yachts now afloat there can be no doubt that good amateur sailors are lamentably fewer than they were even twenty years ago.
"If in the wisdom of the Y. R. A. it should be so decided that paid hands shall be limited in number for each class, the change should be hailed with joy, and to lessen the sorrow of the grumbler it may be pointed out that the smallest number likely to be assigned in every case would be far in excess of what our forefathers would have dreamed of. The cost of crews is enormous nowadays, not only from their numbers, but from the excessive remuneration for their services. This is a matter, indeed, which cannot be regulated in any feasible way that we know of, and therefore a limitation in the number of paid hands is the more desirable. To compare the wages, or 'salaries,' of to-day with those of past times, we may mention that when the old Clyde clipper Clarence was in her prime (about 60 or 65 years ago) her sailing master received £1 per week, and her ordinary hands 18s. They had no outfits given them, and they were grateful for a glass of grog to celebrate the winning of a prize. This was a typical case until the early fifties, when the scale of wages seems to have gone up. In the Stella and Cymba days, sailing-masters of renown got £1 5s. per week, and the men £1, and then outfits and prize-money first began to appear, though on a very small scale. McKirdy, skipper
