Show FLYING OVER SLIPPERY ICE A Winter Sport That Requires a Good Deal of Nerve k I ICE YACHTING POPULAR f T POKE OP THE GLORIES OF BIIVD L LIKE FLIGHT t How the Yaclits Arc Rigged and Sailed nirilliii 1 Experiences in a I Flying Craft Tlio Speed is Siraply t Tcrrific mid the Danger ALL That Could 1ossiljls Be Desired t Copyright 1S93 by S S McClure Limited Lim-ited Iceyachting is the sport of winter which appeals to the American temperament tempera-ment The typical American gentleman las every whit as much love of outdoor bport in his composition as has for centuries centu-ries marked the sturdy Briton and with it all the American has a certain dash and restless energy which is mot characteristic charac-teristic of his cousin across the pond Doth love to do thdir own work so long as the task lies within the fields of gentlemanly gen-tlemanly exercise both attain a mastery tf feats of strength lnll and daring which astonishes the world but there is n marked difference in < their methods The between runners carried a fiftyfoot boom I I and 750 square feet of canvas She has to her credit a trial quarter mile in fifteen seconds and a straightway mile and a i quarter in fiftytwo seconds She Is now 2 rigged with jib and mainsail and to give I an idea of how fast the modern ice yacht I must fly it must be said that tha Hudson cracks have beaten Scud in championship events The Hudson river from the Highlands High-lands to Albany is the natural headquarters headquar-ters for ice yachting but the Shrewsbury men are aggressive and may yet conquer their rivals The Terrific Speed of Ice Yachts I Most of the noted yachts are mere racing rac-ing machines skeleton frames with tiny cock pits able only to accommodate two or three persons The speed they attain in a good breeze Is simply terrific Strange though it may appear an ice yacht frequently fre-quently attains speed greater than that of I the wind which drives It so that the term sailing like the wind may be I truthfully applied to these flyers The yacht starts treely owing to trifling friction fric-tion gathers speed as she goes darts in ahead In response to a gust and Is presently pres-ently booming along at a rate which for the time is actually faster Ithaii the impelling im-pelling winds Under certain conditions progress therefore consists of a series of I rushes and slowing down the boat moving mov-ing first slower than the wind then perhaps per-haps at the same rate and lineally faster I acIng against fast express trains is a pcpular amusement at several points on the Hudson and the iron horse has to I fully extend himself to hold the runnered craftThe I I Tine Skipper of an Ice Yacht i The successful skipper of an ice yacht must be a coolheaded ircnnerved man I and the possessor of rare good judgment The yachts fly so fast and answer so quickly to tho slightest movement of the tiller that a nervous hand shpuld never touch the stick Two yachts bearing toward to-ward each other may be far apart one moment and into the other the next if any mistakes are made A collision when at speed means usually matchwood or the colliding boats and probably more or less serious Injuries to crews Xot infrequently a boat will work far cut upon a lake or bay and cracks J I I I II lI ICE YAC1I PARTY Briton buckles to his task with the bulldog bull-dog intention of doing it well and thoroughly 11 thor-oughly while the Americarvs motto is do Jt well thoroughly and rapidly Nervous rapuditv of action is a national characteristic and if there is a possibility of increasing the action in any sport the true American is the mar of all men to 1 make things liven up Hence be glories I In the bJrdlike flight of the swift ice yacht for to his temperament the rush through the keen bracing air 5s like a I draught of good wine His craving Is for speed wherever speed is allowable and the i I ice yacht gratifies his craving better than any other of its varied amusements Ht I restless inventive genius speedily grasped A the problem of how to produce the best i1i craft for sailing over ice and today Amer leans beyond question possess the finest f and fleetest ice achis in the world j Tlie Daring Ice Ynelitmcn of the Hudson i For years the daring Ice yachtsmen of t the Hudson have held tho proud position of leaders in the most jxhilerating and nerve trying of winter sports and among them are to be found the best skippers and most reckless sailors of all their jolly r band Where ice yachts can go they go I and if a yacht cannot go all the way they will see that the craft goes as far as she can through desperate chances mat htve to be take But the sport is not confined to the Hud t p son In every lake or river town in the t northern states and in Canada in fact I wherever suitable sheets of ice are available r avail-able there will be found a greater or less number of the swifltest craft that wind I ever rushed ahead or mortal ever saw I The cities and towns of the SL Lawrence and of the great lakes contain many enthusiastic en-thusiastic lovers of the steelshod craft and great is the rejoicing when ice Is in proper condition for the spin Small wonder won-der is it that these men love their sport for what better way of spending a bright frosty afternoon than in whizzing with the speed of a bird awing over the gleaming gleam-ing field of level ice rite Hiss In Use I i The shape and rig of the craft have changed little since the sport attained I popularity A line drawn around the hull if it may be so called of an ice yacht would form an acute angled triangle of I which may broaden to great fissures appear in the ice between the ice and the shore Then follows an exciting rush for all fissures in the way must be cleared with flying leaps Under such conditions a mistake on the part of the skipper may result seriously Woe betide be-tide him if he loses his nerve and fails to hold his racer well in hand especially when sire takes the ice ajain after a leap It is no childs play to flash over broad expanses of ice cold water into Which a nervous hand may plunge craft and crew For downright fun the old fashioned boat decked all over with room for four or five passengers is superior su-perior to the racing machine The latter as for experts only while the former is for a merry party On Toronto Bay and at other points too numerous to mention oldfasmoned ice boats stand ready for hire whenever the ice is an good con dition At suCh places flt Is quite the proper caper to take a spin for an hour or more upon a bright frosty afternoon The boats while quite fast enough to startle a novice are snails compared to the Hudson racers A couple of experiences experi-ences may give an idea of what can happen hap-pen even with the slower craft I A Thrilling Experience in Ice Yachting I Yacht-ing I Four of us hired a boat to be sailed by its owner and went for a dash around the bay With fur caps drawn over ears and snugly muffled in heavy coats and rugs we lay on the deck to await developments Half a gale of wind was blowing and the ice was keen and hard as flint Here and there the mow had been piled in frozen ridges Away sped the craft and the crowd cheered with excitement for only the one boat dared to venture out Whiz whlz She tore away like a mad thing wth one skate cutting air a foot above the ice Almost before the party had caught its breath 3t had traveled a mile and a half Glorious chimed four voices together as the skipper began some slower windward work I Youll go back a darn eight faster than you came out he remarked But the party paid small attention After half an hour of working to windward the skipper exclaimed Now boys lay low for theres music coming I Something in his voice sounded omin I k Iii I I I j ii 7 iT 4 THE SCUD which the base would represent the bows Ot the yacht The main frame of the iacht is formed like a T and to the three ends of the timbers the runners are afllx > cL The rear one only is movable and it tlays the part of a rudder for the yacht In ice yachts intended to serve the purpose pur-pose of racing ma chines special runners are a moet important feature but for the oroinary pleasure craft less attention nee be paid to details The tvo popular rigs are theialteen and the jib and mainsail Racing ice yachts ore classified according to measurement meas-urement overall as are yachts Up the Hudson and on the Shrewsbury are to be seen the flnect examples of racing crafts The Hudson river fleet generally capture the highest honors as it contains the larger proportions of big boats but the Shrewsbury sailors are keen and they I have several firstclass yachts of from 50 to 00 feet over alL Notable among them I t the Scud which many experts consider he fastest ice yacht In the world She is owned by Mr Weaver Formerly she was canteen rlffid measured twentyfive feet I c I oils but the boat swung around charply and before the passengers had time to think She gave a leap hire a frightened horse and darted away like a puff of snow Faster faster leaping gliding heeling she flew till drifts clear ice and all spun stemward like a vane agated ribbon Sparks danced before our eyes frost nipped noses startled blood Ieaped in response to that glorious rush and half choked voices raised a queer leftbehind yell ot approval Look out hang on yelled the skipper skip-per Wihizzipcrash amazing bound through a cloud of flying snow told that a drift had been struck On she flew While shore wharves seemed to be rsh ing to meet her Sit tight you fellows water ahead I Witter Alieart I 1 Every head was raised In apprehension The swell had parted the ice and a streak of restless blue water appeared dead ahead The skippers face looked strained l and anxious as he moved his 2 w 4 hand a trifle 1 She veered it point and gathered greater speed Every eye was glued upon the rapidly Broadening chasm over which apparently no boat could < fly Whizzizdz My God man You 11 put us The sentence was never finished For an instant she was in air with cruel water belowthen came a dull grinding shock and she had just cleared one of the broadest jumps on record So near a shave was it that the spectators en the wharves were silent until She had lost headway below them Then a shout went up Well done the Magic Upon another occasion four of us were sailing up and down ia river < of perhaps one hundred yards in breadth A big wind was blowing and the banks of the river were almost perpendicular about ten feet high and of course frozen hard Our skipper had a call to make alt a farm house and when he left the boat he advised us to watt until he returned re-turned One kntoiwitall declared that the thing was easy and taking the stiCk he let her drive I lay well to one side of the boat We worked along for half a mile then the anttatenr put her about for a dash Kick to our starting point A big gust of wind struck her and made her fairly fly for a quarter of a milo or so Then the ambitIous skipper got nervous and the boat swerved until she was headed dead on shows I gave one look at the perpendicular frozen clay dropped off and went booming ahead on the seat of an excellent pair I of trousers As I slid I turned just in tim to see her ram into the bank Away went mast and sad and away I went crow One man cleared the bank in grand style and eventually picked Jiimsplf up en the level above The wouldbe skipper in his flight fouled the mast and was found wrapped round it like a wet rag Luckily no bones were broken but he didnt recover his wind for a long long time My impromptu slide covered nearly fifty yards and most of my polished track was sown with woolly fuzz and threads of honest tweed I ate off the mantlepiece for three consecutive days The craft was wrecked and the only thing that kept us from chilling during the long tramp home was the true skippers edhot talk I |