Shelter Island Yacht Club - A Centennial History

The Shelter Island Yacht Club

A Centennial History

1886-1986
A book written in 1986 to commemorate
the 100th anniversary of the founding of the club.

Chapter 3 - Waterborne

From the beginning Shelter Island Heights - reachable only by water - advertised "rowing and boating" among its paramount attractions. Land-based athletic activities were rather severely limited at first to croquet and baseball, although a tennis court seems to have appeared beside the Pavilion in the 1880's. Golf carne later. By 1892 the hotel's brochures spoke of fifty miles of bicycle paths. For other exercise and outdoor diversions vacationers perforce turned, or were turned, toward the water. Both by day and by night. Ecstatic publicists waxed lyrical over midsummer evenings when carefree youth by the dozen filled the harbor with bobbing lanterns and twanging guitars.

Long, flat-bottomed boats - called sharpies - were especially popular. Like canoes, they could be rented by the hour from the hotels or from local entrepreneurs. By 1879, probably earlier, the Prospect House promoted sharpie regattas. The Beach House, in addition to the usual swimming and diving competitions, inaugurated "water sports" carnivals which included canoe tilting and tub racing with hands or shingles for paddles. The yacht club fell heir to much of this.

Flotillas and Fireworks

Although the Heights Association did not appear to sponsor the yacht club idea, many of the ingredients were thus already at hand. A good number of summer residents either brought their own boats along for the season or soon acquired them. Perhaps from Brighams in Greenport. Dering Harbor, after all, was one of the finest unspoiled harbors on the Atlantic seaboard, ideal both as a homeport and a port of call. As soon as the two hotels opened for business, burgees of visiting yachts became an increasingly familiar sight. Those from the prestigious New York Yacht Club were among the first.

In August 1876, to the accompaniment of flags and fireworks, a N.Y.Y.C. flotilla consisting of twelve schooners and five sloops anchored off Manhanset for two days. Lanterns were strung on the yachts at night, fireworks blazed from every boat and the Manhanset House, we are told, "replied in kind". It was the first of many annual visits which, two years later, the New York Herald described at considerable length exclaiming, "People turned out by the hundreds and remained for hours, looking at the handsome specimens of naval architecture".

A few years later another awestruck reporter, standing atop Tower Hill, counted 165 "yachts and sailing craft" in Dering Harbor. Other clubs were finding their way to the Island on their annual cruise. In 1884 Boston's Eastern Yacht Club carne with ten boats and in 1885 the American Yacht Club of Rye, New York arrived in force with an additional two hundred passengers aboard an accompanying steamer Cygnus, leased for the occasion. They packed the Manhanset House from stern to stern. That same year the Prospect House greeted the Atlantic Yacht Club during its two day stopover with a dinner and hop.

Two weeks after the incorporation of the S.I.Y.C. in 1886 the American Yacht Club with Commodore Hoagland's Lagonda at the "head of the line" of eleven yachts embarked on its Third Annual Regatta to New London and Shelter Island. It was a major social and nautical event, including Jay Gould's Atalanta. The New York Herald followed the cruise with many columns of copy detailing the cups to be awarded, the parties at the Pequot House in New London where ex-President Arthur stood among the spectators, the passage of Plum Gut, the stearn launch races off Greenport and, finally, the naptha launch races between Shelter Island's two big resort hotels.

As a "new feature" eager guests at the big hotels were invited to visit "each and every yacht" with transportation furnished by the regatta committee. Finally, the ball at the Manhanset House was "a most elaborate affair", "a great success". Overnighters from the boats took up "every available inch" of sleeping room at the hotel, including bathrooms, barber shop and billard room.

Less than a week later the Atlantic Yacht Club under Commodore H. H. Hogins arrived from New London on its way back to Brooklyn and was duly saluted by cannon salvos from the lawn of the Prospect House and greeted by "scores of sailboats". Next day, we are told, many from the cruise carne ashore to stroll about the Island "while others played tennis with recognized experts of the summer residents".

Just a few days later, on July 24, the New York Yacht Club arrived on its cruise with thirteen yachts and one hundred fifty additional passengers aboard the chartered Cygnus. Cannon boomed again, "costly and handsome" fireworks exploded.

These events, treading on each other's heels, may help to account for the mysteriously long interval between the granting of the S.I.Y.C. charter on July 3 and the first meeting of the trustees on August 14. The quick succession of visiting cruises may also have stimulated the hurried decision - only a week later - to hold the first S.I.Y.C. regatta "next week". Henceforth, the first order of business at the annual meeting in September was to appoint a Regatta Committee to schedule the next season's cruises and races.

On the Crest of the Wave

Early in the 1887 season the trustees adopted the present burgee: a blue pennant surmounted by a white ball bearing a red X in the center, very similar to the N.Y.Y.C. colors. J. C. Hoagland, although he never served as a flag officer, was chosen to be the first chairman of the S.I.Y.C. Board of Trustees and annual dues were fixed at five dollars.

Things seemed to be moving along nicely and the membership was growing but the business meetings in 1888 and 1889 became inexplicably brief and perfunctory, only fifteen to twenty minutes long. Then there follows a most unfortunate hiatus. Save for rare copies of the 189293 and 1893-94 yearbooks no official records survive from the 1890 to 1898 period. The well-bound manuals present mute evidence that the Club was indeed flourishing. They contain full information about the Club's officers, its fleet, constitution, racing rules, courses, time allowances, signal codes. yacht routine, uniforms, tide tables and even the private signals of members printed in living color! In fact, everything except a record of what transpired in and around the brand new clubhouse.

Even A. E. Fountain's valuable gold jubilee booklet, published in 1936, contains almost nothing regarding this blank decade save some hearsay reference to early boats and a general statement that "in the very early days the important boats were mostly cat-rigged". A feature article in the periodical Modern Yachts and Yachting for June 1893 tells us more. It waxes rhapsodic on the subject of Shelter Island's place in the yachting world. A few typical excerpts paint the picture:

"A peaceful, quiet and snug harbor where a dozen clubs could find anchorage for their entire fleets, a ready depot of yachting supplies. . . coal for stearn yachts and deliciously fresh water. . two large hotels pretentious in their architecture, with the attraction of a most select and refined summer colony of nigh 3000 migrations [sic] from New York, Brooklyn, Boston and Baltimore. . . "It is doubtful if any other yachting rendezvous can show during the summer an average daily record of yachts in port greater than Shelter Island. . . among its fleet some of the staunchest and most celebrated yachts, probably the finest collection of catboats to be found anywhere."

The C.P.B. who initialed the lengthy article may not have been totally objective or disinterested. In that year C. Pliny Brigham happened to be secretary-treasurer of the S.I.Y.c. but that coincidence need not discredit the facticity of his piece, need it?

According to the 1892-93 yearbook the Club listed fifty five boats belonging to eighty-eight members. Far and away the largest yacht was Hoagland's 187 foot Stranger, followed by L. A. Fish's Grayling at 98 feet, Aspinwall's Thyra at 79 feet and four more boats each exceeding 60 feet overall. The next year the total number of boats rose to sixty-four. Hoagland's name disappears but Rogers Maxwell enters the scene with his 115 foot schooner Emerald. Henry Belknap follows with his 99 foot steamer Magnolia and John B. Herreshoff with two stearn yachts already mentioned, the 75 foot Eugenia and the 73 foot Katrina.

Maxwell is a name to conjure with, a racing yachtsman of the very first water. Son of a prominent banker, he too became first a successful banker in Brooklyn, then president of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. At his death in 1910 the N.Y.Y.C. saluted him as "one of the Club's outstanding yachtsmen", a rare tribute in view of its many distinguished members.

According to one biographical sketch, Maxwell "built, remodelled, designed and sailed his own yachts, being at all times an active, busy railroad man". In 1872 his 75 foot Peerless was a persistent winner as would be also, much later, his Queen. She was called a "very great schooner, a superb steel vessel with lovely butternut panelling in her cabin, believed by many yachtsmen to be the finest yacht ever built". His other yachts from time to time were Crusader, Nautilus, and Humma, as well as the steamers Kismet and Celt.

Of these outstanding yachtsmen, including Fish, Hoagland, Maxwell and Aspinwall, only Hoagland and Aspinwall established summer residences on the Island but other major yachtsmen were on the way.

The Era of Tycoons

1892 was a banner year. It saw not only the completion of the Shelter Island clubhouse on one side of Dering Harbor and N.Y.Y.C.'s Station No.5 on the other side, but each of the rival hotels had invested heavily in improvements and additions. Even more important, the construction of elaborate new summer homes - actually estates was gaining momentum, adding more yachtsmen to the Club. It was the summer in which multimillionaire Francis Marion Smith, the Borax king from California, established his summer residence on Smith Cove near the South Ferry.

Next came an advertising magnate from New York City, Artemas Ward, who bought up land west of the South Ferry. Then the Weber-Becker clan - Brooklyn brewers- acquired a broad stretch of shorefront still further westward towards Stearns Point. Meanwhile five families Lidgerwood, Schickel, Pickhardt, Schwarzman and Kuttroff - erected their capacious cottages in a tight little enclave just east of the Manhanset House along the Greenport Channel. Most of these and many other new names soon appeared on the Yacht Club roster, usually as owners of sizeable vessels.

F. M. Smith, for example, started off modestly enough ¥o;th a 17 foot catboat, then chartered a small steam yacht and by 1900 acquired a 99 footer named Trophy. In 1901 he served as Rear Commodore of the S.I.Y.c. and as Vice Commodore in 1902. "Serious sailing", according to his biographer, began with the 37 foot sloop Marion, followed by Effort 1, which was disappointingly slow, then the 83 foot Effort II - built by H. J. Gielow - which promptly won the Astor Cup in 1903 and became, according to a N.Y.Y.C. account, "the most frequent winner among sloops". Three years later she won, by nine seconds adjusted time, the cup that King Edward VII had presented to the New York club. In that famous race she outran Maxwell's 126 foot sloop Queen, but in 1907 Queen took both the King's cup and, in 1908, the Astor Cup on a thirty-eight mile course.

Smith's biggest steam yacht, the 211 foot single screw Hauoli - meaning Delight - was for several years the undisputed monarch of the Shelter Island fleet. His private railroad car, incidentally, was also named Hauoli. The races of the Hauoli with James Hutchinson's 61 foot Skylark down channel were spectacular and memorable, especially for the lads who, like Waldo Kraemer, plunged into the five foot high waves tossed up by the boats speeding by. To conclude this item, Smith lost his boats in the collapse of his first financial empire in 1913-14. Undiscouraged, the sexagenarian went on to build a second fortune.

It was during this period - 1905 to be exact - that the flag officers began to take their regalia more seriously and authorized standard designs for uniforms, caps and emblems. And for the first time they were invited to attend the trustees' meetings!

These were the years when horsepower proudly ruled the waves. In 1903 the Power Boat Association was formed. Soon the S.I.Y.C. was drawn into its wake and by 1906 was participating in its races. For a few years ~ was an on-again, off-again relationship, then dissociation. Growing protests against obnoxious noises and noxious fumes may have played a part in the derision to resign.. only to join up again in the 1920's.

Another source of aggravation was the protrusion of many oyster bed stakes from the harbor waters. Complaints were first registered in 1902. Five years later the War Department intervened to require special spars, but complaints were still to be heard in 1911.

Steam on Water

Cat-rigged boats may have predominated at the S.I.Y.c., as Fountain intimates, but as status symbols the big steam yachts ruled supreme in the larger world of yachting for about fifty years. One author goes so far as to say: "The steam yacht was the most striking personal possession ever produced by man." From the North Star built for Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1853 and the 98 foot Firefly built in 1854 for W. M. Aspinwall, father of John A. Aspinwall, the era flourished mightily. It came to an abrupt end with the first World War at which time, incidentally, many of the costly boats found their way into the U. S. Navy and allied fleets.

The S.I.Y.C. had its fair share of these elegant showstoppers, listing them ahead of the schooners, sloops and cats. By May 1907 the Club boasted a total of one hundred seven boats, forty-one of which were classified as" steamers and launches", the majority being well over 30 feet in length. Seven were well over 100 feet. Flag officers, who for years were expected to have yachts measuring "not less" than 25 feet, were also expected to buy the cups for racing prizes.

A moment of special triumph for the S.I.Y.c. power fleet was reached in 1909 when Richard Levering's cabin cruiser Heather, flying the Club's colors, won the New York to Bermuda race, whereupon he presented the cup to the Club. After debating whether to build a special mantelpiece to display all the trophies, the trustees decided to store them in a safety deposit box where they remained until 1935.

Catboats Quand Meme

Spectacular though the big steam yacht era was, available information indicates that sailing, sailing races and cruises under sail remained the first and only real love of the Shelter Island seamen. One reporter praised the Club for having thoroughly" domesticated the cat boat". Whether or not most of the summer residents could have afforded steamers is open to question, but probably not the decisive point.

Back in 1892 Professor Eben Horsford of Harvard University and titular "lord" of Sylvester Manor, in a generous gesture typical of him, donated a splendid silver loving cup to the Club, although he never owned a yacht. He called it the Columbus Cup in recognition of the 400th anniversary of the great navigator's first voyage to the New World. He specified that only S.I.Y.c. members were eligible to compete for it for three successive years. After that it would become the permanent possession of the Club, which it still is.

Despite this fine Corinthian example, cash prizes were awarded for a number of years. There was an unfortunate incident in 1894 when two of the leading skippers agreed in advance to split a first prize of forty dollars between them, causing a considerable todo. Racing rules took up much of the trustees' time and attention, as evidenced by the adoption of carefully formulated by-laws and racing rules in 1899. Eventually, the Club adopted the standards of the Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound.

Meanwhile, there was more than enough racing to keep all sails flying. The official Addenda of 1895 carries a full page of "Club Fixtures" for the season. The Addenda was (or were) merely an abbreviated yearbook, containing an updated registry of members and boats but omitting the Club's constitution, racing regulations, etc. which remained unchanged. The "fixtures" referred to the scheduled events on the season's calendar which began with the pre-season Second Annual Dinner at the Montauk Club in Brooklyn. Then came a series of "open house" weekends in June, followed in July and August by three Special Regattas, a Ladies' Regatta, a cruise, the Tenth Annual Open Regatta and two catboat races to be steered by ladies. Except for a dance no social events were officially listed!

By 1899 it had been decided to hold two regattas per season for Club members and one regatta to which other clubs would be invited, leaving additional regattas to the discretion of the Regatta Committee. The 50th Anniversary booklet contains meager scraps of information which are worth preserving. One of the most interesting items pertains to L. A. Fish's 26 foot sloop Dilemma - the first fin keel sloop ever built by Herreshoff, that"in all her years of racing was never beaten". Capt. Norman Terry, a professional skipper and advisor to the America's Cup defenders, sailed her.

One-Designs?

As early as 1898 John W. Weber seriously proposed the construction of one-design racing boats "suitable to local conditions" and offered to buy the first one. The next year John Aspinwall went on record as recommending that a class of boats be built so that "the element of seamanship should be the determining factor of superiority, thus introducing a new element of interest into the Club".

Following more talk of "uniform measurements" in 1900, John Weber and others waited two more years before eight" one design" boats were procured. They were jib and mainsail sloops, 25.6 feet overall, described as "low, wet and fast". Two years later in 1904, thirteen one-design dories 18 feet overall were added to the fleet. The day of one-design racing had definitely dawned. Henceforth, the Measurer's burden would be greatly lightened.

A-Cruising They Would Go

All was not racing, however. In 1899 it had been decided to have an annual cruise. The following year, in August, a flotilla ventured as far as South Jamesport overnight where, according to a clipping in Fountain's booklet, "the guests repaired to the Miamogue for dinner. As darkness settled over the fleet, hundreds of Japanese lanterns were strung over the hotel, about the immense verandas and out in the summer house, near the wharf, and a scene, beautiful and picturesque, was presented. . . a full moon ast its shimmering and brilliant light overall". The article bareJy alluded to the fact that, whereas some of the yachts had reached their objective shortly after noon, others did not arrive until "nearly nightfall". In those days, by the way, Jamesport was a noted summer resort having no less than five large wooden hotels.

There probably are similar descriptions of other cruises buried in old newspaper morgues but not even bare details are to be found in the Club's records. In 1901 there was a "dash" to the South Ferry and in 1902 to Fort Pond Bay. In 1904 and again 1906 New London became the cruise goal. The latter trip was notable for two things: first, it was planned to coincide with the arrival of a N.Y.Y.C. cruise and, secondly, it was on this trip that the S.I.YCc. Commodore, James Weir, Jr., died. A plague in his memory was thereupon placed on the clubhouse wall. Shortly thereafter, it was decided to elect a Fleet Chaplain and the following year charter member, the Rev. J. A. Aspinwall, was chosen for that honor.

In 1910 Canoe Place was suggested as the cruise goal, provided that dinner would not cost more than two dollars, but no action was taken. In 1911 the cruise went to Fisher's Island. Here again it is unfortunate that the commodore's annual reports were not appended to the trustees' minutes.

Beached

The last we hear of the cruises until after World War I is that in 1917 the idea was dropped as "inadvisable" because of the war and an automobile trip was proposed instead! The Club, on account of the war, was pulling in its belt. Members were resigning in droves, boats were disappearing from the registry, income was dropping. Even the Ladies Reception was cancelled, although fifty-two persons showed up for a clambake and one hundred twenty-eight for the dinner at the Manhanset Casino.

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