The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-12-13
Yacht Racing.

Tho following letter bears upon an I'M
portant meeting to be held tonight:
Sin! In to-day's issue of TnK suS there appears nm
editorial On the proposed international yacht race
alternative lregret to see mentioned
In aper 70 read by those devoted to all SHORTS
Tho Americas Cup. after being raced for many times
under varying conditions, represents to-day the su
rrcnlacy in speed Oh the water under sails ana IL Is
that supremacy we must strive TO RETAIN hhd not '!e
honorable old piece OF silver when shorn of its honors
The cup under dead of gift from one OF the orig
inal winners. which deed has exc,,ed much unfaHor"
bic criticism abroad and howcverfsr We may consider
1t to b. some attention must 10 paid to tn" rre!"dces
that have arisen among possible competitors
The deed In Its longest clause defines specifically IN
what form under what conditional contest for Inc
Gun IN ay I've brought about and It is this clause that
has raised so many objections 1mme'ia'ely following
liz qualifying clause which states clearly that 'the
club cha nging and tho club holding the cup may,
however. by mutual consent, make any Arrangement
satisfactory 10 both Is to any anu al conditions OF Inc
match"
This wording could hardly be moro comprehensive
and yet md that on two previous occasions when
races proposed the N Y. Y C. has held that the
challenging club could not be negotiated with until
after tho challenge had been accepted careful n
81 Of tho above clause fails to develop any such
intmation and 1t is proposed that the club con
slider a challenge accompanied by stated conditions
which representatives OF tho two clubs have mutually
agreed to be fair and just to govern the contest.
sea lawyer" has long been u tsrm Of reproach
among saormen. Would 1t not be As vel! to leave the
splitting OF invisible hairs and The discovery of inin.
csa points to those who fear to put their vessels to
the tet and construs lines in that direction which
tends to ard q fair hed and no ta,o.!
DC. II. racing SAILOR
The sole purpose OF THE Sun In discuss
ing the subject Of a race next year for the
Americas Cup was to have everything nee
cssary or possible done with dignity as well
Enr ~ Wa Ia MT
perceive much solidity in tho grounds upon
which English yachtsmcn. headed by Lord
DUNKAvEN and n passionate crcentrcity
named KEMP. have protested against
the present deed of gift rightly in
tcrpreted. They say. we believe. that
by requiring certain dimensions. it
anchors the cup with it's holder. for the real
son that. given a boats dimensions before
hand, another one can always be built to
beat 1t. Five or six years ago not only the
dimensions but every characteristic Of the
Puritan were exposed to all the world
by her contest with tho Gcnesta.
In spite of all that knowledge. the next
year the British challenged with a boat
which was still unable to beat the Puritan.
The American boat then contcstinG was
the Mayilower: yet again. with her dimcn-
sons and performances all recorded. tho
Thistle, built tho year after, was Il slower
boat. So much for the argument that
measurements mean victory. There is an
other sido. besides Lord DUNRAvEN's. to
the effect of the deed Of gift on yachting.
II load -water line only is to be given, the
challenger some day will be sure to slip
through to victory by the tuke OF having
yacht so different from his competitor
that the fortune of weather would agree
best with him. Now tho two boats cannot
be very wide apart in typo.
However. the English yachtsmen, since
the successive defeats Of the Genesta, Gala
tea, and Thistle have been endcavoring to
give the Americas Cup as it is now sup
posed to be held. a bad name before the
world and to create boycott against it. II
the New York Yacht Club decides that, in
order to remove this undesirable and I'M
admirable and. in our opinion, fundam"n-
tally unsportsmanike spirit of criticism.
it is worth while to go to the extreme Of
liberality in constituting the deed Of rift, we
imagine that none will say nay.
The letter printed above holds that it il
perfectly legal under the decd to accept
Il challenge from Lord DCNRAvEN under
any conditions. II it can be shown to
tho satisfaction OF tho club that this
can be done. and that it is necessary
to do it to revive interest in inter
national yachting. we'll and good. Ger
tainly. the late Mr.. SCHUYLER. from whose
hands tho cup was last presented. would
have been the last man to hold up obstacles
in the way OF racing. But no one need cry
If it should be adjudged impossible to nc-
ccpt the points made by Lord DUNHAvEN.
The sporting blood hasn't all left the world
because certain yachtsmen arc bent on
making their own conditions for yachting
challenge. There will be other challcngcrs
after Lord DUNRAvEN's time.