sailingboat

Looks like an empty Bayview heights in the background

Interesting image

THE Y A CHT R A C E E N G L A N D Vs AUS T RAL I A (See letterpress on this page,) A correspondent writes from England as follows: Long before this reaches your readers they will have been informed by cable of the ill success of the Australian yacht Irex, brought over to England by Mr. Mark Foy to, try conclusions with the best boat of her dimensions that the skill and experience of England could produce. The challenge was accepted by Mr. W. L. Wyllie, A.R.A., the eminent' marine artist and yachtsman of the Medway River, Kent, and a syndicate was formed in Rochester to build a boat fulfilling the requisite conditions. Designed by Messrs. Wyllie and Linton Hope, constructed by Gill and Sons, of Rochester, and christened the Maid of Kent, she has proved herself the lightest and speediest thing of her size that has ever left a boatbuilders stocks. She is 24ft overall, 22ft water line, and 7ft 6in beam. She is very flat on the bottom, with a clean run aft, and her shallow cockpit or sall tank is entirely water tight, and is only on the floor 6in below the gunwales. She is, therefore, a watertight shell, and it is utterly impossible to fill or waterlog her, as all she ships runs out down through the plate slot, and so obviates the necessity of bailing. She has very little freeboard, stability being gained by the great breadth and also by the crew sitting out to windward. Compared with this wonderfully- built racing ma chine, the Irex appears rather unwieldy and heavy; but as the latter's shape and sailing qualities are familiar to Australians, I shall leave your readers to draw the comparisons of the respective design merits for themselves. She is lug-rigged, and carries spars and rigging of the lightest and strongest character. One of the newest and noticeable features of her rig is the patent ratchet rolling boom, by means of which a reef of any size can be taken in without in the least interfering with the sailing of the boat. She has proved her self very stiff, and carries her sails equally well in a blow or light air, excepting that in à lumpy sea she has a slight tendency to wallow and roll. Her sail area is roughly 600ft, while her opponent, the Irex, carries in a light breeze over 1000. After his challenge had been accepted, and a series of matches arranged, Mr. Mark Foy called a meeting at the Manchester Hotel, London, and selected a crew from a number of Australian yachtsmen at present residing in England. Their names, are as follow:-Messrs. Mark Foy, James Mackin, Jack Gorman, George Holmes, Austin Roderick. Fred Evers, Fred. Tyrrell, Herbert MR. MARK FOY'S IREX. ? . (Photo, by Hall, Sydney.) THREE VIEWS OF THE MAID OF KENT. (Photos, by J. J. East mead. Eastgate, Rochester, England.) Llewellin, A. G. D'Alpuget, J. Wray, and T. Fitzgerald, of Sydney; M. Montgomerie, Gerald Packer, and Dick Packer, of Hobart, Tasmania, E. G. Murphy, of Melbourne; and W. Wright, of Fiji. A fortnight before the first race a large number of the above-named gentle men became the guests of Mr. Mark Foy at Chatham, at which place constant practice was indulged in, and the Irex 'prepared for the great struggle. Nothing was spared to insure the crew, having ample opportunities for observing the working of the tides and the winds, which in the Medway are extremely strong and tricky, slacks and scours occurring in puzzling profusion. So difficult are they to understand and work that the Irex was compelled to carry in all her races a Medway pilot, whose duty it was to point out the various peculiar movements of the strong ebb and flow which the river sets up. The first of the series of the five matches arranged to be sailed between the Irex and Maid of Kent was decided on September 17, under circumstances which, upon a slack collrae, should have given entire satisfaction to both sides, but it was evident from the gun fire that the Australian boat had a big disadvantage to contend against In having to force her large displacement through a tideway over which the lighter English boat appeared to lift with ease. The Maid of Kent in the end crossed the finishing line 10min 57sec ahead of the Irex. Although she shipped more water than her Australian rival, her cleverly-designed decking arrangements enabled her to free herself from the seas, which the Irex crew were compelled to laboriously bail out. In the second race, held on September IQ, the conditions were much the same, but this time the Irex, by a series of cleverly-executed manoeuvres, astonished everybody by passing the home buoy the first time round with a lead of 35sec, and this in spite of the fact that she had a short time before passed one of the buoys 1min 48sec after the English boat had rounded it. In the end, however, the Maid of Kent crossed the winning line 8min 39sec ahead of the Irex, although In the run home she so badly strained her deck that she was rendered comparatively sluggish by the quantity of water that she had taken in. The third and last match for the trophy was also won by the Maid of Kent. This time a new course was taken-a run with the incoming tide being given out In consequence of the wind falling, the boats were left to race a strong ebb tide, and the race was given, to the Maid of Kent, she being farthest ahead at call of the race, that arrangement having been agreed to beforehand. The time the Irex was adjudged to be 11mins behind her opponent, but as the river was ebbing strongly the time started cannot be taken as a criterion. Thus the shield goes to the English boat; and until some swifter craft wrests it from her there it will, remain. Mr. Mark Foy, however, a straight and Indomitable sportsman, does not intend to give in, tout is planning future races; in which he hopes to do battle worthily in the name of. Australia. The members of the crew have, during their stay in Kent, been treated with the most lavish hospitality, and will carry back to their southern homes many pleasant remembrances, which will; In a great measure atone for the unsuccessful attempt to lower the colors of their English yachting opponents. It must be mentioned that in the first race the Irex was steered by Mr. Mark Foy. In the second and third Mr. George Holmes, jun., had charge of the tiller. Writing by the following mail, our correspondent says: The Maid of Kent, having beaten the Irex in the three out of the five contests arranged for between Mr. Mark Foy and the Medway Syndicate, it was decided to hold a consolation race, in which Mr. Mark Foy was allowed to pick both the course and direction of tide and time. This race was, as usual, run over a twelve-knot course, the only exception being that the boats were headed in one direction throughout, viz., with the tide; but owing to a late start the race, which should have finished long before the turn of tide, was delayed so much that neither boat was able to- get within a mile and a half of the arranged finishing line. The wind being for the, most part free in this con test, it was thought that the Irex, with her huge spread of sail, which included an enormous spinnaker, would have outclassed her lesser canvassed opponent; but again the great weight of the Irex told heavily against her: as compared to her shallower draught rival. From the start it was clearly seen that the Maid of Kent, although carrying very little more sail off the wind than she had been using when beating, was never in danger of being: overlapped by the Irex. The latter boat, in order to gain what advantage she could from the tide, kept in the centre of the stream throughout the race; while the Maid of Kent, not withstanding the fact that a straight course meant a disadvantage in sailing over slacks in the river, headed a direct course for the finishing steamer. So marked was the difference in the courses sailed by the respective boats that while the Maid of Kent ran from start to finish, without even once throwing her boom over, the Irex, in following the windings of the tide, Jibed no less than five times. Every time this course was adopted the Irex crew were compelled to lift and lower her huge centre plate, to the no small diminution of her speed. In the end, the wind having completely died away, the Maid of Kent was adjudged to be seven minutes ahead of Mr. Foy's boat, although, as previously stated, neither of the boats reached the winning post, the tide having turned some half-an hour before gun-fire. It is now generally admitted by all who saw the races, and have watched the sailing points of the two, that In a tidal river, boats of the Irex design have no chance of competing with the type of lightly-built shells of which the Maid of Kent is a representative. Again, while the top hamper of the Maid of Kent has been reduced to the uttermost consistent with strength, that or the Irex has been proved to be a burden and an impediment to her sailing qualities. These, and many other defects, such as excessive weight and draught, will need to be rectified before Australia can hope to successfully compete with boats of the Maid of Kent class. On the Saturday evening following the races, the Medway Yacht Club entertained Mr. Mark. Foy and his crew at dinner, and on Sunday they were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Wyllie. On the Monday, a small regatta was held, in which six boats of the 18foot class were entered, and it is pleasant to record that the popular skipper of the Irex, Mr. Mark Foy, had the honor of steering to victory the winning boat, although the remaining five were piloted by the most skilful yachtsmen of the Med way. Altogether the races have been sailed under the most pleasant auspices, and the different visitors from Australia will have no occasion to regret their visit to Kentish waters. Perhaps no boat of her class was better known in Sydney than the famous 22-footer Irex, which achieved so many successes when owned by Mr. A. Kinninmont. The Irex was built by Donnelly about twelve years ago, and since her launch she has secured wins and places with wonderful consistency, and as a representative of New South Wales she brought back the City of Brisbane Club's 22-foot Championship, about two years ago. In all round sailing, the Irex had very few equals. According to the London papers, Mr. Foy was at the tiller on all three contests with the "Maid of Kent." Mr. Foy is not considered exactly an expert at the tiller, but he deserves well of our boating community, in having arranged these contests, and It will be surprising if they do not lead to some more important international events in the future. THE YACHT RACE, ENGLAND v. AUSTRALIA. (1898, November 12). Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907), p. 19. Retrieved from nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71320286

Alison Guesdon Well spotted! Always great to find new Hall images in the papers :) Here's your prize! (note the date - 23.01.97)