was 144 knots. Mr. Steers wrote of the America on this day : ' ' She is the best sea boat that ever went out of the Hook. The way we have passed every vessel we have seen must be witnessed to be believed." The following day he wrote : ' ' The Captain said that she sails like the wind. We saw the British bark Clyde of Liver- pool, right ahead about 10 o'clock, and at 6 p. m. she was out of sight astern." The record of the next two days was 150 and 152 knots respectively. The entry in the log contains this plaint : "Thick, foggy, with rain. I don't think it ever rained harder since Noah floated his ark." But there seemed to be a solace, for the entry continues : " Had to-day fried ham and eggs, boiled corned beef, smashed potatoes, with rice pudding for dessert." The dinner may not have agreed with the writer's stomach, for this line follows: "Should I live to get home this will be my last sea trip." The record for the next day was 129 knots. Mr. Steers wrote : " This is the first day the sun has shone, and that only half day ; it will rain again before night." Wednesday, July 2d, the record was 209 knots. The log states : "At two p. M. unbent the large jib and bent the small one. It looks like a shirt on a beanpole. Passed a clipper brig going the same way, and passed her faster than she was going ahead." Then, "our cook is not a very good caterer," sadly adds the chronicler. The fact that "there was a heavy head sea on, and the ship was making the water fly some," may have affected the writer's views. The distance covered July 3d was 219 knots, and on July 4th 179. For three days following only 147 knots were made, [13] [IBS0-I8SX] THE LAWSON HISTORY owing to baffling winds. On July 8th the run was 223 knots, and on the 9th 272. This entry appears on the 8th : "Our liquor is all but gone." And on the following day it is recorded that ' ' we had to break open one of the boxes marked ' rum ' [of Commodore Stevens' private stock] , as George [Steers] had the belly-ache, and all of our own was consumed ; but we were not going to starve in a market place. So we took four bottles out, and I think that will last us." On July 10th the log records: "Fresh breezes and squalls. Three square-rigged ships ahead of us. He [the captain] made them out about 10 a.m., and they have got everything set that they can carry, but we are picking them up fast. The scene is very exciting." Who with love of the sea in his blood cannot imagine it ? The record for that day was 250 knots, and for July 11th, 166, from midnight to 8 p.m., when Havre was reached. After the arrival of the vessel at Havre Mr. Steers' journal deals almost exclusively with personal matters, and sightseeing, there being nothing in it of value in the way of data about the vessel. The Stevens brothers and Col. Hamilton were in France two weeks ahead of the America, and passed most of their time while waiting for the yacht in Paris. Col. Hamilton, in his "Reminiscences," (Scribners, 1869,) throws a most interesting side-light on the sentiment with which Americans then in France looked forward to the America's approaching test against English vessels. He says : " Such was the want of confidence of our countrymen in our success, that I was earnestly urged by Mr. William C. Rives, the American Minister, and Mr. Sears, of Boston, not to take the vessel over, as we were sure to be defeated. My friend, Mr. H. Greeley, who had been at the Exhibition in London, meeting me in Paris, was most urgent against our going. He went so far as to say : ' The eyes of the world are on you ; you will be beaten, and the country will be abused, as it has been in connec- tion with the Exhibition.' I replied, ' We are in for it, and must go.' He replied, 'Well, if you do go, and are beaten, you had better not return to your country.' This awakened me to the deep and extended interest our enterprise had excited, and the responsibility we had assumed. It did not, however, induce us to hesitate. I remembered that our packet-ships had outrun theirs, and why should not this schooner, built upon the best model?" Col. Hamilton adds : "In Paris we took means to obtain the best wines and all other luxuries to enable us to entertain our guests in the most sumptuous manner." [ 14 ] COMMODORE JOHN C. STEVENS From a portrait in oils, by Charles Loring Elliott ( 1812-1868), in the Stevens mansion at Castle Point, Hoboken. Used by courtesy of E. A. Stevens. ^^B ^^^ of THE AMERICA'S CVP [^^s-'^si] While at Havre the America was fitted out for racing in England. Her hull was here given a smart coat of black, — she wore her prime-coat of gray up to this time, — her racing sails were bent, and she was made ready in every way for the work ahead of her, though she was not put in racing trim until after her arrival in England. The purpose of fitting out in a French port was to avoid giving Englishmen too much opportunity to study the vessel before she began her racing. This precaution availed little, as events tran- spired, for a brush with a fast English cutter on the America's first morning in English waters showed what the " glorified pilot- boat," as an English writer not inaptly called her, could do. With her first performance in The Solent the history of inter- national yacht-racing gloriously began. [15] [>«si] THE LAWSON HISTORY THE AMERICA WINS A ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON CUP, AND "THERE IS NO SECOND:" 185 1. CHAPTER II. \HE America, with John C. and Edwin A. Stevens on board, left Havre for England on Thursday- July 31st, 1851, and arriving in The Solent that night worked up to about six miles below Cowes, where she anchored, the weather being thick. Commodore Stevens thus described the scene on the America's first morning in English waters, in a speech delivered at a dinner tendered him and his associates at the Astor House, New York, October 2d, 1851 : "In the morning the tide was against us, and it was dead calm. At nine o'clock a gentle breeze sprung up, and with it came gliding down the Laverock, one of the newest and fastest cutters of her class. ' ' The news spread like lightning that the Yankee clipper had arrived, and the Laverock had gone down to show her the way up. The yachts and vessels in the harbor, the wharves, and windows of all the houses bordering on them were filled with spectators, watching with eager eyes the eventful trial. They saw we could not escape, for the Laverock stuck to us, some- times lying-to and sometimes tacking round us, evidently showing she had no intention of quitting us. We were loaded with extra sails, with beef and pork and bread enough for an East India voyage, and were four or five inches too deep in the water. We got up our sails with heavy hearts ; the wind had increased to a five- or six-knot breeze, and after waiting until we were ashamed to wait longer, we let her [the Laverock] go about two hundred, yards, and then started in her wake. " I have seen and been engaged in many exciting trials at sea and on shore. I made the match with the horse Eclipse against Sir Henry, and had heavy sums both for myself and my friends depending on the result. I saw Eclipse lose the first heat and four-fifths of the second without feeling one-hundredth part of the responsibility, and without feeling one-hundredth part of the trepi- dation I felt at the thought of being beaten by the Laverock in this eventful trial. During the first five minutes not a sound was heard save, perhaps, the beating of our anxious hearts or the slight ripple of the water upon her [the America's] swordlike stem. The captain was crouched down upon the floor of the [16] < K (J s 4—4 ?. Pi -^ w § ^ 1 < ■V4 -^ w 1 tc ^ H 1. >3 ^ s 5; 5^ t;-S ^THE AMERICA'S CVP C'^^.] cockpit, his seemingly unconscious hand upon the tiller, with his stern, unaltering gaze upon the vessel ahead. The men were motionless as statues, their eager eyes fastened upon the Laverock with a fixedness and intensity that seemed almost supernatural. The pencil of an artist might, perhaps, convey the expression, but no words can describe it. It could not and did not last long. We worked quickly and surely to windward of her wake. The crisis was past ; and some dozen of deep-drawn sighs proved that the agony was over. ' ' We came to an anchor a quarter or perhaps a third of a mile ahead, and twenty minutes after our anchor was down the Earl of Wilton and his family were on board to welcome us, and intro- duce us to his friends. To himself and family, to the Marquis of Anglesey and his son, Lord Alfred Paget, to Sir Bellingham Graham, and a host of other noblemen and gentlemen, were we indebted for a reception as hospitable and frank as ever was given to prince or peasant." That the speedy stranger, whose model and rig were new to them, should cause consternation among the English yachtsmen, whose title to yachting leadership had never been questioned, was but natural. The London Times compared the agitation caused among them by the America, after she had shown Laverock her quality, to that which ' ' the appearance of a sparrowhawk in the horizon creates among a flock of woodpigeons or skylarks." The Englishmen were free, though not entirely unfriendly, in their criticisms of the America. One writer described her as follows : "A big-boned skeleton she might be called, but no phantom. Hers are not the tall, delicate, graceful spars with cobweb tracery of cordage scarcely visible against the gray and threatening even- ing sky, but hardy stocks, prepared for work and up to anything that can be put upon them. Her hull is very low ; her breadth of beam considerable, and the draught of water peculiar, — six feet forward and eleven feet aft. Her ballast is stowed in her sides about her water-lines, and as she is said to be nevertheless deficient in headroom between decks her form below the water- line must be rather curious. She carries no foretopmast, being apparently determined to do all her work with large sheets." So shy were English yacht owners of the America that Com- modore Stevens' challenges for her, posted in the Royal Yacht Squadron's* club-house, remained untaken. * The Royal Yacht Squadron, England's lead- mond. The squadron draws the social line strictly, ing yacht club, was formed in i8ia. Its member- and in yachting matters is extremely conservative, ship includes many persons of title. His Majesty Its present quarters in Cowes Castle have been occu- Edward VII. was its commodore on his accession to pied by it since 1856. The castle is an historic the throne, being succeeded by the Marquis of Or- fort, built in the time of Henry VIII., for the pro- [17] z ['«sx] THE LAWSON HISTORY The first of these was sent to the Earl of Wilton, Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron, by Commodore Stevens, on August 2d, "after waiting a reasonable time for a proposal for a race," to quote Col. Hamilton. It was as follows: The New York Yacht Club, in order to test the relative merits of the different models of the schooners of the old and the new world, propose through Commodore Stevens, to the Royal Yacht Squadron, to run the yacht America against any number of schooners belonging to any of the Yacht Squadrons of the Kingdom, to be selected by the Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron, the course to be over some part of the English Channel outside the Isle of Wight, with at least a six-knot breeze. This trial of speed to be made at an early day to be selected by the Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron. And if on that day there shall not be at least a six-knot breeze, then, on the first day thereafter that such a breeze shall blow. On behalf of the New York Yacht Club, John C. Stevens, CowES, August 2, 1851. Commodore. To this challenge the following answer was received : The Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a proposition from the New York Yacht Club, to run the yacht America against any number of schooners belonging to the Yacht Clubs of the Kingdom upon certain conditions. He will take the earliest opportunity to acquaint the proprietors of schooners through- out the kingdom of the proposed trial, but as there are a great many Yacht Clubs in Great Britain and Ireland, some little time must necessarily elapse before answers can be received. The members generally of the Royal Yacht Squadron are greatly interested in testing the relative merits of the differ- ent models of the old and new world without restriction as to rig or otherwise, and with this view have offered a cup, to be sailed for by vessels of all rigs and nations on the 13th in- stant. It would be a subject to them of the highest gratifi- cation to hear that the America had entered as a competitor on the occasion. ^tt W ILTON, Commodore of the R. Y. Squadron. Royal Yacht Squadron House, August 8, 1851. tection of the Medina River. 1111851 the club was 1843 to the end of her reign. These cups were quartered at the Gloucester hotel, at West Cowes. sailed for over a fixed course, known as the Queen's The Royal Yacht Squadron received its first royal cup course, from a starting-point off Cowes, to and cup to be sailed for in 1830 from William IV. around the Nab light, and to and around a mark Victoria presented it with a trophy each year from off Lymington, thence home, about sixty miles. [18] of THE AMERICA'S CVP C'«s.] To this communication, Commodore Stevens made the follow- ing reply: Yacht America, August 9, 1851. Mt/ Lard, — I had the honor yesterday to receive your communication of the 8th inst., in which you inform me in reply to the proposition of the New York Yacht Club to run the America against any schooners belonging to any of the Yacht Clubs of this Kingdom, that you will take the earliest opportunity to acquaint the proprietors of such schooners of the proposed trial, and in which you invite me to enter the America as a competitor for the cup to be sailed for at the regatta on the 13th inst. I beg leave in reply to say that as the period of my visit is necessarily limited, and as much time may be consumed awaiting to receive answers from the pro- prietors of schooners (without intending to withdraw that proposition) , and although it is my intention to enter for the cup, provided I am allowed to sail the America in such manner as her rig requires : yet as the issue of a regatta is not always a test of the merits of the vessels engaged in it, I now pro- pose to run the yacht America against any cutter, schooner, or vessel of any other rig of the Royal Yacht Squadron, relinquishing any advantage which your rule admits is due to a schooner from a cutter, but claiming the right to sail the America in such manner, by such booming out, as her raking masts require ; the course to be in the English Channel with not less than a six-knot breeze ; the race to come off on some day before the 17th instant ; the distance to be not less than twenty nor over seventy miles out and back, and in such a direction as to test the qualities of the vessels before and by the wind. Although it would be most agreeable to me that this race should be for a cup of limited value, yet if it is preferred, I am willing to stake upon the issue any sum not to exceed ten thousand guineas. I have the honor to be, your Lordship's obedient servant, John C. Stevens. P. S. As I have offered to enter the America for the prize to be given by the Royal Yacht Squadron on the 13th instant, it is desirable that I should receive an answer before that day. A possible stake of 10,000 guineas was, to quote an entry of Aug. 11th in James Steers' journal, " a staggerer " to the English yachtsmen. On the same day Mr. Steers recorded : " We went out and sailed under our mainsail and jib and beat everything we fell in with at that." [19] [•«5.] THE LAWSON HISTORY Mr. Steers states that the America was to have sailed ' ' in the Ryde Yacht Club regatta " [doubtless the Royal Victoria of Ryde was meant] , but that she was barred out, because ' ' accord- ing to standing rules every yacht has to be the sole property of one individual." He records, " This made us downhearted," and adds that Commodore Stevens [whom he refers to here and elsewhere familiarly as " Johnnie," *] went a.shore and " wrote a third and last challenge to sail any vessel six hours to windward and back, wind to blow six knots and upwards, for £10,000." "On going ashore," wrote Mr. Steers, "I saw Mr. Bates, the secretary of the club, who told me it was accepted by the Southampton Yacht Club, to sail the Alarm against us." An answer to Commodore Stevens' letter of the 9th was not re- ceived before the 13th, and the America did not sail in the regatta that day, though she went out to show her paces to the racers, among which was the Alarm. To quote Mr. Steers again, the America followed the racers under jib and mainsail, "and, as I hope to sleep to-night, we kept up with the Alarm with that sail." It may have been because of this, or for other reasons, that no race was obtained with the Alarm. On the 15th there were two races, one for schooners and another for cutters, for cups valued at £50. The America went over part of the course. " When we started," wrote Mr. Steers, "the race boats were at least three miles ahead of us. We beat the whole fleet of about fifty sail about one third of the way." At Cowes, on the following Monday, he wrote: "We put after the racers, who were about three miles ahead of us. We passed them all in one hour 38 minutes' sailing." There was a great stir among the conservatives of the Royal Yacht Squadron over Commodore Stevens' challenge, but a prompt reply to it was not forthcoming, although the air was filled with talk of matches. The following letter from Col. Hamilton to Lord Desart throws some light on the situation on the 15th: Club House, Cowes, Yacht America, August 15, 1851, 10 o'clock a. m. My Lord^ — I have communicated to Commodore Stevens your wish that he should make a friendly trial with the Armenia and Constance to-day. I am authorized by Com- modore Stevens to say, he will be most happy to make such a trial with these or any other vessels of the Royal Yacht * The writer draws an amusing word-picture of vigorous language " where in his liquor goes," Commodore Stevens sitting on the cabin floor of to which query the steward replied that he does not the America, after her arrival in England, counting know, " unless the Mr. Steers had taken some over his bottles of rum, and asking the steward in of it." [20] AN ENGLISH SAIL PLAN OF 1851 THE AMERICA'S ORIGINAL SAIL PLAN YiA.: of THE AMERICA'S CVP ['«s>] Squadron, whenever his proposal of the 9th inst. may be accepted or rejected. I have the honor to be, your Lordship's obedient servant, James A. Hamilton. On the 16th Commodore Stevens, despairing of obtaining an individual match for the America, entered the vessel for the Royal Yacht Squadron regatta to be sailed Aug. 22d, by sending the following note to John Bates, Esqr., R. N., secretary of the Royal Yacht Squadron: Dear Sir, — Will you do me the favor to enter the America for the Royal Yacht Squadron Regatta to come off on the 22d inst. The fact that this vessel is owned by more than one person is so well known as to render it almost unneces- sary to state it ; yet I do so when she is entered, to avoid the possibility of seeming to contravene the rules of the Royal Yacht Squadron. Allow me further to say, in reference to others who may be disposed to be competitors, that should there be little or no wind on that day, this vessel will probably not sail. With respect, your obedient servant John C. Stevens. While the challengers were waiting for their proposal for an individual match to be taken, and the correspondence here given was passing, the British press kept up a spirited fire of comment. The LondonTimes spurred on the fainthearted yachtsmen of Britain by saying it could not be imagined that England would ' ' allow the illustrious stranger to return to the New World with the proud boast that she had flung down the gauntlet to England, Ireland, and Scotland, and that not one had been found to take it up." The Times pointed out that no disgrace would attach to defeat, ' ' but if she be permitted to sail back to New York with her challenge unaccepted, and can nail up under it, as it is fastened on one of her beams, that no one dare touch it, then there will be some question as to the pith and courage of our men." Although the performance of the America showed her to be without question superior, and vastly so, to any vessel in the Solent fleet, there at last appeared one English yacht-owner with pluck enough to make a match with her. He was Robert Stephenson, and he arranged to sail his hundred-ton schooner Titania against the America twenty miles from the Nab light and back, for £100. Titania was new, with the defect of having her spars set too far forward, and she was not a champion craft, such as Commodore Stevens wanted to sail against. Her owner appears [21] [X8S0 THE LAWSON HISTORY to have agreed to race her against the Yankee schooner more to sustain the reputation of British yachtsmen for courage than from any great hope of winning. Anticipating the order of events, it may be said that the race between the America and Titania was sailed August 28th, in a strong breeze, the course being laid to leeward. The Earl of Wilton's yacht Xarifa was stakeboat, being anchored off the Nab. The America distanced Titania, beating her 52 m. , chiefly in windward work, although the jaws of the America's fore-gaff were carried away, and much time was lost while splicing the gaff and in favoring the broken spar in the severe thresh to windward. Col. Hamilton estimated that at the finish Titania was seven miles astern of the America. Mr. Stephenson's example had a salutary effect, for while his trial against the America was pending Mr. Woodhouse, owner of the schooner Gondola, proposed a match between his yacht and the America, to come off in October, from Cowes round the Eddystone lighthouse and back to Cowes, for £100 or £200. To this proposal Commodore Stevens sent the following reply : Yacht America, August 26. Sir, — I regret extremely that it is not in my poM^^er to oblige you, as I propose to leave Cowes immediately after the match with the Titania is decided. To afford you, however, an opportunity to try the speed of the Gondola, I propose (the Royal Yacht Squadron consenting) that you make the trial at sea on the same day, and at the same time, and on the same course with the Titania and the America. As a further inducement to you to make this trial, I will wager £1,000 against £200, the America beats the Gondola. With respect, I am your obedient servant, John C. Stevens. The owner of Gondola did not appear with his vessel on the day of the America's race with Titania. The story of the regatta in which the America won the cup that bears her name is now, in substance at least, a classic in American yachting literature, though no extended accounts of it were printed here at the time. There is no reference to it in the journal of Mr. James R. Steers, as he started for home by steamer two days before the race took place. Col. Hamilton in his ' ' Reminiscences ' ' refers to it briefly. As the cable had not then linked the old and new worlds, and steamers were twelve days in crossing the Atlantic, the American newspapers, — that in these times print daily columns of cabled news on events across the water, — gave the race but a brief, and necessarily tardy men- [22] of THE AMERICA'S CVP [1851] tion, clipped from London exchanges. Probably the best account of the regatta appeared in the London Illustrated News^ written beyond question by an eye-witness. As it is better than any re-written account could be possibly, it is here given in full : "The race at Cowes, on Friday se'nnight, for the Royal Yacht Squadron cup of £100, furnished our yachtsmen with an opportunity of ' realizing,' as our trans-Atlantic brethren would say, what those same dwellers beyond the ocean can do afloat in competition with ourselves. None doubted that the America was a very fast sailer, but her powers had not been measured by the test of an actual contest. Therefore, when it became known that she was entered amongst the yachts to run for the cup on Friday, the most intense interest was manifested by all classes, from the highest to the humblest, who have thronged in such masses this season to the Isle of Wight ; and even Her Majesty and the court felt the influence of the universal curiosity which was excited to see how the stranger, of whom such great things were said, should acquit herself on the occasion. The race was, in fact, regarded as a sort of trial heat, from which some antici- pation might be formed of the result of the great international contest to which the owners of the America have challenged the yachtsmen of England, and which Mr. R. Stephenson, the eminent engineer, has accepted, by backing his own schooner, the Titania, against the America. "The following yachts were entered. They were moored in a double line. No time allowed for tonnage : Name, Beatrice . Volante . Arrow Wyvern . lone . Constance Titania Gipsy Queen . Alarm Mona America . Brilliant . . Bacchante Freak Stella . . . Eclipse Fernande . Aurora . Class. Tons. Schooner i6i Cutter 48 Cutter 84 Schooner 205 Schooner 75 Schooner ai8 Schooner 100 Schooner 160 Cutter 193 Cutter 82 Schooner 170 j-mast-schooner . . . 39a Cutter 80 Cutter 60 Cutter 65 Cutter 50 Schooner 127 Cutter 47 Sir W. P. Carew. Mr. J. L. Crag-e. Mr. T. Chamberlayne. The Duke of Marlborough. Mr. A. Hill. The Marquis of Conyngham. Mr. R. Stephenson. Sir H. B. Hoghton. Mr. J. Weld. Lord A. Paget. Mr. J. C. Stevens, et als. Mr. G. Ackers. Mr. B. H. Jones. Mr. W. Curling. Mr. R. Frankland. Mr. H. S. Fearon. Major Marty n. Mr. T. Le Merchant. "Among the visitors on Friday were many strangers, — Frenchmen en route for Havre, Germans in quiet wonderment at the excitement around them, and Americans already triumphing in the anticipated success of their countrymen. The cards con- taining the names and colors of the yachts describe the course [23] ['«5i] THE LAWSON HISTORY merely as being ' round the Isle of Wight ; ' the printed pro- gramme stated that it was to be ' round the Isle of Wight, inside Norman's buoy and Sandhead buoy, and outside the Nab.' The distinction gave rise, at the close of the race, to questioning the America's right to the cup, as she did not sail outside the Nab Light; but this objection was not persisted in, and the, Messrs. Stevens were presented with the cup. "At 9.55 the preparatory gun was fired from the Club-house battery, and the yachts were soon sheeted from deck to topmast with clouds of canvas, huge gaff-topsails and balloon -jibs being greatly in vogue, and the America evincing her disposition to take advantage of her new jib by hoisting it with all alacrity. The whole flotilla not in the race were already in motion, many of them stretch- ing down towards Osborne and Ryde to get good start of the clippers. Of the list above given the Titania and the Stella did not start, and the Fernande did not take her station (the latter was twice winner in 1850, and once this year ; the Stella won once last year) . Thus only fifteen started, of which seven were schooners, including the Brilliant (three-masted schooner), and eight were cutters. "At 10 o'clock the signal gun for sailing was fired, and before the smoke had well cleared away the whole of the beautiful fleet was under way, moving steadily to the east with the tide and a gentle breeze. The start was effected splendidly, the yachts breaking away like a field of race-horses ; the only laggard was the America, which did not move for a second or so after the others. Steamers, shore-boats, and yachts of all sizes buzzed along on each side of the course, and spread away for miles over the rippling sea, — a sight such as the Adriatic never beheld in all the pride of Venice ; such, beaten though we are, as no other country in the world could exhibit ; while it is confessed that anything like it was never seen, even here, in the annals of yachting. "Soon after they started a steamer went off" from the roads, with the members of the sailing committee, Sir B. Graham, Bart., the Earl of Wilton, Commodore, and the following gentlemen: Lord Exmouth, Captain Lyon, Mr. A. Fontaine, Captain Ponsonby, Captain Corry, Messrs. Harvey, Leslie, Greg, and Reynolds. The American Minister, Mr. Abbott Lawrence, and his son. Col. Lawrence, attache to the American legation, arrived too late for the sailing of the America, but were accommodated on board the steamer, and went around the island in her ; and several steamers, chartered by private gentlemen or for excursion trips, also accom- panied the match. "The Gipsy Queen, with all her canvas set, and in the strength of the tide, took the lead after starting, with the Beatrice [24] w -^ m ^ \ t) "$ C i> u ■5 o Co' S A •vT Q < -. ^ a ■*." en N v^ h 5^' X 1 o e ^ ■^ "^ kJ < > ^ o i- Pi ?; <£ i H is' ■>,■ ^THE AMERICA'S CVP i^'s^i next, and then, with little difference in order, the Volante, Con- stance, Arrow, and a flock of others. The America went easily for some time under mainsail (with a small gaff"-top-sail of a tri- angular shape braced up to the truck of the short and slender stick which serves as her main-top-mast) , foresail, fore-stay-sail, [jib] and jib [flying jib] ; while her opponents had every cloth set that the Club regulations allow. She soon began to creep upon them, passing some of the cutters to the windward. In a quarter of an hour she had left them all behind, except the Constance, Beatrice, and Gipsy Queen, which were well together, and went along smartly with the light breeze. The yachts were timed off No Man's Land buoy, and the character of the race at this moment may be guessed from the result : " Volante, llh. 7 m. Os. ; Freak, 11 h. 8 m. 20 s. ; Aurora, 11 h. 8 m. 30 s. ; Gipsy Queen, 11 h. 8 m. 45 s. ; America, 11 h. 9 m. s. ; Beatrice, llh. 9 m. 15 s. ; Alarm, llh. 9 m. 20 s .; Arrow, 11 h. 10 m. s. ; Bacchante, 11 h. 10 m. 15 s. ' ' The other six were staggering about in the rear, and the Wyvem soon afterwards hauled her wind, and went back towards Cowes. ' ' The America speedily advanced to the front and got clear away from the rest. Off" Sandown Bay, the wind freshening, she carried away her jib-boom; * but, as she was well handled, the mis- hap produced no ill-effect, and, during a lull which came on in the breeze for some time subsequently, her competitors gained a trifling advantage, but did not approach her. Off" Ventor the America was more than a mile ahead of the Aurora, then the nearest of the racing squadron; and hereabouts the number of her competitors was lessened by three cutters, the Volante having sprung her bowsprit, the Arrow having gone ashore, and the Alarm having stayed by the Arrow to assist in getting her off". "But from the moment the America had rounded St. Cath- erine's point, with a moderate breeze at S. S. W., the chances of coming up with her again were over. The Wildfire, which, though not in the match, kept up with the stranger for some time, was soon shaken off", and of the vessels in the match, the Aurora was the last that kept her in sight, until, the weather thickening, even that small comfort was lost to her. As the America approached the Needles the wind fell, and a haze came on, not thick enough, however, to be very dangerous ; and here she met and passed (saluting with her flag) the Victoria and Albert royal yacht, with Her Majesty on board. Her Majesty waited for the Aurora, and then returned to Osborne, passing the America again in The Solent. About six o'clock the Aurora, being some five or six miles astern, * " Old Dick " Brown remarked he " was d — d glad it was gone," as he did not believe in carrying a flying jib to windward. [25] ['^5x] THE LAWSON HISTORY and the result of the race inevitable, the steamers that had accom- panied the yachts bore away for Cowes, where they landed their passengers. The evening fell darkly, heavy clouds being piled along the northern shore of the strait ; and the thousands who had for hours lined the southern shore, from West Cowes long past the Castle, awaiting anxiously the appearance of the winner, and eagerly drinking in every rumour as to the progress of the match, were beginning to disperse, when the peculiar rig of the clipper was discerned through the gloom, and at 8 h. 34 m. o'clock (railway time 8 h. 37 m., according to the secretary of the Royal Yacht Squadron) a gun from the flag-ship announced her arrival as the winner of the cup. The Aurora was announced at 8 h. 58 m.; the Bacchante at 9 h. 30 m.; the Eclipse at 9 h. 45 m.; the Brilliant at 1 h. 20 m. (Saturday morning). No account of the rest." Col. Hamilton, who sailed on the America in the race, in his reference to it said : " The wind dropped off near Ryde. The Volante, a cutter of forty-five tons, passed the America. An hour after the breeze freshened, and the America passed the Volante, ' and then spared her jib.' After we got round The Needles the wind died away, and we were alarmed by the appearance of a small vessel (the Fairy), so light as to be pressed upon us by the gentle puffs which could hardly move the America, of 170 tons. Our only fear as to the issue of the race was, that some light vessel like the Volante with a light puff" of air might keep close to us, and with the tide might pass us. " The America arrived at Cowes at half-past 8 p.m., and was received with the most gratifying cheers. Yankee Doodle was played by the band." Commodore Stevens, in his speech made at the dinner* given him and his associates on his return from England, made this reference to the race : "In the race for the Queen's Cupf there were, I think, seven- teen entries, most of which, I believe, started. In addition to * The dinner to Commodore Stevens and his home not the golden fleece, but that which gold associates, on the return of Commodore Stevens, cannot buy, national renown." In responding to Edwin A. Stevens and Col. James A. Hamilton this toast, Commodore Stevens described the race from England, was a notable event. It was at- of Aug. 22d, 1 851, and concluded his speech by tended by the leading business and professional men saying : "The cup before you is the trophy of of New York, while Commodore Matthew C. that day's victory. I promised, half-jest and half- Perry of the United States navy was among the earnest, when I parted with you, to bring it home to guests. The cup was here publicly shown for the you. The performance of this promise is another first time. J. Prescott Hall presided at the dinner, exemplification of the truth of the old saw, that Healths were drunk to the Earl of Wilton, in re- ' What is oftentimes said in jest is sometimes done sponse to a toast by Commodore Stevens, to the Queen, in earnest. ' ' ' to the President, and to the captain and crew of the f This was a lapsus lingua. " Royal Yacht America, in response to the following sentiment ex- Squadron cup" was the original name of the pressed by Charles King, president of Columbia Col- America's trophy. It was not in any sense a lege: " Our Modern Argonauts — they have brought Queen''B cup. [26] of THE AMERICA'S CVP [^^51] them, there were seventy or eighty, or perhaps one hundred under way, in and about the harbor ; and such another sight no other country save England can furnish. Our directions from the sail- ing committee were simple and direct : we were to start from the flag-ship at Cowes, keep the No-Man's buoy on the starboard hand, and from thence make the best of our way round the island to the flag-ship from which we started. We got off" before the wind, and in the midst of a crowd that we could not get rid of for the first eight or nine miles ; a fresh breeze then sprang up that cleared us from our hangers-on and sent us rapidly ahead of every yacht in the squadron. At The Needles there was not a yacht in sight that started with us, . . . After passing The Needles, we were overtaken by the royal steam yacht Victoria and Albert, with Her Majesty and her family on board, who had come down to witness the trial of speed between the models adopted by the old world and those of the new. As the steamer slowly passed us we had the gratification of tendering our homage to the Queen after the fashion of her own people, by taking off" our hats and dipping our flags. At this time the wind had fallen to a light breeze, and we did not arrive at the flag-ship until dark. I could not learn correctly at what time or in what order the others arrived. ' ' Mr. Ackers, owner of the Brilliant, protested the race, on the ground that the America went inside, instead of outside the Nab light- vessel. As no instructions regarding the passing of this point were contained in the sailing directions given Commodore Stevens, the committee which heard Mr. Ackers' complaint dismissed it, and the cup went to the America, The Times described the course around the Isle of Wight, which by the chart was fifty-three nautical miles long, as ' ' noto- riously one of the most unfair to strangers that can be selected, and indeed [it] does not appear a good race-ground for anyone, inas- much as the currents and tides render local knowledge of more value than swift sailing and nautical skill." It was to be observed from the result that local knowledge could not offset the speed of the America, and the seamanship of her rough-and-ready American crew, commanded by " Old Dick " Brown of Sandy Hook, who was assisted of course by an English pilot. Too little credit has, as a rule, been accorded this pilot for his part in the famous race. He was, without knowing it, making history, and for him to have done from motives of patriotism some- thing less than his best would have been an easy matter. Col. Hamilton in his ' ' Reminiscences ' ' speaks warmly of this vv^orthy ally of the Americans, giving him due credit for his invaluable assistance, in the following lines : " Of course our success in racing, and particularly around the Isle of Wight, would so much depend upon the skill and fidelity [27] [I85X] THE LAWSON HISTORY of our pilot as to make that a subject of deep interest. Our ex- cellent consul at Southampton engaged Mr. Underwood as a pilot for us ; who went on board the America on her arrival, and whose whole conduct was entirely satisfactory. We had intimations from various sources on that subject. The gallant admiral of Portsmouth addressed a letter to Commodore Stevens, offering, if we were not satisfied with the one we had, to send us a pUot who was not only most skilful, well acquainted with all the waters in the neighborhood, but for whose fidelity he would be responsible. This kind offer was promptly declined, on the ground that Commodore Stevens had entire confidence in the knowledge, skill, and fidelity, of our pilot, Mr. Underwood." The following interesting account of the winnings of the America, aside from the Royal Yacht Squadron cup, and the stake in the race with Titania, is from a speech made by Henry Steers, son of James R. Steers, at a meeting of the Seawanhaka Yacht Club in 1877 : "We were rigged (on arrival) pilot-boat fashion, no fore- topmast and no flying jib-boom, and, as we thought we could do better with a flying-jib, we went to Ratsey, at the Isle of Wight, to get him to make the spar. My uncle [George Steers] bet him the price of that jib-boom that we could beat any boat he could name. He named the Beatrice. Then we went to a sail- maker to have a flying-jib made, and we bet the price of this sail on the race. We heard that there was some one in South- ampton who wanted to bet, and some of the party went there. He wanted to ' book it, ' as they do over there ; but our party had no bank account, no letters of credit ; all our money was in a bag aboard the yacht, and we wanted the money put up, so this wager fell through. So all we got on the race was the price of the jib-boom and the sail." The English yachtsmen thought the America a ' ' shell, ' ' and it is related that some one of them oflered to ' ' build a boat in ninety days that would beat her," for a £500 stake. Commodore Stevens asked that the stake be made £5000, in which event he would wait for a race. Nothing came of this talk, and the race with Titania ended the America's racing in English waters under American ownership. It is worthy of note, to sailormen at least, that the America carried thirteen men, her first day in English waters was Friday, the cup was voted as a trophy at a meeting of the Royal Yacht Squadron held on Friday (May 9th, 1851), and also was won by the America on Friday (August 22d, 1851), while on it are engraved the names of thirteen vessels defeated by the America that day. Enghsh salts may advance the argument with perfect [28] •1 1 1' " 1:^11 ■'fit 3 2 >-3 C O t3 C S -o (/5 ^ -g l-O 00 ^ f= ^ ^ ^ a o 1 ° ,_ 43 ffi -^ o w u •~^ .2 <1 1 'i-t < (Si 0) rt < a) oo S ° O k ^ 2 ^ ^ J P^ P^ 8 ho Oh < CO pq fe5 QJ -5° 1-1 <3 c 3 P. (U If H rt c 3 Oi o o s c ■" rt > '^i !H 0) cJ „" "ri ^ ? ^ OJ >^ t« jD O S o 1^ rt 0) ^ ^ '3 ^ < a, g •a > ^ of THE AMERICA'S CVP [1851] security that Friday and thirteen were to them an unlucky day and number in the first chapter of the history of the cup. As often as the story of the cup is told, is related the good old tale of the famous dialogue of the queen with her signal-master, who, peering from the deck of the Victoria and Albert down The Solent, was asked by Her Majesty : " Say, signal-master, are the yachts in sight? " " Yes, may it please Your Majesty." "Which is first?" "The America." " Which is second ? " "Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second." History does not preserve the name of this perspicacious sea-dog. When the news of the America's victory reached this country, about two weeks after the event, there was general satisfaction, quietly expressed. In Boston the news was received during a celebration, at the State House, of the opening of railway com- munication between the United States and the Canadian provinces. Daniel Webster was addressing a large audience in the hall of the house of representatives. He broke off in his speech to announce the victory. " Like Jupiter among the gods," he said, " America is first, and there is no second."