The morning call., 1893-10-11
THE CUP SAFE.

The third race between the Valkyrie and
the Vigilant will be sailed to-day, but after
Mondays experience there can be little
doubt OF the result. All other things being
equal, the centerboard type is the better
build. Indeed. that must be the opinion
of Watson and the English builders, for
lateral section Of the Valkyrie exhibits
keel which might well be taken for cen
terboard.
The essential points of difference be-
tween the two yachts are. however, quite
marked. They are about the same size.
the displacement of the Englishman being
only three tons greater than that of the
American; but The Valkyrie's beam is
only 81 Is. while the beam of thc Vigilant
is twenty-six feet, the length at the load
water line being about the same, eighty-six
feet and an inch or two, and the draught
of the Vigilant is 1873, while that of the
Valkyrie is :3. The English boat strikes
the sea at her water lire with body OF
resistance four and a half feet less wide
than that of the American boat; but, by
way OF compensation, she has to overcome
nearly four feet more of resistance under
water. The greater beam of the American
permits her to carry more sail than her
rival; her sail area is seventy feet to the
ton of displacement, while that of her an
tagonist is only sixty-four feet. 1t is DEM
onstrated by the race-as twas demon
stratej by the previous cup races-that the
centerboard permits of larger sail area and
that the larger sail area overcomes the
drawback of larger resistance at the
water line. In respect of "wetted surface"
on which modern builders lay so much
stress. the Vigilant has 2550 square feet.
against 2175 square feet on the Valkyrie
the tendency of both Burgess and Herre-
shoff is TO disregard an increase of wetted
surface if it can be redeemed by increased
sail area. The wetted surface Of the Pill
grim was 2500 and that of the famous May
flower only 1850 feet. At the time the
Mayflower was launched she was the larg-
est singlesticker ever built in this country
and she carried prodigious spread OF
canvas for her length. but there is no
doubt the Vigilsnt would walk away from
her as if she were at anchor.
The m oral of the present race is that the
ideal yacht has not yet been built, and that
when il is it will lie a compromise between
the cutter and centerboard type. Both
English and American builders have been
borrowing from each other. The Valkyrie
hull Is nothing but fixed centerboard.
and the lines of the Mayflower, which
were improved upon in the Vigilant. were
an adaptation of the English cutter type.
Next years boats will probably show a
still closer approximation. Captain Gran
field If the Valkyrie is not yet prepared to
fai m he Ho
says that be wants to see some further
experiments tried. And on the other hand
it seems that. though the Vigilant had the
larger crew, she was not as well handled
as the English boat, and Notwithstanding
the enormous sum she cost she strained
some of her spars. and will require repairs
bef0Ie she can sail to-day. A vessel which
is likely to break down in a race is no
racer at all. Whether the Valkvrie can
sail closer to the wind than the Vigilant is
undetermined. The story that the former
can sail within three points will probably
turn out to be false.
That the cup remains on this side is not
only gratifying to American pride, but
conveys a lesson that should not be over
looked. For forty years the English have
been distaDcing this country in the con-
struction of ocean steamers, and yet we
have held our own in yacht-building. The
time has come when the genius of men like
Steers and Burgess and Herreshoff should
be applied to the construction of the high
est order Of sea-going craft. Secretary
Tracy is authority for the statement that
the warship Indiana is the most formid-
able fighting vessel ahoat When our
bui lders accomplish similar triumphs with
merchant vessels the former supremacy of
the United States on the blue seas will be
restored.