Unfortunately the 'Gareth' never met 'Wenonah,' and the crack 2-1/2 of the year is therefore still a matter of doubt.
'Wenonah's' elements, so far as known, are added to this list of boats, in order to facilitate comparison. She never raced on the Solent. She is sloop-rigged, with a very short gaff, and a fore-triangle, about the same as 'Faugh-a-Ballagh.'
'Gareth' is 3 feet longer on the L.W.L., but 0.8 foot shorter than 'Wenonah' in L.O.A. She is, therefore, a fairer boat than 'Wenonah,' a greater percentage of her length being taxed for rating. It is an insult to the intelligence of a designer to suppose that any portion of the hull is useless. Consequently we must assume that all the 37.5 feet of L.O.A. in 'Wenonah' is useful, and, as the sailing length was that which the Y.R.A. intended to tax for rating in 1886, the 'Wenonah' cannot be regarded as a 'short boat.'
The ability of a designer is legitimately employed in evading a measurement rule as far as possible, as did Mr. Edward Hammond Bentall in designing 'Jullanar' in 1875, but the experience that is found at the council table of the Y.R.A. should checkmate such evasions of the spirit in which their rules are framed.
'Gareth' is not so excessive in type as 'Molly' and 'Stork' by the same designer, which came out earlier in the season and won a good many prizes before Mr. Payne's boats of the 'Cockatoo' type were launched. When this occurred, 'Molly's' keel was recast and lowered, after which she was less successful in any weather.
Mr. Payne built a number of 2-1/2-raters for this year's racing; three of them--the 'Papoose,' 'Polynia,' and 'Cockatoo'--have a canoe-shaped M.S., and fin-keels which taper upwards--not quite bulb-keels, but nearly so. The lead was also shaped like half a dumb-bell in longitudinal elevation. They were beamy boats of small displacement and great stability, and beat the rest of the fleet easily in a heeling breeze until 'Gareth' appeared. In light weather they were generally beaten by 'Hoopoo,' 'Mynah,' 'Faugh-a-Ballagh,' 'Molly,' and 'Stork.' 'Faugh-a-Ballagh' perhaps possessed the highest _average_ speed of any boat in the class, and seemed to go very much like the 'Babe,' which is high praise. At the end of the season her string of flags was the longest, but this is often rather deceptive--especially when better boats are launched late, and when contests are occasionally selected for winning flags rather than the highest class honours.