The New York herald., 1869-12-08
y Ac HTING G !.
The Proposed .Ansio-Amcrican Atlantic Yacht
Raco-Letter h-om the Owner OF the Eng
ltsIa Vacht I'm mbra =.

Tho Proposed .hnshOsAmcfhcnn Ataauuc hucn
Raco-Letter sA-om the Owner OF the Eng
lish Yachs Cambr,1.
TO THE EDITOR or THE LONDON PosT:-
During the past winter y.'u gave great prominence
to series OF challenges which had the pleasure oi
addressing to all America on the sd or october
1868. FirstlyI proposed TO san IN Ne York waters
70 endeav0r 10 regain the cup won In 1901 " tue
ceieDrated America. Secondy-I had longing de.
sire to test by practical results In series Of wei
contested races. the question or superiority Of Eng
isn scnooners over American schooners, eaca
country building on opposed principles, each be-
eving In their own special iOrm; the latter building
yachts OF great beam and shallow depth, the former
narrow anu dtepdraughted vessels, thereby giving
as we conceive. great power OF turning to wind
ward, and which, to my mind, was conclusveiy
demonstrated by the results VI the AnRlO-American
race OF August rs, 1865, the Sappho having been
most Enthusiastically beaten, not simply by the win
ming vessel tCambraj, but by the Alne olmara and
Condor.
Toe winner OF the unparalleled Atlantic race Of
1865 tMr. Bennett, now the owner OF the Dauntless
accepted the 9th December my challenge for the
race IRON COwes to New York, an acceptance ob>ec-
tionable In TWO respects firstly, because sne was
not wilnin or about tue limit 0i tonnage. ten per
cent, | defined; and secondly, assuming she had
been q good match vesse Tor the Cambria in point
OF size. Inc main object mad 10 view would anye
been defeateo, tnasn.uch as The ocean race alone
could not and would not cOncusiyely have settled
which form or mooel.was the best on the whole for
cruising, but three four races on each SIDE tue
Atantlc vessel against vessel. with the ocean race
intervening would bc as interesting as they wound
be Instructive and with nytnlng like breeze the
English aces am s8ts1ed The best vessel would be
known before and irrespective Of the result OF the
As much misunderstanding EXISTS as to schv the
races dld not take pace. ana an ided prerdited
throughout the summer mat race 10 NeD York De-
tyDeeN the Cambria ana the Dult,stteSS tc0utd take
pace, Deg to trouble you acfth this COMMUNICATION
and the enclosed correspondence. cO,yess knO1
Of nothing Ihare said or oritten ,chtca iooud tend
TO such conclusion. Ih1d no desire or snten ion Or
an ocean race W.thoM the series, ana nom the Jact
that on the 29th Nay ana JMV II letters nom me
appeared IN Field. Belts LIE ana Land and Water,
stating that had no intention Of oirn0 the Daua.t-
s1tthin about the terms Of D'v challenge, sohcn
from the Dimensions then gaze sho,oed such could
seeing puDc spirlea owner OF the Dauntess VIZ,
lst August he then gave me challenge ior race
from Cowes to New York or TO the Azores and back;
on the 7th Of August unreserveuy accepted for the
race 70 America TO sail on the lst OF september, no
question as TO tonnage and no restrictions In any
way or shape. extended the time TO the 7th or 9Th
or September, but the owner or the Dauntless was
Of opinion he could not be ready before tue 18TH.
Notwithstanding 1t had become clear no Atlantic
race was intended 30 lar as was concerned, MIR.
Bennetts mediun-the New YORK HERALD-con-
santy referred TO the expected ocean race. and on
tho 20th Oi July one p0rtion OF long article ran
thus:-"lt Is impossible to hide the factthat England
has no yacht that could possibly compete with any
hope OF success against the DauntlesS across the Al
Iantlc, and notw outstanding all the bounce that ls
being said and written about The Cambria, II ls
70 every seaman saa IN sa ocean @ race sae
yacht. Excuses may DO made but they Will be
merely excuses"
Again. on the 3lst July. In another article, para
"fho challenge of the Dauntess to race the cham
New YORK, on the ist September next, viii ofrer o
falr opportunity for judg,ng.whether the pluck or
the English yacntsmen MEMS . up 10 taS occasion s,n i Or
manly sport 10 wntca they have hitherto CLAIMED to
be leaders II their courage should fall them. now
pleasure trips within mailing distance OF the shore
will seem Ike cnild's play beside the achievements
the royal yacht clubs OF Grea. Britain must make
up their minds to extend their pleasure excurs ons
to the American coast unless they are content TO %
styled dry water yachtmen for the rest Of their
Xs Mr.. Ashbury has been the boldest OF British
yachtmen paper. pubic expectation points to hlm
as me dtslug pioneer in these new and more ex
tended contests invited by American daring. Let us
hope that tine zeal and confidence he expressed .
few months ago VIII not have abated next Septem.
ber."
Commodore OF the New YORK Yacht Cub made me q
deliberate challenge to to New Yok aud treated
80 lightly any races in the English Channel think 1
and tnat III giving Inc challenge he must have known
there was possibility Of rs being accepted and II
should have found MIN ready and wiling TO race on
that day, instead OF which he found he could not be
would insure the vessels getting INTO the equinoc-
tiais, whereas start on the Isl OF september would,
% s ns neys en des
Of that season commenced, and knowing from expe-
rience that there was tlme twice or thrice over to
get her ready between the dates OF acceptance and
the extended time OF departure TN or Slh OF Sep
tember) declined start late fhe 18Th, aud
persons, 10 the great u,conce,ience, u not risk,
tDhfch might thereby result ana teath the knotciedge
that the result such single race aoouid not be sats-
Beps Lifs Of America tspf,1t or the Trnes) on the
2sth August thus wrote OF the two yachts the subject
oil this letter.
'Tne yachts are to sail from the Isle OF Wight on
she ist September and the public interest, as well
have several times promulgated the opinion that tho
Cambria IS big enough for the purposes of this match
and & tnat ner chance TO WIN Is not 20 very small.
no doubt, aud we can see no reason WAY she should
not be just as good close to the wind as when she
has the wind free.
But inasmuch as 1t has been said that our Ameri-
can models are not calculated to WORK TO wlndward
when ciosehauied, II was extremely deslrable that
the question should be practically settled between
the Dauntess and the Cambria. The former is ad-
m'ted 70 oe one Of The best yachts y not Tue very
the British nag."
panntess aAd Carnprla there was general pecta-
ton and an Intention on my part to 20 to New York
1851 by the America The necessary certincates as as
to measurements and as TO the Cambria beng the
representative vessel OF the Royal Thames Yacht
CLUB duly sent TO the New YORK iacht Club, but
was otically advised by telegraph that could not
SAL for u this year consequent on not having given
q formal six months r0tIce OF mJ intention to So
having, however, clearly gwen notice The ad
October 1868. can only regret the reason that the
notice should have dated fro the dates OF the above
certncates and that this should be the only cause
why the Cambria did not 60 TO New York instead Of
Suez Canal.
Up TO this time nave not received any reply from
Mr. Bennett TO my letter OF september ~, and AZ
much misunderstanding exists as TO now matters
stand In connection with the Atlantic race about
which so much has been said and written, 1 beg to
enclose the correspondence for the favor OF lnser-
ton. Yours truly, JAMES ASuBURY.
SuBz CANAL, PORT sAtD, Egypt NOV. 8, 1862.
From the London Post Nov. ISL
The corrsspondence which appeared our I'm
preston OF yesterday respecting the proposed An
D IA IN nnaH-
ton with that published by Mr. Bennets In 0ctooer
reveals case or crcss purposes as curious as II IL
vexatious. In october, 1868, Mr.. Asbbury, OF the
yacht Cambria challenged tue American yacht
ing world to series OF races consisting OF
several inland and ono ocean competition. He
stipulated. however, that the vessels TO against
him snould not be of TONNAGE Of more than ten