THE AMERIGi^'S By Herbert L. Stone Editor of yjacbtirya^ GV S^7 Qfotttell Iniwergitg ffiibrarjj BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE, , SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 "Pfi^^iswv & Cornell University Library GV829 .S87 America' " cup races, by Herbert L. Stone olfn 3 1924 029 947 649 The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029947649 THE AMERICA'S CUP RACES THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES By HERBERT L. STONE Editor of Yachting Illustrated with Photographs NEW YORK OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY MCMXIV ^^^'" X Copyright, 1914, by OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY All lights reserved The photographs from which the full-page illustrations are made are from the collections of C, E. Bolles, N. L. Stebbins of Boston, the late J. S. Johnston, one of the earliest marine photographers, James Burton, and F. A. Walter. We are also indebted to the H. E. Boucher Manufactur- ing Company for the photographs of the models of the America and the Countess of Dufferin; and to the New York State Pilots' Association for the use of the picture of one of the early pilot boats. RB.O. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Early History of American Yachting. Events that Led Up to the Sending of A Yacht to Race in English Waters. The Building of " America " ... 13 II. Arrival of the " America " in England. Difficulties of Arranging a Match. The Race for the 100-Guinea Cup, Since Known as the " America's " Cup ... 32 III. Effect of the " America " on the Future of Yacht Design, and the Further His- tory OP the Famous Yacht. The Cup Deeded to the New York Yacht Club 46 IV. The First Challenge for the Cup. Race Between the " Cambria " and the New York Yacht Club Fleet 57 V. Mr. Ashbury's Second Attempt to Win the Cup — The "Livonia," "Columbia," "Sappho" Race 76 VI. Canada Tries for the Cup. The Matches OF 1876 and 1881 99 VII. England Challenges Again and Sends Over "Genesta" IN 1885 127 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE VIII. The " Mayflower-Galatea " Race op 1886 153 IX. The Scotch Challenger " Thistle " and Her Eace Against "Volunteer" . . 167 X. Lord Dunhaven's Two Challenges, and the " Vigilant- Valkyrie II" Match of 1893 181 XI. The " Defender- Valkyrie III " Race of 1895. Lord Dunraven at Odds with the New York Yacht Club 212 XII. Sir Thomas Lipton's First Challenge . 241 XIII. The Second Lipton Challenge. The " Shamrock II-Columbia " Race of 1901 265 XIV. The Last Race for the Cup. The " Reli- ance-Shamrock III " Series of 1903 . 288 XV. Events Leading Up to the Race of 1914 . 312 ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Defender, which killed Lord Dunraven's hopes by beating Valkyrie III ... ... Frontispiece Sandy Hook Pilot Boat of the period just preceding the America 20 Model of the old America, with lines as sweet and clean as any modern racer 24 Maria, the prevailing type of yacht prior to the coming of the America 30 America, as she looked the last time she was in com- mission 52 The schooner Dauntless, one of the defenders of 1870 64 The centerboard schooner Columbia, which beat Livonia twice 84 Sappho, the Queen of the Seas — One of the de- fenders against Livonia in 1871 .... 90 The Canadian schooner Countess of Dufferin, which challenged for the Cup in 1876 . . . . 104 Puritan, the Boston defender which brought inter- national fame to Edward Burgess . . . . 138 Genesta, the English challenger — A typical nar- row cutter 142 Priscilla, the iron sloop built for the defense of the Cup in 1885 which did not make good . . . 146 ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Mayflower, which defeated Galatea in 1886 . . 156 Galatea, the most popular boat that ever raced for the Cup 160 Mayflower and Galatea in drydock 166 The graceful Scotch challenger, Thistle ... ,170 Volunteer turning Sandy Hook Lightship in the race of September 27, 1887 176 The little English cutter Minerva 190 Vigilant, the conqueror of Valkyrie II., reefed down. 194 Colonia, one of the unsuccessful quartette built in 1893 for the defense of the Cup ... .198 Lord Dunraven's first challenger, Valkyrie II. . . 202 Vigilant and Valkyrie //. in drydock to be measured 204i Jubilee, a Boston boat which lost out to Vigilant . 206 Pilgrim, an out-and-out fin keel boat built for the defense of the Cup in 1893 210 Defender before the wind 216 Defender and Valkyrie III. waiting for the starting gun 220 Valkyrie III., with grace in every line ..... 224 Valkyrie III. in drydock 230 The " forward gang " sending up a headsail on the Defender 236 The Crew of Defender 240 Setting the mainsail on a Cup defender .... 243 Columbia and Defender in the trial races . . . 248 In a breeze Columbia was the grandest boat of them all 254 Columbia leading Shamrock I. at the start of the last race of 1899 260 ILLUSTRATIONS FACING FAQE Constitution, the Unlucky 268 Independence, Thomas Lawson's flat sloop that cre- ated an awful rumpus, yet was not good enough to win 274 Columbia and Constitution in the trials, Columbia leading 278 Shamrock II., Sir Thomas Lipton's second chal- lenger 282 Shamrock II.'s balloon jib 284 Shamrock II. in drydock, showing her deep fin . . 286 Shamrock III., the last challenger, beating Sham- rock I. in the trial races on the Solent . . . 290 Reliance, the last defender — An unbeaten boat with her 16,000 square feet of sail 294 Reliance in drydock — ^An extreme type of flat, light displacement hull 298 When Shamrock III.'s mast buckled and went over- board during the trial races 300 Reliance, the largest of all the defenders . . . 306 Turning to windward on Reliance 310 Setting a spinnaker on a Cup challenger . . . 314 On the way to the races — Columbia towing to the starting line 320 THE AMERICA'S CUP RACES CHAPTER I EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICAN YACHTING — ETENTS THAT LED UP TO THE SENDING OF A YACHT TO RACE IN ENGLISH WATERS THE BUILDING OF AMERICA. MOORED alongside of a pier in Fort Point Channel, in the heart of Boston's business center, with the paint flaking from her shapely sides, stained by streaks of rust from fastenings and ironwork and with her deck covered by a winter house of rough boards, unnoticed and apparently forgotten by the hurrying throng that passes her in the daily journey to and from business, lies a vessel that is at the bottom of practically all American yachting tradition and that has not only done more for the advancement of yacht designing than any other boat, but has made yachting history the world over. 13 14 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES Though re-built and re-rigged several times in the sixty-odd years of her existence, there is in her raking masts, graceful sheer, and clipper bow something that causes the occasional passerby who loves a boat to pause in admira- tion, and that is still suggestive enough of the old pilot boat model from which she was built to whisper to the initiated the word dearest to their hearts (if they happen to be yachtsmen) — America. There she lies, after a long and, for the most part, honorable career, the same boat (at least the same soul of her if not actually the same fabric of timbers, spars, and sails) that fared forth across the Atlantic in 1851, the first of all racing yachts to cross the ocean to do battle with another nation, and the winner of a cup that now bears her name and which has stood during more than sixty years for the ultimate in a racing yacht, for the last word in speed under sail. In order to fully appreciate what America did on her famous trip to the English yachting center, the Solent, and the subsequent bearing which the winning of an apparently insignifi- cant cup had on the future of yachting history, AMERICAN YACHTING 15 one must go back to the middle of the last cen- tury and take a brief glance at the condition of yachting in this country at that time. Previous to 1840 but very few Americans owned yachts or turned to yachting for their recreation. Most of the citizens of this country were too busy making a living and building up and developing the comparatively yoimg repub- lic to have sufficient means or leisure to buUd pleasure vessels. Along the Atlantic seaboard a number of small craft were to be found, used principally for fishing and other commercial purposes, as well as for pleasure sailing on holi- days ; but neither the interest in pleasure sailing nor the number of yachts were sufficient to make an organized boat club necessary. The several clubs that were formed along the coast before this date all died a speedy and natural death after a year or so of existence. Between 1840 and 1850 enough yachts of from twenty to fifty tons were in existence in the vicinity of New York to justify the organ- ization of a yacht club, so that in July, 1844, a number of New York gentlemen met aboard Mr. John C. Stevens' schooner Gimcrack in New York harbor and formed the New York 16 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES Schooner Gimcrack, aboard of which the New York Yacht Club was formed in 1844. Yacht Club, an organization that has endured ever since, and is not only the oldest but, prac- tically from the start, has been the foremost yacht club in this country. Besides Mr. Stevens, the other men present at that first meeting were Hamilton Wilkes, William Edgar, John C. Jay, George L. Schuy- ler, Louis A. Depaw, George B. Rollins, James M. Waterbury, and James Rogers — ^names AMERICAN YACHTING 17 which should be noted well, as several of them were later identified with the building and ownership of the America. John C. Stevens was probably the leading spirit of the little group. He was an ardent and scientific yachtsman and was elected first commodore of the new club. Eight yachts were enrolled in its fleet that first year, and the first regular meeting was held early the follow- ing spring. That next summer, also, saw the club in its own home, an unpretentious wooden building on the Weehawken flats, opposite New York, called the Elysian Fields. The first regatta was likewise held that summer, and brought out nine yachts, the smallest of 17 tons and the largest of 45, the course being from Robbins Reef, around a couple of stake boats, out through the Narrows to the South West Spit Buoy near Sandy Hook, and return, the beginning of the New York Yacht Club's famous inside course. But to return to Commodore (as he must now be called) John C. Stevens. He was one of four brothers, the sons of Colonel John Stevens, prominent in the Revolution and in the early history of the Republic, and an inventor of note. 18 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES who owned Hoboken, where he built the family home on Castle Point, near which is now located Stevens Institute. John C. inherited much of his father's me- chanical ability, and all of the brothers, as well as being interested in sports, were active in the development of steam navigation on the Hud- son. While yet a young man John Stevens be- came interested in sailboats, owning a 20-footer called the Diver. This was followed by other boats of larger size, some of which he built him- self and in all of which he experimented to im- prove the model and produce more speed. His boats were the result of careful observation, experience, and study, and he was. looked upon as an authority on yachting affairs at that period. With his later boats, especially with his last schooner, the Gimcrack, he was associated with a man whose name is closely connected vsdth early yacht building and modeling in this coun- try, and to whom a great deal of credit has been given for the design of the America — one George Steers. Though it has been said that Steers was not an American, this is not so. He was born in this AMERICAN YACHTING 19 country in 1820, the son of an English ship- wright who came over some years before. Yacht- building at that time was far from the exact science it now is, and the lines of a vessel were not drawn on paper, as at present, but the craft was built largely by " rule of thumb " methods, following the procedure of existing vessels, with such refinements and improvements here and there as suggested themselves. Models were sometimes used, being worked out first from a block of wood and the lines shaped and faired up to give the desired form. Young George was taught the art of model- ing and laying down of vessels by his father, and as he assimilated the knowledge readily and showed great aptitude in the art of draftmg as it then existed, he soon made a name for himself locally, which later spread as he turned out fast and well built vessels, sometimes as a modeler and often as foreman or as head of some ship- yard where vessels were built. When only 19 years old he built for his own use a small boat which was very successful, and later turned out such well-known yachts of the period as the schooner Cygnet, the Gimcrack, Mr. Stevens' yacht, the sloop Una (a radical departure from 20 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES the then existing models), a number of fast pilot schooners, and, lastly, the U. S. frigate Niagara. At that time the merchant marine of America was in the hey-day of its existence, with the clipper ships sailing under the Stars and Stripes sweeping the seas, and the pilot fleet of New York had to keep pace with the growing busi- ness of the port. These little schooners, that cruised from Nantucket Shoals to the Dela- ware Capes in the competition to put a pilot aboard of a "homeward bounder," had to be staunch, able, and, above all, fast. Up to George Steers' time most of them followed the existing models of bluff, round bows, full fore- body, and a long, clean run — a form famil- iarly known as the " cod's head and mackerel tail " model, which was used in yachts as well as in commercial vessels. In 1849 young Steers modeled and built the pilot boat Mary Taylor, in which he discarded all previous theories of design and practically reversed the general form just mentioned, mak- ing the bow long and sharp, moving the greatest breadth farther aft, and filling out the after- body; in other words, turning the existing model nearly end for end. This boat was a great sue- AMERICAN YACHTING 21 cess, as she outsailed all the pilot boats of the time and immediately made a name for herself and for Steers. So successful was she that other builders were soon imitating and follow- ing her model in their future vessels. As for the reason for sending a yacht across the Atlantic in 1851 the records say that, " it appears that there was to be a great world's fair in England in that year, the first of the subsequent great international expositions the world has seen, and towards the fall of 1850 it was suggested by some of the promoters of the affair that it would be eminently fitting if America would send over a yacht to take part in the races to be held that year as an auxiliary feature of the exposition. As most of the larger English yachts were schooner rigge(^ and as the fame of the New York pilot boats had al- ready spread abroad, it was suggested that one of these boats be sent. Englishmen were nat- urally anxious to try their schooners and cutters against the much-vaunted Yankee fore-and- afters, and though no mention of any definite prizes was made, it was intimated that there would be plenty to compete for, with the prob- ability of large cash wagers and special match 22 THE 'AMERICA'S " CUP RACES races." At least, subsequent events showed that Commodore Stevens and the builders of Amer- ica expected to arrange for matches with cash stakes. That the Englishmen were hospitably inclined is shown by the following letter from the then commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Earl of Wilton, to Commodore Stevens: 7 Grosvenor Square, London. February 22, 1851. Sir: — Understanding from Sir H. Bulwer that a few of the members of the New York Yacht Club are building a schooner which it is their intention to bring over to Eng- land this summer, I have taken the liberty of writing to you in your capacity of Commodore to request you to con- vey to those members, and any friends that may accom- pany them on board the yacht, an invitation on the part of myself and the members of the Royal Yacht Squadron, to become visitors of the Club House at Cowes during their stay in England. For myself I may be permitted to say that I shall have great pleasure in extending to your countrymen any civility that lies in my power, and shall be glad to avail myself of any improvements in shipbuilding that the industry and skill of your nation have enabled you to elaborate. I remain. Sir, your obedient servant, Wilton, Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron, AMERICAN YACHTING 23 The idea appealed to Commodore Stevens, of the young but vigorous New York Yacht Club, as he was a thorough sportsman, and he set about organizing a syndicate to build a suitable boat to represent this country abroad, not being satisfied to pick an existing boat, as had been suggested. This was the first syndicate boat of the New York Yacht Club, and it is interesting to note that she was the only syndicate boat built here for subsequent races for the America's cup until the Puritan, in 1885. The members of this first syndicate were Commodore John C. Stevens, Edwin A. Stevens, his brother, George L. Schuyler, Col. James A. Hamilton, J. Beekman Finley, and Hamilton Wilkes. It was decided that the yacht was to be named America, and it was but natural that the owners should turn to George Steers, then just 30 years old, to model the new craft. The contract for the building of the new ves- sel was given to WUliam H. Brown, who had a shipyard at the foot of East 12th Street, in New York, and by whom Mr. Steers was at that time employed, probably in the capacity of foreman, or something of that sort. The con- 24 THE " AMERICA'S" CUP B ACES a a o « o d O u a u eS 0) O S 0) 0> a u I 'o -a o AMERICAN YACHTING 25 tract that was made with Brown was a curious document, by which Brown stood to lose much, without any great prospect of gain. The price agreed upon for the yacht, fully equipped, was $30,000.00, and a clause in the contract called for delivery by April 1, 1851. When ready for sea she was to be tried by a member of the syndicate, Mr. Hamilton Wilkes, for twenty days, at the syndicate's expense, and if she did not prove the fastest vessel in the United States the syndicate need not accept her. If, on the other hand, she was satisfactory, the syn- dicate had the option of taking her to England to race, and if she was not successful there, they could even then return her to Brown. Rather a one-sided contract it would be called in this day. Of course the boat was not ready on contract time. Boats never are. It was May 3d before she was even launched, and on May 24th, when she was still not ready, the syndicate offered to purchase her outright for $20,000.00. It was June 18th before she was finally delivered to her owners, probably for the latter figure. It has been said that in the design of America it is hard to say how much the work of Steers 26 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP BACES was influenced by Commodore Stevens, The younger man had the greater technical knowl- edge, had done a lot of experimenting with his former vessels, and was a keen observer. The Commodore, on the other hand, was a better practical yachtsman and sailor, with greater opportunity for actual experimenting with dif- ferent models and for following the trend of theory and design abroad. It is probable that the best work of George Steers went into the model of the new yacht; but that Steers bene- fited by the experience and knowledge of the older man is, also, undoubtedly a fact. The size decided on for the America was about 140 tons measurement. She was to be a keel boat rather than the prevailing centerboard type then so common in American yachts on account of the great amount of comparatively shallow water on our Atlantic coast, bays and sounds. In form she followed the new theory evolved by Steers in the Mary Taylor, having a sharp entrance, with concave forward sections, beam carried well aft, and a fairly easy run. Her lines, which are reproduced here, give an excellent idea of her shape, and in getting them great pains were taken to see that they AMERICAN YACHTING 27 were accurate. They are said to have been taken off in England at one of the yards where she was docked, without the knowledge of her owners, who refused to consider the idea of hav- ing a record of her form preserved on paper. There were, of course, no drawings of her form made when she was built. We are indebted to Mr. W- P. Stephens for the reproduction of the plans here. The principal dimensions of the America were : Length over all, 101 feet 9 inches ; length waterline, 90 feet 3 inches; beam extreme, 23 feet; forward overhang, 5 feet 6 inches; after overhang, 6 feet; draft extreme, 11 feet. Her mainmast was 81 feet long and her foremast 79 feet 6 inches, and they" had an excessive rake, as was the custom then of the famous Baltimore clippers, known the world over, and also of the New York pilot schooners, while her bowsprit was thirty-two feet from tip to heel. Her main boom was 53 feet in length, and projected a long distance beyond the taffraU. Her total sail area was 5263 square feet, contained in mainsail, foresail, and single jib — a far cry from the 16,000 square feet of the last defender. Reliance — and were made by R. H, Wilson, of 28 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES AMERICAN YACHTING 29 New York, father of the present sailmaker of that name. In the voyage across they were stowed below, another suit being used for the passage. She was planked with white oak three inches in thickness, the deck being of yellow pine. She was also coppered on the bottom to just above her waterline. It will not, perhaps, be uninteresting to see what she was like below decks, so as to form some comparison with modern yachts of her size. In general, her layout followed that of the pilot • boats of the period in that there was one large main saloon extending from the mainmast aft, around the sides of which were six built-in berths with transom seats in front. A short passage- way at the after end of this saloon led to a companionway to a small cockpit aft, there being a bathroom and a large clothes locker on opposite sides of this passage. Forward of the saloon were four large staterooms. Then came the galley and pantry, with a large forecastle forward containing accommodations for about fifteen men. The lazarette and sail locker were under the cockpit floor. In her first trials in this country the new boat did not show to advantage, being beaten rather 30 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES handily in several races by the Maria, a famous sloop of that day. This did not discourage her owners, however, Maria being a larger boat, in the best of condition, and with a crew aboard who had sailed her for some time. She did, how- ever, win a number of races against other boats before leaving. She was finally ready on June 21st, 1851, was towed down to the Hook on that day, and, casting off the towline, sail was made and she was headed to the eastward, carrying with her the hopes of her owners and of a large part of* the American people. She was the " last word " in American shipbuilding and she was going forth, presumably, to meet the pick of Eng- land's yachting fleet. Aboard of her was a little company of thir- teen men, including George Steers, his brother and his young nephew, Henry Steers, a young- ster of 15 years ; Captain " Dick " Brown, a Sandy Hook pilot, in command, "' Nelse " Com- stock, mate, six sailors, a steward, and cook. Commodore Stevens was to meet her on the other side. In spite of the supposedly unlucky number aboard, they had a good and fairly fast passage AMERICAN YACHTING 31 over, being 20 days to Havre, France, accord- ing to Henry Steers. Some excellent daily runs were made, the highest being 284 miles, while on six days over 200 miles were reeled off in the 24 hours. Here the yacht was to refit, and while doing so some alterations were made in her stem, these having been decided upon before leaving New York; Here also she was joined by Commodore Stevens. CHAPTER II AEEIVAli OF THE "aMEEICA" IN ENGLAND DIFFICULTIES OF ARRANGING A MATCH THE RACE FOR THE ONE HUNDRED GUINEA CUP, SINCE KNOWN AS " AMERICA'S " CUP. AFTER some three weeks spent in Havre refitting and getting in readiness for her invasion of the Solent, the America was ready the last of July, and, with her stores and spare gear still on board, she sailed on the 31st of that month for Cowes, Isle of Wight. That night was calm, with a thick fog, and the Amer- ica was forced to anchor some six or seven miles from Cowes. When the breeze came in the fol- lowing morning and blew the fog away, the English cutter Laverock, one of their crack boats, ran down from Cowes, expecting to meet the stranger, and with the intention of trying her mettle then and there. She found the Amer- 32 THE "AMERICA" IN ENGLAND 33 ican boat just weighing anchor, and hung around her persistently to force her, if possible, into a trial of speed. Commodore Stevens might have ducked an issue then; might even have killed his boat so as not to shovs^ her true speed in order to fur- ther his cause, for he was looking to arrange future matches and it would have been to his Cygnet, type of bluff-bowed yacht prior to 1850. advantage not to show too much speed just then. However, seeing that he could not gracefully decline a brush, he gave the orders to " let her go," and with sportsmanlike instinct tackled the Laverock for all there was in his boat. It was a beat back to Cowes, and in the few miles intervening the America worked out to windward surprisingly fast, finishing well ahead of the Englishman; and it is said that not many 34 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES hours afterwards it was known throughout the yachting community that no English yacht was the America's equal in going to windward. That little brush proved unfortunate for the Ameri- can party, as subsequent events will show. The English yachtsmen seemed impressed with America's speed, yet the boat made an unfavorable impression by her looks, as she was radically different from the English type, and the papers spoke of her rather slightingly at first, referring to her as "a big-boned skeleton but no phantom," and criticising her long, sharp bow and heavy raking masts, and the absence of a foretopmast, which she did not carry, follow- ing the pilot boat style. Commodore Stevens, as the representative owner, immediately set about the business of arranging matches, but for some weeks had no success at all. The Englishmen were most hos- pitably inclined towards the visitors, but showed a strong disinclination to match their yachts against the American boat, and no effort was made on their part to arrange a special match or put up any suitable trophy to race for. Com- modore Stevens first offered to sail a match against any of their schooners, and when this THE "AMERICA " IN ENGLAND 35 America, with her pilot-boat rig of 1851 was not taken up he enlarged the challenge to include cutters as well. Still meeting with no response, and thinking that if the stakes were made large enough they might prove attractive to some of the English owners, the Commodore, to quote Mr. George L. Schuyler, one of the syndicate, " with his usual promptness, and regardless of the pockets of his associates, had posted in the clubhouse at 36 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES Cowes a challenge to sail the America a match against any British vessel whatever, for any sum from one to ten thousand guineas, merely stipu- lating that there should be not less than a six- knot breeze." Even this brought no response from the sup- posedly sport-loving English yachtsmen, though the offer was left open until August 17th. After it was withdrawn, Mr. Robert Stephenson came forward with an offer to match his schooner Titania against the America for a race of twenty miles to windward and return, for £100. This offer was accepted, and August 28th fixed for the date of the match, which is described in a later chapter. This failure of British yachtsmen to take up the gauntlet flung down by their American vis- itors was not viewed favorably by the English people at large, and the London " Times " com- mented upon it as follows: " Most of us have seen the agitation which the appearance of a sparrow-hawk on the horizon creates among a flock of wood-pigeons or sky- larks when, unsuspecting all danger and en- gaged in airy flights or playing about over the fallows, they all at once come down to the ground THE "AMERICA" IN ENGLAND 37 and are rendered almost motionless for fear of the disagreeable visitor. Although the gentle- men whose business is on the waters of the So- lent are neither wood-pigeons nor skylarks, and although the America is not a sparrow-hawk, the effect produced by her apparition off West Cowes among yachtsmen seems to have been completely paralyzing. I use the word ' seems,' because it cannot be imagined that some of those that took such pride in the position of England as not only being at the head of the whole race of aquatic sportsmen, but as furnish- ing almost the only men who sought pleasure and health upon the ocean, will allow the illus- trious stranger to return with the proud boast to the New World that she had flung down the gauntlet to England, Ireland and Scotland, and that not one had been found there to take it up." In the meantime Commodore Stevens was notified by the officers of the Royal Yacht Squadron that there would be a regular open regatta of their club around the Isle of Wight on August 22d, for which all of their boats would be eligible, to be sailed without time allow- ance, and that the America would be welcomed 38 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES if she desired to enter. This race was for a trophy put up by the club, valued at 100 guineas. The Americas party decided to enter the race, provided there was a good breeze, but not other- wise. It was asking a good deal to have one yacht sail against a whole fleet, especially over a course that for a good part of the distance was not in open water, and where local knowledge of winds and tidal conditions counted for much. The same paper just quoted had this to say re- garding the course: "The course around the Isle of Wight is notoriously one of the most unfair to strangers that can be selected, and, indeed, does not ap- pear a good race-ground to anyone, inasmuch as the current and tides render local knowledge of more value than swift sailing and nautical skill." Commodore Stevens and his party were greatly disappointed at this failure to arrange a match or to have the Englishmen pick out their fastest boat for a special race with the America, which they fully expected would be done when they accepted the invitation to bring a boat across to race on the Solent, and they THE "AMERICA " IN ENGLAND 39 nearly decided to send their boat home in dis- gust without sailing a race. However, when the 22d came, though the wind was light, it found America at the line waiting for the starting signal. This was the fleet that the American boat was called upon to meet, all of them being British boats except America: Boat EiQ Tonnage Owner Beatrice Schooner 161 Sir W. P. Carew Volante Cutter 48 Mr. J. L. Cragie Arrow Cutter 84 T. Chamberlayne Wyvern Schooner 205 Duke of Marlborough lone tt 75 A. Hill Constance 5'jti'"„'s Madeline. slippery, while her top-sides had been " pot- leaded " until they were as slippery as glass. She was in great contrast to the Countess, which, though she had been hauled out and had her bottom smoothed and potleaded, still looked rough and unfinished. The start this time was a flying one, the old method of starting from anchor having beery CANADA TRIES FOR THE CUP 107 abandoned. As the two boats jockeyed for po- sition before the starting gun, the skipper of the Canadian, Captain Cuthbert, threw away a splendid chance of going over first and getting his wind free, as he was coming down with a rap full and under good headway when the gun went at 11:15 a. m. But he bore off, and let Madeline have the windward berth, where she blanketed the Countess, killing her so that she was thirty-five seconds behind as well as down ^ Madeline. to leeward. The wind was ahead, making it a beat down the ship channel to the Spit. Made- line immediately began walking away from the challenger and at the Hook was nearly ten min- utes ahead. The breeze outside was S.S.E. and the Coun- tess tried to steal oflF to the southward, looking for a better slant to make up her lost ground; but the skipper of Madeline knew the game too well to let her go off alone and tacked after her. When they finally came about to lay the outer mark the Madeline overstood the lightship and 108 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES lost some five minutes, the Countess judging the distance better and being only 4 minutes 41 sec- onds behind at the turn. Both boats piled on their kites like homeward- bounders running down the trades, and, followed by a large fleet of excursion steamers and yachts, whose passengers were keyed up to see what the Canadian challenger could do in running, they tore along at a good clip. It was seen at the Hook that Madeline was outrunning the other, and she continued to draw ahead, finally cross- ing the line 9 minutes and 58 seconds ahead, elapsed time. Those who saw the race say that this time did not represent her true lead, as she lost the wind under the Staten Island shore and the boat astern moved up on her considerably. The ofiicial time of the race was as follows : Elapsed Corr't'd Name Start H. M. s. Finish Time H. M. S. H. M. S. Time H. M. s. Madeline of 11 1631 11 17 6 4 4126 5 24 55 4 51 59 5 34 53 5 23 54 Countess D. ufferin 5 34 53 Madeline won by 10m. 59s. This first race settled pretty conclusively the merits of the two boats and the second race, the CANADA TRIES FOR THE CUP 109 following day, was chiefly interesting by reason of the presence of a third boat on the course, though, naturally, not in the contest. This was the old America J which, in racing trim and with a full racing crew aboard, went over the line after the last boat had started and sailed over the course with the contestants. The second race was an outside one of twenty miles to windward and back. This day the Countess of Dufferin was sailed by Captain Joe Ellsworth, a noted New York yacht skipper, though of course Cuthbert was on board. The breeze was light, ireshening somewhat duringj^ the contest, but dying away again toward sun- set, as the yachts were coming home. The start was postponed until after noon and when the signal was finally given the Madeline again outmaneuvered the Countess and slipped over thirty-four seconds ahead of the latter. Right in the Countess's wake came the old America, spick and span, her crew trimming in her sails as if they were after the Cup them- selves and had forgotten that she was twenty- five years old with her racing career behind her. The course was S.S.E. and the three boats made one long tack to the eastward, holding it 110 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES for about three hours in the light wind. During this time the Canadian yacht kept sagging off to leeward, though she footed well, and when the three boats finally came about to fetch the mark it was seen by the diminished fleet that followed that she was some three-quarters of a mile astern and that the America had slipped in between her and the Madeline. The boats did not round the outer mark until after five o'clock in the afternoon, when it was seen that the America was only three min- utes behind the Madeline (she had started 4^ minutes behind her) and about nine minutes ahead of the Countess. This was a grand show- ing for the old boat, when it is remembered that the weather was light and the America was a heavy displacement keel boat, while the others were light draft center boarders. The run home in the falling wind and fading light was slow and uninteresting, though pic- turesque, as the three boats, two of them modern racers and one an old-timer, with every rag hung aloft that would catch the faintest zephyr, stood up darkly against the western sunset and slipped almost noiselessly through the water. It was dark before the leader, the Madeline, CANADA TRIES FOR THE CUP 111 finished. Less than twelve minutes behind her came the good old America, and after eight o'clock, with the high hopes of her crew dashed, came the Countess of Buferin. So the series came to an end, the Cup remaining in the New York Yacht Club locker until someone else had the hardihood to challenge. The three yachts were timed in this race as follows, the America's time bemg only shown for comparison, as she was not in the race: Name Start H. M. s. Madeline 12 17 24 Countess of Dufferin 12 17 58 America 12 22 09 Madeline beats Countess 27m. 148., and America beats Countess 19m. 9s. After the race the Countess of Dufferin was stripped and laid up at New York, and then the financial troubles that had beset her since she was launched began to come to a head. Captain Cuthbert, who owned the largest share in her, attached her in an effort to force Major Gifford to sell his share. Cuthbert still had faith in her and it was said to be his intention to get control Elapsed Corr't'd Finish Time Time H. M. s. H. M. s. H. M. S. 7 37 11 7 19 47 7 18 46 8 03 58 7 46 00 7 46 00 7 49 00 7 26 51 7 26 51 112 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES of her, raise enough money to alter her with a view to making her faster, and then to challenge for the Cup again. These plans fell through and she was finally sold at a sheriff's sale to satisfy some claims against her and eventually found her way back to Canada, later being sold to a Chicago yachts- man, who raced her on Lake Michigan. While this was the end of the Countess of Dufferin, it was by no means the last of her de- signer and captain in America's Cup affairs. Five years went by without another challenge from any country, and during these years Cuth- bert was busy turning over ways and means to have another " shy " at the famous " mug." In 1881 he had acquired sufficient backing to go ahead with a yacht from his own design, and in the spring of that year started to build a center- board sloop, following very much the model of his successful sloop Annie CutTihert, with some refinements that his observations during the years since she was built had dictated. Cuthbert at this time was a member of a small but progressive yacht club on Lake Ontario, called the Bay of Quinte Yacht Club, and on May 16th the secretary of that club sent a chal- CANADA TRIES FOR THE CUP 113 lenge for the Cup to the New York Yacht Club on behalf of Alexander Cuthbert, naming the new sloop, which was then on the stocks and was to be christened Atalanta, as the challenger. As usual, the challenge asked the New York club to waive the required six months' notice so that the race could be sailed that autumn. It seems strange that in three out of the four races for the Cup up to that time the challenge was so late in coming that the six months' clause had to be waived in order to get a race, a thing that might have put the New York Yacht Club at a great disadvantage if it had been necessary to build a boat to defend. The New York Yacht Club called a meeting on receipt of this challenge and not only agreed to waive the required notice, but to sail a series of three races in September, instead of only one. Then followed a further request from the Ca- nadian yacht club for the New York Yacht Club to define its position on sailing one boat against the challenger or claiming the right to name any boat it saw fit for each race. To this last request the America's Cup committee in referring the matter to the flag officers of the New York Yacht Club said, " We do not doubt the right of 114 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES the club to reserve an answer to this quesiton, or, under the terms of the deed of gift, to take the position that it is entitled to name a boat on the morning of each race, but our judgment is that the most liberal and sportsmanlike terms should be offered to the challenging yacht; and we understand that this is in accord with the wishes of the club, as expressed at the recent meeting by the unanimous adoption of Vice- Commodore Smith's resolution. We are therefore of the opinion that we should, in reply to the commu- nication referred to, notify the Bay of Quinte Yacht Club that the same boat will be sailed against the Atalanta in all three races." In this view the officers of the club fully con- curred, saying, " We sincerely trust that the in- terpretations of the deed of gift may be so liberal and sportsmanlike as to be beyond cavil." A fine stand, surely, and set forth in fine words. And yet the Club and its policy came in for a torrent of abuse, strangely, from both sides. As showing the animus that prevailed in the minds of some Canadian critics it is interesting to quote the following from the Toronto Globe, a few days before the final decision of the New York Yacht Club was announced: CANADA TRIES FOR THE CUP 115 " The New York Yacht Club is to be congrat- ulated upon the accommodating spirit shown in the acceptance of the challenge of the Bay of Quinte Yacht Club, notwithstanding several in- formalities therein. But the terms of the letter of acceptance leave no doubt that the New York Yacht Club is again about to resort to the dis- creditable tactics it has formerly adopted in order to avoid all danger of a fair contest. " The claim is made that there must be a series of three matches. This is nothing but fair, as yachting is essentially a pastime in which acci- dent takes a great share. But the New York Yacht Club's idea of fairness and courtesy to- ward any foreign vessel that seeks to win the Queen's Cup is this: — The challenge is consid- ered as being directed to the club as the owner of a great number of yachts, and in sailing the three races the club reserves till the morning of each day's race the nomination of the vessel which is to represent it. If there is a gale blow- ing the first day, a vessel of specially seaworthy quality is designated; if there is almost a dead calm on the second day, a ' skimming-dish ' is set to the work of polishing off the foreigner; and whatever the weather may be on the third day, a 116 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES vessel exactly suited to such weather wiU be found on hand at the starting point. " It has never been open to doubt that the New York Yacht Club has adopted this elabo- rate system out of a determination to retain the Queen's Cup at all hazards. Nothing short of a whole flotilla of yachts would stand any chance in such a skin-game as this competition has made. . . . " The New York yachtsmen protested, after she had been beaten, that the Countess of Dufr ferin was of no account whatever against their cracks. Let them now show a practical reliance upon their own opinions and enter upon the new race with another vessel by the same builder under such conditions as the comrpoo sense of the world says are fair. The strained interpre- tations of a police court pettifogger ought not to prevail in a matter connected with such a noble pastime as yachting.'* After reading this masterful stricture, it is pleasant to turn to an American newspaper writer's opinion of fair play and of the New York Yacht Club's announced position in this series : " We view the making of this match to sail a CANADA TRIES FOR THE CUP 117 single yacht against the challenger as conceding advantages to which no challenging party is en- titled, either by the equities of sporting law or conditions named in the deed of trust. This his- toric emblem is no prize-fighter's belt. It was won by sailing against the fleet par excellence of the world, and the present indications are that the Canadians will make the attempt for its pos- session with a craft equal to any of our own ; but should the challenging party to this single- handed match of ' best two in three ' trials beat our craft (not a remote probability at this time, at least), would this yacht show one 'jot' or ' tittle ' of that superiority, naval and nautical, of which this trophy is a symbol? Certainly not. . . . " Not for a moment do we suppose that our yachtsmen wish to ' toss a copper ' for the pos- session of this Cup; but in what else are these single-handed matches culminating? Fancy the plucky Stevens, who would ' flip ' a dollar for thousands, after ploughing three thousand miles of deep-blue water to wrest the trophy from the Royal Yacht Squadron, challenged to stake it on a single-handed race of * skimming dishes.' Any craft challenging for this Cup, in our opin- 118 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES ion, should sail against all of her class that could be mustered, and therefore these single-handed matches, and also the waiving of any conditions named in the deed of trust, constitute a bad precedent. . . . " It is an axiom in sport that ' a good match is won when made,' and really our yachting friends, guardians of the Americas Cup, do not shine as matchmakers." Can you beat it? Between two such antipo- dean viewpoints the poor America's Cup com- mittee was in a bad way. However, it went on arranging matters according to its lights to bring about a fair race. The Canadian boat was delayed in building, as yachts usually are, and the summer slipped away before she took the water, making a post- ponement of the race necessary. She was finally launched on September 17, and after a very brief try-out was made ready for the journey to New York, which was started early in October. Then it first became known that the yacht was to come to New York via the Erie Canal, instead of the St. Lawrence and ocean highway. She was 70 feet long over all, 64 feet on the waterline, 19 feet beam, and drew 5 feet 6 inches CANADA TRIES FOB THE CUP 119 without board, and with board down 16 feet 6 inches. She was so wide that to get her through the canal locks it was necessary to list her over on one side by shifting her ballast, and with her spars lashed on deck she was towed through the canal in this ignominious style, and did not reach New York until October 30, long after the yachting season had closed. Meantime, the flag officers and race committee S T. Atalanta, of the New York Yacht Club had not been idle. This was the first yacht of sloop rig to challenge for the Cup and the fleet of large sloops in this country did not nearly equal the schooner fleet either in size or caliber. The only large sloops in the club were the Mischief, Grade, Fanny, Vision, and Hildegard, and while these might do, it was thought best by the flag officers of the club to be on the safe side with a new boat. So they went to David Kirby, the builder of the last de- fender, Madeline, and also of the very fast sloop Arrow, owned outside the club, and asked him what he could do. He guaranteed to build a 120 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES sloop that would be faster than the Arrow, and though the time was short, it being then late in the spring, the boat was laid down, and was ready in time for the trial races in October, This boat was called the Pocahontas, and she was the first boat built especially to defend the Cup. Likewise this was the first year it was thought necessary to hold trial races to pick the defending yacht, and on October 13th, the Cana- dian yacht being still on the raging Erie Canal, ^S Mischief. these four crack sloops met in New York Bay for the first race of the trial series: Mischief, Grade, Pocahontas, and Hildegard. It was blowing fresh and Grade and Pocahontas lost their topmasts. Mischief winning. Grade won the second race, beating Mischief nearly 4 min- utes, while the new sloop was far behind. Mis- chief beat Grade in the third race by 14 seconds, and the Pocahontas, which turned out a failure, much to the disappointment of her owners and builder, was placed out of commission. As a result of these races the Mischief was CANADA TRIES FOR THE CUP 121 chosen to represent America in the Cup races, though the decision was not announced until the day scheduled for the first international race. This delay in naming its representative was due to the intense feeling that existed between the crews and partisans of the Mischief and Grade, and because the boats were so evenly matched that it was a difiicult matter to choose between them. There was sure to be criticism of the choice, no matter which was selected. The Mischief was an iron sloop designed by A. Gary Smith, who was coming into prominence then as one of the new school of scientific naval architects. She was built in 1879 and showed somewhat the influence of the growing trend to- ward the English cutter type. She was called a " compromise sloop " at that time, though she was a centerboarder and a wide boat. Her di- mensions were: Length over all, 67 feet 5 inches ; waterline, 61 feet ; beam, 19 feet 10 inches, and draft, 5 feet 4 inches, her rig showing some radical departures from the old American sloop type. She was a fast and an able boat and the final decision of the Cup committee was a wise one. The first race with the Canadian challenger 122 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES was fixed for November 8th, the latest date such an important event has ever been scheduled, over the club's regular inside course. Both boats were ready, but the day was foggy with no wind, and the race was postponed until November 9th, As a contest the races were devoid of interest, the challenger being no match for the " iron pot," as the Mischief was frequently and endearingly called, and need only be described briefly here. The Atalanta was sailed by her designer and builder, Mr. Cuthbert, and her crew was largely composed of amateur sailors from Lake Ontario, who had volunteered for the race. There were a few paid hands on board, but the amateurs were largely in the majority. They had not been suf- ficiently drilled on board, and the Atalanta suf- fered somewhat from poor and slow handling, though even with the best of handling she could not have won, the races easily demonstrating Mischiefs superiority. The first race was started in a fresh S.W. wind, the Atalanta Having a single reef tied down, while neither boat carried a topsail. Once out- side the Narrows, where the true weight of the wind was felt, both boats set working topsails, the Canadian setting hers over her reefed main. CANADA TRIES FOR THE CUP 123 The " iron pot " commenced to draw away from the challenger at the start, and constantly stretched out her lead, never being even threat- ened. On the run home the wind hardened and both boats had to stow their topsails. Atalanta was by this time some half hour behind, and the real race was between the sloop Grade, which started over the course ten minutes after the contestants for the Cup and was courteously timed by the committee, and the Mischief. The Chracie caught and passed the Atalanta be- fore reaching the S.W. Spit, and on the last leg to the home mark she passed Mischief to leeward and crossed the line about a minute ahead of her, as the following table will show : Elapsed Corrected Name Start Finish Time Time H. M. S. H. M. S. H. M. S. H. M. S. Mischief 1114 50 3 3159 4 17 09 4 17 09 Atalanta 1115 51 4 04 15l^ 4 48 24I/2 4 45 29l^ Grade 1125 00 3 30 46 4 05 46 4 10 42 Grade timed, but not in race. The next race was held the following day, No- vember 10th, and was even more decisive. It was over an outside course of sixteen miles to leeward and return, the wind being W. by N. and fresh, 124 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES though both boats carried topsails in the run down wind. While in the previous race there had been a good-sized excursion fleet following the racers, on this day only one steamer was on hand with sightseers, as the interest had waned, after the hollow victory of the previous day. The Grade again started ten minutes late. Mischief. CANADA TRIES FOR THE CUP 12.5 and as she made a pretty race with Mischief her time is given here with the others. The Atalanta did very well on the run down the wind in the fresh breeze, holding the Mischief, which got off in the lead, and being only 2 minutes and 15 seconds astern at the leeward mark. As they neared the outer mark the two com- petitors doused their topsails and turned in a quick reef for the hard thrash home, and Mischief even set a No. 2 jib in place of her large one. Once on the wind Mischief began to do things, and walked out to windward of the other two boats in a way to discourage their drenched crews. She finished over 38 minutes ahead of the Atalanta and 10 minutes and 5 seconds ahead of the Grade. The table of actual, elapsed, and corrected times follows. On elapsed time Mis- chief and Grade were very close together, though the former won on corrected time and on the beat home gained nearly six minutes on the latter: Elapsed Corr't'd Name Start Finish Time Time h. m. s. h. m. s. h. m. s. h. m. s. Mischief 1158 17 4 53 10 4 54 53 4 54 53 Atalanta 1158 47 5 35 19 5 36 32 5 33 47 Grade 12 08 30 5 03 15 4 5445 4 59 31 126 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES. As the agreement was for two races out of three, this settled the Canadian's chances and the Atalanta was laid up in New York. Mr. Cuth- bert talked of building her over and fitting her out more carefully the following year, just as he had talked about the Countess of Duferin five years before, and again challenging with her for the America's Cup. But nothing came of it, except that the New York Yacht Club, to pre- vent such a contingency, set about changing the deed of gift, as will be told in a later chapter. This ended Canada's connection with Americas Cup history. CHAPTER VII england challenges again, and sends ovee "genesta" in 1885 THE contest with Canada in 1881 was so un- satisfactory from every point of view that it aroused a strong feeling among the members of the New York Yacht Club that some steps ought to be taken to guard against such fiascos in the future. True yachtsmen felt that the real spirit of America's Cup competition had been violated in sailing against a yacht hardly finished, poorly manned, hampered by lack of funds, and that had come to this country by " mule power," canted on one bilge in order to get through a canal six feet deep. They believed that the donors of the Cup had intended it to stand as an incentive for foreign yachts to cross the sea to race in this country and thus, in a measure, to be a test of a yacht's seaworthiness as well as speed. Besides this, cup defense was getting to be an 127 128 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES expensive matter to the club, and the members felt that the race ought to be worthy of the out- lay. With the building of the unsuccessful de- fender, Pocahontas, the New York Yacht Club had spent fully $20,000 on this match with the Atalanta, and that seemed a goodly sum of money in those days. In the light of recent ex- penditure for cup defense, however, this was a mere bagatelle; and some of those old members would have a good many heart burnings could they know that it costs something like $350,000 dollars to build a boat like the Reliance and run her through an America's Cup campaign, and much more than that sum when four de- fenders are built, as was the case in 1893. The Reliance alone probably cost $250,000 to build and equip, to say nothing of running her with a crew of fifty men. Compared with the cost of the original winner of the Cup, America, which was $20,000, it will be remembered, and her small crew of ten men, this seems, and is, a fortune to spend merely on cup defense. This feeling came to a head in December, 1881, when at a meeting of the New York Yacht Club it was voted to return the Cup to the only sur- viving member of the America's syndicate, Mr. ENGLAND CHALLENGES 129 George L. Schuyler, and practically to ask him to draw up a new deed of gift in place of the one made in 1857, which was considered inade- quate and too onerous upon the holding club. It was necessary to have one better qualified to meet the changed conditions of yacht racing and to cover the many points which had caused con- troversy and ill feeling in the past. The time was ripe for such a change and, realizing it, Mr. Schuyler, then an old man, ac- cepted the return of the Cup and drew up a new deed of gift with which he again gave the Cup to the New York Yacht Club. It was accepted on February 2nd, 1882. This new instrument, called the second deed of gift, was as follows: " Any organized Yacht Club of a foreign country, incor- porated, patented or licensed by the legislature, admir- alty, or other executive department, having for its annual regatta an ocean water course on the sea or on an arm of the sea (or one which combines both), practicable for vessels of 300 tons, shall always be entitled, through one or more of its members, to the right of sailing a match for this Cup, with a yacht or other vessel propelled by sails only, and constructed in the country to which the Challenging Club belongs, against any one yacht or vessel as aforesaid, constructed in the country of the club hold- ing the Cup. 130 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES " The yacht or vessel to be of not less than 30 nor more than 300 tons, measured by the Custom House rule in use by the country of the challenging party. " The challenging party shall give six months' notice in writing, naming the day for the proposed race, which day shall not be less than seven months from the date of the notice. " The parties intending to sail for the Cup may, by mutual consent, make any arrangement satisfactory to both as to the date, course, time allowance, number of trials, rules, and sailing regulations, and any and all other conditions of the match, in which case also the six months' notice may be waived. " In case the parties cannot mutually agree upon the terms of a match, then the challenging party shall have the right to contest for the Cup in one trial, sailed over the usual course of the Annual Regatta of the club holding the Cup, subject to its rules and sailing regula- tions, the challenged party not being required to name its representative until the time agreed upon for the start. " Accompanying the six months' notice, there must be a Custom-house certificate of the measurement, and a state- ment of the dimensions, rig, and name of the vessel. " No vessel which has been defeated in a match for this Cup can be again selected by any club for its rep- resentative until after a contest for it by some other vessel has intervened, or until after the expiration of two years from the time such contest has taken place. " Vessels intending to compete for this Cup must pro- ceed under sail on their own bottoms to the port where the contest is to take place. ENGLAND CHALLENGES 131 " Should the club holding the Cup be for any cause dissolved, the Cup shall be handed over to any club of the same nationality it may select which comes under the foregoing rules. " It is to be distinctly understood that the Cup is to be the property of the club and not of the owners of the vessel winning it in a match, and that the condition of keeping it open to be sailed for by organized Yacht Clubs of all foreign countries, upon the terms above laid down, shall forever attach to it, thus making it perpet- ually a Challenge Cup for friendly competition between foreign countries. George L. Schuyler." The principal points of difference that are im- portant to note between this new instrument and the old one, are, that it fixed definitely the obli- gation of the holding club to meet the challenger with one yacht, and one only, throughout the series of races constituting the match; that it required the challenger to proceed under sail on its oivn bottom to the port where the contest is to take place, thus eliminating any chance of towing through a canal or of shipping a boat across the ocean on the deck of a steamer, which at that time was getting to be within the bounds of possibility; the barring of a once defeated yacht from challenging again for two years ; and 132 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES the elimination of Canada as a factor in future races, excepting those clubs in the Dominion that were situated on the coast. The " mutual consent " clause as to the details of the matches was left in, while the six months' notice clause was given a more prominent place in view of the necessity which might arise of having to build a boat to meet a challenger that was of different size and rig than any exist- ing boat of the holding club. These new conditions were something of a di- rect slap at the Canadian clubs on the Great Lakes and caused much bitter feeling there, which resulted in many harsh things being said of the New York Yacht Club in the Canadian papers. Upon accepting the Cup under the new " deed " the New York Yacht Club sent a copy of the instrument to all the foreign yacht clubs, with a cordial letter expressing the hope that the Cup would still be a source of friendly strife upon the water, and tendering to any man who might challenge " a liberal, hearty welcome, and the strictest fair play." No one seemed in a desperate hurry to chal- lenge for the bit of silver, however, and though ENGLAND CHALLENGES 133 several rumors of a possible match were heard, it was nearly three years later, or not until De- cember, 1884, that the gauntlet was actually taken up. On the 20th of that month a letter was received by the club from Mr. J. Beavor Webb, a British designer, giving notice that a challenge for the America's Cup would be forth- coming for a race in the summer of 1885, from Sir Richard Sutton, owner of the cutter Genesta, and from Lieutenant W. Henn, of the Royal Navy, owner of the cutter Galatea, then build- ing, both boats being of Mr. Beavor Webb's design. This letter was followed later by an official challenge proposing two matches, the first be- tween Genesta and an American boat, and in the event of the New York Yacht Club retaining the Cup, then a second match between the Gala- tea and an American yacht. It was proposed that each match should consist of a series of three races, and the challengers asked that all of them be held outside Sandy Hook, clear of headlands. This challenge was accepted promptly, though it meant that the New York Yacht Club had to win twice to retain the Cup, while if the English- men won either match the Cup would go home 134 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES with them; and on March 10th the club cabled to this effect, agreeing to waive the required six months' notice in the case of Galatea, in the event of Genesta losing, and to race Galatea later in the same season. The club offered one race over the New York Yacht Club inside course and two outside, and suggested a seven- hour time limit on each race. It also agreed to name its representative yacht a week before the first race. After some correspondence regarding the mat- ter of time allowance, Beavor Webb asking that the mean of the New York Yacht Club and Eng- lish allowance tables be used, the matter was left to a referee, Mr. George L. Schuyler, whose de- cision was that " in a race for the America's Cup, whatever terms may be mutually agreed upon in other respects, the time allowance should be made according to the rules of the club in pos- session." Thus the terms were satisfactorily arranged and the New York Yacht Club proceeded to set about plans for defense with two races staring them in the face. This was the first time a large English cutter had challenged for the Cup, and there were not only no sloops of that size in this ENGLAND CHALLENGES 135 country, but sloop design in America was in a somewhat chaotic state owing to several causes which should be narrated briefly. With the application of naval architecture to yacht design, there was a tendency to break away somewhat from hide-bound tradition in yacht building, and the claims of the English type of deep, narrow cutter were beginning to be heeded and its good points to be taken into consideration. About the middle of the seventies one or two small cutters had been built in America, though with some modifications of the English type. These were chiefly in respect to having more beam, the beam of the English boats being un- duly narrow to give them a favorable rating under their measurement rule. One or two out- and-out cutters were built, with the cutter rig of housing bowsprit, loose-footed mainsail, double head rig, etc., but most of them were a compromise between the American centerboard sloop and the narrow English type. Then, in 1881, a little Scotch cutter called the Madge was shipped to this country by her owner, a Mr. Coats, of Scotland, on the deck of a steamer. She was 46 feet long over all, had a beam of only 7 feet 9 inches, and drew nearly 136 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP MACES 8 feet of water. She was a regular " knife blade " or " plank-on-edge " cutter of the extreme type. This little boat was so uniformly successful in her races against American sloops of her size that she converted many yachtsmen to the type and the yachting world was for a time divided into two camps — the " cutter cranks," as they were called, on one side, and the adherents of the cen- terboard sloop on the other. From this contro- versy a new type of centerboard sloop was evolved, combining some of the elements of each type and being a much more wholesome, abler type of craft than the old " skimming dish " single-stickers, that were said to sail on a heavy dew. Reports from England of Genesta's success abroad in 1884, her first year, where she was con- ceded to be the best all-round boat, convinced the officers of the club that vigorous steps had to be taken to get a suitable boat with which to defend, none of the existing ones being considered fast enough, or large enough. So the flag officers, James Gordon Bennett and William P. Douglas, decided to build a sloop and, naturally, turned to A. Gary Smith, then the most prominent yacht designer in this country, for her design. He had ENGLAND CHALLENGES 137 turned out the last successful Cup defender. Mischief, and many other fast boats. The cen- terboard type was decided on, though the new boat was to be much deeper than the prevailing centerboarders of the time, being a " compromise sloop," and she was built entirely of iron, by Harlan and Hollingsworth, of Wilmington, Del. This boat was named Priscilla, and great things were expected of her when she appeared in New York waters in the early summer. At this time the waters of Massachusetts Bay had become a great yachting center and had bred some of the finest yachtsmen on the Atlantic coast, though as a rule they were small boat sailors rather than owners of large yachts. There was a strong patriotic sentiment there that Bos- ton and its leading yacht club, the Eastern, lo- cated at Marblehead, should be represented in an international event of this kind, and a syndi- cate was formed, of whom the leading members were General Charles J. Paine and J. Malcolm Forbes, to build a boat to try for the honor of defending the Cup. General Paine was also a member of the New York Yacht Club, the owner of the schooner Halcyon, and a keen, practical yachtsman. 138 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES There was at that time a young naval architect in Boston, about thirty-six years of age, who had achieved considerable local reputation as a yacht designer, though he had only taken it up profes- sionally about two years before. His name was Edward Burgess, and while his scientific knowl- edge was acquired as an amateur, he was clever, knew boats, and was a first-class yacht sailor. To him the syndicate went for the plans of the new yacht. It was an ambitious undertaking for a designer of his limited experience, for up to that time the largest boat he had turned out was only thirty-eight feet over all; and he was not only going up against the New York Yacht Club with its great prestige and resources, but he had to design a sloop larger than any at that time afloat in this country. But the members of the syndi- cate and his friends had faith in his abilities, and the result was the Puritan, launched from Law- ley's yard in May, 1885, and destined to bring international fame to her designer. While a centerboard sloop, the Puritan was in strong contrast to the older American boats of that rig and embodied many characteristics of the cutter type. She may fairly be called a " compromise sloop." She was built of wood and ENGLAND CHALLENGES 139 in describing her, Mr. W. P. Stephens, a >vell- known yachting writer, says: " The sheer plan was that of the cutter, with plumb stem, circular sheer, and fairly high free- board and bulwarks, and the cutter counter of Sloop Puritan, 1885. the day. Her breadth was taken from the sloop, though moderate, and her depth and draft were considerably greater than in the old sloops, but less than in the cutters. Outside of the hull proper there was a clearly defined keel some two feet deep, containing forty-eight tons of lead — the slot for the centerboard being cut through this keel. The greatest draft was at the stern- post, which had more rake than the old sloops, but much less than the deep cutters. The keel rounded up gradually, being well cut away at the forefoot." She was a big boat and measured 81 feet 1 inch on the water, 94 feet over all, 22 feet 7 inches 140 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES breadth of beam, and 8 feet 8 inches draft, which her board when down increased to 20 feet. She spread about 8000 square feet of sail. The Gary Smith sloop Priscilla was 85 feet on the water, 94 feet over all, 22 feet 5 inches breadth, and 7 feet 9 inches draft. Both of these new boats were of about the same size as the first Cutter Genesta, 1885. challenger, Genesta, which was 90 feet over all and 81 feet on the water. But the latter had only 15 feet of beam, while she drew 13 feet 6 inches, and had 72 tons of lead ballast in her deep keel. She carried less sail, however, spreading only 7150 square feet. It will be seen from these brief descriptions that the match was to be one of types, the nar- row English cutter against the modernized American centerboard sloop, and it was thought that the race would settle the much discussed question of superiority between the two types. ENGLAND CHALLENGES 141 The members of the New York Yacht Club did not give much consideration to the Boston boat when word came that one was being built around the Cape, and she was rather slightingly- referred to as the " bean boat " and " brick sloop," the name of Burgess not being known in New York waters at that time. However, they welcomed her to the trial races, for which they had sent out a general invitation to sloops of over sixty feet waterline length, of any recog- nized yacht club. The first time the two new American boats came together was in the Goelet Cup race off Newport, early in August, and to the surprise and chagrin of the New Yorkers the " bean boat " led the Prisdlla home in a fresh breeze by over ten minutes. On the New York Yacht Club cruise that followed, Puritan took two more races from the New York crack, which won only once; and when the actual trial races came off at the end of August the Boston boat, sailing most consistently, won two out of the three from Prisdlla and demonstrated beyond a doubt her superiority, especially in windward work. The other boats entered in the trials were the old sloop Grade and the American cutter 142 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES Bedouin, built in 1882. Both were badly. out- classed. Puritan was chosen by the Cup com- mittee as the defending boat and the announce- ment was made August 30th, eight days before the first international race was scheduled. During all this racing the English challenger, Genesta, which had arrived in this country on July 16th after a fine passage of twenty-four days across the Atlantic, was being tuned up by her designer, Mr. Beavor Webb, and her skipper. Captain Carter. Good care was taken, by avoiding " brushes " with any of our yachts, not to let us get a line on her speed. Earlier in the season word had been sent to the New York Yacht Club that the Galatea would not be brought over that year, but her challenge would be reserved for 1886. Hence the N"ew York Yacht Club had only the one match on its hands after all, and September 7th was set for the first race. Genesta came off the dry dock September 2nd, with her coppered underbody polished by hand until one could see his face in it and with her sails in the pink of condition as the result of the attention of Lapthorne, the English sailmaker, who was brought over for the purpose. Puritan^ ENGLAND CHALLENGES 143 was hauled and had her underbody potleaded until it was as slippery as an eel, and the last touches of her grooming were finished only the day before the first race. September 7th opened with a thick fog hang- ing over New York Bay, and through this the racers and a big excursion fleet, loaded to the guards with a patriotic and enthusiastic crowd of sightseers, felt their way down to the Scot- land lightship off the Hook. It lightened a little when they arrived there, but there was no wind, and after hanging around for some hours the starting signal was given at 1:35. There was not enough breeze to get the yachts over ' the course, and the race was finally postponed until the next day. The yachts were on hand at the lightship again the following morning, and found a merry breeze rufiling the surface, giving every indica- tion of excellent racing weather. The prepara- tory signal was given at 11:32 a. m. and both boats edged up near the line to be in a good position for the starting whistle. As they came together, moving fast, Puritan^ on the port tack, tried to cross Genesta's bows, her skipper mis- calculating the distance or trying to bluff the 144 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES English captain, who had the right of way, into going about. The Britishers called the bluff, however, and seeing that he could not clear the Genesta the Puritan's helmsman luffed across the Genesta s bow, the latter's bowsprit going through the Puritan's mainsail, and being snapped off short at the stem by the leach rope. Here was a pretty mess just at the start of an international race, and one that might lead to all sorts of trouble and bad feeling. But Sir Richard Sutton, the young owner of the Ge- nesta, proved himself equal • J the occasion. The committee boat went alongside the Ge- nesta to find out the extent of her damage, and hailing, told those on board that Puritan had been disqualified, as she was clearly at fault, and that if the Genesta sailed over the course and finished inside the seven-hour time limit, the race was hers, Mr. Roosevelt Schuyler, the American representative on board, was just asking the committee if they would give them time to rig a new bowsprit with the spinnaker boom, when Sir Richard Sutton cut in with: " We are very much obliged, but we don't want it that way. We came over for a race, not a sailover." ENGLAND CHALLENGES 145 This sportsmanlike spirit pleased the commit- tee and won the owner of the Genesta great popularity throughout the country. He could have sailed the course and taken the race with- out question, Puritan being wholly in the wrong, but he preferred otherwise. Time was given both boats to repair damages, and September 11th was the next time they came together to try to decide which was the speedier, the start again being off the Scotland light-vessel. The course was twenty miles to windward and return, the wind light easterly, though there was considerable bobble of sea which seemed to bother Puritan a little. After sending them away at 11:35 the wind gradually became flatter and flatter, and it was over six hours before Puritan rounded the outer mark. It was then seen that the yachts could not finish in the seven-hour time limit and the race was called off, with Genesta about a mile astern. These postponements were getting inonoto- nous ; but on the next race day, September 14th, there was a fair southwest breeze blowing and a race was finally sailed. This time the course was the " inside " one, starting off Owl's Head, on the Bay Ridge shore, and going out to Sandy 146 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES Hook lightship and back, a distance of thirty- eight nautical miles. The starting signal from the judges' boat, the tug Luckenbackj went at 10:30 and it found the Genesta well to leeward of the line, where she had been set by the strong flood tide. Puritan was in a better position, crossed first, and the two boats started to beat down the bay, through the Narrows, followed by the ever-pres- ent fleet of yachts and excursion boats. Genesta was bothered somewhat on one tack by an in- coming bark, and when they passed out by Fort Wadsworth the American boat had a lead of about seven minutes. In the lower bay the wind was uncertain, sometimes coming in good puffs and again dying away to faint airs, and in it the boats worked down to the South West Spit, Puritan having a lead of three minutes at that point. Then, with sheets eased off for the reach to the lightship they traveled fast, with scuppers just awash. Off the point of the Hook the Genesta was crowded by the excursion fleet, which got too near in the anxiety of the captains to give their passengers a good view, and the wash undoubt- edly retarded her somewhat, to the great and ENGLAND CHALLENGES 147 justified annoyance of her crew. Puritan rounded the lightship at 2 :14 :54 P. M., Genesta turning 4 minutes and 22 seconds behind her. It was a close reach back to the Hook, with the wind hauling a trifle, so that a short hitch had to be taken to fetch the buoy, and then a broad reach, which Genesta made into a spin- naker run, back to the finish line just outside the Narrows. The wind was lightening all the time and Genesta kept dropping behind, so that she was about a mile astern when Puritan crossed at 4 :38 :05 P. M. in a spiritless and disappointing finish. Puritan allowed Genesta 28 seconds time over the 38-mile course, and the official figures were as follows: Elapsed CoRHticTED Name Start Finish Time Time h. m. s. h. m. s. h. m. s. h. m. s. Puritan 10 32 00 4 38 05 6 06 05 6 06 05 Genesta 10 32 00 4 54 52 6 22 52 6 22 24 Puritan won by 16m. 19s. A day intervened before the next race was sailed, but the 16th found both boats at the line established off the Scotland lightship, ready for the decisive battle of the series. There was a 148 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES fresh autumn nor'wester blowing, flecking the tops of the tumbling seas offshore, and the course was set for a twenty-mile run down wind and a beat back, with every promise of the best race of the series, which the following five hours more than fulfilled. Mindful of his bad start in the previous race. Captain Carter, of the Genesta, kept his vessel near the line, so that she got the jump on Puri- tan and crossed just sixteen seconds after the whistle and forty-five seconds ahead of the American sloop. Both boats broke out immense spinnakers, but Puritan was not close enough to take Genesta's wind, and the narrow cutter slipped through the water so fast that the hopes of the patriotic abroad the excursion fleet waned as it became apparent that the Yankee sloop had met her match down the wind. Both boats were traveling at a ten-knot clip, but as they neared the outer mark the wind freshened considerably and they took in club topsails for the strenuous beat back. Genesta doused her spinnaker smartly and hauled sheets aft as she rounded the mark, where it was seen that she was fully an eighth of a mile ahead. Once hauled on the wind, both boats felt the ENGLAND CHALLENGES 149 true force of the nor'wester, which was now com- ing in vicious puffs, while the sea was making up fast and hard. Genesta set a gaff topsail, which shook and slatted at a great rate, but Puritan, seeing that it would be too fresh to carry that sail, housed her topmast, the crew do- ing the job in seamanlike fashion. They made a leg in under the Long Island shore, where somewhat smoother water was found, and all the time Puritan kept eating out to weather of the cutter, whose topsail, instead of helping her, was shaking so as to hold her back. It was the first time most of the fleet had seen a cutter in a real breeze and they were astonished at the way Genesta lay over in the puffs, which were now of full thirty-mile strength. About three o'clock the boats were abeam of each other off Long Beach, but with Puritan some three-fourths of a mile to weather. Then the wind shifted toward the north so that they could lay the lightship, and Puritan wiped off on the other tack and went banging down to- ward the Jersey coast, followed by the cutter, both having all they could stagger under. It is the consensus of most yachtsmen that Genesta threw away her chances in the race by lugging 150 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES her topsail, which was not drawing, instead of clewing it up and housing her topmast, as Puri- tan had done. Why Carter, who otherwise showed excellent judgment, hung on to it, is not known. As they neared the Scotland lightship it was seen that the finish would be very close, but Puritan, being to windward and having a little to spare, started sheets and fairly tore down to the line, leaving a wake like an ocean liner, and crossed a little over two minutes ahead of Ge- nesta, this time being reduced by the latter's allowance to 1 minute 38 seconds, as the accom- panying table shows: Elapsed Corrected Name Start Finish Time Time H. M. s. H. M. s. H. M. s. H. M. S. Puritan . . , . . 11 06 01 4 09 15 5 03 14 5 03 14 Genesta. . . . . 11 05 16 4 10 36 5 05 20 5 04 52 It was a great race, the most stirring and the closest contest for the Cup up to that time, and fortunate were those who had a chance to follow the racers over the course that blustery autumn day and see them fight it out. As Genesta crossed in Puritan's wake, defeated but not dis- heartened, she luffed up alongside the winner ^nd her crew gave three generous British cheers ENGLAND CHALLENGES 151 for the winner, which were returned as heartily with three Yankee ones from Captain Aubrey Crocker of the Puritan and his crew. And so ended the most satisfactory race for the Cup that had yet been seen. Genestas gen- erous owner. Sir Richard Sutton, stayed in this country some three weeks longer, and with un- bounded faith in his yacht tried to arrange an- other match with Puritan. Mr. Forbes, the latter's managing owner, would not race, how- ever, believing that the Puritan had fulfilled her mission in successfully defending the Cup. Genesta did not go home empty-handed, how- ever, as she won the Bennett and Douglas prizes in races arranged the following weeks, and also the Brenton Reef and Cape May Challenge cups in two long ocean races against the schooner Dauntless. On October 9th she sailed for home under jury rig, making a fast passage, consid- ering the hard head winds she encountered, of 19 days 10 hours to Gosport, England. She proved herself a sturdy, able sea boat, as the following extract from a letter written to a friend by Captain Saunders, her navigator, tes- tifies : " The Genesta is a wonder. I have never seen her equal as a sea boat. The voyage was a con- 152 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES tinued series of surprises to me in the way of her marvelous performance under adverse cir- cumstances. We had heavy, strong, and bafl3ing contrary winds nearly all the way over, and heavy seas, and it was amazing to see that little devil get through the water. She traveled 3300 miles in 19 days 10 hours, an average of about seven knots, against heavy seas all the way over. The entire passage was made under reefed sails, with the exception of two or three brief intervals only. The boat's behavior throughout was beau- tiful. It couldn't have been better, and every day developed some new good quality in her." As for the Puritan, the embodiment of new ideas in yacht design that had kept the America's Cup in this country, she was sold at auction on September 23d, to J. Malcolm Forbes, for only $13,500. She remained his property for many years and was sailed under both sloop and schooner rig until her owner had no further use for her. Less than ten years ago she was sold to some Portuguese of the Cape Verde Islands, and by them was used as a freight and passenger packet between New Bedford, Mass., and her new owners' homes, making, up to quite recent times, two trips a year across the Western ocean in that honorable; if less glorious, trade. CHAPTER VIII THE " MAYFLOWER-GALATEA " EACE OF 1886 IF the Puritan-Genesta match had been a satisfactory one, and our relations with Sir Richard Sutton pleasant, the race the fol- lowing year was productive of just as good feel- ing; and these two matches did much to re- establish the harmony in international yachting affairs that the Ashbury incident and the Atalanta-MiscMef race had broken. After Genesta's return to England the chal- lenge on behalf of Galatea, which was withdrawn in 1885, was renewed by the Royal Northern Yacht Club of Great Britain, and accepted by the New York Yacht Club, suitable terms for a series of three races to be held in September, 1886, being easily agreed to. They were very much the same as those of the Puritan-Genesta match. The Galatea was owned by Lieut. William 153 154 THE "AMERICA'S "CUP RACES Henn, an enthusiastic yachtsman who had been in the Royal Navy for fifteen years and who (while yet a young man) had retired some ten years before so that he might devote more time to his favorite pastime. As has been said, the Galatea, designed by Mr. Beavor Webb, was built in 1885, the year after Genesta, and was raced that season in English waters. She was somewhat larger than Genesta, being 12 feet longer over all. Her general dimensions were: Length waterline, 86 feet 10 inches; length over all, 102 feet 7 inches ; beam, 15 feet, v Galatea. and draft, 13 feet 6 inches, while she spread 7751 square feet of canvas, exclusive of light sails. She was a regular " lead mine " of ballast, having 81 tons run into her keel. She was built of steel, the first challenger in which this mate- rial was used, and she was jocularly referred to here as the " tin frigate." Unlike the Genesta, she was singularly unsuc- cessful at first in her home waters, and did not " MAYFLOWER-GALATEA '* 155 show up as well as her designer had expected. After her first season some alterations, princi- pally in her ballast, were made and she did much better. Her owner, and also her designer, had great faith in her; yet judging from her per- formance in these waters she was not as fast as Genesta. Certainly she did not push Mayflower as hard as Genesta did Puritan, and Puritan could always give Mayflower a good race. In anticipation of Galatea's coming, Boston yachtsmen immediately " got busy " after the 1885 race, with a view to holding the laurels they had won. General Paine, one of the Puri- tan syndicate, feeling sure that Puritan could be improved upon, which feeling was shared by the yacht's designer, placed an order with Edward Burgess for a new sloop, somewhat larger than Puritan, of which he was to be the sole owner. From an unknown local designer, with a dingy back office up three flights of stairs (it was said that Burgess and his brother set up in business in 1883 with a drawing board, a T square and a few drawing instruments), Burgess at once took rank among the foremost naval architects of this country and his name was known from coast to coast and throughout the yachting world 156 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES of Europe. The credit that he received was well merited, for he not only had originality but also the courage of his convictions. He had thrown traditions to the winds to take what he considered best in yacht design, no matter where it came from — which was no easy thing to do ' when nearly the whole country was convinced of the superior merits of the purely American type of shallow, flat, inside ballasted boats. The advent of Puritan and of her successor. Mayflower. Mayflower, with their deeper hulls, outside lead ballast, overhanging sterns, and modified cutter rig, resulted in a great change in yacht design and brought about a vastly improved type of boat — abler, more seaworthy, and faster, except perhaps under certain conditions, than the older type of skimming dish. Edward Burgess got to work at once on Gen- eral Paine's new sloop. She was built at George Lawley's yard at City Point that winter and was launched early in May, being christened Mayflower. She was the biggest sloop in this 00 e8 I -a V -t-> u CHAPTER IX THE SCOTCH CHALLENGER " THISTLE " AND HER RACE AGAINST " TOLUNTEER " JUST as the coming to this country of the cutter Madge, and the success of the Puri- tan, Mayflower, and the other " compro- mise " yachts, had brought about a better and abler type of boat here, so the result of these last two races had their effect on English de- sign; and before the following year, 1887, the English modified their old measurement rule, which hampered yacht designers by its undue tax on beam, so as to give more latitude in this respect and to allow of a broader, better pro- portioned, and more powerful hull. Under this new rule yacht building and designing in Eng- land underwent considerable change and the sport had a period of great activity. Shortly after the conclusion of the Galatea- 167 168 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES Mayflower race a challenge was received by the New York Yacht Club from Scotland, the Royal Clyde Yacht Club sending a letter pro- posing a race in 1887 on behalf of Mr. James Bell, with a boat of about the size of the May- flower. Inasmuch as the prevailing deed of gift called for at least six months' notice, but not over seven months', this letter was not a formal chal- lenge, but was merely a friendly communication in an effort to arrive at an amicable agreement, to be followed by the formal challenge at such time as to allow the races to be held the follow- ing September. A rather curt answer was made by the New York Yacht Club, which stated that when the challenge came " in proper form " it would be considered, and enclosed a copy of the second deed of gift. The Scottish club still continued in trying to be forehanded by arriving at a definite understand- ing as to the size of the boats, so that neither one would be outbuilt, but getting no satisfac- tion they went ahead with their plans, deter- mined to adhere strictly to the letter of the deed, and not to give out any more information than was required. THE SCOTCH "THISTLE" 169 So Mr. Bell formed a syndicate, of which he was the principal member and manager, and commissioned George L. Watson, a noted Eng- lish naval architect and the designer of the Madge, to get up plans for a large cutter. This boat was built in Glasgow that winter, and the formal challenge was sent in March, at which time 85 feet was named as the waterline length of the Scotch boat. On account of the failure of the early nego- tiations, this boat was built under lock and key and no one save the designer, builders, and mem- bers of the syndicate knew what she was to be like until she was launched in April. Hence it was not until the receipt of the formal challenge in March that plans could be made for a de- fender. But General Charles J. Paine again came to the front with an offer to build a sloop to meet the TMstle, as the challenger was named, and on account of his success in the two previous matches the matter of defense was left to him. He went at once to Edward Burgess and placed an order for a sloop, 85 feet 10 inches being de- cided upon as the waterline length of the new boat. She was to be built of steel and, as the time was short, the order was placed with Pusey 170 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES & Jones Co., of Wilmington, Delaware, as they had facilities for turning out a fast job. The yacht was built in the remarkably short time of sixty-six days, and was launched the last day of June, being christened Volunteer. While following generally the forms of Puri- tan and Mayflower, she showed some marked deviation from those boats. She was narrower and deeper than either of her predecessors, had Thistle. a graceful clipper bow, making her longer over all, while her keel had more curve, or " rocker," to it than the straight keels of Puritan and May- flower. She also carried more sail, spreading 9271 square feet. On the waterline length just given she was 106 feet 3 inches long over all, with a beam of 23 feet 2 inches, and a draft, exclusive of board, of 10 feet. Thistle's designed dimensions as given were THE SCOTCH "THISTLE" 171 85 feet waterline, 108 feet 6 inches over all, 20 feet 3 inches beam (the widest cutter of her size built at that time in England), and 13 feet 10 inches draft, while she spread 8968 square feet of canvas. She also had a clipper bow in con- trast to the plumb stem of the older cutters, and her forefoot was cut away excessively to give a minimum of wetted surface when sailing in a light breeze. Her bilges were also slightly harder than in the narrow, wall-sided cutters. The English challenger was unusually suc- cessful in home waters, winning eleven first prizes, one second, and one third out of fifteen races before sailing for this country, and beating Genesta and Ireoe, another fast cutter, easily. So the hopes of English yachtsmen were high that Volunteer. she would bring home the Cup. She arrived. at New York on August 16th after a fast passage across of twenty-two days, made under a mod- erate jury rig. After her arrival things began to happen thick and fast. 172 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES On account of the secrecy which surrounded her building there was much speculation here as to just what form George Watson had given the new challenger, and many absurd rumors went flying around as to what the Thistle was like under water. Soon after her arrival the enterprising man- ager of one of the New York daily papers ar- ranged to have a diver go down some dark night and " explore " her bottom. This was done, and the result of his examination was published in a drawing of the boat's underwater form in the paper that hired him. Thistle must certainly have been A queer yacht if she looked anything like this drawing, and Mr. Bell, her managing owner, remarked when he saw the article in ques- tion, " The proprietor of that paper will feel like shooting that diver when the Thistle is docked and her real form is seen." There was also considerable resentment in this country over the secrecy maintained about her, though the cause for it seems apparent in the attitude of the New York Yacht Club in the early correspondence. This came to a head when she was finally measured here and found to be 86.4 feet on the water instead of 85 feet THE SCOTCH "THISTLE" 173 as given, though it is probable that this was caused by her floating deeper than her designed waterline, as frequently happens with new yachts, and not from any intent. She paid the penalty of this in her measurement for time allowance, and as the figure sent over with the challenge was necessarily taken from the plans and not from the boat itself, no one could fore- tell that she would measure exactly this at the line of flotation. It looked for a time as if this really slight matter, slight so far as any real advantage to the challenger was concerned, would result in a break, but the matter was adjusted amicably with the help of the old pacifier, Mr. George L. Schuyler. Volunteer was still the larger boat and had to allow Thistle time. Volunteer's early performances were just as gratifying to us as Thistle's had been to the English, and in her entire first season it is said that she lost only one race. It was a foregone conclusion that she would be chosen as the de- fender, and in beating to windward she was invincible against any American boat. Still there was the formality of a trial race, May- flower, then owned by E. D. Morgan, of the 174 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES New York Yacht Club, being the only boat to enter against Volunteer. After two attempts to sail a race had to be abandoned for lack of wind, the third trial, in a fine breeze, resulted in an easy victory for Volunteer by 16 minutes and 2 seconds, and the new sloop was chosen without more ado. Two out of three races were decided upon for the international series, one over the inside course, one to windward and return outside Sandy Hook, and the third, if necessary, tri- angular, over an outside course. The date set for the first race was September 27th. The morning of that day broke gray and somber, with indications of fog, blown in by the fitful northeast breeze. There was no im- provement as the morning wore on and the two stately racers loafed around the committee boat off Owl's Head, waiting for the starting signal, which was withheld until a real breeze should set in. In these early hours Thistle moved very much faster than Volunteer in the light air, and the English and Scotch sympathizers in the excursion fleet were jubilant and freely bet jugs of " Scotch " on the outcome. The truth was that foxy old " Hank " Half THE SCOTCH "THISTLE" 175 at the wheel of Volunteer was "killing" his boat in the short tacks around the line, not see- ing any need of displaying his boat's real form until after the starting gun. General Paine, with his old straw hat on as usual, was taking it easy and apparently saw little cause to worry. It was 12:32 before the starting whistle sounded from the committee boat, and at that time there was a light S.S.E. breeze coming in from sea. Both boats were caught some dis- tance from the line, but Thistle was over first, on the port tack, nearly two minutes ahead of Volunteer. The wind was evidently hauling, for it headed both boats and they stood over for the Staten Island shore. Less than fifteen min- utes after the start Volunteer tacked and crossed the Thistle's bow, having made up her early loss in this brief space, and in just the kind of airs that Thistle had been doing so well in before the starC Slowly they beat down the channel, tack and tack, the wind gradually working around to southwest. At the Spit buoy Volunteer was over fifteen minutes ahead and the thoughtless texcursion fleet had forsaken Thistle for the leader, giving the latter their backwash and 176 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES crowding so close to Volunteer on both sides that her crew hung from her quarter a big can- vas sign, painted in large letters and reading, " Keep Astern." They took the hint, but soon forgot themselves again and the sign had once more to be hung out during the race. The Thistle was a mile astern when Volunteer rounded the lightship at 3:42 p. m. The wind had freshened somewhat and gone back to south; so with no more windward work the reach and run home were a procession, Thistle being nearly twenty minutes astern as the Volunteer crossed the finish line and received the noisy demonstra- tion of the fleet. The assurance of the Scotch and English enthusiasts was gone, and instead of drinking at the expense of their American friends, they were drowning their sorrow at their own. The table shows the elapsed and corrected times: Elapsed Corrected Name Start Finish Time Time h. m. s. h. m. s. h. m s. h. m. s. Volunteer... 12 34 58J4 5 28 1654 4 53 18 4 53 18 Thistle 12 33 06 5 45 52^ 5 12 46^ 5 12 41% THE SCOTCH "THISTLE" 177 While American yachtsmen were jubilant over the victory. Thistle being feared before the race on account of her radical departure from the other cutters that had come over, Mr. James Bell, the Scotch yacht's owner, was about the most disappointed man imaginable. He could not understand how his boat could have been beaten so badly and thought that something must have gotten foul of her bottom. So strongly did he believe this that he had This- tle's bottom swept before the next race, but found nothing there. The fact is that every boat seems to move fast when she is winning, but the same boat looks to be going very slug- gishly when another boat near her is moving faster than she is. Mr. Bell also criticised the inside course, say- ing it was the worst he had ever sailed over ; and while it was a poor course for an international race, with many turns, strong tides and eddies, and the true wind liable to be broken by the shores, it was no worse than many of the courses in England, which are laid out on estuaries or land-bound waters with stronger tides than we have here. As a matter of fact, this was the last race where the New York Yacht Club in- 178 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES sisted on this inside course being used in an international event. Although the two yachts went out to the lightship on September 29th, there was not enough wind for a race and it was postponed until the 30th, when there was a fine easterly breeze of moderate strength blowing. The course was laid dead to windward from the Scotland lightship for twenty miles and the starting gun banged at 10 :40. Thistle was close to the line and again slipped over ahead, twenty- one seconds after the gun, though Volunteer luffed around the stern of the committee boat and got the windward berth. After the first fifteen minutes it was apparent that the Yankee sloop was outpointing the cutter, and on the long twenty-mile thrash she continued to eat out to windward. The breeze held true and Volunteer turned the outer mark fourteen minutes ahead of Thistle. The run home brought some solace to the canny Scotchmen, for Thistle gained nearly three minutes, but not enough to bring her within striking distance, as she was over a mile and a half astern at the finish, which was represented by 11 minutes and 25 seconds ac- tual time. The official times were: THE SCOTCH "THISTLE" 179 Elapsed Corrected Name Start Finish Time Time h. m. s. h. m. s. h. m s. h. m. s. Volunteer... 10 40 50% '4 23 47 5 42 561/4 5 42 561/4 Thistle 10 40 21 4 35 12 5 54 51 5 54 45 This ended the affair, and though the Scotch- men were disappointed they took their defeat in a most sportsmanlike manner and the best of feehng prevailed. The Thistle party had no sooner gotten ashore after the last race than they sent a letter to the New York Yacht Club say- ing that a challenge would be forthcoming for a race the following year as soon as permitted under the terms of the deed, and naming seventy feet as the waterline length of the new yacht. The Thistle sailed for home in October, and was subsequently sold to the German Emperor, who raced her for some years under the name of Comet. The Volunteer was sailed and raced for many years and was only broken up in 1911, at the age of twenty-five years. One thing should be mentioned in connection with this race as showing how partisanship can warp the judgment. Thistle was sailed in her races over here by Captain John Barr, a Scotch- man, who had been in this country before as 180 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP It ACES skipper of the English cutter Clara, which came over in 1885 and was extremely successful here during three seasons. After the Thistle re- turned to Scotland the rumor spread that Cap- tain Barr had sold out the Thistle to the Amer- icans and had not raced her to win. There was absolutely nothing to support the rumor, but it fed for a time on the disappointed hopes of the Scotch partisans. Captain Barr later settled in this country, where he had many important commands, was honored and respected, and was known as, a very clever racing skipper. There was not a word of truth in the accusation, it is needless to say. CHAPTER X LORD DUNKAVEN's TWO CHALLENGES AND THE " VIGILANT-VALKYKIE " MATCH OF 1893 IN the six years between the Volunteer- TMstle race of 1887 and the challenge of 1893 many things happened that had a marked bearing on the future of Americans Cup racing, and caused a sharp controversy be- tween the New York Yacht Club and British yachtsmen. Without going into a discussion of all the points involved, a brief review of the whole situation is necessary for a proper under- standing of the future history of the Cup races. In October, 1887, only a few days after the last Volunteer-Thistle race and of the receipt of the notice of Mr. Bell's second challenge, the New York Yacht Club decided to ask Mr. George L. Schuyler to draw up a new deed of J8I 182 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES gift for the America's Cup, as it was felt that the one of 1882 was not satisfactory, and a com- mittee was appointed to take the matter up. This was done, and Mr. Schuyler promptly drew up a new deed, of much greater length and in more legal form, and sent it to the club with the Cup. This deed, generally called the " New Deed of Gift," was accepted by the club, and is the one at present in force. It is given here in full. "This deed of gift, made October 24, 1887, between George L. Schuyler, as sole surviving owner of the Cup won by the yacht America at Cowes, England, August 22, 1851, of the first part, and the New York Yacht Club, of the second part, witnesseth: " That the said party of the first part, for and in con- sideration of the premises and the performance of the con- ditions and agreements hereinafter set forth by the party of the second part, has granted, bargained, sold, assigned, transferred, and set over, and by these presents does bar- gain, sell, assign, transfer, and set over unto said party of the second part, its successors and assigns, the Cup won by the schooner-yacht America at Cowes, England, upon August 22, 1851, to have and to hold the same to the said party of the second part, its successors and assigns, in trust, nevertheless, for the following uses and pur- poses: "This Cup is donated upon the condition that it shall; DUNRAFENS CHALLENGES 183 be preserved as a perpetual challenge cup for friendly competition between foreign countries. Any organized yacht club of a foreign country, incorporated, patented, or licensed by the legislature, admiralty, or other exec- utive department, having for its annual regatta an ocean water-course on the sea, or on an arm of the sea, or one which combines both, shall aways be entitled to the right of sailing a match for this Cup with a yacht or vessel propelled by sails only and constructed in the country to which the challenging club belongs, against any one yacht or vessel constructed in the country of the club holding the Cup. " The yachts or vessels, if of one mast, shall be not less than sixty-five nor more than ninety feet on the load Water line; if of more than one mast, they shall be not less than eighty feet nor more than one hundred andl fifteen feet on the load waterline. " The challenging club shall give ten months' notice in writing, naming the days for the proposed races, but no race shall be sailed on the days intervening between No- vember 1 and May 1. Accompanying the ten montlis* notice of challenge there must be sent the name of the owner and a certificate of the name, rig, and following dimensions of the challenging vessel, namely: Length on load waterline, beam at load waterline, and extreme beam, and draught of water, which dimensions shall not be ex- ceeded; and a Custom House registry of the vessel must be sent as soon as possible. " Vessels selected to compete for this Cup must pro- ceed under sail on their own bottoms to the port where the contest is to take place. 184 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES " Centerfeoard or sliding keel vessels shall always be allowed to compete in any race for this Cup, and no re- striction or limitation whatever shall be placed upon the use of such centerboard or sliding keel, nor shall the center- board or sliding keel be considered a part of the vessel for any purposes of measurement. " The club challenging for the Cup and the club hold- ing the same may, by mutual consent, make any arrange- ment satisfactory to both as to the dates, courses, num- ber of trials, rules, and sailing regulations, and any and all other conditions of the match, in which case, also, the ten months' notice may be waived. " In case the parties cannot mutually agree upon the terms of a match, then three races shall be sailed, and the winner of two of such races shall be entitled to the Cup. All such races shall be on ocean courses, free from headlands, as follow: " The first race, twenty nautical miles to windward and return; the second, an equilateral triangular race of thirty-nine nautical miles, the first side of which shall be a beat to windward; the third race, if necessary, twenty nautical miles to windward and return, and one week- day shall intervene between the conclusion of one race and the starting of the next race. "These ocean courses shall be practicable in all parts for vessels of twenty-two feet draught of water, and shall be selected by the club holding the Cup; and these races shall be sailed subject to its rules and sailing regulations, so far as the same do not conflict with the provisions of this deed of gift, but yrithout any time allowance what- ever. DUNRAVEN'S CHALLENGES 185 The challenged club shall not be required to name its representative vessel until at the time agreed upon for the start; but the vessel when named must compete in all the races, and each of such races must be completed within seven hours. " Should the club holding the Cup be, for any cause, dissolved, the Cup shall be transferred to some club of the same nationality eligible to challenge under this deed of gift, in trust and subject to its provisions. In the event of failure of such transfer within three months after such dissolution, said Cup shall revert to the preceding club holding the same, and under the terms of the deed of gift. It is distinctly understood that the Cup is to be the property of the club, subject to the provisions of this deed, and not the property of the owners of any vessel winning a match. "No vessel which has been defeated in a match for this Cup can be again selected by any club as its repre- sentative until after a contest for it by some other vessel has intervened, or imtil after the expiration of two years from the time of such defeat. And when a challenge from a club fulfilling all the conditions required by this instrument has been received, no other challenge can be considered until the pending event has been decided. " And the said party of the second part hereby accepts the said Cup, subject to the said trust, terms, and condi- tions, and hereby covenants and agrees, to and with the said party of the first part, that it will faithfully and fully see that the foregoing conditions are fully observed and complied with by any contestant for the said Cup during the holding thereof by it, and that it will assign, 186 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES transfer, and deliver the said Cup to the foreign yacht club whose representative yacht shall have won the same in accordance with the foregoing terms and conditions, provided the said foreign club shall, by instrument in writing, lawfully executed, enter with the said party of the second part into the like covenants as are herein entered into by it, such instrument to contain a like pro- vision for the successive assignees to enter into the same covenants with their respective assignors, and to be exe- cuted in duplicate, one to be retained by each club, and a copy thereof forwarded to the said party of the second part. " In witness whereof said party of the first part has hereunto set his hand and seal, and the said party of the second part has caused its corporate seal to be affixed to these presents, and the same to be signed by its com- modore and attested by its secretary, the day and year first above written. " George L. Schuyler. " The New York Yacht Club. " By Elbridge T. Gerry, " Commodore. " John H. Bird, " Secretary." When the terms of this new deed were pub- lished they provoked at once a great amount of hostile criticism abroad. The notice of chal- lenge from Mr. Bell and his associates was with- BUNRAVEN'S CHALLENGES 187 drawn, and it was freely stated that no Eng- lish yachtsmen would be found to challenge un- der it. The principal clauses which caused dissatis- faction abroad and led to charges of " unfair- ness " may be summarized briefly: They were those in regard to the substituting of the ten months' for the six months' notice; the stipula- tion that the challenger must give, ten months in advance, the length on waterline, beam on waterline, beam extreme, and draft of water; the requiring of a challenger to race without time allowance in case terms cannot be agreed upon by mutual consent. Furthermore, it was said that the mutual consent clause was so am- bigous that only lawyers could decide it, and that the whole deed was too complicated to gov- ern the sport of yacht racing satisfactorily. Of course the principal sticking point was the giving of the exact dimensions of the challenger ten months in advance. Strictly speaking, this in itself is hardly practicable, for it would mean that the boat would have to be designed in detail nearly a year before the first race, and that not one of these dimensions could then be exceeded, 188 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES even to obtain the necessary trim by changes in or the addition of ballast that might lengthen the line of flotation. With the challenger held down to a fixed set of dimensions, the defending club could study these with a view to outbuild- ing, which should be easy to do if races were sailed without time allowance, as was possible under the terms of the deed. Some time later Mr. George L. Schuyler, in defense of the new deed, pointed out the reason for this clause as to dimensions, saying: "When I consented to the making of the new deed this provision was considered by me to be of minor importance. We were probably influenced by our recent experience with the dimensions of the Thistle. That yacht went over the dimensions sent us by her owners by about eighteen inches, load waterline measurement, but when I was called upon to decide her eligibility to race the Volunteer, I said I believed Mr. Bell had acted in good faith, and I consequently decided that she could sail. The main reason we ask for the load waterline length, draft of water, beam at the waterline, and extreme beam, is to know what kind of a vessel we have to meet. I be- lieved the challenged party has a right to know DUNBAFEN'S CHALLENGES 189 what the yacht challenging is like, so that it can meet her with a yacht of her own type if it is to be desired. " I deny most emphatically that giving the di- mensions asked for will reveal the lines of a ves- sel, and I do not believe any yacht designer will say it will. The Volunteer and Mayflower is a case in point. The dimensions of these two yachts are almost identical, and still their lines are very different. If you give a designer these dimensions, which yacht will he produce? We never asked for the lines of a boat. We do not want them, but we do believe the challenged party has a right to know what kind of a craft it will have to contend with. " Look at our position at present. We only have one of the recent Cup defenders — ^the Vol- unteer — ^to fall back upon, and she is for sale, and may be sold next fall. If the English gen- tlemen were sharp they would build a ninety- foot boat, and then tell us that they do not care to arrange a series of races by mutual consent, but will abide by the terms of the deed. The result would be races on the open sea, boat against boat, no time allowance being given, and we would be forced to build a ninety-foot boat 190 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES unless we would be content to meet the chal- lenger with a boat four feet shorter. " The matter which I thought of greatest im- portance, when the new deed was drawn up, was that of courses. I wanted it so arranged that in case of a disagreement as to the conditions of races, the boats would race on the sea without time allowance, and thus avoid the possibility of a challenger being left to the mercy of a club course where she would not have an equal chance to win." The New York Yacht Club also pointed out to the English critics that the new deed " ex- pressly provided that the club challenging for the Cup and the club holding it, may, by mutual consent, make any arrangement satisfactory to both, and also any and all other conditions of the match, etc., etc." As a matter of fact, the deed does not make it quite clear as to just how much could be con- ceded under this clause, and how many of the fixed terms of the deed could be waived, and this was one of the objections raised by Lord Dunraven in his first challenge. By failing to agree upon terms the challenger would be forced to the alternative of racing without time allow- ance, each boat would naturally be built to the DUNRAVEN'S CHALLENGES 191 limit of the deed, and, of course, the home boat coidd be built much lighter than one that had to sail three thousand miles of open sea. But to get away from legal documents and back on our course again. In spite of all the hubbub over the deed, in the spring of 1889 the Royal Yacht Squadron sent a challenge for the Cup on behalf of the Earl of Dunraven, with a letter from Designer Watson saying that the challenger would not exceed seventy feet water- line length, and would be named Valkyrie. The New York Yacht Club was willing to make concessions as to the dimensions furnished, and other matters could have been adjusted by mutual consent, but the negotiations finally fell through because the New York Yacht Club in- sisted that if the challenger won, the Cup should be held by the Royal Yacht Squadron under the full terms of the new deed of gift. This the Yacht Squadron refused to agree to, saying that it did not consider the deed fair and would not want to make other clubs race for the Cup under its terms. Here the matter ended, with some more unim- portant letter writing, and was not taken up again for nearly three years. In the meantime Mr. George L. Schuyler, 192 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES the donor of the Cup, under the last two deeds, and the surviving member of the old Americas syndicate died on board Commodore Gerry's steam yacht Electra. His death marked the passing of an important figure in America's Cup history. He was a fair and high-minded sports- man who always stood for the best there was in yacht racing, and he had frequently smoothed the paths that others had torn up, and poured oil on the troubled waters of international strife, to the satisfaction of both sides. But the Earl of Dunraven was not to be balked of an attempt to win the famous Cup, deed or no deed; so, in November, 1892, after some more letter writing, a compromise was agreed upon and the Royal Yacht Squadron challenged in his behalf. The New York Yacht Club promptly accepted by a unanimous vote. The New York Yacht Club agreed to waive the question of measurements in the ten months' notice, and to require waterline length only, with a penalty if the figure given was exceeded. In fact, the club has never since insisted on all the measurements, but has been satisfied with the length only, though the deed was not changed. DUNRAVEN'S CHALLENGES 193 In return, the Yacht Squadron in effect swal- lowed the new deed, and agreed not to refuse any challenge under its specific conditions, though it still claimed the right to accept a chal- lenge under the same terms as those of the match in question, in case it won. The New York Yacht Club also agreed to Dunraven's request for a series of three out of five races rather than two out of three. Lord Dunraven named the cutter Valkyrie II. as the challenger, with a waterline length of eighty-five feet and designed by George L. Watson. So that stretch of broken water was safely passed, and another international race was assured. But in the six years intervening since the last race another great change had taken place in yacht designing in this country, one that had made Volunteer, the last defender and our only big sloop, obsolete for such an impor- tant event. In 1891 there was launched from the shop of the Herreshoffs, at Bristol, Rhode Island, a forty-six-foot waterline sloop which was a radi- cal departure from anything that preceded it in this country. The most noticeable things about this boat were her tremendously long overhangs. 194 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES not only the stern being carried out, but the for- ward overhang as well. The forefoot was en- tirely cut away, the sweep from the stemhead to the bottom of the keel being almost a straight line. She was a keel boat, drawing ten feet, with an S form of midship section, so that she was of light displacement, yet when heeled down her long ends resting on the water gave her great additional bearing surface, and she carried 4100 feet of sail-^as much as the sixty-one-foot water- line defender Mischief. This boat was named Gloriana. She was a masterpiece of designing and tech- nical skill, and immediately put the Herreshoffs in the foremost rank of sail yacht designers. Up to that time their reputation had been made largely in steam craft. Gloriana had phenomenal success her first season, and she was followed in 1892 by the Wasp, of the same size and type, but more pow- erful, and, in the hands of Capt. Charles Barr, a brother of John Barr of the Thistle, she was even faster than her prototype. Then came the eighty-four-foot sloop Navahoe, of the same gen- eral lines, and this hull form became the accepted one in America. BUNRAVEN'S CHALLENGES 195 Undoubtedly many of the original featiires of these boats were due to the coming to this coun- try, in 1888, of the little English cutter Minerva, which in the following two years was very suc- cessful, and beat all of our boats of her class. She contained, in a lesser degree, some of the elements that Herreshoff put into Gloriana and Wasp, though the American designer devel- oped them to a much higher state. Thus it happened that Lord Dunraven's chal- lenge found us unprepared to meet a big boat of this design (as it was conceded that Valkyrie ijvould be), and the New York Yacht Club im- mediately set about the work of getting a de- fender. A syndicate of club members, which was composed of Archibald Rogers, F. W^ Van- derbilt, W. K. Vanderbilt, F. A. Schermerhorn, J. P. Morgan, and J. E. Brooks, placed an order for an eighty-five-foot waterline sloop with Herreshoif, all the details being left to the de- signer. This boat was the Colonia. She was a keel boat, built of steel, and bore the general earmarks of Wasp, but on a larger scale. Boston was not to be denied a finger in the pie, and General Paine was again in the field with a big sloop called the Jubilee, designed by 196 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES his son, John B. Paine, and built of steel at Lawley's yard. She was of the fin keel type, the largest boat of that type so far tried. Edward Burgess, the young designer of the last three successful defenders, had died of ty- phoid fever in 1891, and not only Boston, but the country at large, was the loser. He was one of the foremost men of his profession at the time of his death, and since the Volunteer, in 1887, he had turned out many fine racing yachts that had usually accomplished what they had been designed to do. Though Burgess had gone, the successors to his firm, Stewart & Binney, had a commission from another Boston syndicate for a Cup de- fender, and they turned out the Pilgrim, an ex- treme fin keel type of boat, with a shallow body and very little displacement. As if these three boats were not enough, still another New York syndicate must needs come into the field, with C. Oliver Iselin as the active head, and including many prominent New York yachtsmen. They also went to Herreshoff to place their order. This boat was named Vigi- lant; and while the first Herreshoff boat, the Colonia, was of the keel type. Vigilant was a DUNRAVEN'S CHALLENGES 197 deep centerboarder, the board working through a slot in the lead keel. Furthermore, she was buUt of Tobin bronze plates, which were very- strong and gave a smooth, slippery surface. She was the first large yacht in which this ma- terial was used. It is said that this second syn- dicate arranged with the makers of these bronze plates for an exclusive supply, so that none of the other defenders could procure any. With these four big sloops out for Cup de- fense honors, the best of racing was had all that summer. They created an immense amount of interest throughout the country, the daily news- papers devoting columns to their try-outs and races. It was apparent fairly early in the season that Vigilant and Colonia were the most likely yachts. The two fin-keelers, while fast on some points, had a number of defects, which might have been expected, as they were largely in the nature of experiments, Jubilee not only having a fin, but two centerboards as well, one of them being small and located in the bow. The series for the Americans Cup was to begin October 5th, and the first trial race between these four new sloops to pick the defender was sailed 198 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES on September 7th. There is not space to de- scribe in detail this, or the two subsequent races, though they were full of interest and provided the best racing between large sloops that had ever been seen in this country. Colonia, with old " Hank " HaflP at the wheel, won the first race, beating Vigilant by only six seconds, cor- rected time. This was in a hard breeze off the Hook. Both Vigilant and Jubilee had their top- masts housed, though Haff " cracked on " with the Colonia and carried a small working topsail. Both the Boston boats got into trouble. Pilgrim carried away the jaws of her gaff just before the start, and had to put back, while one of the peak halyard blocks on Jubilee gave way under the strain of the thresh to windward, and she had to retire. To show the speed of the boats, Co- lonia covered the fifteen nautical miles of the rxm home in 1 hour 14 minutes and 11 seconds. All the broken gear was repaired in time for the second race, September 9th, which was sailed in light airs, that hardened toward the finish. Vigilant won by 4 minutes 32 seconds from Jubilee, Colonia being last. The third race was sailed in a strong easterly wind and rough sea. The course was fifteen miles to windward and DUNBAVEN'S CHALLENGES 199 Vigilant, a deep " centerboarder." return, and Vigilant again won by 6 minutes and 43 seconds from Colonia, the second boat. The Boston pair again had trouble with their gear and sails, and were late in starting and still later in finishing. After seeing these three races the Americas Cup committee unanimously chose Vigilant as the defender, and so notified Mr. Iselin. The remaining time before the real races was spent in a thorough tuning up and in remedying such defects or weaknesses as had developed during the strenuous trials. Before getting into the thick of the actual battle for the Cup, let us look for a moment at the two rival boats and compare them as to size and form. Vigilant was a big boat, 124 feet long over all, 86 feet on the waterline, with 26 feet 3 inches beam, and 14 feet draft, with a bronze centerboard, increasing this draft to 24 200 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP BACES feet when on the wind. She spread 11,272 square feet of canvas, or over 2000 feet more than the last defender, Volunteer. She was very broad on deck, and this,' together with the fact that she carried an abnormally large crew of about seventy men, who could lie down on the windward side and acted as so much live ballast, allowed her to carry what was then considered an enormous sail plan. Her centerboard weighed four tons. Valkyrie II. was 117 feet 3 inches long over all, 85 feet 10 inches on the water, 22 feet 4 inches beam, and drew 16 feet 4 inches. She carried 10,042 square feet of saU, or 1200 less Valkyrie II. than the defender. She was built of wood oyer steel frames, and she was commanded by Cap- tain Cranfield, one of the foremost English pro- fessional yacht skippers. DUNRAVEN'S CHALLENGES 201 We did not know much about Valkyrie's ca- pabilities in this country. She was said to be "good" in both a drift and a blow, and as usual there were many doubters among the throngs that crowded the big excursion fleet that fully expected to see the Cup go back in her. The first race of October 5th had to be called off, owing to lack of wind, after the yachts had rounded the outer mark, at which point Valkyrie was over twenty-six minutes ahead of Vigilant, due to her picking up a slant of wind that Vigi- lant missed. If the wind had held after round- ing Valkyrie would have been a sure winner. But it flattened out to a dead calm that pre- vented their finishing within the time limit and this saved the defender. On October 7th the two sloops tried it again, and this time they found a soft west by north breeze coming off the land. They were sent away at 11 :25, dead before the wind on a fifteen- mile leg, with a beat back. It was a one-gun start this time. That is, the starting time of the boats was counted from the minute the gun went instead of the actual time of crossing up to the expiration of a two-minute interval, as had been 202 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES the custom. So every second saved at the start counted. Valkyrie got across first, almost with the gun, and immediately set a light, snowy muslin spin- naker that caught the faintest zephyr. Vigilant was right after her and also hoisted light sails smartly. She was in charge of Captain William Hansen, but Nathaniel G. Herreshoff, her de- signer, was also on board, and at the wheel a good part of the time. They had it nip and tuck for the first half of the leg, when Vigilant caught a freshening breeze first and slowly passed her rival, giving the Dunraven party a capital opportunity of studying her shapely Herreshoflf stern. She continued to draw ahead and was 8 minutes and 6 seconds in the lead when the outer mark was rounded. The breeze had shifted so that the boats could lay the course home, and a little better, so they trimmed in flat and hard and " looked up " as high as possible. Valkyrie footed very fast on this leg, and gained perceptibly on the big Vigi- lant, which seemed to be holding rather higher than necessary. Three miles from the finish Vigilant started sheets, and, heading off, romped down on the finish line, which she crossed 7 min- DUNRAVEN'S CHALLENGES 203 utes and 36 seconds ahead of the English cutter, or 5 minutes 48 seconds corrected time, as the table shows. Elapsed Corrected Name Start Finish Time Time H. M. S. H. M. S. H. M. S. H. M. 8. Vigilant . . .. 11 25 00 3 30 47 4 05 47 4 05 47 Valkyrie //. 11 25 00 3 38 23 4 13 23 4 11 35 According to the custom of letting a day inter- vene the two boats did not appear off the Hook again until October 9th. They found the wind southwest, piping a merry little breeze that gave promise of more behind.it. The course this time was an equilateral triangle, ten miles to a leg, the first one being a beat to windward. The quarterdeck gang of Vigilant was on the job this time, mindful of the fine work of Val- kyrie at the start of the previous race, and got the jump on the challenger, crossing first nine- teen seconds after the gun and pocketing Val- hyrie very cleverly under their lee. Both boats made a long hitch, but Cranfield, no matter whether he sailed Valkyrie fine or hard full, could not squirm out of his bad position. For practically the whole first leg Valkyrie was right down to leeward of the American boat, and at 204 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES the first turn was 4 minutes and 45 seconds be- hind. It was a broad reach to the second mark, the wind increasing, and the sea getting up, but the two boats tore along at a great clip. Vigilant making the ten nautical miles in 50 minutes 20 seconds, or at a twelve-knot rate. They jibed around the mark, Valkyrie now nearly ten min- utes behind, and laid a course back to the light- ship, while the wind, as if still not satisfied, hard- ened to twenty-nine miles an hour. Lee rails were buried in suds, and Vigilant still kept gain- ing, while the mercurial beings that patronized the excursion steamers were forgetful of the un- kind things they had said of " Nat " Herreshoff the first day, when Valkyrie was so far in the lead. There was no chance now for the Britisher, and the black cutter trailed along in the wake, losing 3 minutes and 26 seconds more in the leg. The official figures of the race were: Name Vigilant. Elapsed Corrected Start Finish Time Time H. M. s. H. M. s. H. M. S. H. m. s. 11 25 00 2 50 01 S 25 01 3 25 01 11 25 00 3 02 24 3 37 24 3 35 36 BUNRAVEN'S CHALLENGES 205 When it was all over it was found that Vigi- lanfs bowsprit, an immense, long spar, had been sprung, and a new one had to be shipped before the next race, which was October 11th. This race turned out to be another fluke, due to the fickle October breezes. It was getting dark as the yachts rounded the outer mark, and the six- hour time limit expiring soon after, the race was called off and the disgusted crews passed tow- lines to waiting tugs for the journey back. Valkyrie still had another chance to justify her long journey across the Atlantic, and it came two days later, on October 13tb, a day that will be remembered always by those who went down to the old red lightship, if they were fortunate enough not to succumb to the heave of old ocean. It was not only the 13th, but Friday also — a combination out of which most anything might come. And something came. The first thing that arrived was the breeze. It was already there when the yachts and the excursion fleet got to the line, coming from due east, with a fine jump of sea running. Storm warnings were up for a swift moving gale, but luckily it didn't come, though many of the swivel-chair fleet and 206 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES the parlor yachtsmen thought it was a gale that they found outside Sandy Hook. The first untoward happening was the carry- ing away of one of the Vigilant' s throat halyard blocks shortly before the start, and the mainsail had to be taken off her to repair it. While the sail was down Captain Hansen and his crew turned in a reef, in anticipation of trouble. Captain Cranfield on the Valkyrie, seeing this, and also, scenting a breeze, likewise lowered away and tucked in a single reef. Then both boats set working topsails above reefed main- sails. While this was going on, the time agreed upon for the start arrived. Lord Dunraven had been very insistent upon the starting signal in all races being given at 11 :25, no matter what hap- pened ; but as his boat was fully three miles from the line at that time and busy reefing, the com- mittee very considerately waited for him, though Vigilant was at hand, and all ready — no, not quite ready, for her bronze centerboard was jammed, and could not be lowered. The crew finally pried it loose, and down part way, and signaled that they were ready, but it was 12:27 before the starting gun boomed over the tum- bling water. ' ■ o i /^ '1 fl 1 o pq c o r» O W OS •^ 0) IS 3 f\ DUNRAVEN'S CHALLENGES 207 Both boats eame down on the hne trimmed flat for the hard fifteen-mile thresh to windward. Vigilant seemed to have the best position, but suddenly Cranfield jammed his helm hard up, Valkyrie swung around like a top, and, from a leeward berth, planted herself on the defender's weather side, where she stayed throughout the entire windward leg. It was a grand race, the seventy men on board the Vigilant stretched out along the weather rail to help hold her down. Valkyrie carried but thirty-five men. Throughout that long, hard thresh in a heavy sea the cutter fairly outsailed the American boat, pointing higher, and for the most part footing as fast. As they rounded the outer mark after two hours of drenching work Valkyrie was 1 minute and 55 seconds to the good. Their elapsed times to the mark were: Valkyrie, 2:06:40; Vigilant, 2:08:35. It was a hard task that now lay before Vigi- lant — that of making up some third of a mile in a run down the wind, with the cutter going like a scared cat and determined to hold what so few other English Cup hunters had ever won on a windward leg. The run back was " chockful " of excitement, and resolved itself into the most spectacular race 208 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES of any heretofore seen for the ancient bit of silver. As no better account of the incidents of this long stern chase has been written than the one by Mr. W. P. Stephens, in American Yacht- ing, it is quoted here: " On rounding the outer mark Valkyrie set her spinnaker after the English fashion. The sail, in a loose bunch, was hoisted from below deck and sheeted home as quickly as possible. In doing this it got caught on the bitts and was torn a little. Running in a sea and heavy wind this tear soon increased until the sail went into tatters. Another, a large and beautiful sail of light fabric (the famous muslin one of the first race), was set in its place, the work being done very smartly, but it was too light for such a breeze, and it soon went to pieces. Nothing daunted, the ' bowsprit spinnaker,' correspond- ing to the American balloon jibtopsail, but smaller, was set as the last resort. " On board Valkyrie no attempt was made to shake out the reef in the mainsail or to shift top- sails; but as soon as Vigilant was off the wind, and her spinnaker, sent up in stops in a long, compact rope, was broken out and sheeted home, the real work of the day began. Her balloon DUNBAVEN'S CHALLENGES 209 jib-topsail fouled in hoisting, and a man was sent to the topmast head, and thence down the topmast stay, to clear the sail. After this was done a man was sent along the boom, with a lifeline from the masthead about his body, cut- ting the reef points as he went ; meanwhile a man at the topmast head was lashing the working topsail, clearing the topsail halyard, and send- ing it down to the deck, while another man at the gaff end was doing the same with the top- sail sheet. With the working topsail still in place, the whole mainsail was shaken out, the halyards sweated up, and the small club-topsail was sent aloft. By dint of this work, such as was never before witnessed in yachting, at the imminent danger of losing the mast and the race. Vigilant sailed past Valkyrie near the finish line and led her across by 2 minutes 13 seconds, win- ning the race by forty seconds, corrected time." It was an unusually fast race, as the accom- panying table will show: Elapsed Corrected Name Start Finish Time Time H. M. S. H. M. S. H. M. 8. H. M. S. Vigilant 12 27 00 3 51 39 3 24 39 3 24 39 Valkyrie 11. 12 27 00 3 53 52 3 26 52 3 25 19 210 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES Valkyrie had added ballast and been remeas- ured since the previous race, and her allowance reduced to 1 minute and 33 seconds. It was a close shave — the closest in any Cup contest so far. Valkyrie had her chance, but it was not to be. If her spinnakers had stood the strain, the story would probably have been dif- ferent — ^but, then, yacht racing is made up of " ifs." Lord Dunraven, on the whole, took his defeat in good part, though he complained that the first races were not true windward and leeward ones owing to the wind's shifting, which, of course, could not be helped, and, also, that Valkyrie was bothered considerably by excursion steamers — an evil that had grown to serious proportions since the increased interest in these matches, and one that the New York Yacht Club was called upon to take measures to abate. So, while beaten fairly, he did not think the relative merits of the two boats had been altogether decided. Valkyrie II. was laid up in New York for the winter, and did not return home until the following year, when Vigilant, which had been purchased by George and Howard Gould, was also sent across to race in English waters, under Pilgrim, an out-and-out fin keel boat built for the defense of the cup in 1893. DUNRAVEN'S CHALLENGES 211 command of "Hank" HaflP, of Cup defense fame. The two boats were not destined to decide fur- ther the question of supremacy, however, for the Valkyrie II. was sunk on the Clyde in one of the first races of the season by the Enghsh ninety-footer Satardta. Vigilant raced with indifferent success, meet- ing among other fast cutters the Britannia, owned by the Prince of Wales. In these en- counters Britannia won twelve out of seventeen races, and although Vigilant was faster in a strong breeze, she was slower in light to mod- erate winds and was not as quick handling as the English cutter. Vigilant was brought back to this country, where she was used as a trial horse against the Defender, as will be told in the next chapter, and was subsequently turned into a yawl and saw many years of hard and useful service. CHAPTER XI THE " DEFENDER — ^VALKYRIE III " RACE OF 1895. LORD DUNRAVEN AT ODDS WITH THE NEW YORK YACHT CLUB. THE three races between Vigilant and Valkyrie II were the closest, as a whole, of any that had yet been sailed, and so far from being discouraged by his failure to take home the Cup, Lord Dunraven immediately set about another attempt to win it. He again went to Watson for the plans, and during 1894 the famous English designer was busy evolving another boat, better suited to American rac- ing conditions. This time Dunraven had as- sociated with him in the enterprise Lord Lons- dale, Lord Wolverton, and Captain Harry LeB. McCalmont, the latter a well known English yatchsman and sportsman. A challenge was sent the New York Yacht 212 THE DEFENDER 213 Club in the autumn of that year for a race in 1895. No difficulty was had in arranging satis- factory terms, and a series of three races out of five was agreed upon, the water line length of the challenger being given as 89 feet and her rig that of a cutter. September was the month fixed for sailing the match. In Valkyrie III, as the new yacht was called, George Watson showed that he was not above learning what he could from the American de- signers, and he turned out as wide a vessel as Vigilant, with just as large a rig as it was pos- sible for her to carry. She was a big, powerful craft with long ends, giving added stability as she heeled, and was very flat as compared with the then prevailing practice. Her principal di- mensions were, length over all 129 feet, water line 88 feet 10 inches, beam 26 feet 2 inches, and draft 20 feet. Her sail area was 13, 028 feet, or 3,000 more than was carried by Valkyriell — quite a jump in one boat. She was built of wood over steel frames. In this coimtry we were not content to trust the defense to Vigilant, especially after her poor showing against Britannia in 1894, and a syndi- cate was formed in the New York Yacht Club 214 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES (syndiQates were getting to be the fashion those days, with the growing cost of building and run- ning a defender) to build a new boat. In this syndicate were C. Oliver Iselin, who was to man- age the yacht, W. K'. Vanderbilt, and E. D. Morgan. Of course the syndicate went to Her- reshoff to have the boat built. The " Wizard of Bristol " as he was getting to be called, had a monopoly on Cup defense honors that year, as he has had for a number of years since. But while Watson was following the general form of the Vigilant, " Nat " Herreshoff was not to be caught napping, and in Defender, as the new yacht was called, he made a bold move by going back to a narrower, deeper boat with finer lines (she was but 8 inches wider than Valky- rie II) and built as lightly as possible. Man- ganese bronze, a very expensive and strong metal, was used for bottom plating while the frames were steel and the top plating aluminum to save weight. As a matter of fact it was thought by many that Herreshoff rather overdid this lightness, for Defender was structurally weak, and many stor- ies were current as to the way she " worked " and that her mast was in danger of going through THE DEFENDER 215 her bottom. These stories were denigd, but those that were in a position to know credited them. Anyway, the structural defects were remedied, and she hung together long enough to go through the season — and also the trial races with Columbia, four years later. The dimensions of the Defender were : length over all 123 feet, length waterline 88 feet 5 in- ches, beam 23 feet, and draft 19 feet, while she carried 12,602 square feet of sail, or 426 square feet less than the challenger. In fact, the two boats were in type virtually the opposite of what had been the custom here- tofore. Defender being practically the cutter, with her narrow beam, deep draft, fine lines, and large angle of heel, while the challenger had all the characteristics of a sloop — broad beam, shoal body, light displacement, hard bilges, and big sail spread. It was a funny switch on the part of both designers, and in the sequel we " were to see what we should see." Defender was put in charge of the old reliable " Hank " Haff, though Mr. Iselin sailed on her in all her races as manager. For crew, it seemed fitting that we should dispense for a time with the proverbial " scowegian " or " square head " \ 216 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP E ACES Scandinavian yacht sailor, and Captain Hai¥ went down to Deer Island, Maine, the home of the American fishermen, and picked up a crew from there, about which many patriotic things (and much slush) was written. But they were a good crew, and under old " Hank " they made the " brass " boat go. Vigilant was fitted out by George J. Gould, and in charge of Captain Charles Barr, a young- er brother of John, who was making his fii'st essay in charge of a yacht in search of America's Cup honors, was used as a trial horse against the new yacht. Charley Barr was always an ag- gressive racing skipper, and some hard and in- teresting scrapping was seen between the two boats throughout the season, that was marked by many protests and some ill feeling. After the trials Defender was picked by the Americans Cup Committee to meet the Valkyrie III, which had arrived in this country August 19th. The Valkyrie had made the voyage across un- der ketch rig in twenty-two days, a very credit- able proformance, though she was strained some- what in her hull and had to be repaired at Erie Basin, where her racing spars were shipped. Before leaving England she had sailed three THE DEFENDER 217 races against Britanma, winning one by eighteen minutes, and losing one on corrected time by one minute, six seconds, and another by three minutes, six seconds. Both boats were measured by John Hyslop, the measurer of the New York Yacht Club, on the day before the first race. Valkyrie was the larger, and her rating was slightly higher than the Defender's; consequently she had to allow the American boat twenty-nine seconds in time over a 30-mile course. The morning of September 7th found both racers being towed out to the Scotland Light- ship over a glassy sea, which had, however, con- siderable heave to it, — " old sea " the sailors call it, — from a previous breeze. On arriving at the lightship they found a big fleet of excursion boats, which grew as the hours went by, and in- creased to unwieldy proportions, as the Govern- ment did not then patrol the course with revenue cutters in the efficient way that it now does. As there was no air stirring, there was a long wait for wind and the starting signal was not given until 12:20 p. m. "Hank" Haff had his charge close to the line and was first over, with sails trimmed in hard and Valkyrie right 218 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES under his lee. The wind was east by south, and the course was fifteen miles to windward and return, with a six-hour time limit to the race. Valkyrie soon worked out from her bad posi- tion under Defender's lee, and, footing faster, drew ahead in an alarming fashion, though not pointing as high. The boats split tacks, one going off in one direction and one in the other, and when they came together again some time later, having gone about once more, the excite- ment was intense. As they approached each other it was seen that they were very close to- gether, and as Defender finally slipped across Valkyrie's bow a mighty cheer broke from the crowd on the trailing fleet. From that point Defender was never headed, and rounded the outer mark well in the lead. It was just " cutter " weather, a lop of sea on and a moderate breeze, and the narrower Defender made the better going. It seemed as if fate played a large part in the game. In the run home the American boat continued to draw ahead and crossed the line eight minutes and twenty seconds ahead, actual time. The result is tabulated below:- THE DEFENDER 219 Elapsed Corrected Name Start Time Time H. M. s. H. M. S. H. M. S. Defender ...12 20 46 5 00 24 4 59 55 Valkyrie III. . . . ...12 20 50 5 OS 44 5 08 44 Defender won by 8 minutes 49 seconds. Immediately after this race things began to happen, and Lord Dunraven made the first step that was to lead to a most serious controversy and a break of all further relations with the noble Earl. When the boats had finished Mr. Latham A. Fish, the American representative on board Valkyrie^ went abroad the Committee boat with a complaint from Dunraven that the Defender had had more ballast put aboard after she had been oiRcially measured, which brought her down below her measured water line. Dunraven asked for a remeasurement before the next race. He also complained about the crowding of the excursion steamers and claimed that Valkyrie had been bothered seriously by them. In refutation of this charge Defender was measured again the next afternoon, Sunday, and no material discrepancy was found between the two measurements, there being only one-eighth of an inch difference in Defender's water line 220 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES length and one-sixteenth of an inch in Val- kyrie's. This was easily accounted for in the difference in the conditions under which they were measured. The New York Yacht Club also took steps to try to keep the course clear for the following race. Here the matter of the alleged tampering with the ballast apparently ended, though it was taken up later, as subse- quent events will show. The second race was sailed on September 10th, the course being triangular, ten miles to a leg. It was a quiet hazy morning with a light south- erly breeze, and at 10:40 the Committee set the signals for the course, the first leg of which was a beat to windward down the low-lying Jersey coast. By the time the preparatory gun boomed at 10:50 the fleet of excursion steamers was on hand and crowding as close to the starting line as it dared. Just before the starting signal both boats were coming down on the line, close hauled, Valkyrie on Defender's weather, when the big steamer Yorktown blundered right across their course and separated the two boats for an instant. When they emerged on the other side of her Valkyrie was still on Defender's weather but THE DEFENDER 221 had drawn slightly ahead. It was only a few seconds to the gun and both boats were head- ing up for the Committee boat at the weather end of the line. Just before they reached the line Captain Sycamore, who was steering Val- kyrie at the time, swung off a trifle and bore down on Defender, which was under his lee. Seeing that he could not draw clear across the American boat's bows, and that Defender would hit Valkyrie if " Hank " Haff held his course, Sycamore was forced to luff sharply, and in doing so the end of Valkyrie's main boom swept the deck of Defender, and, fetch- ing up against the latter's starboard shrouds as Valkyrie swung around on her heel, the top- mast stay snapped with a loud twang that could be heard on the Committee boat. Defender's topmast immediately sagged away off to leeward under the strain of her immense club topsail, and cracked some five feet above the lower mast head. Haff shot his boat up into the wind while sailors swarmed aloft to ascertain the amount of damage, and Mr. Iselin set a protest flag at once, which was answered from the Committee boat. Seeing that the topmast was not coming down, though 222 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES it hung over to leeward when on the starboard tack, Haff got his jib topsail in, rigged a pre- venter or temporary topmast shroud, and kept on after the Valkyrie, which had not stopped to inquire as to the amount of damage she had caused. It was an unequal fight, however, as on one tack the Defender was badly hampered by her sagging topmast, though on the other tack she did very well. At the first, or windward mark, Valkyrie was three minutes ahead. On the next leg with the wind broad off, Capt. Haff took a chance, sent up a small jib topsail, and set sail after the fly- ing Englishman. Defender moved fast and managed to hold her own with Valkyrie on the 10-mile leg. Valkyrie turned the second mark well in the lead, but on the last leg, which was a reach. Defender's " well " side was to windward and she could carry her light sails all right. As the breeze also went lighter she immediately be- gan to close up on Valkyrie. The leg was not long enough for her to catch the leader, how- ever, and though she got close enough to threat- en Valkyrie's wind. Lord Dunraven's yacht crossed the finish line two minutes and eighteen THE DEFENDER 223 seconds ahead, which, when corrected time was figured, was reduced to just forty-seven seconds. Elapsed Corrected Name Start . > Finish Time Time h. m. s. h. h. s. h. m. s. h. m. s. Valkyrie III ..11 00 13 2 55 22 3 55 09 3 55 09 Defender 11 01 15 2 57 40 3 56 25 3 55 56 Here was a pretty kettle of fish to add to a situation that was already very tense. The Regatta Committee of the New York Yacht Club, after ineffectually trying to bring about a mutual agreement between the two yachts to re-sail the race, got all the testimony together, supported by photographs of the foul, and the following day announced that they had disqual- ified Valkyrie. Their decision was worded as follows : September 11, 1895 C. Oliver Iselin, Esq. Dear Sir: — ^We beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of yesterday protesting the Valkyrie. We have given the matter our careful consideration and we believe that the foul occurred through a miscalculation of the distance be- tween the two yachts at a critical moment. From our own observation, confirmed by that of others who were in a good position to see all that occurred, we 224 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES find that the Valkyrie III., in contravention of section eleven of racing rule sixteen, bore down upon the Defender and fouled her by the svring of her main boom when luffing to straighten her course. We also consider that the De- fender left the Valkyrie sufficient room to windward to pass clear of the Committee boat. Your protest is therefore sustained. S. Nicholson Kjlsk, Irving Grinnell, Chester Griswold, Committee. The rule referred to says that a yacht shall not bear away to prevent another yacht from passing her to leeward. The justice of the decision was almost uni- versally acknowledged by yachtsmen and was in strict accord with the rules and the facts. What probably caused the foul was this: Captain Sycamore, who was steering Valkyrie under Capt. Cranfield, had the weather berth and did not want to relinquish it. Finding that he was a little too early for the gun, and, being close to the committee boat, he bore off to run down the line so as to kill a few seconds. As he closed in on Defender and saw that he could not croiSs her bows, and that a collision would oqcur unless Haff bore away also, he luffed sharply. Defender Valkyrie III, with grace in every line. THE DEFENDER 225 having the right of way under the rules, In do- ing so he did not allow enough room for Val- ley rie's long main boom as the stick was 105 feet in length and projected well beyond Valkyrie's stern. Sycamore was used to sailing in some- what smaller boats and probably did not quite realize that a 90-foot boat could not be handled in the same way as a 40-footer. DCTTUfDIJTS COunsE V/lLKVRlE'S COURSE THE DEFENDER AND VALKVaiE BEFORE, HT »ND AFTER THE FOUL. After the protest was decided in Defender s favor, Mr. Iselin immediately offered to resail the race, which he very properly would not agree to before, as he felt that a breach of the rules had caused the foul, and until it was decided which 226 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES boat was at fault, he could not offer to sail the race over and thus force Valkyrie to jeopardize what she had already won if the committee decid- ed in her favor. The reverse, of course, also held true. Now that it was decided against Val- kyrie, he could be, and was, fair minded enough to offer Lord Dunraven the chance to resail it, if he wanted to. Duraven declined the offer in the following communications :- Dear Mr. Iselin: — I have received your note in which you express a wish that yesterday's race should be resailed. That is a proposition to which, of course, I cannot agree. You would not have protested had you not believed that Valkyrie had caused a foul by committing a breach of the rules. If she did, she must take the consequences. The Regatta Committee has decided, for reasons accord- ing to their best judgment, but which, I confess, are beyond my comprehension, that she did break the rules. I made no protest, and because I thought the foul was probably accidental; but I consider that Defender caused it. You consider that Valkyrie was to blame. The Committee have decided that you are right and I am wrong and there the matter ends. Yours very truly, Dunraven. And again, the following day: THE DEFENDER 227 Dear Mr, Iselini — I certainly could not entertain your suggestion. Had the Committee ordered the race to be resailed, that would have been a different matter; but how could I pos- sibly agree to resail a race decided and given against me by the decision of the Committee? I wrote you last night to this effect, and am sorry you did not receive my letter. I had no opportunity of com- municating with you this morning; but Mr. Duryea will, I dare say, have informed you as to my views. Thanking you for your suggestion, I remain. Yours very truly, DuNRAVEN. After this second race of September 10th, Lord Dunraven wrote a letter to the Cup Com- mittee complaining bitterly about the crowding of Valkyrie by the excursion fleet, and saying that in his opinion it was dangerous to try to maneuver yachts under such conditions as pre- vailed. He made the statement that for nearly the whole distance Valkyrie was forced to sail in broken, tumbling water, caused by the wash of steamers, and he declined to submit to such con- ditions again. In another letter written the following day he receded from this position so far as to say that he would sail again "if the Committee would take it upon themselves to 228 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES declare the race void, if, in their judgment, either vessel was interfered with by steamers and tug boats." These communications were purposely not brought to the attention of the Committee until after the protest regarding the foul had been decided, which was at 2:30 p. m. of September 11th. Indeed, the second letter did not reach the Committee until 8 a. m. of the 12th, the day of the third race. The matter of crowding on the course, how- ever, was discussed between the Committee and Lord Dunraven the evening of the 11th, and the Committee offered not to start the race the fol- lowing day until a clear space for maneuvering was assured, though it said it could not assume the responsibility of declaring the race void if either boat suffered from the excursion fleet af- ter the start. While undoubtedly both boats had been inter- fered with to some extent by the excursion fleet, it did not seem to be intentional, and there was no evidence that Valkyrie was bothered more than Defender, though Dunraven evidently tht)ught that she was, and even went so far as to suggest postponing the race or sailing it on a THE DEFENDER 229 date not to be announced beforehand, so as to get rid of a large part of the excursion fleet. The Committee did not feel that it had the power or the right to do this. Here the matter rested, and the next day, September 12th, saw both boats at the line. De- fender with a new topmast in place of the broken one. This time the captains of the excursion fleet, evidently heedful of the public outcry against the crowding, kept at a respectful dis- tance, and the two boats had all the room they wanted around the line, while the course, as far as could be seen, was clear. Yet there was something that set all the spec- tators wondering as they looked at the two stately racers hanging lazily around the lightship. De- fender had an immense club topsail set as tight as a board on her new " stick ", yet, though it was getting close to the starting hour, Valkyrie's topsail was still tightly " stopped " at her mast- head, and she did not have her staysail set. There was only a light breeze stirring in which a challenger for the Cup needed every stitch she could set, and even the yachting " sharps " could not understand it. At last the preparatory signal went from the 230 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES committee boat, the course was signalled, fifteen miles to leeward and return, and there was a nice little breeze that gave promise of a good race. Still there was no move on the part of Valkyrie's crew to set light sails. Then the starting gun banged and Defender went over the line. She was followed by Vah hyrie; but after crossing the latter immediately hauled on the wind and headed back for her anchorage. As she did this her racing flag was hauled down and the New York Yacht Club burgee sent up in its place, Dunravon being an honorary member of this club. Then it dawned on all those present that Lord Dun- raven had quit and would not even finish out the series. Defender sailed over the course, taking two hours, six minutes and thirty-four seconds to the outer mark, and four hours, forty-three minutes and forty- three seconds (corrected time) for the whole course. As she neared the finish line Mr. Iselin hailed the Committee through a megaphone and asked if he should cross the line. The answer was " yes ", so the white sloop sailed past the Committee boat, her time was taken, and the series of 1895 was over. It must be con- THE DEFENDER 231 fessed that there was not much joy in the finish. On board the Committee boat we may be pretty sure there were some hard things said about the noble Earl. They had a short fore- warning of what was coming, for in Dunra- ven's second letter just referred to, which, it will be remembered, was handed to them at 8 a. m. of the day of the race, as they were going aboard the Committee boat, he had said that if the Committee would not agree to call the race void if either boat was interfered with, he, Dunraven, would take Valkyrie to Sandy Hook for the last race and go over the line just to give Defender a start. The Committee, however, hoped up to the last that Dunraven's better judgment would prevail to prevent this show of disapproval and pique. Of course the Earl and his sporting ethics were " roasted " unmercifully in this country; but the matter finally died down to only an echo imtil after Dunraven's return to England the latter part of October, when he again took up the matter of tampering with Defender's bal- last and of her re-measurement by the Com- mittee. In an article in the London Field of Novem- 232 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES ber 9th, and again in a speech on November 21st, Dunraven specifically charged that De- fender had surreptiously added ballast after being measured for the series, that was sufficient to bring her down in the water three or four inches more, and that this ballast had been removed again the night after the race, before she was remeasured the following day in com- pliance with his complaint. He based this charge on the fact that the Defender's tender, the steamer Hattie Palmer, laid alongside the American boat the night before and the night after the race, and that her crew had been busy until late in the night carrying something from one boat to the other; furthermore he claimed that Defender was visibly deeper in the water the day of the first race than when she was measured. This, of course, was a most serious charge, involving our national honor and sportsmanship. Mr. Iselin at once replied to it in no uncertain terms and asked the New York Yacht Club for a full investigation of the matter, placing himself and the Defender's skipper and crew at the Club's disposal. In his letter to the Club he said, in part : — THE DEFENDER 233 " I was responsible for the proper officering and man- ning of the yacht. I personally examined the Defender's hold and every part of her on the morning of the 7th, im- mediately before the race, and I know the absolute falsity of the imputation. I consider myself therefore as standing before the world solemnly charged by Lord Dunraven with an offence as base as could possibly be imputed to a sports- man and a gentleman, and which I indignantly resent and repel; and more than that, with having betrayed the con- fidence of my associates in the ownership of the Defender, the trust placed in me by the New York Yacht Club, and the good name of my coimtry, whose reputation for fair play was involved in the contest. " Lord Dunraven claims to have sailed the race on Satur- day, after being satisfactorily assured that he had been cheated in the fraudulent overloading of the Defender. He sailed the next race on the 10th, with the same convicition on his mind that on the first day's race he had been cheated. He broke off the last day's race not upon any such ground, but on the entirely distinct ground that the course would not and could not be kept clear. He went home, and after a silence of more than two months, he makes this odious charge in a communication, addressed not to me nor the owners of the Defender, nor to either the New York Yacht Club or the Royal Yacht Squadron, whom we respectively represented in the races for the America's Cup, but to a public newspaper on the other side of the Atlantic, which it would be impossible for me to read or reply to before it had already made a deep impression on the minds of his countrymen. 234 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES " Eelying upon its belief in my integrity, the New York Yacht Club deemed itself justified in placing its honor and that of the country in my hands in the conduct of the race. I could not have imagined that, in assuming that trust, I should expose myself and you to such gross im- putations. But now that they have been made I place my- self in your hands, in order that the Club may take such steps as it sees fit, not alone to vindicate the Defender and the honor of her owners, but also to refute the im- putation cast upon the good faith of the club and the country. I have the honor to remain, " Very respectfully yours, " C. Oliver Iselin." The New York Yacht Club inunediately called a special meeting for November 18 and thereat appointed a committee to go into the whole matter and sift it to the very bottom. This committee was composed of J. Pierpont Mor- gan, William C. Whitney, and George L. Rives, and before the inquiry began, there were added to it Captain A. T. Mahan, of the United States Navy, and the Hon. E. J. Phelps, late U. S. Minister to England, both men with a world- wide reputation. At this meeting a letter was read from Mr. H. Maitland Kersey, Lord Dunraven's American representative, saying that while Dunraven THE DEFENDER 235 thought it was then too late to investigate the charges, he would come over at the pleasure of the Committee to testify in his own behalf. While these charges were also mentioned in the report of Lord Dunraven to the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Squadron itself did not see fit to act, but preferred to treat the matter as a per- sonal one between Dunraven and the New York Yacht Club. So the Earl came over in Decem- ber with his testimony, and the meetings of the Committee began on December 27, and lasted five days. It is not necessary to go into all the testimony adduced at this inquiry, which was conducted in such a way as to satisfy every fair-minded man on either side of the Atlantic. Dunraven's legal interests were looked after by George R. Askwith, a noted English Admiralty lawyer, whUe Joseph H. Choate took care of the New York Yacht Club's case. Lord Dunraven failed signally to prove his charge. His case was based largely on the ap- pearance of Defender in the first race, when, to Ms eye, it seemed that she was deeper than when she was measured, judging from the position of a pipe outlet in her hull, and by her bobstay 236 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES bolt being nearer the water. His evidence was intangible and mostly hearsay. He claimed that he had asked the committee to place someone aboard the Defender after the first race until slie had been remeasured, and that in failing to do this all chances of proving his charge were lost. For Defender, Mr. Iselin, Captain Haff, Mr. Herreshoff her designer, the official measurer, all the amateurs aboard, and every member of Defender's crew, with the exception of five who were shown to be away at sea, testified. The testimony brought out the fact that De- fender carried eighty-five tons of fixed lead bal- last in her keel, and that she did not need any more, as she was amply stiff. As Valkyrie did not have bulkheads and interior fittings aboard, by mutual agreement, the New York Yacht Club rule covering this point was waived and bulkheads, water tanks, and fittings were re- moved from Defender. To take the place of this weight, sixty-three pigs of lead, weighing in all three tons were put aboard her before she was measured. As twenty-one of these pigs could not be properly stowed, they were taker! aboard the Hattie Palmer, cut in two and put Copyright The "forward gang" sending up a headsail on the Defender. THE DEFENDER 237 back aboard the Defender before the first race, which was the work Valkyrie's crew saw going on the night of September 6. Mr. Herreshoff and other witnesses testified that to have immersed Defender four inches more would -have lengthened her water line thir- ty-two inches, or nearly three feet. It was apparent that Dunraven's mind had become biased before the start of the series by some remarks emanating from someone on his tender, the Steamer City of Bridgeport, about the alleged water ballast that had been employed in some American yachts a number of years be- fore, and he was evidently distrustful before even jstarting the series. The report of the Committee, composed of men who commanded the confidence of the public and of yachtsmen everywhere, completely exon- erated Mr. Iselin and the crew of Defender, as is shown by the following report: "Upon a careful consideration of the whole case, the committee are unanimously of the opinion that the charge made by Lord Dunraven, and which has been the subject of this investigation, had its origin in mistake; that it is not only not sustained by evidence, but is completely dis- proved; and that all the circumstances indicated by him 238 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES as giving rise to his suspicion, are entirely and satisfac- torily explained. They deem it, therefore, but just to Mr. Iselin and the gentlemen concerned with him, as well as to the officers and crew of the Defender, that the com- mittee should express emphatically their conviction that nothing whatever occurred in connection with the race in question that casts the least suspicion upon the integrity or propriety of their conduct. " And the committee are not willing to doubt that if Lord Dunraven had remained present throughout the in- vestigation, so as to have heard all the evidence that was introduced, he would of his own motion have withdrawn a charge that was so plainly founded upon mistakes, and that has been so unfortunate in the publicity it has at- tained, and the feeling to which it has given rise." This report was signed by all the members of the Committee. It will be noticed that the Committee, though they might have scored Dunraven, handled him with a courtesy that he hardly deserved. It was supposed after the findings of the Committee and the failure to substantiate his charges, that Lord Dunraven would apologize; yet, though the report was published January 21, up to Feb- ruary 13 no apology had been received, and on that date, at a meeting of the club, his resig- nation as an honorary member was requested. As this resignation did not come up to Feb- THE DEFENDER 239 ruary 27, a resolution was offered and carried on that date expelling him from the New York .Yacht Club. After this action a tardy resigna- tion was received. Public opinion in England did not support Dunraven in these charges. As a rule the press of that country either criticized him openly for bringing these charges, or else remained silent on the matter. Thus ended the most bitter con- troversy that had arisen since America brought the Cup to this country, not barring the unpleas- antness that arose over Mr. Ashbury's second attempt to capture the bit of silver. WhUe this matter was being thrashed out, an- other challenge was received from England for a race in 1896. This came through the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, challenging in behalf of Mr. Charles Day Rose, a prominent London banker, naming the yacht Distant Shore. The challenge was promptly accepted, conditions were drawn up, and just a week after they were sent to England, or on October 23, Mr. Rose withdrew his challenge. In doing so, he wrote as foUows : " Owing to the general impression that my challenge might be construed as an ex- pression of opinion on the result of the last race, 240 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES I regret having to ask the New York Yacht Club to withdraw the same." It is not known what pressure was brought to bear on Mr. Rose to withdraw this challenge. He was not a prominent yachtsman, however, and the withdrawal of his challenge was hardly more of a surprise than the tendering of it. CHAPTER XII SIR THOMAS LIPTOn's FIRST CHALLENGE AFTER the rumblings of the Dunraven fiasco had died down English yachtsmen, though they had not supported the Val- hyrie's owner in his position, and did not con- sider him a shining representative of British sportsmanship, nevertheless took but little inter- est in the America's Cup. It was felt on both sides of the water that it might be some time before another race was arranged, owing to the unpleasant incidents of the last match. There were rumors of challenges during the next two years, one of them from an Australian yachts- man, but nothing came of them. It was with considerable gratification, then, that the New York Yacht Club, in the late sum- mer of 1898, received a cable from the Royal Ulster Yacht Club, of Belfast, Ireland, giving 241 242 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES notice of its intent to challenge on behalf of one of its members, Sir Thomas Lipton, and saying that a committee from the club would be sent over to arrange details. In September, this committee of three, ac- companied by William Fife, Jr., the English naval architect who was to design the new yacht, arrived in New York, met the Cup Committee appointed by the New York Yacht Club, and in less than twenty-four hours everything had been agreed upon by "mutual consent." The New York Yacht Club was anxious for a race, and did not hesitate in making terms that satisfied the Royal Ulster Yacht Club and Lipton's per- sonal representative. The conditions were practically the same as those that had governed the two Dunraven matches. The New York Yacht Club did not hold out for the dimensions of the challenger required under the Deed of Gift, and the water line length only was asked for. This was given as 89.5 feet and the rig that of a cutter. The matches were to be sailed early in October, be- ing fixed this late in the expectation of getting stronger breezes. This challenge, came somewhat as a surprise LIPTON'S FIRST CHALLENGE 243 to English yachtsmen as Sir Thomas Lipton had not been particularly identified with the sport, and while the owner of a large steam yacht, he knew practically nothing about sailing yachts or of racing. He was of Irish descent and had started in life as a grocer's clerk. His family was poor, but by sheer ability and perseverance he had become a successful tea merchant, and had built up a world-wide business that brought him a fortune. He was fifty-one years of age at the time of the challenge, and had already achieved considerable prominence in England, having been knighted by reason of his many philanthropies. He had many sterling ijuali- ties, was a good sportsman, and in the following five years, during which he made three attempts " to lift the cup," as he himself expressed it, showed himself a good loser and a fair-minded gentleman. It will be noticed, if we look at the last three Cup races, that a great change had been taking place in the general character of these contests. Instead of the challenger being a prominent yachtsman racing in some regularly established class, who had what he believed to be a boat that :was fast enough to warrant a try for the Cup, 244 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES he was more apt to be some rich man who could afford to build a boat especially for an Amer- ica's Cup race and who, for some reason or other, might not be averse to the prestige that such a race would give him. In the Royal Clyde Yacht Club challenge the Thistle was owned by a syn- dicate; Dunraven was a comparatively new- comer to the sport, as was now Sir Thomas Lip- ton. This was but natural, perhaps, by reason of the terms of the Deed of Gift which faced a challenger, and because of the tendency to re- gard the America's Cup as standing for speed alone, with no other qualities demanded or ex- pected in the yachts that raced for it. It was also, in a way, unavoidable, by reason of differ- ent measurement rules in England and in Amer- ica, which produced classes that did not exactly coincide. So America's Cup races had come down to contests between so-called "racing machines," or yachts built only for this one event, to the extreme of lightness, with an abnormal rig, and with everything sacrificed to the one thing, — speed. It was no longer a matter of types, fori both challenger and defender were practically LIPTON'S FIRST CHALLENGE 245 alike in form, rig, etc., with only minor differ- ences between them. To make matters worse we were, at that time, in America, sailing under a measurement rule that allowed great excesses in the way of flat bodies, long ends, etc.; and as this was the rule under which the challenger was also measured for time allowance, it was but natural that the designer of the English yacht should try to outdo us in these respects. In any yacht the three prime factors that en- ter into her design as having a bearing on speed are: Length, sail area (or propulsive power), and displacement, or the amount of body that is to be driven through the water. The rule then in force took into consideration and taxed only length of waterline when on an even keel and sail area. With only two of the factors taxed it is natural that designers took all the liberties they could with the one that was not taxed, and they began to cut away underbodies and lengthen out the ends to give a greater water line length when heeled than when upright, until there was produced a long, flat body, with a (deep, thin keel, practically amounting to a fin, carrying at its lower end a big chunk of ballast. 246 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES and with long spars of steel, trussed to give them sufficient strength to carry the tremendous sail area that was piled on them. While such ma- chines were undoubtedly fast in smooth water, they were useless in a sea, and their spars could not support the press of sail in a breeze in which the older racers would have romped around the course under lower saUs, or with a single reef tucked in. Designing a Cup racer was getting to be an engineering problem in figuring out new forms of construction, strength of material, rigging, etc. In these things " Nat " Herreshoif ex- celled, and in addition to being counted one of our foremost designers and the one with the greatest experience in large "single stickers," the boats were constructed at his own plant. When Lipton decided to challenge he was con- tent with no half-way measures, and gave de- signer Fife a carte blanche order to spare no expense, but to turn out the fastest boat that money could produce. William Fife, Jr., was the designer of the successful cutters Clara and Minerva which had raced in this country some ten years before, and whUe he had been very successful in small boats, LIPTON'S FIRST CHALLENGE 247 he had only turned out two large racing yachts, neither of which had been over successful. In Shamrock, as Lipton named his challenger, Fife turned out a boat of the extreme type. She was built by Thorneycroft & Co., the well-known builders of torpedo boats, and lightness of con- struction was demanded. She followed De- fender somewhat in the use of material, her bot- tom plating being of manganese bronze, while aluminum was used for the topsides. It will be remembered that this latter material had proved unsatisfactory in Defender, that boat being structurally weak, and in this country it was dis- carded in the construction of future large yachts. Shamrock was tied together with stringers, straps, and cross braces inside to make her strong enough to stand the ocean crossing. Her racing mast, boom, and gaff were of steel, built up and braced, but the mast gave constant trouble by buckling in a breeze to such an extent as to im- pair the eflBciency of her sails, of which it is said that she had six different suits that season. Her principal dimensions were : Length over all 128 feet, waterline 89 feet, 8 inches, beam 25 feet, draft 20 feet, 3 inches, and sail area 13,- 492 square feet. Her hull was very flat and 248 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES broad, with long ends, while her keel was hardly more than a fin, being cut away forward while the rudder post had a considerable rake to it. Great secrecy was -observed in building her, so the weight of the lead bulb is not known, though it was said to be in excess of seventy-five tons. For the defense of the Cup another syndicate was formed in the New York Yacht Club. This time it was headed by J. Pierpont Morgan, and C. Oliver Iselin was again chosen as managing owner, to have charge of the new boat during the season. Of course Herreshoff was the designer and builder. The boat was built under lock and key, and long after any need for secrecy was past the impatient public was denied any informa- tion as to what Columhia, which was the name decided upon, would be like. Of course rimiors sifted through locked doors, but they were about as reliable as such rumors usually are. When Columbia was finally launched on June 10, and measured, it was known that she was 131 feet over all; 89 feet 8 inches on the water; 24 feet beam, and 19 feet 3 inches draft; with 13,- 135 square feet of muslin. She was plated with manganese bronze below the water and steel LIPTON'S FIRST CHALLENGE 249 above, and her spars were built of steel, except her bowsprit, and, of course, her spinnaker boom. She carried ninety tons of lead at the bottom of her nineteen-foot fin, which exerted great lever- age at that depth and allowed her to carry her sail on a fairly narrow beam. She was also rather flat amidships, and in profile the chal- lenger and the defender were very similar, though the Shamrock was the more powerful- looking, with greater beam and draft and slightly more freeboard. The British boat was conceded a dangerous competitor by many of those who saw her, and some of her early trials in this country were such as to inspire fear for the outcome, especially when she " hit up " a thirteen-knot clip a number of times on a reach. The Shamrock left England on August 3, after a couple of inconclusive trials against the Prince of Wale's famous cutter Britannia. She was under a jury yawl rig. and was convoyed by her owner's steam yacht Erin, the New York Yacht Club departing so much from the letter (and in this case even the spirit) of the Deed as to grant permission to have the steam yacht tow her wherever it seemed advisable. This showed 250 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES more than anything else the change that had taken place in Cup racers, Mr. Schuyler and the members of the New York Yacht Club deeming it all important that a yacht should " proceed under sail on her own bottom to the port where the contest is to take place," when they made the Second Deed of Gift, after the Canadian challenges. A quick and pleasant passage of 14 days and 20 hours was made across the Atlantic, much of it being at the end of a hawser behind the Erin; but the racing shell arrived in good shape, and immediately started to refit and get her racing spars stepped preparatory to a long tuning-up process. Shamrock was in charge of Captain " Archie " Hogarth, who, though quite a young man, was considered one of the best professional racing skippers in England, ranking with Carter, Cran- field of the Valkyrie III.^ and Parker, though much of his experiejice had been gained in smaller boats. As " second captain " on board was Robert Wringe, an experienced and able yacht skipper. This position of " second cap- tain" was an English custom that prevailed on large racing yachts, the second man being some- LIPTON'S FIRST CHALLENGE 251 thing more than a mate, the corresponding po- sition on American yachts, and assisting with his advice and judgment, as well as at the helm. During the actual races for the Cup this able pair also had the assistance of Captain Ben Par- ker, skipper of the German Emperor's schooner Meteor II, so that Shamrock's quarter deck did not lack for talent. When Columbia was launched Charles Barr was selected by Mr. Iselin as her captain. This choice called forth much criticism at the time, as Barr was of Scotch birth and had but re- cently become a naturalized citizen, while many people felt that an American boat should have an American skipper. However, no better choice could have been made, and not only did Barr prove himself one of the most wonderful skippers that ever trod a deck, possessing all the qualities of a successful racing man, but he later became immensely popular with the public who looked upon him as practically unbeatable. For crew he had " Lem " Miller as mate dur- ing the series, and Deer Island boys forward, as in the case of Defender, some of Defender's old crew being found on Columbia's deck. In the early racing Columbia met with a number of 252 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP BACES accidents. Among others she carried away her steel mast and messed things up generally. Of course, all these were charged against Charley Barr, and he was abused pretty freely, whereas they were mostly the result of building to the extreme of lightness. Barr first came to this country in 1885 as one of the crew of the English cutter Clara. In 1888, when only twenty-four years of age, he sailed the little 46-foot cutter Minerva over, raced her in her two phenomenally successful seasons in American waters, and made an en- viable name for himself. He later commanded the successful Wasp, sailed the unsuccessful sloop Navdhoe in England part of the season of 1893, made a fast passage across the Atlantic in bringing Vigilant back in 1895, and was cap- tain of that yacht in the trial races against De- fender in 1895. Since that he had been in com- mand of the big racing schooner Colonia, built in 1893 as a sloop for Cup defense. For a trial horse against the Columbia the conqueror of Valkyrie III. was put into com- mission. Defender was " skippered " by Cap- tain Uriah Rhodes, a yacht captain of some prominence but without much experience on LIPTON'S FIRST CHALLENGE 253 large racing machines, and he had a good crew of "square head" yacht saUors. She was in charge of W. Butler Duncan, Jr., an able and resourceful amateur. These two boats raced throughout the season, meeting many times, and Columbia showed un- questioned superiority under practically all con- ditions. The official trial races were held early in September, and Columbia beat Defender twice, so conclusively that further trials were deemed unnecessary. Nevertheless she was not officially named to meet the Shamrock until a week before the Cup race, according to the strict interpretation of the agreement, in case any ac- cident befell her in the intervening month that might make it necessary to substitute the De- fender. Just before the date set for the first race, Mr. Fife, who had been aboard Shamrock dur- ing practically all of her tuning-up sails, bring- ing all of his experience and knowledge to bear in getting his boat in the very best possible trim and condition, was unfortunately taken ill, and was confined to his apartments for the whole period of the Cup races. This was doubly un- fortunate, for it not only deprived Shamrock's 254 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES crew of his advice and skill in those fine points that only a boat's designer sees, but it prevented him from making observations of inestimable value on the performance of his yacht on all points of sailing against such a competitor as she was bound to meet in this kind of a contest. A first-hand knowledge of her good and bad points would have meant much to him in the future. October 3, the day fixed for the first race, arrived and found the two yachts at the line es- tablished off Sandy Hook Lightship, surrounded by the biggest excursion fleet that had ever made the trip to the old red lightship. If Dunraven had thought that the fleets that followed his yachts over the course were larg^ he should have seen the one that was on hand to see Sir Thomas Lipton, easily the most popular man who had ever challenged, try to " lift the cup." But the New York Yacht Club had taken pre- cautions to keep the course clear, and the Gov- ernment lent its aid with a large fleet of revenue cutters and torpedo boats, under command of Captain Robley D. Evans, the " Fighting Bob " of Spanish- American War fame. The excursion steamers, yachts, and tugs were kept well away LIPTON'S FIRST CHALLENGE 255 from the starting line. The course also was so well patrolled that the fleet was kept well away from the racers at all times ; and throughout the entire series neither boat was bothered, or had the slightest cause to complain. The first race was to be a windward and lee- ward one of fifteen miles to a leg, with a time limit of five and a half hours. The wind was light N. E. and the first leg was laid down the Jersey beach, to leeward. Everyone was "on edge " to see what the much talked-of challenger would do, and she showed them quickly by beat- ing Columbia over the line by 43 seconds when the starting gun banged at 11.15 a.m. About an hour later Columbia got a favorable slant of wind, passed Shamrock and managed to round the outer mark two minutes in the lead. But the wind was light and fluky, and after a see-saw time of it the race was declared off at the expiration of the time limit, with the boats about on even terms. It was absolutely no test of the comparative merits of the yachts. This first indecisive trial was but one of many, for there followed nearly two weeks of unprece- dented calm and fog, in which many attempts were made to sail a match without seeing a sin- 256 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES gle finish. The tension of this delay got on the nerves of everyone, and especially on those of the crews of the two racers. After October 12 it was decided to race every week-day, instead of every other day; but even this did not help mat- ters out, and it was October 16 before a race was actually finished. During this time Charley Barr and the quarter deck crew of Columbia came in for a lot of scurrilous abuse by the so- called yachting writers on many of the daily papers. These articles insinuated that the American boat was badly handled. They had absolutely no basis in fact, and were probably prompted by dissatisfaction in the choice of Barr as skipper. Finally, October 16 arrived. It found both yachts at the lightship, enveloped in a thin fog, but with a moderate easterly wind blowing that gave promise of holding. The boats were sent away on the long windward leg at eleven o'clock, Shamrock leading over the line by three seconds. Though the wind was not of great strength and Columbia carried her topsail, it was noticed that Hogarth, on Shamrock, was content with a small one instead of the great sky-scraping " jack-yarder " she had spread in the previous LIPTON'S FIRST CHALLENGE 257 trials. The reason was apparent later when the breeze freshened, and it was seen that the Lip- ton boat was a little tender. Soon after crossing Barr luffed sharply, and planted his boat on Shamrock's weather quar- ter; and on the whole of that windward leg he kept the British boat under his lee, refusing to let her get out by splitting tacks. The fog was so thick on this leg that a tug was sent ahead of the racers to act as a guide boat to show them the yvaj to the outer mark. The short head seas bothered Columbia much less than the Shamrock, the former slipping along easily while the latter seemed to make quite a fuss under her bow in getting through the water. It took nearly three hours to beat to the outer mark, which Columbia rounded 9 minutes and 49 seconds ahead of her opponent, the time at the turn being: H. M. S. Columbia 1 48 19 Shamrock 1 58 08 The run home, dead before the wind, was un- interesting, as the result was a foregone conclu- 258 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES sion, barring accidents. Columbia gained 22 seconds more on this leg, and crossed the finish line 10 minutes, 11 seconds ahead of Shamrock. The official time was as follows: Elapsed Corrected 'Name Start Finish Time Time H. M. S. H. M. S. H. M. S. H. M. S. Columbia . , ,..11 01 06 3 54 59 4 53 53 4 53 53 Shamrock . . , . .11 01 03 4 05 10 5 04 07 5 04 01 Columbia allowed Shamrock six seconds, and therefore won by 10 minutes 8 seconds, after allowance was made for the difference in starting time. With another race the next day the crews of the two boats were kept on the jump in order to get them at the line promptly and in good shape. When they arrived they found the wind in the same old quarter, east, and quite a lump of sea on, though the fog had taken wings. The starting gun banged at eleven o'clock, and the boats were sent away on a triangular course of ten miles to a leg, the first leg being dead to windward. There was more good jockeying, and though Shamrock got over first by two sec- onds, the boats were lapped, with Columbia to windward. Finding that Columbia was taking his wind, LIPTON'S FIRST CHALLENGE 259 Hogarth slammed Shamrock about soon after the start. Columbia followed, and the two boats were having a grand thrash to windward in a twelve-knot breeze, with every sheet and halyard as taut as an iron bar. Columbia did not draw away as fast as on the previous day, and it was anybody's race twenty-five minutes after the start, when suddenly Shamrocks club topsail collapsed to leeward, the topmast having snapped just above the mast head and broken clean off. The huge topsail hung down in the lee of the mainsail and Shamrock was shoved up into the wind, and then put on the other tack, while her crew swarmed aloft to get the mess cleared away. This, of course, put her out of the race and spoiled what promised to be a most exciting match. Luckily, no one was hurt, and Shamrock was taken in tow back to the city, much to the disgust of all hands. Columbia kept on, though she took in her jib- topsail after the accident to her opponent, sailed over the course in the excellent time of 3 hours and 37 minutes, and was declared the winner. She was forced to do this by an ironbound agree- ment between the owners of the two yachts, which read as follows : 260 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES " Inasmuch as we are of the opinion that America' » Cup races are no less a test of the construction of the competing vessels than of their sailing qualities^ and it is deemed advisable to avoid the embarrassment in which a vessel finds herself when called upon to decide whether to withdraw from a race upon the occurrence of an ac- cident disabling her competitor^ it is agreed thatj in the races between the Shamrock and the Columbia, each yacht shall stand by the consequences of any accident happening to her J and that the uninjured vessel shall sail out the race." On the following day STiamrock had a new topmast sent up. It was a fine stick, fifty-six feet long. She also took aboard four tons of additional ballast to stiffen her somewhat. She was re-measured after this, with the result that she had now to allow Columbia sixteen seconds. Both boats were at the line again on October 19, but after starting, the wind went flat and there was another heart-breaking postponement until the next day. The series had now dragged on for eighteen days and the excursion fleet had melted away like fog before a west wind, though there was a fair-sized fleet on hand October 20 in the ex- pectation of seeing the ending of the series. It was a fine day for a race, with a brisk northerly LIPTONS FIRST CHALLENGE 261 wind that whipped the tops off the tumbling seas and gave the two " mug hunters " all they wanted. Shamrock had only a working topsail up instead of her big " jack-yarder," and Co- lumbia, though the abler boat, was content with none at all. The course was a leeward and windward one again, the first leg being south by west down the Jersey beach, and the starting gun was fired promptly at eleven o'clock. It was the day of days for the Shamrock to distinguish herself, and she proceeded to get the jump on Columbia by crossing the line one minute and one second ahead of her; but as times were taken from the actual crossing and Columbia was in a position to blanket Shamrock, this was a doubtful ad- vantage. As they crossed the crew of Columbia broke out a big spinnaker, and for the next three-quar- ters of an hour they had all sorts of fun with that piece of canvas. First it " ballooned," then it collapsed and filled again» buckling the long spinnaker boom in an alarming fashion, making it soar skyward and drop again. It performed all manner of " stunts " and took charge of the ■ship generally, until everyone expected momen- 262 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES tarily to see it burst. Finally it was muzzled and put on its good behavior. While this was still going on Barr set his gaff topsail, and just before the mark was reached, Columbia had the satisfaction of passing her rival. As soon as she had done so Barr took in his topsail, evi- dently not wanting to take any chances on carry- ing away something on the thrash to windward. As they drew near the mark, both traveling like express trains, it w^as seen that the turn would be close and exciting. Columbia reached the stake boat first, got in her light canvas in fine style, flattened sheets in smartly, and made a fine turn just 17 seconds ahead of Shamrock, having beaten her opponent 1 minute and 18 seconds on the run. The turning times were: H. M. S. Columbia 12 19 00 Shamrock 12 19 17 Shamrock did not take the turn as neatly, and was slow getting her main boom aboard, so that she sagged off to leeward. When she finally got settled down for the beat back she was well un- der Columbia's lee and was not pointing as high. All through that magnificent fifteen-mile beat LIPTON'S FIRST CHALLENGE 263 home the Shamrock tried her best to get away from Columhia, but whether she was sailed fine or full her big white opponent kept eating out to windward under lower sails only. Toward the end the quarter-deck gang on Shamrock tried setting a club topsail in place of the jib-headed one, in a last desperate effort to catch Columbia, but it only made her lay over farther and did not help her any. Columbia crossed the line an easy winner with over six minutes to spare, and the series of 1899 was at an end, as the following table will show: Ei/APSED Corrected Name Start Finish Time Time Columbia 11 01 35 2 40 00 S 38 25 3 38 09 Shamrock 11 00 34- 2 45 17 3 44 43 3 44 43 Columbia ■won by 6 minutes 34 seconds. She undoubtedly could have made it more if she had been pushed. If ever man and a crew were " vindicated " by the result of a race it was Charley Barr and the crew of the Columbia, forward and aft. At all times during the racing Columbia was better handled than Shamrock, despite the array of professional talent that was sailing the latter. Barr showed excellent judgment, was cool in a 264 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES pinch, and sailed his boat like the master hand that he was acknowledged to be later. The newspaper critics were forced to eat their words and give him the praise that he deserved. Columbia's superiority was conclusively- shown, though it is probable that Shamroch might have done better with Mr. Fife on board, or if she had been tuned to a higher pitch. After the series was over the New York Yacht Club elected Sir Thomas Lipton to hon- orary membership, his name being proposed by Commodore J. P. Morgan, and another chal- lenge from the same source was talked of for 1901, if no one else challenged in the meantime. On November 2 the Shamrock left this coun- try for England in tow of the steam yacht Erin. The passage was made by way of the Azores, and both boats arrived in England after a passage of fifteen days. CHAPTER XIII THE SECOND UPTON CHALLENGE. THE " SHAM- ROCK II, COLUMBIA" RACE OF 1901 IT was not long after Sir Thomas Lipton's return to England that he began to make plans for another assault on the Cup. After waiting long enough to give another chal- lenger an opportunity to come forward, if any so desired, Sir Thomas had the Royal Ulster Yacht Club send a challenge in his behalf Octo- ber 2, 1900, asking for a series of races in August of the following year and naming a ninety-foot cutter as the boat. The New York Yacht Club did not insist on any other measurements than the water line length, and the minor details of the match were easily arranged to the satisfaction of both sides, Sir Thomas being then in high favor in the club. 265 266 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES For this second boat, which was named Sham,' rock II, Lipton went to George Watson for the design. Watson was probably the foremost de- signer in England at that time, if that adjective can be applied to any one man in a profession. His cutter Britannia was one of the most won- derful racing yachts ever turned out, and he was also the designer of the little Madge, and of the America's Cup challengers Thistle and the two Valkyries. He had thus had ample experi- ence in our waters. Before building the new boat, he conducted an exhaustive series of tank experiments with small models to try out various forms. It is believed that this is the first time this had been done with sailing models, though it was quite common with those of steam vessels, the angles of heel and courses when on the wind forming elements that complicated the problem for sail- ing models. However, Watson put much faith in these tests. No expense was to be spared in this second Shamrock, and again lightness of construction with the least possible displacement, or " body," was sought. The boat was plated with a new alloy called immadium, light but strong, and THE SHAMROCK II. 267 thougH the yacht was broken up after two years this material appears to have lasted satisfac- torily, despite rumors to the contrary. In shape, Shamrock II, was an extremely fla? boat with long ends ( she was almost ten feet longer over all than her predecessor), full water lines, and a deep, narrow fin drawing twenty feet of water. When she was measured her gen- eral dimensions were found to be: length over all 137 feet, water line 89 feet 3 inches, beam 24 feet, and draft 20 feet, while Watson tacked on some 600 feet to the first Shamrock's already large sail area and gave the new boat 14,027 square feet. She was, up to that time, the most extreme type of racing machine, though she was to be outdone two years later, as we shall pres- ently see. As soon as the challenge was received and ac- cepted, another syndicate was in order, there be- ing hardly a thought as to whether Columbia would be good enough to take Shamrock II.'s measure. This new syndicate was composed of August Belmont, Oliver H. Payne, F. G. Bourne, James Stillman, and Henry Walters — all men of ample means who could afford to see that no money was spared on the new boat. 268 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES Herreshoff again got the order, and with the last successful defender as a guide, he started in on a boat that was confidently expected to be even faster than Columbia. Constitution, as this new craft was named, showed many differences in construction from previous defenders, if not in shape or type. A new form of " web " frames was used in her, which, while more expensive, gave a lighter con- struction, with, it was said, equal strength. These frames were placed about six feet apart instead of the ordinary distance of about a foot and a half. The plating was bronze, as in the last two or three defenders. Though in many ways similar to Columbia, especially above the water, Herreshoff went back to the successful Defender for much of her underwater form, her midship section being quite similar to the 1895 yacht. She was launched May 6, and was put in charge of W. Butler Duncan, Jr. Mr. Dun- can, it will be remembered, was in charge of Defender during her trials against Columbia, and he also sailed on the Columbia with Mr. Ise- lin during the last Cup series. For captain, Uriah Rhodes was chosen. This Constitution the Unlucky. Built for the defense of the Cup in 1901, but beaten by the older Columbia. THE SHAMROCK 11. 269 was a poor choice, with such a man as Barr in the field, for Rhodes had not had the experience on big racing machines, nor was he as good a helmsman as the other man. But there was still some feeling against Barr, both on account of his not being a native born American, and, pos- sibly, on account of his success, though it is not known that this influenced the Constitution syn- dicate in its selection. Constitution's length over all was 132 feet, wa- ter line 89 feet 6 inches, beam 25 feet 2 inches, and draft 19 feet 7 inches. Her sail area was given as 14,290 square feet. In order to give the new boat the advantage of trials against a boat of known caliber, Mr. E. D. Morgan bought Mr. Iselin's share in Co- lumbia and fitted her out for a season's racing against Constitution. While he managed the yacht himself he gave the command to Charley Barr, who picked a Scandinavian crew which he trained into a perfect machine. Work on the Constitution was no sooner un- der way at the Herreshoff shop than word came that Boston would also be in the field to dis- pute the new boat's right to the honor of defend- ing. It had been eight years since Boston had 270 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES been represented by a Cup yacht and this word came with something of a shock to the complais- ancy of the two New York Yacht Club syndi- cates and was received with poor grace. The owner of the Boston boat was Thomas W. Lawson, a rich stock broker and speculator, possessed of ample means to build the boat alone and do her justice. He was not a practical yachtsman, however, and, besides, he was not a member of the New York Yacht Club. Now, the New York Yacht Club had held a monopoly on Cup defense so long that it had construed the various Deeds of Gifts to imply that the defending boat must belong to a mem- ber of the Club and sail under the Club burgee. Every boat that had so far represented this country in these matches had done so; and while there was nothing specific on this point in any of the three Deeds, the fact that the last Deed specifically made over the Cup to the New York Yacht Club, to be held by it until won by a for- eign club, made the Club feel that it was respon- sible for the defense and it was not right to make it assume this responsibility unless it had complete control of the yacht chosen to defend. It could only have this control if the yacht were THE SHAMROCK 11. 271 owned in the club. This may have been round- about reasoning, but still it must be remembered that the Cup was in the possession of the New York Yacht Club, and possession implies a good deal in yacht racing. The Club's attitude in this matter did not find favor in the eyes of the majority of the American public, yet it must be said that it was in keeping with racing cus- tom, and no club holding a cup would ever look to another club to supply a defender. Mr. Lawson was informed soon after he started to build of the interpretation the New York Yacht Club placed on the trust by which it held the Cup, and that if he wanted to race this boat in the trial races to pick a defender, he would have to either join the New York Yacht Club, or put his boat temporarily in the posses- sion of some member of that Club. Mr. Lawson was a very agressive and out- spoken man, and he declined to comply with these suggestions. He told the committee who saw him in regard to this matter, when they in- timated that he might have a boat -on his hands and nothing to race against, that that was his concern and not theirs. Thus the yachting season opened with three 272 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES big sloops in the field, considerable hard feeling, and every prospect of a lively time. It is need- less to say that the prospect was fulfilled. The Constitution and Columbia met early in the season, and in the first races the former did fairly well, proving very fast in light winds, as she carried over 1000 square feet more sail than Columbia. However, with this great spread it was soon found that her spars were not strong enough to stand the strain, and she had endless trouble with them. They were of steel, built up, as they say, braced, and trussed, and they buckled badly. In one of her earlier races she carried away her mast and had to go back to the shop for a new one. So marked was this weakness of her spars that it is said everyone aboard her was wrought up to a high state of nervousness over them, and that all hands would turn a back-hand-spring to get out of the way whenever there was a snap aloft, or the boom fetched up hard on the main sheet in coming about or jibing. Along about the middle of the season things began to turn the other way, and Columbia be- gan to win. Especially in a breeze of over ten or twelve knots' strength did she show her superi- THE SHAMROCK II. 273 ority, and she nearly always won under these conditions. Besides, she was better sailed and was much easier to handle than Constitution and was in much better shape all around. While this matter of choice was bothering the America's Cup Committee in mid-season, the Boston sloop, which had been named Independ- ence, arrived off Newport, after a rough voyage around Cape Cod at the end of a towing hawser. She was a big, flat, " brute " of a boat,' some 140 feet long on deck, built like an enlarged " scow " with very flat body, long ends, a deep fin-like keel, and a balanced rudder. However, after it was found that this " tin pan " of a rudder would not hold her off in a breeze, and that she would " take charge " herself when off the wind, it was discarded and a regular type of rudder, set into a socket at the bottom of the keel, was substi- tuted. Even with this it was hard to hold her, and old " Hank " Haff, who was in command of her, had his hands more than full in keeping her on her course and clear of the other boats. Independence had a whopping big sail spread and was virtually a racing " scow," enlarged to unwieldly proportions. Under favorable condi- 274 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES tions and on certain points of sailing she was undoubtedly very fast, but, on the whole, she was a failure, as the sequel will show. She was designed by B. B. Crowninshield, a well-known Boston naval architect, and was built by Lawley. She was a good deal in the nature of an experi- ment, — the extremely flat boat not having at that time been tried in such a large size. Lawson still refused to let his name go up for membership in the New York Yacht Club, or to place his boat in charge of some member of that organization, so the yacht was not allowed to enter any of the Club races. This called forth much popular criticism, until it was seen that Independence was not the fastest boat. At this stage of the proceedings the Newport Yacht Racing Association, a new organization composed of some prominent Newport yachts- men, came upon the stage and arranged a series of races off Brenton Reef between the three boats. While this did not relieve the New York Yacht Club of criticism, it gave the Independ- ence the opportunity she was looking for. In all, the Lawson boat sailed in six races, four against the Columbia and the Constitution, and two against the Columbia alone. In all of THE SHAMROCK II. 275 these races she finished last, thereby taking away all of Lawson's thunder. In the first two races it was noticed that she was very sluggish, moving much slower in the light air than the other boats, and this, together with the fact that water was seen constantly run- ning down her side in the second race, led to the surmise that she was leaking. This turned out to be the case. Her flat nose had received a hammering coming around the Cape that started the plates, and until she could be docked it was necessary to mount an extra pump below to keep her clear. In the fourth race she lost her topmast, and though she finished, it was in the last position. These races, of course, eliminated her as a fur- ther factor and cleared the air somewhat. Still there was the vexing problem of a selec- tion between the other two boats to bother the Committee, for Constitution had been showing such in-and-out work that it was by no means certain that she was the best all-round boat. After her early success Constitution lost more races than she won, and never seemed to get in quite the proper trim. This, of course, started the cry that Herreshoff had reached his limit in 276 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES Columbia, and that Constitution was a failure. The fact was, that Columbia was better handled in all her races than the new boat. Barr "put it over " Rhodes and Constitution's after guard right straight along. He nearly always got the best of the start, putting Constitution just where he wanted her, until it almost seemed as if he had them all scared aboard of her. He frequently bluffed Constitution out of her rights and, inci- dentally, he came in for a good deal of criticism for the high-handed way in which he carried things when at close quarters. As a matter of fact, Butler Duncan and Rhodes had a great responsibility on their shoul- ders, for if they insisted on their rights and dam- aged or sank Constitution, they might have left the Cup without a defender. It is doubtful, though, if Barr would have gone so far as to let the boats actually get to- gether. Columbia was a quick handling boat, and Barr usually had her well in hand for quick maneuvering. He knew the caution with which Constitution was being handled, and he was smart enough to make the most of it and get away with situations where his boat was in the wrong. As long as his " bluffs " were not called THE SHAMROCK II. 277 he could continue "to make a monkey" out of Rhodes. It is only fair to say that the skip- per of Constitution was probably held back somewhat by those over him. During the season Constitution and Columbia met in twenty-two races. Eighteeen of these were finished, and each boat won nine. In two that were not finished Columbia had a command- ing lead when they were called off. Besides this generally unsatisfactory record of Constitution' s^ she did not do as well in the latter part of the season as at first. This was said to be due largely to her poor sails, which when new were in good condition, but after being stretched and recut several times, did not hold their shape. The new suits she received from the Herreshoff shop seemed no better. Her sails came in for a lot of criticism, justly or unjustly, and everyone was asking why some other American sailmaker was not given a chance. But the contract called for sails from Herreshoff, and from the Herreshoff loft they came. The later races, and especially the nine held between August 10th and 25th, so clearly dem- onstrated that Columbia was the most consistent performer, especially in all around weather con- 278 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES ditions, that she was chosen by the America's Cup Committee on September 5th, to meet the Shamrock II. This was a great disappointment to the Con- stitution syndicate, to HerreshofF, and to many yachtsmen, and the feeling was quite general that Shamrock II. had an excellent chance to win the Cup in meeting a boat two years old, the new Lipton boat being admittedly faster than the first Shamrock. Herreshoff was never satis- fied that Constitution was the slower boat, and felt that with a little longer time to get her into form, or with a man like Barr at her wheel, the result would very probably have been different. On the other side of the Atlantic, meanwhile,' Shamrock II. was having her own troubles. She, too, did some in-and-out sailing while her skipper and crew were working her into shape, and she also lost her mast in one race. This happened ? while King Edward VII. was aboard her; but' that good sportsman, so the story runs, merely lighted a fresh cigar as the mast crumpled up and inquired if anyone was hurt. This accident caused Sir Thomas to ask for a postponement of the races for a month, which was granted by the New York Yacht Club. 60 ■'3 nS 0) I O 2 e o O T) « I 9 o O THE SHAMROCK II. 279 This carrying away of masts was getting to be altogether too common in Cup racers and showed that the limit of sail carrying capacity on one " stick " had about been reached. It was pretty nearly time to call a halt when a 135-foot yacht could not go out in a breeze of over ten or twelve-knots' strength without danger of losing her entire rig overboard. Before leaving for this country Shamrock II. was strengthened internally by braces, struts, and extra stringers, to withstand the voyage. She had a small jury rig of head sails and loose-footed mainsail, but it was only for emergency use, as she was towed across by the steam yacht Erin, making the passage by the southern route in fif- teen days. She arrived here in time to get thor- oughly tuned up and to instUl in the minds of many of those who saw her sail, or who got a look at her shape in the dry dock, a fear of what she might do to the Columbia. Reports credited her with making fourteen knots on several oc- casions when tuning up, and stories were told of her leaving fast tug boats behind as if they were anchored. She certainly had all the earmarks of speed and was conceded to be the fastest boat that had 280 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES ever come over after the Cup. She was a much bigger boat than Columbia, and spread 800 square feet of sail more than the American boat, yet by some clever rigging of the peak halyard block that saved something in the measurement of sail area, she only had to allow Columbia 43 seconds on a thirty-mile course. With the prospects good for the closest match yet seen for the historic trophy, much would probably depend on handling, and Shamrock II. was in most capable hands, being in charge of Captains Wringe and Sycamore. Wringe had been here with the first Shamrock, and Sycaniore, it will be remembered, was helmsman of Valkyrie III. during her fateful series against Defender, so they were both familiar with the courses oif Sandy Hook. The first race was scheduled for September 26th, The start was made in a light breeze that became fluky and lighter as the hours wore on; and when it was found that the race could not be finished in the five and a half hour's time limit, the boats were called off. At that time Colum- bia was about a mile ahead, though it was no real test of the boats. On September 28th they tried it again. This THE SHAMROCK II. 281 time there was a moderate breeze of eight to ten- knots' strength, with a smooth sea, and the course was fifteen mUes to windward and return. Those on the big excursion fleet were treated to a fine exhibition of jockeying before the start. Barr had met his match in this respect in Syca- more and could not get away with any " bluffs." The two boats hung together waiting for the gun, and when the puff of smoke from the Com- mittee boat said that it was eleven o'clock, both were close to the line. They went over lapped. Shamrock first and Columbia only two seconds behind her. The beat to the outer mark in conditions that just suited Shamrock was full of excitement, as the boats had it nip-and-tuck the whole way. On this point of sailing the Shamrock did her best work of the day, gaining 39 seconds on Columbia and turning 41 seconds ahead. Their times at the turn were : Shamrock, 1:25:12; Columbia, 1:25:53. With Shamrock's immense sail spread it looked as if Sir Thomas was at last to get a race, and every one expected to see his boat run away from the Columbia on the homeward leg. 282 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES To the surprise of all, however, the finer lined Columbia not only made up what she had lost on the beat, but actually passed the Shamrock and crossed the finish, amid a fearful din of whis- tles, 35 seconds ahead of the challenger, as the following table shows : Elapsed Corrected Name Start Finish Time Time h. m. s. h. m. s. h. m. s. h. m. s. Columbia 11 00 16 S 31 23 4 31 07 4 30 24 Shamrock 11 00 14 3 31 58 4 31 44 4 31 44 The Columbia won by 1 minute and 20 sec- onds, corrected time. Another attempt at a race was made October 1st, but again there was not sufficient wind, and the race was finally abandoned, this time with Shamrock some half mile ahead. Two days later the yachts met again oS the Hook, finding a rattling breeze of some twelve- knots' strength. The course this time was tri- angular, ten miles to a leg. There was no delay in the starting signal, but this time it caught Columbia some distance from the line, and she was 1 minute and 34 seconds behind the Irish boat in crossing. The first two legs were reaches, and lU bO S u a o u e o 5 o en u o i tn THE SHAMROCK II, 283 Columbia immediately started in to show what she could do on this point of sailing. Despite the fact that a reach in a moderate breeze was considered Shamrock's long suit, the two-year-old American yacht, traveling at a twelve-knot clip, gained 22 seconds on the first leg, and 30 seconds on the second leg of the course. As they rounded the last mark for the beat home Shamrock II. was still 42 seconds in the lead, and then, as the wind freshened to about fifteen-knots' strength and the sea became flecked with white, Columbia proceeded to give an exhi- bition of what she could do on the wind in a breeze. Before the leg was half sailed she had waded by Shamrock, and with her lee rail buried, her crew flat along the weather rail, and Barr standing at the wheel as if only on a practice spin, she crossed the line one minute and 18 sec- onds ahead of Lipton's hope, having gained two minutes on the beat. The table shows in detail how she did it: First Second Name Start Mark Mark H. M. s. H. M. s. H. M. 8. Columbia 11 01 47 11 52 22 12 46 39 Shamrock 11 00 13 11 51 10 12 45 57 284 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES Elapsed Corrected Name Finish Time Time h. m. s. h. m. s. h. m. s. Columbia 2 15 05 3 13 18 3 12 35 Shamrock ...: 2 16 23 3 16 10 3 16 10 The Columbia won by 3 minutes and 35 seconds^ cor- rected time. The result of this race was something of a damper to the spirits of Sir Thomas Lipton and the crew of Shamrock, but they were at the line the next day as full of fight as ever, and not yet ready to admit that they were beaten. The breeze was again kind, blowing at about ten knots, though it lightened somewhat before the finish. The wind was off shore and the course was a leeward and windward one of thirty miles. As the start was down the wind neither boat was anxious to be first over to be blanketed by the other, so they hung back and the allowance of two minutes in which to cross had expired before either started, the time of both being thus taken as at 11 :02 a. m. As a matter of fact, Shamrock crossed last, thirteen seconds behind Columbia. It was again Shamrock's weather, and if she had been as cleverly handled as Columbia, the Copyright I go I, F. A. Walter Shamrock II and her balloon jib. THE SHAMROCK II. 285 chances are good that she would have won. The challenger's skippers did not seem to make the most of their opportunities, while Barr handled Columbia with excellent judgment and great skill. He showed to special advantage in the windward work. In the run down wind Sham- rock gained 49 seconds, though as she was 13 seconds behind in starting her actual gain was one minute two seconds. On the beat home, in a softening breeze, Columbia gained 47 sec- onds. As they neared the finish line after the long fifteen-mile beat to windward the two boats were right together, and it was a toss-up as to which would cross first. As they slipped over the two boats were lapped, and Shamrock wrested the honor from Columbia by two seconds. Two seconds apart after thirty miles of sailing is something of a finish, and the fact that after Shamrock allowed the 43 seconds of time to Co- lumbia she lost by 41 seconds did not detract from the excitement of the last moments of the race. It was the closest finish in the history of the Cup, and the first time when there was no open water between the boats at the end of thirty 286 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES miles of sailing. The official figures of the race are: Name Start Outer Mark H. M. S. H. M. S. Columbia 11 02 00 12 49 35 Shamrock 11 02 00 12 48 46 Elapsed Corrected Name Finish Time Time H. M. S. H. M. S. H. M. S. Columbia 3 35 40 4 33 40 4 32 57 Shamrock 3 35 38 4 33 38 4 33 38 The Columbia won by 41 seconds^ corrected time. This ended it. Shamrock II. had fulfilled the prediction that she was the fastest boat ever sent after the Cup, but she wasn't quite fast enough for the clean-lined boat that had taken the first Shamrock's measure two years before. Truly Columbia and Charley Barr were a hard com- bination to beat ! To show how evenly the two boats were matched, in the three races they sailed ninety miles (considerably more than that if the wind- ward work was counted for what it actually was) yet Columbia only beat Shamrock II. by a total of 3 minutes and 27 seconds, actual time, or 5 minutes and 36 seconds, corrected time. 01 bO s o o u o s cn THE SHAMROCK II. 287 Shamrock II. was not taken back to England, but was laid up at the Erie Basin, in New York. It was said that she would be raced in American waters the following summer, but as she was not, it is possible that Sir Thomas had his third chal- lenge in mind even then, and felt that he would like a good trial horse in this country at that time. Anyhow, here she stayed and was broken up in November, 1903, as another fruitless sacri- fice to a coveted bit of silver. As for Columbia, she is still in existence as this is written (1914) , and her shapely form may be seen in all its beauty on the shores of City Island, New York. She has not been in com- mission since 1903, when she was used to let the world see how much faster was the next defender of the America's Cup. CHAPTER XIV THE LAST KACE TOR THE CUP. THE " SHAMROCK III. — reliance" series of 1903 4 FTER the Cup Race of 1901 it began to be f\ apparent to everyone who had followed yacht racing closely that the limit to which everything could be sacrificed for speed in racing yachts had about been reached. The tendency in Cup ■ defenders was naturally reflected in smaller yachts, and, on the whole, a very unsatis- factory type of racing boat was being developed. Dissatisfaction with this tendency was already becoming apparent, though it took another Cup race, and a still more extreme type of defender, to bring it to a head and to lead to the adoption of a measurement rule that put a stop to the flat, scow-like racing shells with which amateur sailors were inflicted if they wanted to race. After Lipton returned to England he waited a decent interval to allow anyone else who might 288 THE LAST RACE 289 be covetous of the Americas Cup to make a "try" for it; but no one came forward. The cost of a race was getting to be prohibitive with the chances of success very slim and the return in sport altogether incommensurate with the out- lay, the boats being useless except for this one event. America's Cup racing was not particu- larly popular, just then. The following summer word came that Sir Thomas Lipton was making plans for another assault on the New York Yacht Club, and in due time a third challenge arrived from the Royal Ulster Yacht Club, asking for a race in August, 1903, and naming another ninety-foot cutter as the boat. Accompanying this challenge of October 7th, 1902, Sir Thomas sent a personal letter to the New York Yacht Club regarding his persistence in trying to "lift" the Cup, in which he said: "In thus desiring an opportu- nity of making a third attempt to obtain pos- session of the America's Cup I hope I may not be deemed importunate or unduly covetous of the precious trophy so long and so securely held in trust by the New York Yacht Club." These were fine words, and showed a true spirit of sportsmanship in the face of two defeats. THE LAST RACE 591 shall see when we study the latter's dimensions. She was not as big or as powerful a boat as Shamrock II., yet she was sweeter and abler in every way. In Shamrock III. Fife had swung back to- ward the narrow cutter. She was the narrowest boat since the Valkyrie II. of 1893, being only some eight inches wider than the latter boat, though she was seventeen feet longer over all. She was built of nickel steel, which was a very strong alloy, and this was coated with white" enamel, giving a very smooth surface. Her di- mensions, as far as they are known, were: Length over all 134 feet 4 inches, water line 89 feet 10 inches, beam 23 feet, and draft 19 feet, while her sail area was 14,154 square feet. She was also the first English challenger of cutter rig to adopt the American type of steering gear, being steered by a wheel instead of by a long tiller, as all the other cutters had been. While we are looking at Shamrock we might also turn to the new American defender, and see what kind of a boat Herreshoff had turned out to meet the latest English creation. A new mil- lionaires' syndicate had been formed in the New York Yacht Club as soon as Lipton's challenge 292 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES was received and took upon itself the task of financing a ninety-foot, up-to-the-minute racing machine. This sjTidicate was composed of Cornelius Vanderbilt, William Rockefeller, Elbert H. Gary, Clement A. Griscona, James J. Hill, W. B. Leeds, Norman B. Ream, Henry Walters, and P. A. B. Widerier. The syndicate gave Herreshoff practically unlimited financial back- ing, and the result was a boat that was extreme in every way. With the water line length prac- tically the only fixed restriction, Herreshoff took all kinds of liberties with the other factors, and " went the limit " as regards ends and sail area. It is said that her first cost was $175,000, ex- clusive of her equipment or of the expenses of running her throughout the season. It will be remembered that in Independence^ two years before, Crowninshield had experi- mented with the extremely flat, almost scow- like type of boat in a ninety-footer, and while the boat was practically a failure as a factor in the season's racing, she showed herself extremely fast on certain points of sailing and under con- ditions just suited to her. Herreshoff undoubt- edly watched the flat boat's performance with THE LAST RACE 293 considerable interest and noticed her good points, and in Reliance, as the new defender was chris- tened, the influence of Independence was appar- ent, — at least, if we can judge by certain points of similarity. The new boat was an extremely flat craft, with shallow body, long and flat ends, and a very deep fin or keel. In other words, though she might not properly be called a scow, she was a " skimming dish " of the most pronounced type, with a fin keel attached. To show how extreme she was her forward overhang was twenty-eight feet long, and the after one twenty-six feet; and these long ends, with a flat floor, little deadrise, and moderately rounded bilges, gave very straight fore-and-aft lines, and a full waterline. To see what she gained by this it need only be said that on a measured water line of less than ninety feet when on an even keel, when she was heeled so that her lee rail was just awash, she increased this water line length, or bearing sur- face, to 130 feet. Her quarter was very wide on deck, and she resembled aft ** a saucer afloat." With it all, however, Herreshoff had " fined " the lines wonderfully, and there was nothing " brute-like " or heavy about the boat. 294 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES On this immense, flat hull with long water line, Herreshoff piled a mass of canvas such as was never before seen on a single sticker. Jumping some 3,000 feet from Columbia^ the last defender, the Reliance spread 16,160 square feet of sail. This was over 2,000 square feet more than Fife had given Shamrock III, and when the two boats came together the Reliance towered well over her English rival. It was " some sail " to ask one mast to carry, but a steel spar was built for it with a wooden topmast telescoping inside, that managed to keep the canvas in shape when it didn't blow too hard, though the topmast broke once in one of the races during the summer. The spars and rig of Reliance were a wonderful piece of engineering work. The new boat was built of Tobin bronze, and her general dimensions were: Length over all 143 feet 8 inches (as long as a 600-ton sailing ship), water line 89 feet 8 inches, beam 25 feet 8 inches, and draft about 20 feet, an immense chunk of lead being hung at the bottom of her fin. Shamrock III. was launched at Dumbarton! on March 17th, and was immediately fitted out for a series of races with the first Shamrock, OJ a o o o ai o c 9 e <1 c ns u THE LAST RACE 295 which was to be used in England as a " trial horse." The new boat was in charge of Captain Wringe, who had been on both the other Sham- rocks, though only in actual command of the sec- ond. On April 17th, or just a month after she was launched, the new boat was dismasted in a race with Shamrock I. in Weymouth Bay on the south coast of England. She was carrying a club top- sail at the time when a puff hit her, and the whole rig crumpled up and went over the side. Several of the crew were injured, and one man Was knocked overboard and drowned. This cast quite a damper over the trials. Sir Thomas was badly cut up over the loss of the man and said, " I can stand the loss of the rig, but that poor fellow! This is the first life that has been lost in my service, — and the poor chap leaves a wife and child. I'd give the yacht sooner than lose a man!" It took nearly four weeks to get a new mast and the boat in shape again. The seven trials between Shamrock I. and Shamrock III. before the accident showed con- clusively that the new boat was greatly superior to the 1899 challenger. In windward work the new Shamrock outsailed the Shamrock I. in the 296 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES early trials from twenty to thirty seconds per mile. OflP the wind her gain was not as marked, but was still very apparent, and she was con- ceded to be a success and the fastest one of the three Lipton boats. While the two Shamrocks were busy with each other in England things were happening fast in this country. The Reliance had been launched April 12th, and even in her sail stretching spins showed evidence of great speed, particularly in smooth water and light airs. In order to give her a thorough trying out Mr. E. D. Morgan put Columbia in commission and gave the com- mand to Captain " Lem " Miller, who was mate with Barr in the races of 1901 and so knew the boat, while the Constitution syndicate fitted out its boat under Mr. Belmont's management. Captain Rhodes was again given charge of her. On board Reliance was C. Oliver Iselin, who had once more been persuaded to take up the task of managing a cup defender. This time no mistake was made in the choice of a skipper, and Charley Barr was found in charge of her quarter deck, with a big crew of Scandinavians. The three boats raced throughout the summer, 9,nd Reliance proved heriself the fastest, beyond THE LAST RACE 29T a doubt. The general result of these races showed Reliance to be about ten minutes faster than Columbia in light weather, and about three minutes faster in a strong breeze and sea, over a thirty-mile course. With her immense sail area Reliance heeled to her sailing lines in about a seven-knot breeze which, of course, made her very fast in light airs ; yet in breezes up to twelve- knots' strength she was still powerful enough not to bury her lee rail except when caught broad off with sheets amidships. In these races Constitution appeared to better advantage than she had two years before, yet she never showed consistent form or fully justified the faith of many yachtsmen who believed that she should have been chosen as the defender in 1901. Columbia was not as well handled as when Barr had her, and Constitution was undoubtedly in better shape than during her first season. The handling of a large racing yacht plays so great a part in its success or failure that it is often hard to say just how much of her showing is due to the man at the helm; and more and more the successful skipper of a large racing machine has to be a man who is something morei than a mere helmsman a,nd sail trimmer. He 298 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES must have also the faculty of getting a boat into trim, and properly tuning the whole fabric of sails, spars, and hull into perfect harmony, and rounding it into winning form. Three oflBicial trial races werei arranged off Newport, beginning July 27th. On that date Reliance, Columbia, and Constitution met in a thirty-mile race and Reliance won, beating Co- lumbia by 46 seconds and Constitution by 2 min- utes and 29 seconds. This was the only official trial race held, as others were deemed unneces- sary after Reliance's showing throughout the summer. After the boats finished the Cup Com- mittee met on the steam yacht Rambler and formally selected Reliance to meet Shamrock III. As the first race for the Cup was scheduled for August 20th, it was planned to bring Sham- rock III. over early in the year so as to give her plenty of time to get into proper shape on this side of the water. Instead of fitting out Shamrock II., which was already in this country it will be remembered, to race against her here, it was decided to bring over the first Shamrock, as she was already in commission and was sail- ing in consistent form. So a small flotilla be- THE LAST RACE 299 longing to Lipton left Gourock on May 28th and headed out across the Western Ocean. It con- sisted of the steam yacht Erin, towing Shamrock III., and the ocean tug Cruiser with Shamrock I. in charge. The new challenger was rigged with a small cutter rig, short mast and bowsprit, two headsails, and a loose-footed trysail, while the older boat had the ketch rig under which she crossed in 1899. Each of the racing yachts had forty-one men aboard her, and with the crews of the Erin and the tug there was quite a party in Sir Thomas's pay. The trip was made "via the Azores, and the fleet arrived off Sandy Hook in good shape after a passage of 15 days and 23 hours. The racers immediately went to the Erie Basin to get their racing spars on end and to refit. This was the first time a challenger had ever had another yacht on this side of the water to race against in her tuning-up spins, and it was, of course, ex- pected to be a great help to the new boat and to enable her crew to know when they had her at top form. After arriving in this country the original agreement for the sailing of the races was amended by the addition of a number of clauses 300 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES governing possible contingencies that might arise, one of which was especially significant as showing the limits to which racing machines had gone and how far they had departed from the older types of able, weatherly and withal, fast racing yachts of the past. This was clause No. 3, which read as follows : "If in the opin- ion of the Regatta Committee the weather shall at the time appointed for the start of any race be, or threaten to be, of such severe character as not to afford a reasonable opportunity of fairly testing the speed of the two vessels, the race may be postponed in the discretion of the Regatta Committee, unless either contestant shall insist on its being started." This was quite necessary, perhaps, in view of the enormous spread of canvas that was carried on one mast, but in its spirit it was enough to have called forth a protest from the shades of that great crew that had striven for the Cup in the past. What would old Commodore Stevens, James Gordon Bennett, of the old Dauntless, Commodore Douglas, Lieutenant Henn, or Sir Richard Sutton have thought of such a clause in- serted in any agreement for an America's Cup Race? 0) o a Id § .g s a o § u S u o I Ui g THE LAST RACE 301 Both boats were measured before the first race of August 20th by C. D. Mower, measurer of the New York Yacht Club. The racing length of ReUance was found to be 108.41, and that of Shamrock III. 104.37. ReUance had to allow Shamrock III. 1 minute and 57 seconds time over a thirty-mile course. When the morning of August 20th finally dawned both boats were towed from their an- chorage in the Horseshoe, back of Sandy Hook, to the starting line off the lightship. It was a calm morning with a light S.S.W. wind blowing with just enough force to make the tall racers move. As the big excursion fleet was keeping discreetly in the background under the watchful eye of a navy and revenue cutter patrol, the start- ing gun was fired punctually at 11 a. m.^ as per agreement, and the boats were sent off on a fif- teen-mile windward leg. Wringe, of Shamrock III., with Captain Bevis of Shamrock I. at his side as second captain, judged the time more closely than his opponent, and was in a better position to cross first, which he promptly did. Only he undid his good work by tacking right on the line and killing his boat's headway. Barr crossed 33 seconds behind, but 302 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES he had his boat going fast and soon passed Sham,' rock III. It was a long, slow beat to the outer mark in a falling wind, and it took Reliance 4 hours 35 minutes and 31 seconds to sail the fifteen miles. Shamrock was then far astern, and as she saw the race could not be finished in the time limit she gave up and did not even get to the mark. At 4.31 p. M. the race was declared off with Re- liance still a long way from the finish. This race was absolutely no test of the comparative abil- ities of the boats except that it showed, what all Americans knew, that Reliance was fast in light airs and a good " drifter," with her immense club topsail sticking over 175 feet into the air to catch the zephyrs. A day intervened and on August 22nd, the boats were at the line once more to do battle for the Cup that had been won fifty-two years be- fore, to a day, for it was on August 22nd that the old America " trimmed " the British fleet in the race around the Isle of Wight. This day the prospects for a race were brighter, for a mod- erate southwest wind was coming across from the Jersey beach, and there was something of a sea on. The course was signalled to windward, THE LAST RACE 303 fifteen miles and return, and the starting gun on the Committee boat banged at 11 :45 a. m. Both boats crossed on the starboard tack with sheets flattened down hard, and Wringe again beat Barr to it, crossing four seconds in the lead, but with Reliance glued on his weather quarter. Reliance made considerable fuss under her bows with the head sea, but Shamrock slipped along easily and seemed to pull ahead a bit. Barr finally tacked to get away from Shamrock's back wind, and stood toward the Jersey beach, sailing his boat a good rap full to drive her, while Sham- rock, when she came about, seemed to be pinched a little. When they came together on opposite tacks about an hour after the start, and it was possible to see their real positions, Shamrock found she could not cross the American boat's bow, and had to tack under her lee. There was smoother wa- ter under the beach and as the outer mark was neared the wind lightened, both of these things helping Reliance. When they came about for the mark the last time both boats were on nearly even terms; but the wind hauled suddenly toward the west and iput Shamrock to leeward. Both boats then had 304 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES to make several more tacks to fetch the mark, and of course Shamrock got the worst of it, and rounded 3 minutes 15 seconds behind the de- fender. After turning Shamrock's crew handled her light sails in a slovenly manner, and eventually- had to reset the ballooner on account of its hav- ing been sent up with a twist in it. Reliance was now too far ahead to be caught on the run home, her " square acre " of canvas making her move at an 11 -knot gait, and she slid across the line 8 minutes and 56 seconds ahead of Lipton's boat. When allowances were figured Reliance won by 7 minutes and 3 seconds, as the table shows : Name Start Outer Mark H. M. s. H. M. s. Reliance 11 45 21 1 54 50 Shamrock III 1 1 45 17 1 58 05 Elapsed Corrected Name Finish Time Time H. M. s. H. M. s. H. M. s. Reliance 3 17 38 S 32 17 S 32 17 ShamrocJc Til. 3 26 34 3 41 17 3 39 20 A Sunday and a week day intervened before THE LAST RACE 305 the next race, which was on August 25th and over a triangular course of ten miles to a leg. A light south wind greeted the racers as they stuck their noses outside Sandy Hook, and the first leg of the course was in that direction. In the preliminary maneuvering Wringe seemed a little afraid of Barr and disinclined to come to close quarters, and the consequence was that when he found Reliance on his weather, he hung back and let the American boat go over first thirty-six seconds after the gun. He hung back too long, however, and did not cross until nine- teen seconds after the two minute handicap, actu- ally losing the nineteen seconds. The wind freshened on the first leg and both boats sailed very evenly. When they rounded the first mark Reliance was only 2 minutes and 37 seconds ahead, 1 minute and 43 seconds of which she had at the start, so that ShamrocJe only lost 54 seconds on the 10-mile beat. The second leg was a broad reach and toward the end of it both boats tried to carry spinnakers. The crew of the Reliance got their's drawing bet- ter and she pulled away slightly; but the wind backed again and the sails had to come in. Re- Uance gained on the leg, but only 1 minute and 306 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES 20 seconds, largely due to the better handling of her sails. On the last leg both boats had to trim in some- what, as it was a fairly close reach. Reliance tried to carry a ballooner only to find she could not make it draw. As they neared the finish Reliance ran into a soft spot and Shamrock, still carrying a good breeze, closed up so fast that it seemed to the spectators as if she would save her time. On she came, hand over fist, only to drop into the same soft spot that had caught Reliance, and she lost out on corrected time by just 1 minute and 19 seconds. Nineteen seconds of this time she was handicapped by being late at the start, so that with a little better handling of light canvas and a better start she might have made a closer race. The table of times is as follows : PmsT Second Name Start Mark Mark h. m. s. h. m. s. h. m. s. Reliance 11 00 36 12 20 34 1 17 43 Shamrock III 11 02 00 12 23 11 1 21 40 Elapsed Corrected Name Finish Time Time Reliance 2 15 30 3 14 54 3 14 54 Shamrock III 2 20 10 3 18 10 3 16 13 Reliance, the largest of all the defenders, spiead an immense area of sail. THE LAST RACE 307 From August 25th to September 3rd, a period of nine days, many attempts were made to sail a race, but without a single one being finished. There was either not enough wind, too much, or else that arch enemy of yachtsmen, fog. On August 27th a start was made in a light southeast air but the time limit expired after Re- liance had beaten Shamrock 12 minutes 31 sec- onds to the outer mark. On August 29th there was the rare condition of too much wind. It was blowing a moderately heavy breeze, though hardly a gale of wind, but it was accompanied by a heavy mist or fog that prevented any of the marks from being seen, so the race was postponed, as the Committee had the right to do in accordance with the amendment to the agreement just quoted. It is worthy of note that this was the first race for the Cup that had to be postponed by reason of too much wind. But it would have been foolhardy to have sailed under the conditions with two modern racing machines, one of which carried on her single mast as much sail as was spread by the Cup defenders Puritan and Mayflower combined. After this postponement it was agreed to sail every day instead of every other day, until a race 308 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES was finished. Still the elements were obdurate. On August 31st a race was started but not fin- ished. On September 1st and 2nd there was a flat calm and the boats were not even started. Finally, September 3rd arrived, though as the yachts were towed wearily out to the starting line the day seemed to hold little of cheering prospect. There was almost no wind and the sky was gray and misty. The Committee waited a long time, whistling for a wind. About 12.30 p. m. the breeze was coming in from the south and the preparatory signal was fired at 12.45, with the course sig- nalled as a 15-mile beat to windward and return. In the jockeying before the start Wringe again displayed his aversion to coming to close quarters with Barr, and the starting gxm at one o'clock found both boats some distance from the line. Barr got over first with only four seconds of his two minute handicap left, while Wringe was again behind, and lost seven seconds on his handi- cap time. It was a long, slow beat to the outer mark and Reliance kept eating out to windward in master- ful style, dropping Shamrock on every tack. Barr sailed her beautifully in the light air and THE LAST RACE 309 again jproved the assertion that it is the man who gets the most out of his boat in light breezes that wins. Any sailor can make a boat go in a breeze, but it is the master hand who makes her move in light weather. At the weather mark Shamrock III. was 11 minutes and 7 seconds astern. After rounding in smart style Shamrock's crew got the jump on Reliance and beat her setting light canvas, get- ting up the big spinnaker and ballooner in less than two minutes, which is remarkably fast work. After they turned the wind hauled two points to the eastward, and presently it rolled in a big fog bank with it, shutting out from view first one boat and then the other. Fog whistles on the excursion steamers were going mournfully, while down near the Committee boat the hoarse siren on the lightship boomed out its blasts to let the racers know where the finish line was. On the yachts came, through the dripping fog, neither aware of the position of the other, and nothing was known of the two racers by anyone until the slatting of a huge sail was heard from the watching Committee boat, and Reliance loomed out of the mist as her crew 310 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES were muzzling the big spinnaker. She had hit the line nearly on end, and crossed at 5:30:02 P. M. As she slipped over her crew broke out an immense American yacht ensign at her truck and another at each masthead spreader in token that it was all over. Then a line was passed to a waiting tug and she started back to the city. After a long wait for the Shamrock some anxiety began to be felt for her, when the fog lifted enough to show the Irish boat well to the northeast of the lightship. She had got off her course in the fog, and had missed the lightship and its fog signal entirely. When she discov- ered her mistake she did not even come back and cross the line, as she knew it was then all over. The summary of the time follows: Name Start Outer Mark H. M. s. H. M. g. Reliance 10156 3 40 S9 Shamrock III 1 02 00 3 51 46 Elapsed Corrected Name Finish Time Time h. m. s. h. h. s. h. m. s. Reliance 5 30 02 4 28 06 4 28 06 Shamrock III, Did not finish. THE LAST RACE 311 Reliance thus won three out of the five races and the series of 1903 was over. Lipton had tried as no man had tried before to win the Cup, but had failed. Indeed he did not come as close to winning as he had in 1901, with the Sham- rock II., and in the three races and all the unfin- ished trials of 1903 his boat was never ahead at any single mark of the course, after crossing the starting line. His failure to win was a keen disappointment, but he took it in good part. Many Americans were also sorry to see him lose, as they felt that it might be a good thing for international racing if the Cup went back to England for a time. We had held it so long, and had defended it so successfully, that it rather frightened pros- pective challengers away, and it was felt that it would be a long time before another race for it would be held in this country. CHAPTER XV EYENTS LEADING UP TO THE BACK OF 1914. AFTER the race of 1903 and Sir Thomas /-\ Lipton's third failure to "lift" the Cup, ten years passed before a challenge that was satisfactory to the New York Yacht Club was accepted and terms agreed upon for a race in the year in which this is written, 1914. This was the longest period of inactivity in America's Cup racing since the first race for the trophy in this country in 1870. During all these years not a single foreign yachtsman (save Lipton) came forward with even a prospective challenge, though there were rumors at various times that some English, Swedish, or German racing man was contem- plating an assault on the Cup. Off and on dur- ing this period Sir Thomas was in communica- tion with the New York Yacht Club, but nothing 813 EVENTS LEADING TO RACE 313 actually came of the letter writing until 1913, as will be duly told. Several things were responsible for this lack of interest in the America's Cup. It had been apparent for some time that the trend of these Cup contests as outlined in the last chapter was greatly narrowing their scope, and restricting competition to those who could afford to spend a good sized fortune on a very slim chance of suc- cess. In the last contest Reliance marked the extreme limit that had been achieved in the de- velopment of the racing machine (and possibly also the limit of that particular type of boat and rig), and, in general racing, there had been al- ready a swing in the other direction toward a saner and more healthy type of yacht. In 1903 the New York Yacht Club adopted a racing rule that sounded the death knell of the flat, light displacement, scow-like boats. This rule took into account displacement as well as length and sail area, and by putting a premium on the first named encouraged a sharper, fuller- bodied hull instead of the flat abortions that had grown up under the old rule. At a conference of most of the leading yacht clubs and racing as- sociations of the East, held in 1905, this rule was 314 THE ''AMERICA'S" CUP RACES pretty generally adopted, until to-day it stands as the racing rule in force in this country; and, while it is generally called the " Universal Rule," it is only used in this country, England and the other European yachting countries having adopted a rule intended to bring about the same desired results, and known as the International Rule. Under these two rules a very fine type of racing craft has been produced, — able, sea- worthy, safe and yet fast. Boats built under the rules were of some use other than for mere rac- ing, and had a value as cruisers even when their racing days were over. While the New York Yacht Club was racing in all of its regattas under this new rule of meas- urement and time allowance, it would never com- mit itself as to whether or not it would agree to race for the America's Cup under the same rule. As early as the winter of 1903, Sir Thomas sounded the Club on this point and definitely asked, on December 13th of that year, if the new rules just adopted would apply to the Cup races. The Club answered that that matter could only be decided when laid before the Club on receipt of a regular challenge ; that the " mu- tual agreement" clause governed all rules of EVENTS LEADING TO RACE 315 measurement, etc., and that if no agreement could be reached as to these points between the New York Yacht Club and the challenging club, then the latter had a right to sail three races without time allowance, as provided in the Deed, as long as the challenging boat measured between 65 and 90 feet on the water (if she was a sloop), in which event there would be, of course, no restrictions on form or sail area, and Reliance, or a boat of her type (which they were trying to get away from in ordinary racing) would still be eligible. Though this attitude was equivocal, in that it did not say positively that it would not agree to race under the new rules, the New York Yacht Club has persisted in it ever since. Lipton, as well as most other yachtsmen abroad and at home, believed that we should get away from boats of the Reliance type ; and with this point unsettled no unconditional challenge was received, though Sir Thomas actually sent a conditional challenge in 1907. There also seemed to be some sentiment in the holding club that Lipton had been given enough chances to race for the Cup, and the mem- bers, at least those guiding the club's Cup policy, were loath to make any concessions, if they may 316 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES be called that, to him. To put it in another way, they would have welcomed more heartily a chal- lenge from another quarter. Yet it must be remembered that in 1899 they had welcomed the Irish baronet when he was not only unknown in the yacht racing world, but was not even a representative English sportsman. He challenged after the unpleasant Dunraven incident, at a time when the New York Yacht Club needed a challenge badly, and he raced in a sportsmanlike manner. In the intervening years, by consistent racing in home waters, he had be- come the foremost big-boat racing yachtsman in Great Britain, and as such was entitled to the consideration that was due a sportsman of that standing. Late in 1912, no other challenger being in sight, Lipton opened negotiations again, and intimated his readiness to challenge if any as- surance could be had of racing with a boat of a certain size, and under the new rules. The Club still refusing to commit itself, he finally sent a definite challenge, naming a boat of 75-feet water line length, and stipulating that the New York Yacht Club meet him with a boat of not over that length. This the Club refused to do. EVENTS LEADING TO RACE 317 claiming for the sake of precedent, if nothing else, that it could not and would not waive its right to meet him with any sized boat it saw fit that was eligible under the Deed. After this challenge was turned down. Sir Thomas withdrew his qualifications and sent, in April, 1913, through the Royal Ulster Yacht Club, an unconditional challenge. The New York Yacht Club accepted this challenge, and in drawing up the conditions of the series by " mutual consent " agreed to race under the new measurement rules. It also decided to meet him with a 75-foot water line boat. Having maintained its position as to its " rights " in these matters the Club met Sir Thomas Lipton fairly on the points for which he had stood out. Some of the correspondence on this point is interesting and is given here: — Copy of cablegram from the secretary of the Eoyal Ulster Yacht Club: CoRMACK, Secretary, New York Yacht Club. Belfast, July 19, 1913. Sir Thomas Lipton is pleased to note that you agree to the increased time limit. He assumes that the refer- ence to your right to build a ninety-foot defender does not imply that this is the intention of your club, particu- 318 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP It ACES larly in the face of Sir Thomas' offer of May 15 to build a ninety-foot challenger. A contest between yachts of unequal size would be wasteful and highly unsatisfactory. Sir Thomas understands and appreciates the grounds on which the New York Yacht Club desires to keep alive the right to defend with a yacht of greater length than a chal- lenger^ but he is convinced that a right so opposed to the best interests of this important international event will not be exercised by your club, and in this firm belief he has today authorized us to sign unconditionally the agree- ment which has been received, and looks forward with keen pleasure to a contest in September, 1914, between yachts that will be fairly matched. The conditions, duly signed by the committee, have been posted by steamer Carmania, sailing today (Saturday). Garrett. Copy of letter to the secretary of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club: New York Yacht Club, New York, July 31, 1913. Dear Sir: — I have already acknowledged by cable the re- ceipt of your cable of July 19 and your letter of July 19 confirming the same and enclosing a copy of the condi- tions recently forwarded to you, as amended in relation to increase of time limit from five and a half to six hours. I have been unable until now to make any other reply to these communications except the bare acknowledgment of their receipt, because of the difficulty of getting to- gether the members of our committee, who are necessarily EVENTS LEADING TO RACE 319 scattered in different places at this time of the year. I have, however, now submitted them to the committee and am instructed by them to reply as follows: — You state that Sir Thomas Lipton has authorized your committee to sign unconditionally the agreement heretofore forwarded to you, but you say at the same time in sub- stance that Sir Thomas Lipton assumes that it is not the intention of our club to build a ninety-foot vessel, and that while he understands and appreciates the grounds on which our club desires to keep alive the right to defend with a yacht of greater length than the challenger, he is convinced that this right will not be exercised by our club, and that it is in this firm belief that he has given you the authority referred to to sign the agreement. We regret that we feel it quite impossible for us to ac- cept an agreement tendered to us under such circumstances. The agreement expressed in the conditions forwarded to you constitutes the mutual agreement referred to in the deed of gift which the challenging and the defending club are authorized to enter into. Such an agreement is the act of the two clubs and not of the person who happens to be the owner of the challenging or the defending vessel. If there is any one thing which we have endeavored to make plain in the correspondence which we have had the honor to conduct with you and in certain other negotia- tions which we have had with Sir Thomas Lipton in the past, it is that we could not accede to the proposition that the challenging club could in any manner, directly or indi- rectly, be conceded the right to determine the power or 320 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES size of the defending vessel so long as she came within the extreme limits set forth in the deed of gift. You requested us to accept a challenge conditioned upon the defending vessel not to exceed seventy-five feet on the water line. This challenge, for the reasons given, we found ourselves obliged to decline. You then expressed your willingness to withdraw the condition if we would agree to an interpretation of the deed of gift which you suggested; that the mere fact of naming a seventy-five foot length for the challenger ipso facto prescribed the same length as the limit for the de- fender. This we also found ourselves unable to accept. You then withdrew all stipulations as to the size of the yacht which should defend the Cup and forwarded a new challenge which contained no conditions upon this subject. After some correspondence concerning certain details of this last challenge we accepted with the stipulation that " such acceptance not to be effective until all the condi- tions governing the match shall have been agreed upon, reduced to writing and signed by both clubs, as on former occasions." (See our cables of May 17 and 19, the terms of which were accepted in your cable of May 21.) We then forwarded you the conditions governing the match, constituting the mutual agreement between the two clubs, for your approval and signature, the last article of which was as follows: — " All the agreements and understandings between the two clubs are set forth in the foregoing enumeration of conditions," an article which was inserted because of the manifest importance of having all the conditions govern- EVENTS LEADING TO RACE 321 ing so important an event clearly set forth and expressed and not exposed to the uncertainties of implication con- cerning which minds might differ. We do not quite understand where your last cable now leaves the matter. You say that you are authorized by Sir Thomas Lipton to sign unconditionally the agreement, one of the fundamental provisions of which states that it embraces the whole understanding of the parties and ex- cludes all assumption or implication, and at the same time you tell us that Sir Thomas Lipton, in authorizing you to sign it, has done so upon the assumption and with the firm belief that this club will, as a matter of fact, meet the challenger with a vessel of equal length — or, in other words, upon the assumption and with the firm belief that this club will now accept that very limitation upon its freedom of action to which it has from the beginning de- clined to subject itself. We are naturally anxious to remove all possibility of misunderstanding between our two clubs as to the nature and terms of the match arranged, and to this end we feel ourselves compelled to say that we can accept the signed conditions which you have returned to us only with the distinct understanding, as therein stated, that as signed they embody " all the agreements and understandings be- tween the two clubs." I have the honor to be, dear sir, very faithfully, G. A. CORMACK. Secretary of Committee on Challenge for America's Cup. Copy of cablegram from the secretary of the Royal 322 THE "AMERICA'S" CUP RACES Ulster Yacht Club in response to the letter sent by Mr. Cormack: — Belfast, 12th August, 1913. Cormack, New York Yacht Club, New York: Your letter of 31st ult. received. We are sorry our cable of July 19 has given rise to misunderstanding. The conditions proposed by your club were accepted and signed by the Royal Ulster Yacht Club with a full appre- ciation of clause you now emphasize, namely, " all the agreements and understandings between the two clubs are set forth in the foregoing enumeration of conditions." Garrett. So the long debated matter was finally set- tled and we are at last to see a race once more between boats of a sensible size and type — boats in harmony with the existing spirit of yacht development and racing, and ones that can be built and rmi without the necessity of any half- million dollar syndicates. They are to be boats that will be of use for something after America's Cup racing is over, and will not have to lie idle for eleven years, propped up on shore, only to be finally broken up by the junk-man, as was the last defender. Reliance. The conditions agreed upon call for a series of three races out of five, alternating windward and leeward and triangular of thirty miles in EVENTS LEADING TO RACE 323 length, outside of Sandy Hook, with a time limit of six hours. The dates selected are September 10th, 12th, 15th, and on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Tuesdays thereafter (if necessary) until completed. In selecting a designer for his fourth attempt to capture the Cup, Sir Thomas Lipton has gone to C. E. Nicholson, probably the foremost, or perhaps more correctly, most successful, designer of racing yachts in England, though he has had no experience in an America's Cup race. Great secrecy is being maintained regarding the designs of the boats, both in England and here, and al- most nothing is known about the Shamrock IV., as the challenger will be called, except that she will not be over 75 feet long on the water line. In all probability she will follow very closely the modern type evolved under our rule. With no previous experience in our measurement rule it is not likely that Nicholson will take many lib- erties with it. On this side of the water three boats are being built to defend the Cup, each from the board of a different designer. Following the acceptance of the challenge a syndicate, of which Cornelius Vanderbilt was the leading member, was formed 324 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES in the New york Yacht Club, and went to Her- reshoff for their boat. The name of the boat which has just been announced as this is written, is Resolute. It is expected that she will be ready for launching by May first. The second boat is being built by Alexander S. Cochran, formerly the owner of the schooner Westward, which raced so successfully in Eng- lish waters in 1910. This boat has been designed by William Gardner, a New York naval archi- tect with long experience both in the designing and construction of racing yachts. Some of the best known American yachts are from his board, such as the schooner Atlantic, which won the German Emperor's Cup in the ocean race of 1905, establishing a new record for a trans- At- lantic sailing passage; the Irondequoit, Liris, Medora, and many other boats that have made enviable records for themselves. This yacht is being built at George Lawley & Son's, East Boston, and is expected to be launched early in May. Her name has not yet (March) been announced. The third boat is for another syndicate headed by Mr. George M. Pynchon, owner of the 65- footer Istalena, which he raced so successfully for a number of years, and E. Walter Clark EVENTS LEADING TO RACE 325 of Philadelphia, owner of the schooner Irolita, formerly the Queen. She is being turned out by a Boston designer, George Owen, and is building at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works. George Owen is probably the best known of the Boston naval architects, and has done a lot toward developing the type of racing boat that has grown up under the Univer- sal rule of measurement. His first Dorello was a wonderful boat, which brought her designer into national prominence, and since then his Dorello II., many successful Class " P " boats, and others have stamped him as one of the fore- most of the younger generation of naval archi- tects. He has, so far, not had any experience in a large racing sloop, such as a 75-footer,' the largest racing boat of that rig that he has yet designed being Dorello II., 48 feet on the water line and 73 feet overall. This new boat has been named Defiance. While nothing is known as yet concerning the exact dimensions of these boats or their sail area, it is probable that they, also, will follow the ex- isting type of racing boat developed under our rule, and wiU not be wide departures from exist- ing practice. It will thus be seen that ^ith the excejption 326 THE "AMERICA'S " CUP RACES of Herreshoff none of the four designers who is building a boat for this year's race has had any previous experience in an America's Cup contest. Yet it is generally conceded that among the American boats the racing will be extremely close, and any one of them has a good chance of being selected for the honor of meeting Sham- rock IV. The boats will be raced throughout the summer, about 35 races being already scheduled. The actual trial races will be held oflp Newport, between August 15th and 22nd j but it is probable that the results of the whole season's racing will be taken into account in choosing the defender. What the chances are of success it is yet too early to predict with any degree of assurance. It is extremely likely, however, that the resulb will not be much different from the races of the past. It must be remembered that Nicholson is buildjng for the first time under our rule, and will be up against designers who have had nine or ten years' experience with it. In addition to this handicap there is the fact that three boats are being built from different designers in this country, from which the fastest can be picked, making his task a still more difficult one. EVENTS LEADING TO RACE 32T However, Shamrock IV. only has to meet one of the boats, and if challenger and defender are evenly matched, handling, luck and weather will play an important part in deciding the out- come. Whatever the result, may the best boat win. 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