"STARLIGHTS"

G.E. Elder Jr, Secy. J.F. Miller, Editor

105 ‑ West 55th St. 2000 Second Ave.

New York City Detroit, Mich.

Monthly Publication of the Star

Class Yacht Racing Association

April-May, 1924

International Championship Series Sept. 1st,

2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Annual fleeting August 31st.

OFFICE OF SECRETARY Plan now to take your Vacation during 1st week of September this year on Long Island Sound. A yacht will be provided each day for those who want to follow the races, Entertainment each night, after races. Ladies invited. International 6 meter races, International Polo match and International Tennis matches will all be held within a stones throw of Star Courses.

EXTRA!! It's out at last. President Corry has officially announced that he is the proud owner of #1 "Taurus" which he has renamed "Little Dipper". He wishes it known, however, that he did not purchase the Star of Stars with the idea of "Cleaning up" but for sentimental reasons only. It's indeed fitting that the Father of the Stars should own the first Star built and the first National and International Champion. President Corry is also going to see that #1 has a good home in its old age.

IMPORTANT Fleet Secretaries should send in their news reports the 25th of each month.

WARNING Secretaries should see that all members of their fleets are paid up, It's up to you Mr. Secretary to see that your members are notified and the their dues are paid January 1st of each year. #222 has been assigned to date. Looks like #250 will be reached before the season is well on. 2 new Fleets are now forming which will make 24 Fleets to date.

The article in this number of Starlights by Bill Inslee I consider the best dope Starlights has published to date. The yachting magazines have their annual fitting out issue each spring but an article by the best Star Skipper is sure a great thing for the sailors and I know it will be appreciated.

Success in the Star game is only attainable by hard work, constant attention to details, and unfailing enthusiasm, to bridge over the periods of discouragement.

Starting from the bottom up, when conditioning a boat in the spring and doing the work yourself, it is worth the effort to jack the boat well up off the ground, so that the bottom of the keel is in a position convenient to work on and the bottom planks can be worked on in a standing position. The keel being iron, will be the source of considerable trouble during the summer unless carefully prepared. First, old paint and scale should be chipped off, wire brushed, sand-papered, wiped off and two or three coats of red lead or anti‑corrosive paint, such as is used on ocean going vessels applied. Following this, three or four coats of brush cement are necessary, some of which can be applied with a trowel or putty knife to fill in any bad holes; finally two or three coats of racing enamel, light sand-papering between each coat of all these mixture and a thorough sand‑papering on the final coat of cement, rubbing down of course the final coat of racing enamel in rotation with very fine sand‑paper, steel wool and powdered pumice stone and water, getting the real final polish with a piece of felt.

For the bottom and side plank it is desirable, if possible, after the puttying of the seams, to thoroughly sand‑paper and apply two light coats of racing enamel, deferring application of final coat until the boat has been in the water and sailed a few times, after which, on again hauling out, the seams can be smoothed off and the necessary additional coat or coats of enamel applied, obtaining the final finish in much the same manner as on the keel.

After the spars have been put in shape, the standing and running rigging overhauled and renewed where necessary, and the mast stepped, the rigging in place and set up and the sails bent, the first essential is to put the boat in balance with the keel in proper position within the range allowed to float the boat on proper sailing lines, and still permit of the skipper and crew placing their weight where it will exert the most leverage and do the most good in holding the boat up in a strong breeze, taking into consideration that judging from consensus of opinion that best results can be obtained by having the mast set with a rake, which, measured with a drop line from the after side of the peak halyard sheave to the deck, will result in the bob on the drop line being 5 to 12 inches aft of the after side of the mast at the deck.

If, with this rake, the boat does not balance and carries too strong a weather helm, the mast should be moved forward bodily and tried out in varying positions up to the forward limit allowed, in an endeavor to obtain proper balance, or in other words, pressure on the tiller. Should the mast at the extreme forward position still result in too strong a weather helm, slightly less rake to the mast might be tried and if this does not work out, the keel, which presumably at the first try would not be in the extreme aft position, but say in the center of the range allowed, could be moved still further aft and another attempt made to balance the boat, according to the method previously described.

During these what might be termed experiments to determine the proper placing of the keel, the position and rake of the mast, careful study must also be given to the position or lead of the jibsheets. The general inclination seems to be to have the leads too far forward and too far inboard developing too much of a weather helm, reduces the speed to windward by reason of trimming the jib too flat and forming a pocket along the leech of the jib, which prevents free escape of the wind and in addition, backwinds the mainsail. It is much better to obtain easy steering by shifting the keel aft and the mast forward than it is to accomplish balance by trimming the jib too flat. Generally speaking, the lead of the jibsheet should be placed in such a position on the deck fore and aft as will result in the jibsheets following the miter line in a crosscut jib when the jib is trimmed flat.

A spring stay of a very light, flexible wire running from the upper part of the mast through a block at the extreme bow, thence aft to a convenient position on deck just forward of the cockpit, with a light tackle of cotton rope running through say one single and two double blocks is very valuable for use in keeping the boat in balance and altering the draft in the mainsail, as required according to the strength of the breeze; as an illustration, in a light breeze, where all the draft obtainable is needed in the mainsail, the best results can be obtained by keeping a little strain on the spring stay to prevent the top of the mast from bending too far aft, as the bending of the top of the mast aft tends to take away some of the draft. On the other hand, in a strong breeze, when it is desired to have less draft, this can be accomplished by leaving the spring stay stack and permitting the top of the mast to bend further aft, which, as just mentioned, tends to flatten the sail and will also give a free leech and easier steering.

A common fault which makes it impossible for boats to point up well is a slack jibstay and care must be exercised to have this stay so adjusted as to result in its being extremely tight when the backstays are properly set up.

All of the above, is, of course, no news to those experienced in the class, but may be of some assistance to the novices. If you require anything further along the lines of actual handling of the boats, let me know, and I will be glad to write this article.

Yours very truly

W.L. INSLEE