Log of the Urchin. Port Huron - Mackinac Race, July 23-27, 1927

Quarto carbon typescript 8½" x 11", bound in green cloth with title and small sailboat vignette stamped in gilt on the upper cover; dedication page with a mounted photograph of the skipper, Alger Shelden; 21 numbered pages plus 7 pages with 22 original photographs mounted in photo corners, most of the Urchin and its crew, many with hand written captions identifying the people. One additional crew photo laid in. Light soiling to the front board, one tear in cloth at spine; overall very good. The Port Huron to Mackinac Race, now called the Bayview Mackinac Race is one of the longest freshwater races in the world and now has more than 200 entrants each year. This log is from the third year of the race in which just 15 yachts participated. The Urchin, owned by Alger Shelden, had run in the previous two races with many of the same crew members. The log itself takes up 11 pages detailing the start of the race, shifts in wind and weather, related sailing strategies, and a bit about the moods and meals of the crew. This is followed by a bogus newspaper account ostensibly written by a Swedish crewmember and which purportedly appeared in the Swedish press (here translated from the "Nordic"). This provides a short but lively sketch of each crew member recounting both their strengths as yachtsmen and their personal quirks. There is also a one-page verse, "The Song of the Urchin," written to commemorate the race - apparently a race tradition. The Urchin finished eighth, but they seem to have had a fine time, nonetheless. The compiler of the log, Charles DeWolf Gibson, was the nephew of the illustrator, Charles Dana Gibson, and the great grandson of James DeWolf, of Bristol, RI. Gibson was born August 2, 1895, so he would have been 32 at the time of the race. Other crew members included James Newcomb (whose ownership signature is on the front free endpaper); the navigator, Warren Booth; Cleve Thurber, and Bud Gibson. Charles Dana and Bud were sons of Langdon Gibson, brother of Charles Dana Gibson, the official ornithologist on the first Peary Arctic Expedition. Not found in OCLC.