not one-fifth of her size; but had they been pitted together on Mr. Ackers's scale, what sort of a finish would there have been of their match? No one will assert that a taste for sailing public or private matches now exists, to be compared with that which prevailed some seasons ago. So long as it was a sport, any yacht-owner, being in a port where a regatta was held, would have his boat moored for a shy; and if he didn't win, he didn't lose in pocket or comfort. For this cause, few objected to sail, even though careless about taking part in such exhibitions. But when wager-sailing became a business-as, in a legitimate meaning of the word, it now is-matters were altered altogether. A man may now as well attempt to race in a yacht fit for the purposes of pleasure-sailing, as in his house or his lady's vis-a-vis. Last year a member of the R.T.Y.C. lived in his yacht the whole time of her building, in the yard of Mr. White, at East Cowes (at least, he was scarcely out of her so long as the daylight lasted and the shipwrights wrought), with the view to the production of a clipper, and at the same time a boat for every purpose of a yacht. What is the result? There does not swim a more sightly cutter of any class than the Princess Olga; but as for sailing among professed wagercraft, she might as well propose single combat to a three-decker. The regatta, following the example of the turf, has its professional followers a very different set of men indeed, but still a set, having a view to something beyond the mere sport of sailing; a set who neither regard nor treat their yachts as pleasure-galleys. A wager-yacht, seen from without and within, might serve as an emblem of deceit. There she lies-her hull looming in beauty, her lines sweeping away in grace, her spars all symmetry, her canvas a suit worthy the goddess in whose dominions it is worn. The companion is open-look below; but don't venture there. Who would quit the fair day for such a dungeon store-house? It is-barring a mass of nautical abominations-just as it came out of the hands of its maker. You cannot sit there, neither can you stand; for it is without chair or stool or floor. From stern to stem is "a clear run" without a bulk-head, or so much as sheathing to the timbers. There, in stark nakedness, is her keelson; ditto planking; ditto the very paying of her seams. Pitch and grease and oakum and paint and tar-brushes and holystone "possess it merely." Shade of Cleopatra ! such are the posterity of thy galley, whose glory hath immortalized the Cydnus. Well, to this complexion things had come of their own accord, or by the apparent natural course of all sporting, which, beginning in pastime, advances to the professional, and ends-we won't say where, out of respect for "ears polite." Thus, we repeat, it was already with our amateur marine, when R. H. Ackers, Esq., stepped in, and put the finishing touch to it. A good many cooks had been beforehand in seasoning the lobscouse; the owner of the Brilliant sublimed it with cayenne. Sailing is indebted to Mr. Ackers for having applied to it the scheme of handicapping.... As if it were not enough for the wager-yachtsman to launch on the great waters in a phantomshallop-if of wood, as flimsy of texture as a band-box; or if of iron, made of metal as unsubstantial as gold-beaters' leaf-as though this were not enough to try the nerves of the gentlemen of England who cultivate the salt water during autumn in the Solent and such-like "gentle (and aristocratic)" seas, this gentleman conferred upon sailors of his class the scheme of time-matches, whereby the chances of success are all in favour of the most insignificant competitor. In many cases, according to this principle, a washing-tub would beat the experimental fleet; just as, for your Trades Cup here, and your Great National Handicap there, ten pounds' worth of horse-flesh is better backing than the winner of the Derby.... Some people insist that yacht-owners have grown idle and wearied of regattas, and become more fond of fun than fame; but I apprehend they are pretty much what they ever were, and influenced in the pursuit of their peculiar pastime as all men are in matters of the sort. Sport will not bear being "sicklied o'er with the pale hue of thought." Once upon a time, a master of fox-hounds tried the experiment of bringing his pack better together by weighting such as ran at head with couples and heavy collars. The chivalry of woodcraft became indignant, and the attempt was abandoned, scouted by acclamation. Shooting at the Red House is not sport. There they handicap distances, charges, powder, shot, and so forth. But shooting in the Scottish highlands or the lowlands of Norfolk and Suffolk is pretty pastime; and yet were fashion to begin meddling with the way. English gentlemen should set about it, the chances are, at no distant day those gentlemen would find it unprofitable in the return of frank enjoyment. Our national instinct-or prejudice, if the phrase will please you better-is emphatically against intervention. Racing has been turned clean from its original purpose: it is now gambling countenanced by authority; and it exists mainly, if not wholly, upon resources derived from "speculation," as the polite way of calling things designates gaming upon race-courses. It is a fact which cannot be gainsaid that no meetings now prosper or command popularity but those where incitements to heavy betting exist; indeed, the holiday races, that once drew their thousands, are everywhere dwindled to the shortest span. The turf has assumed a new character wholly; but yachting is not susceptible of such a metamorphosis. It is not suited to the legs, or their grim trade. It is neither to be upheld "Tali auxilio, nec defensoribus istis." It is too manly an engagement for a crew whose nights are consumed, as well as their health and sense of all that befits humanity, in dicing and every contrivance of sordid and shameless gain. Grace to the boon genius of the waters; a frank, free spirit "rules the waves." A sailor is one of nature's gentlemen: he don't bow, mayhap, like Perrot or St. Leon, neither shows so bravely as the beaux at Almack's or in the park; but he eschews chicane like cowardice-or four-water grog. You can't amalgamate sailing and sharp practice; their elements won't mix. Therefore, away with all subtleties as applied to yacht-racing! or, if you needs must legislate for it, let it only be lawful for wager-craft to contend together in sea-going trim. Let that be the principle, with the utmost liberality of interpretation. Repeal the laws against "booming out," "shifting ballast," and all and every the rules against a man doing what he likes with his own vessel what all may do is equal main and chance for all. The object of yachting is certainly not forwarded by holding out induce ments for the production of shades of ships-flying Dutchmen, with as little title to rank among the national wooden walls as a vol au vent to class with a sirloin. And could we not induce a little more cordiality among certain parties connected with this most generous of sports? Why should not party heart-burnings be quenched by the sea, and the nimble spirit of good-will breathe in its liberal air? Come, gentlemen, do not delay till to-morrow what it becomes you so much to do to-day. Let there be an end of your jealousies and your bickerings. Never look so glum: it don't beseem the characters you have assumed, neither the scene whereon you "fret and strut." There be friends with one accord: "leave off your d-nable faces, and begin.' The title of this paper seems to indicate that the yachting season is confined to those autumn passages which occur at and around the Isle of Wight. I don't mean to insinuate anything half so ridiculous. Time was, indeed, when yachting was pretty much confined to Cowes roads, and primrose kid gloves; but is it so now? Tell that to the marines. No, but it is intended to be resumed as a continuation of an article, yclept, "A Yarn About Yachting," which treated of the amateur aquatics below bridge, in the Thames, during June. Further from home the wager sailing commences in August, and extends over the greatest part, if not the whole, of September. At the instance of her Majesty, the Queen, the regatta at Ryde began on Wednesday, the 28th of July. Well, thither we are bound, and leaving the mighty magazines of Portsmouth behind, lo! we are once more upon the waters" "Common place"-do I hear aright? Said ye common place, when we speak of the everlasting ocean-the type of eternitythe index which points a moral beyond all price? Let me meditate in the spirit and the phrase that were born of the occasion, when thus I looked and thought upon thee, Eternal Sea! Thy shores are empires, changed in all, save thee: And appealing, with a yet more still voice-lo! the waters address us as household sages. The world of London-of the "twice two thousand" on whom life has lavished its cornucopia-has dissolved for a space, dispersing its minions far and near; those whom taste, or any other cause, may detain at home, in most cases seeking the coast. For these, what are the reflections furnished by the glorious mirror? Do they not learn the vanity-the uncertainty-the emptiness of all human things, when gazing on the immutability of the Great Deep? It is there in the words of the most natural of all modern moralists-it is there that we may perceive an image of the awful and unchangeable abyss of eternity, into whose bosom so much has sunk, and all shall one day sink-of that eternity wherein the scorn and the contempt of man, and the melancholy of regret and the fretting of little minds shall be at rest for ever..... But our present purpose has a less serious tone, though haply it shall help to as wholesome a result; it is the province of a healthy spirit to "find good in everything." On Wednesday, as aforesaid, the pleasant waters of the Solent gave early token of some accountable pageant, whereof they should be the especial scene. That fairest of bays, which spreads and sparkles in front of the lovely town of Ryde, was occupied by a fleet, such as Oriental fables have loved to launch, but western waves have rarely floated. There, on the most sylvan shore of Wight, exists a society worthy both "its local habitation and its name"-the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. This club has been established only a few years, but it already reckons amongst its members many of the most influential patrons of yacht sailing in the kingdom: while, under the immediate countenance of our gracious Sovereign, and honoured by bearing her august name, it may safely count upon a long career of popular favour and success. Its regatta-especially distinguished by its royal patroness-was arranged so as to fall during the Queen's residence at Osborne-thus "stealing and giving odour" from and to that auspicious occasion. In the present season it was arranged to commence on the 28th ult.—at the instance of her Majesty; and assuredly a lovelier day there could not have been seen for such an occasion. There was a gallant wholesale breeze from w. N. w., a bright sunshine, and one of those buoyant atmospheres-the more heart-stirring that they are the exceptions in our climate. The experimental fleet had sailed the preceding noon, so that there was not a ship at Spithead, except the "Iris"-about to sail for the river to pay off-why and wherefore, the Admiralty can tell--we can only make a shrewd guess. Thus the noble roadstead was cleared for the naumachia-which was to have commenced at half-past ten, but which actually began at eleven to the instant. Long before the hour, the sweet town of Ryde was filled with holiday company. Our first visit was to the R. V. Y. C. House, one of the most elegant structures of the kind extant. It is not quite completed, but enough has been done to show what it will be. All the furniture, too, is ready to be placed within; so that the club will very soon possess a marine palace. May it flourish a thousand years to enjoy it. Her Majesty accompanied the experimental fleet a part of its voyage on the day preceding, but on that we are commemorating was not afloat. The royal visit was not paid, therefore, as reckoned upon; but the Queen Dowager honoured the regatta with her presence, en route to visit her royal niece. The sailing began, as held out, at eleven A.M. The following were the yachts entered, but the "Brilliant" was drawn just before the match commenced :— ROYAL VICTORIA PURSE OF ONE HUNDRED GUINEAS; SECOND PRIZE, £20. FOR SCHOONERS BELONGING TO ANY YACHT CLUB. In consequence of the point from which the wind set, the course was out to the westward-and home, of course by the Nab. It is not our purpose to give the logs of the wager vessels. It will be enough for us to say that the "Dolphin" led to Cowes Roads, with the "Anaconda" very hard upon her the last in company through the Needles; and at the back of the island, the tug of war lying between these two and the "Magic"-father and son piloting the first and last; and very probably we speak problematically-making common cause against the " Anaconda." The "Brilliant" sailed about an hour afterwards, on a cruise by herself, round the island, shaping her outward course eastwards by Spithead. At five o'clock the wager schooners were seen rounding the land, and standing over for Portsmouth Harbour. The "Anaconda" was the weathermost, with the "Dolphin" next her, then the "Magic," while the little "Bianca" was creeping in shore, and making the most of the dead water. Here, perhaps, the handling of some of them was not the best in the world; but, be that as it may, as they stood over from the mainland on their last board, the match was the most interesting ever seen. It was impossible to give even a respectable guess as to the winners, for it was a time race-Acker's scale-and they were all within apparently equal main and chance. The "Anaconda" was the first to round the winning vessel, followed by her antagonists in this order, as we made it : At the conclusion of the match, a consultation was held on board the committee vessel, when it was ultimately decided that the " Bianca," on her allowance of time, was the winner by seventeen seconds! The way that Sir Charles Ibbetson took his triumphant defeat-for it was nothing else would have astonished the old school of Zeno. Yet he's no stoic-but a hundred times a better style of thing-one of the best hearted fellows alive, though he may quarrel with us for saying what we know of him. At noon the start for second class took place. A £50 Cup, for cutters of any R.Y.C. above 31 tons and under 50 tons; to start at noon precisely; the position of station as before. Name. Tons. Owner. T. Rutherford, Esq. 2. Aurora 35 4. Cygnet The course from the starting vessel to the westward of the two red buoys of the Brambles, round the Calshot light vessel, from thence round the Nab light vessel, leaving both on the starboard hand; twice round; but this being optional with the committee, it was altered to once round. The signal being fired, it was up dimity-a process which, somehow or other, the Princess Olga failed in extensively, for she "got into irons," as Jack says, and so "mull'd" her chance-which indeed she never had; for the poor Princess, though a beauty to look at, is far from “a good 'un to go." They say that Mr. White attributes the want of all |