New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-06
THE vALKYRIE'S CHALLENGE.
LORD pUNRAvEN's YACHT SHOULD MEET
BoAT OF EQUAL SIZE.

To TIE Editor Of The tribune.
Sir: It will be a pHy-perhaps It VIII even De
shamc--if the fair and sportSnaa'ike course NcoH
mended In one OF your recent editorials is not taken
and a boa; Of equal length is not matched against
tho valkyrle for the Americas Cup. II our yacht
club takes The course which some arc strongly al
y1nr and enters the eighty foot Volunteer against
the sevcnty-foot valkyrlc, Il viii be an act 30 uh'
SpOrtsnankr 10 Justify action by the yacht ci"oS
OF Great Britain TO the effect that IN" America 'up
having ceased 10 be defended In sportsInahnhe
manner shall be regarded no longer the subject
Of Challenge by British yachts. This NAV secm
strong statement but think the facts Justify II.
The time allowance system of the New-YorR Yacht
Club does not begin 20 place a seventy tootor on an
equality with tho eighty-fOOt class The seventy
foot boat simply enters against tn" larger V'Ss'l
to a certain defeat, not because she Is u MleT"r
design but because she Is to- short and too uncquai
in power n Lave a chance Of winning This has
been demonstrated many times IN the last ioGr
years as to BE- settled proposition. The Ecdouln i
iuS, about the length Of thc Vakyri': the Oracle
t5As shorter In TIC first trial race Of lS-5 the
Puritan. eighty ret, b"al the Bcd0uln, over ara
slovc the time alt waDc', more than scVchi"cn MN
utcS and the Gracle much wo1S" In The second
trial race tho Puritan beat the Grarr about twenty
four minutes o,cl and above the allowance
and the Bcdouin about half an hour. In the ilrd
trial race The Puritan again beat tho two smaller
bos,s ali their allowance aud something handsome
besides In he Gpclrt Cup Race, OF the same year
thr Puritan best tho nO"spft out Of Ito Bcdouh and
lrft the Oracle out OF sight.
The Genosta, eighty one feet, Is undoubtedly
slower boat than tie Puritan. Yet In the CONSOLE
ton rnrc OF iss5 shc beat tho Oracle something
Ike twenty minutes above the lsttrrS time do" anrc
In the Gocl,t Cup race Of Iss0, the Mayhowcr, eighty
five feet beat the Bcdpiin twenty minutes moro
than the allowance and tho Gr1rlc by half an hour
more II was ~ this race tnat som" yachismrn
who look at pr"conccIvcd IDEAS rather than facts
prllctCd that as the Mayiowcr must allow The u''h
GiIy- three foot Clara about thirty minutes III" "'tr
would will Tho Maylowcr allowed that thirty
miuutcs and boat the Clara rather more than tbuty
minutes additional Tic Volunteer, IN 1857, IN her
preparatory trips, disposed Of the Who'll" feet, big
and little In such way 10 mako any COMPARISON
between hcr ard a scvcnty-ioot yacht hscui'u" -
the situation Is that the Puritan and Mayho"cr arc
proven 10 b. SO overwhelmingly superior to a2y
seventy foot~r know anything Of, that tho smni'r
boat has absolutely no chance with item Yet II
Is cooy proposed 10 match the Volunteer, longer and
known to be about ten minutes faso"r than oftl"r
Of them, against hrst-s"Sson seventy ioot'r. Aud
this IL called fair sport.
II the ValkyHc were tho fastest boat IN Great
Britain. by our system 81 umc allowance thrrr
night be- some slight shadow Of excu'" in mnt"Aing
against her our fastest boat, III, Volunteer. Hut
tn, vallyre docs not pretend to BE- dat The most
% bo the fastest of her length. nocs any member
Of the New.YOFk Yacht Club believe that In "A race
over tho club tho Valkyrc viii heat N"
Thistle on the time allowance OF tho Ae".iurh
Yacht Club II IL certain uIAt those who judge By
facts do not suppose anything Ot the Kind - 1t
is proposed 10 match spirited challenger Ia certain
defeat before he CTySScS ~" line.
~ much for tho question OF fair play. But thorn
Is another side also, touching on drSgn In chalohg
ing with sevcn,y.foot yacht. Lord puErHvcn and
Mr Watson undoubtedly se"k 10 get light on a much
vcxcd and highly important qncs n III" relation 81
the practical value 81 the centro-bOai ~ lonCih and
Ing seasons, simply In the Hight OF fscb and without
any leaning toward either keel or c"ntr-bol' octan
conclusions seem now fairly web Supp,rtd.
I. Their IL evidence for the inference that IN
eighty foot yachts, far know hrm, ard
unless some very radical departure In d.-ign can
he successfully made. hr ccn;rr DO tT yacht ~ god
beam and moderate drnught Is fa.tcr than the keel
Yacht w ordinary weather Her superior Windwarrl
quality Is particularly Indicated
-. In htgtt. Of tho forty foot class, and possibly up
10 the size ~ the Clara tho superior power Of t'
OwhunC ballast u tho keel boat, on the who'll,
secures grraor speed than Is got out Of III" crn'r'-
hoard boat, mis- is not clearly indIch'"d a. YET
n = the truth Of the first proposition; but, Tho
whole the facts point thai way. There
very strong theoretical rvaSnns why THIS SHOULD /"
Now the question Is, where do the great advantages
" IOw.hung ballast become mprr than rQu'dlzcd by
the Othrr great advantages Of thr CcUtr board hull,
among which | reckon cEs dead weight and greater
lateral resistance, with less surface fr.Cuunl No
one knows the answer, and this cLalleNg j. spirited,
snuTsmAnlihp effort ~ throw Hight on tie question.
For though the Yakyr~ has a c"ntro board the real
factors Of her fa}ur against thoroughly
rnndern seventy foot c"ntr board yacht viii Do tho
D. The weight, power and form of the ConiIH board
boat whole II American ya"htGmcI run away
the LOUD shutters for the c"ntr,boald sud American
design They will havn fallen, with American fair
play, hopol, sly " in the soup ...,......
C.u-York Anril 10 Is-O