The New York herald., 1870-05-14
Y Ac TIN G.
The sappho's Great victory-why She Won the
Contest What Has Been Discovered by
the Racs-A Comparison Of Amer
lean and English Yachts.

lean and English Yachts
knows she bears soul thai daes and loves the dark
'MOre ss cry; "Ls. let her ny Thn is the hour for
The great victory OF the Sappho over the English
schooner Cambria has made profound impression
In this CITY, IT was hardly believed that Mr. Douglas
schooner could compete with Mr.. Ashbury IN the
choppihg' unusual seaways OF the English Channel
| IN waters TO which the American schooner was o
comparative stranger-and yet achieve such q com.
pete triumph as appears from the cable dispatches.
Inc hnest quality that has ever been urged for the
cambria Is her marvellous facility in turning to
windward, In which she has proved the superior OF
many English cutters. Turning to windward de.
pends upon the accuracy with which the
vessel Is spared whether the centre OF effort
OF her SAILS Is correctly placed. upon the
balance OF the lever on both sides OF the fulcruln
and largely and mainly upon the displacement and
lateral resistance. II this latter re lusite be OBJ.
tanned in sufficient quantity, and yet not exceed the
exact dasIderaum, other things being equal, the
schooner works like weather and Is suscepti.
BILE to the least movement OF the helm.
1t was widely known In this country that Mr..
Ashbdry reliel upon the of the Cambria IN
turning to windwari for superiority in this race but
VI seems he has been beaten on his very strongest
for this MATCH nor does 1t appear that addition Of
more ballast has been OF any advantage to her The
mere boring oi her masts would not have any ap-
preciable influence upon her speed.
We are inclined to believe that Mr.. Ashbury over
shot his marx when he slowed additional ballast IN
the Cembrias s mold, thus securing more immersion
WITH his already deep model 1t would be almost an
impossioiliy for q vessel with twentg-one feet
beam and eleven feet hold, anu sailing under ord.
nary canvas TO be Knocked down. and this extra
ballast may have had no inconsldcrable influence
upon the result. Certainly Mr.. Asnbury had every
thing In his favor. He was WORKING his schooner In
English waters. He was familiar with The course
signed expressly for the peculiar ties OF the Engsh
Channel Ii there were any disa1vani ages they
belonged to Mr Douglas; but we certainly believe
previous race with the Cambria, and WAS therefore,
ton CERTAIN extent, familiar with BriLish tactics.
judging from lhIs distance, We cannot otherwise
than conclude that this fair trial o tile quail.
ties OF the two schOoners: As Tor the Sappho, This
was built out to give her more Duoyan,y and 70
enable her TO stand up better under cloud OF can
vas; and here We believe that the sapp4o has Ip.
proved upon her iOrmer lines for, wifi the ability
to stand Up and sail upol nearly ali even keel with
heavy pressure OF WIND her speed reaches its
greatest attalnabe point other things beng equal.
Aside from the alterations In the two scn0oners
since their first race in 1SoS we believe that this
victory IS due 10 the broad beamed Amerc IN model
10 the Dnoyancy OF our lines, TO Inc nneness
ana exquisite delicacy with which we design our
BOWS, 70 tle qualify of obtaining great lateral
ness with which we mould quarters the stern
post The Sappho ana Cambria have cacn the saine
depth of ho;d; but the former has b2a,a OF twenty
seven feet and the latter OF twentyone reet and the
reader wili perceive how widely the two principles
vary. In this country there has been disposition
to allow that the deep and narrow hun is the best
ior foreign waters; but now mat this remarkable
view can De generally endorsed.
The schoohers, the cable Informs US, took flying
start on the port tack, with the wind eastery-that
n lbr fha
toss and TOOK uD her position to wndwarl. Tue
sappn9, nov te 70 leeward:: and IN the most un.
the signal aad immediately assumed the
lead Fifty miles from the starting point
bria-certain!y an extraordinary distance between
two yachts whose powers were supposed TO be nearly
Mr. Asnbay anSy aams his eat SO a
no one can doubt that u Was bona nde exhibition
sailed over like course to-day and, as great deal
or excitement mas been stirred up by the Sapphos
| victory, we shall look anxiously to the result.
This International contest was not merely trial
| between the schooners Cambria and SapphO, but it
was a distinct competitive application Of national
| principles peculiar 70 Engaad anu America and
upon ole OF the most vital qualities-the qualify Of
| weatherliness-the test has been decided. It
unns 70 e s sey esaS saS xaSW Sa
and unaerstand IT, But heretofore English
our deep yachts we obtain high speed anu are quick
in stays and Jorge ahead In the wini DuI We admit
our bad seagoing quallites and the enbarrassmenis
always allowed that shallow hull5 are fine sea yachts
but have contenled that they are slow, make much
leeway close hauled are dcult to steer and are not
roomy Ths great victory Indicates that the shallow
American null does not lose anything to leeward,
but gains everything to windward of deep
schooner; that sne Is neet, and not slow, and we
know that the Sappho does not rebe! against her
helm. We therefore set down the SapDho as very
seawOrthy, very fast, quick In STAYS as OF ight
daught OF water; ana what more Is demanded upon
the seat We feel convinced that this test OF speed
and other advantages belonging to either yacht will
be supplemented by other races that Will prOre
beyond cavil tnat as modeliers Americans lead the
van.
II has been urged that the Sappho was enabled to
carry more canvas than the Calnbra but this does
not initiate against the Sapphos credit the VICTOR
for G Is this very qualify OF nice canvasslng that
enters contest much Tor competitive trial as the
model the sparring, or the seamanship; indeed it is
part Of nautical skill. II MIR. AshSury admits that