Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-29
WHY THE vIGILANT WON.
Her Superiority Was Due to Her
Tobin Bronze Bottom

With Its attendant races, the New York
yacht clubs cruise. from which SO much
was hoped and expected in the way OF sport
ana Information about the new cup de-
Tenders, Is thing Of the past, says a
writer In the Boston Globe. and q careful
study OF II fails to ind much sport. and
fnds really less information. The thins
which seems to stand out most prominent
ly In the way of information 10 that bot.
tom OF Tobin bronze on a racing yacht Is
far superior to one OF steel.
Just what problem In yacht designing
Is thereby solved IL is hard to see, for the
smoothness of Tobin bronze over steel has
long been admitted. and its use has been
simply question OF money. IL it should
turn out, as now appears likely, that O
yacht needs q Tobin bronze bottom to be
selected for the defense of the America
cup. then the sport of yacht racing has
been made more than ever a rich man &
sport and the possibilities of the honor OF
cup defense have been placed beyond the
means of any one man or syndicate OF men
unless they have millions back Of them
from which the thousands drawn for the
boat viii look very small.
In the case of the Nisilant, the CUP de-
fender backed by the Morgan-Iselin syndi-
cate. money has been no object in the at
tempt to make her the fastest OF the cup
defense fleet Her designers and builders
blanche in the matter Of design and con-
struction. and the expense did not count
provided that corresponding results In the
way Of speed were obtained.
So she was given Tobin bronze bottom
at an expense over a steel bottom estimated
at fully $4,000. was provided with an ex-
ira set OF spars ana suit Of sails, was fur
nished with steam tender on which &c
stow her spare spars and sails and dunnagt
on racing days, and on which a portion O.
her large crew could be berthed and In
every way was fitted with the best tina,
money could procure Her sails were origin.
ally contracted for in Boston, but a bis
bonus was paid the firm 20 give I'd the con.
tract, and still a larger one was paid the
New York firm to whom the contract wal
awarded not to make sails for any Of the
other cup defenders.
The result has been a victory for her In
the races for the Aston cups over rivals less
literally equipped. less freely '-nursed"
with money and with tenders and at the
same time laboring under greater and
greater disadvantages with every rae,
sailed or with every attempt to sail one
Her victory has not been the one OF mode
design and rig with which her ardent ad
mirers credit her good these may be- Blu,
has been largely due to the causes named
and chiefly to the superiority OF her Tobir
bronze bottom. This bottom has retainet
about all OF its original smoothness while
the steel bottoms OF the other boats have
become rusted. roughened and foul to a de
gree, which means almost certain defeat IN
anything but the strongest winds. when
roughness Of bottom tells less against 4
boat than at any other time.
That this is the fact a careful review n,
the work done by the boats on the cruise
unsatisfactory as II was in many WAYS
will show. II will also show that the viefl.
ant Is undoubtedly a fast and weatherly
boat, ana much better able to carry he,
sail than was anticipated, but the write,
is not alone IN believing that TO the Tobin
bronze bottom alone can be attributed the
constantly increasing margin of the Vigil.
ants leads over at least one OF her COM
petitors.