For racing, a cutter; for a long pleasure voyage, a schooner; for
cruising in home waters, the yawl; and the handling of them all is
indeed a fine art. It requires not only the knowledge of the
general principles of sailing, but a particular acquaintance with
the character of the craft. All vessels are handled in the same
way as far as theory goes, just as you may deal with all men on
broad and rigid principles. But if you want that success in life
which comes from the affection and confidence of your fellows, then
with no two men, however similar they may appear in their nature,
will you deal in the same way. There may be a rule of conduct;
there is no rule of human fellowship. To deal with men is as fine
an art as it is to deal with ships. Both men and ships live in an
unstable element, are subject to subtle and powerful influences,
and want to have their merits understood rather than their faults
found out.

It is not what your ship will NOT do that you want to know to get
on terms of successful partnership with her; it is, rather, that
you ought to have a precise knowledge of what she will do for you
when called upon to put forth what is in her by a sympathetic
touch. At first sight the difference does not seem great in either
line of dealing with the difficult problem of limitations. But the
difference is great. The difference lies in the spirit in which
the problem is approached. After all, the art of handling ships is
finer, perhaps, than the art of handling men.

And, like all fine arts, it must be based upon a broad, solid
sincerity, which, like a law of Nature, rules an infinity of
different phenomena. Your endeavour must be single-minded. You