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 VIII.

EVOLUTION OF THE RACER.

HOW TONNAGE AND MEASUREMENT RULES HAVE AFFECTED FORM IN AMERICA AND GREAT BRITAIN.

The growth of the English cutter from its cradle, on the south and east coasts, where the fantail stern was created, is an interesting study. From the Pearl, designed by Sainty, the smuggler, for the Marquis of Anglesey, down to the modern yacht of 1899, it is apparent that the evolution of the craft was slow and gradual until about 1880, since when strides of unprecedented length have been taken. Up to 1880 yacht designing advanced sluggishly, both here and abroad, but the progress of the art could be marked by the intelligent student, even as a trained forester can tell the age of an oak from a section of the trunk. The more closely you observe, the more clearly are you convinced that the naval architects of both countries have for some time been converging to a common goal. This goal they now seem to have attained.

In order to give an intelligent summary of the development of the racing yacht of to-day, it is necessary, as we