The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-09-21
$4,000 The First Cost.

to defend the American yachting inter-
ests against those of England, cost the
syndicate that built her over $50, 900 be-
fore she left the. ways and will cost be-
fore the International contest is decided,
between $11o 900 and $3.50, 600 More than
800, 1000 was expended by the time the
trial race was won.
Take the three other yachts, the Col
onia, Jubilee and Pilgrim, all of which
were built especially as cup defenders,
and the cost of the acceptance of the
challenge is quadrupled. This means
that half a million dollars have come
out of the pockets of American yachts
men in the hope of holding the cup here.
And yet the cup if not won by the Earl
of Dunraven's Valkyrie will not become
the property of the owners of the Vigi-
LIANT In the deed of gift of George b.
Schuyler, the owner of the cup, to the
New York Yacht Club is the clause
"It is to be distinctly understood that
the cup issto be the property of the club
and not of the mem bers thereof, or own
ers of the vessel winning it in a match,
and that the condition of keeping it open
to be sailed forsby yacht clubs of all for
eign countries upon the terms of (the
deed of gift) laid down shall forever at
tach tosit, thus making it perpetually a
challenge cup for friendly competition
between foreign countries.
Mr.. Iselin's Figures.
The exact figures of the cost of the
Vigilant are not known at present even to
Mr.. C. Oliver Iselin, who is practically the
backbone of the syndicate which ordered
and paid for her.. Mr.Iselin has been SO
busy in looking after the yacht that he
has had no time to look out for money,
yet he was able to give rough estimate
of what the boat has and will cost.
The bulk of the cost of the cup defender
is in the hull, which has footed up about
sos, 900.
The sails of the yacht cost. $4,000,
which is the second largest sum in the ex-
pense of building and equipping the Vigi-
liant A good hull is all right if there
the yacht might be a dismal failure.
Wilson made the sails for the cup defend
er that is to compete with the Valkyrie,
and got the price named for two sets, on
condition, it is said, that he would not
make sails for any other cup defender.
Uniforms for the regular crewsof forty
men and also for the additional twenty
1--we w Hull DIG uSCQ Ou IdCCaO6bl udo UCCu
another expense which means about ST.
500. The white duck suits which look
SO pretty and, make the sight Of the
yacht under sail, with her crew lying
on deck, look like picture, were made
by one firm which furnished 100 of them.
Each man has two suits. The uniform
also includes white duck hats, white can
vas shoes with rubber soles, white sweat
ers and black neckscarfs.
t
Prize Money for the Crew.
The Vigilant syndicate does not believe
that good work can be done on an empty
stomach, and for that reason the cost of
feeding the crew while the yacht is in
commission will come to about So, 500.
A steam tender always accompanies the
Vigilant, carrying an extra suit of sails
and spars, and always ready in case the
necessity of towing is on hand. Forty
dollars day is thecost of this luxury.
The crew of the Vigilant receives more
money than the usual yacht sailors.
They are all picked men, mostly Scandi-
navians, who know their business and
are well disciplined If it blows hard
and it beomes necessary to send man
out on the boom, no matter if it plows
five feet under water, any one of these
ScandinavianS will go land not SAY a
word about it. They receive S35 a
month
This Makes them Work.
Prize money is quite an item in the
bill of expenses In order to get the
best work out of the men, it is usual to
incite them by paying bonuses. Each
man in that way knows that if his yacht
wins he gets something more durable
than praise, and he will make an effort
to do what he ought to without loss of
time. One man out of position, or a
little slow in obeying an order, might
result in the loss of the race In order
that they may not be satisfied with any
thing short of winning the, prize money
is divided in three grades. When a
yacht wins each man gets 81, when she
comes in second he gets 50, and when she
is third the-portion for each of the crew
is 81.
Thus far the syndicate has paid out
nearly 49, 900 in prize money. and if the
Vigilant is successful in holding the
Americas cup in this country, the crew
will probably get something in addition
to the regular prize money.-F.J J. Lyons
in New York Press