Los Angeles herald., 1890-07-14
A Day of Rare Sport at San
Pedro.
Small Sailing Craft Compete
for Prizes.
A Brisk Breeze Watts the Barks Ger
the Bounding BillOws.
The Esperanza, Tramp, Sylvia and Pearl
Carry Off the Honors-The Sloop
Tempora Foundered.


the Fourth of July resulted in fizzle,
owing to the dying out of the wind be-
fore the boats were fairly started. Con-
sequently, the race was postponed until
yesterday, and had the weather been
made to order it could not have been
better. A rattling nor'wester sprang up
in the forenoon and increased in inten-
sity as the day wore on. San Pedro
harbor was alive with sail boats all
morning darting hither and thither and
performing varied maneuve1s, as sort
of preliminary practice to the races.
1t had been expected that nearly all the
sail boats in the harbor would enter the
contest, but when time was called only
eight of the 1eetest and best came to
the starting line.
The entries were, in the order of their
size: The lone, owned by p. E. Weaver,
"a feet E inches Nautilus, III. A..
Crocker, "a feet inches Frank, Cap
tain Nickerson, "a feet; Pearl, w. H.
Johnson, % feet; Sylvia, ]. D. Connor,
% feet 10 inches; Tempora, Coast Sea-
mems Union, 21 feet 10 inches; Murchi-
son, A. Urquhart, racing length 21 feet
6 inches: Esperanza, A. w. Sepulveda,
10 feet; all sloop-rigged except the
Murchison, schooner-rigged.
The race was for cash prizes of $15,
$40 and rs and the championship pen
nant. The course is described as follows :
Start from corner of railroad wharf ;
thence to bell buoy, leaving same on
port hand, to stake boat three miles to
leeward; thence leaving same on star
rI tO to1y 1yn 10 I1f h
east Of lighthouse thence leaving stake
boat on the starboard hand to bell buoy !;
thence leaving same on port hand to
starting point.
Messrs. Ira Pierce, J. w. Buckley and
A. M. Harter acted as judges.
The boats got off in the following
order: The Pearl, Tempora and Esper-
ANA in bunch at O'Clock 80 min. 20
sec. the Murchison, at 1 80 80; Jane,
81 :15; Tramp, :32 %; Sylvia,
1 :34 :0S; Nautilus, 1 :35 :13.
The little fleet presented beautiful
sight as it grouped in the narrow chan
mel, between Dead Mans island and the
west-side breakwater. There was sharp
struggle here for the lead, and the swift
little Esperanza was the first to round
the island, the rest following closely.
The sea was very rough and the wind
was blowing furiously. Huge white
caps burst over the bows of the vessels
and completely drenched the occupants.
The ships kept on all their canvas
despite the gale; but this in one case,
that of the Tempora, the coast seamen' s
boat, proved fatal. Just after passing
the island squall struck her broadside,
and she capsized. Skipper johnson
and his crew of three were soon strug-
Cling in the waves, trying to hold on to
the side of their boat. The Tramp ran
close by the capsized craft, but ner crew
were too absorbed in winning the race
to stop to lend helping hand. The
Sylvia, however, on discovering the ac-
cident hove to and made two extra
tacks to get to the wreck. But Captain
Weaver of the lone, got there first and
picked up Captain Johnson. The sloop
Red Star, not in the race, picked up the
other three men. L.
By this time the Murchison, Pearl,
Esperanza, Tramp and Nautilus were
away down the course and flying before
the wind. The lone, owing to
the delay occasioned in rescuing
Skipper Johnson, gave up the
race. The plucky Sylvia, however, re-
sumed her course, not in vain. The
MurCnlSOn rOunQed Cne nrSC SuakeDOaC
considerably in advance of the others,
and all but the knowing ones thought
the race was hers. The Pearl reached
the stakeboat second, and the Esper-
ANA third, the others following. The
Murchison and Nautilus, in making
their tack for the second stakeboat,
stood far to leeward and made the mis-
take which put them out of the race.
The Esperanza, Tramp, Pearl and Sylvia
held in toward the shore, and profited
by the smooth water. The Esperanza
soon out-distanced all the Others, rounded
the second stakeboat and was on the
homestretch, long before the others
reached it. The race between the Tramp
and Pearl was close and exciting, but
the former managed to get the lead and
maintained it to the end. The Sylvia,
owing to her delay, was somewhat
isolated in the race, but made time up
rapidly and was the fourth to reach the
home base.
Following is the order in which they
came in, and the actual sailing time OF
each:
Name, Hr Min Sec