Note 18 — Chapter IV · THE THAMES CLUBS AND WINDERMERE
Reading edition
A curious light is let in by the newspapers of 1795[18] on the way they managed matters when racing. The 'Mercury,' which was the leading boat, somehow got foul of the 'Vixen'; whereupon the captain of the 'Vixen' cut away the rigging of the 'Mercury' with a cutlass and fairly well dismantled her, another boat, the 'Mermaid,' winning the cup. We have failed entirely to find any sort of protest against such high-handed proceedings. There was another cup presented to the Club besides the Vauxhall one in 1796; it was given by the proprietor of Cumberland Gardens. A match for a wager of forty guineas took place on August 11, 1797,[19] between the 'Mercury' and the 'Providence,' from the Gun Wharf at Blackwall round the Nore Light and back; this was won easily by the 'Mercury,' which did the distance in 12 hrs. 5 mins., beating the 'Providence' by twenty miles.