A hundred-year-old yacht had for many
years been handed over from Governor to Governor. The _Lady of the
Isles_ was Bermudian-rigged and Bermudian-built of cedar-wood. She
had great beam, and was very lightly sparred, having a correspondingly
small sail-area, but in spite of her great age she was still
absolutely sound and was a splendid sea-boat. The Bermudian rig had
been evolved to meet local conditions. Imagine a cutter with one
single long spar in the place of a mast and topmast; this spar is
stepped rather farther aft than it would be in an ordinary cutter, and
there is one huge mainsail, "leg-of-mutton" shaped, with a boom but no
gaff, and a very large jib. Owing to their big head-sails, and to
their heavy keels, these Bermudian craft fore-reach like a steamer,
and hardly ever miss stays. For the same reason they are very wet, as
they bury themselves in the water. A handsome silver cup had been
presented by a visitor for a yacht race right round the Bermudas, and
the Guardsman managed to persuade the Governor to enter his
centenarian yacht for this race, and to confide the sailing of her to
himself. The ancient _Lady of the Isles_ got a very liberal time
allowance on account of her age and her small spread of canvas, but to
every one but the Guardsman it seemed like entering a Clydesdale for
the Derby.
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