Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-08-05
THE yIGILANT WINS.
Having q Stif Breeze She Shows Hs'
Heels In Fine Style.
SHE is NOT cHEERED.
hut Csc Little Yankee Steam Yacht Present.
Toots In Honor Of the
Victory.


splendid tussle for q prize OF 500 over
the course Of the Royal Yacht Squadron.
she beat the Prince OF Wsies's cutter
britannia In q brisk breeze, that held
almost true from start TO finish, over
course OF IS nautical miles. third or
which was In the open waters OF the
English Channel There was channel
sea. choppy, supposed to be resistless to
American models, which did not, however.
materially interfere with the Triumphant
progress OF the white New YORK sloop.
The speed OF the racers Will best illustrate
the kind OF breeze that drove them
over the course. The Vigilant never did
better in any match race or regatta In
which she has taken part. She covered
the course In four hours. six minutes, and
forty seconds or at an hourly average OF
about IL IL knots. The wind iiuctuated
between about IA and Is knots The vigi-
liant beat the Britannia by minutes
and "a seconds, actual time, and minutes
and ~ seconds, corrected time. the Yankee
yacht allowing the Briton minutes and
4 seconds.
Mr.. Gould was represented on the Bri-
tannia by Commodore f. ID. Morgan. OF
the New York Yacht-Club. and the Prince
Of Wales WIS represented on the Vigilant
by Colonel Paget The impression here
IS that the Vigilant cannot be defeated in
such weather as the yachts had to-day
by any British model
MANY LOOKERS-ON.
A multitude of slghtseers with a de-
cided preference for keel yachts, gathered
here In all manner Of floating things
Royalty was we'll represented. There
was never a more respondent feet Of
pleasure IN the Solent and at Spit
head at any previous race in British
yachting annals.
Her Majesty's ship Dreadnaught and
the German naval scholarship. the Losch.
lay off the clubhouse OF the Royal Yacht
Squadron.
The finish and start were visible from
several points of land, the nearest OF
which was West Cowes. and the villas and
hotels were crowded with guests, who
had paid for rooms.
The course had four turns. 1t ran al
most due east and west, each leg being
about twelve miles In length. The first
part Of the course was 10 a mark-1oet
off Lepe I'm the Solent; thence eastward,
through Spithead. to and around the War
ner lightship, out In the Channel. ard
back to the starting point of Cowes;
this same course a year to-day that The
Satanita beat Royal Phelps CAROLS Gen.
-boarder Navahoe by minutes and
seconds
The sky was cloudless when the yachts
sailed out to the starting line. There
was a good breeze from the southwest
that TO tho weatherwise shippers ard
alert pilots, seemed to have In 1t The
promise OF royal yachting later in the
day. The experts on both yachts evidently
expected fresh wind, as they had only
working top-sails set. instead OF the wide
spreading top-sails frequently seen In pre-
ceding races.
CLEVER START.
The start was one OF the cleverest ever
seen here-abouts. The yachts came for
the line on the port tack, the britannia
TO windward. The starting gun doomed
at 1880. and Ave seconds later both boats
crossed the line so evenly that one OBJ
scured the other and at a distance they
appeared like single yacht. IL was
short beat to the Lepe against strong
ebb tide, with two long legs and a short
one. The Britannia seemed to be leaning
until the yachts drew near the Lepe
She stood too long on the last leg ana
the Vigilant tlbed around the mark NIFTY
five seconds ahead of her. Time: Figilant,
10:55:c5; Britannia, 1886.
In the run from Lepe 10 the Warner
llghtship with the wind, which was fresh
ening bit over the starboard quarter
both yachts set their jib topsails. Pass
ing the clubhouse on their way 20 the
lightship II was seen that the centre
boarder had increased her lead TO one
minute and ten seconds. Time: Eiglant.
II :03:l6; britannia, II ;0i:26.
The Britannia lost a few more seconds
on the way out. At the Warner the
Vigilant was one minute and forty-fve
seconds ahead, having gained fifty Sc
conds since she Jibed around Lepe. Time
at the Warner: Vigilant u:4S:20; Britain
MIA, II :5005.
AMERICAN HEARTS BOUND.
In the twelve-rnlle stretch back to
Lepe, ose-hauled. the Nigilant made the
hearts of hundreds of Americans bound
by her performance. The yachts were
seen only indistinctly from shore after
rounding the Warner. as n misty rain had
set in The breeze shifted trifle to the
southwark. and glorious white caps, well
come TO the Vision OF Americans. began
to tighten the lumpy surface OF the solent.
AS the yachts passed the clubhouse the
Vigiant led by three minutes and fifty
two seconds. She had gained. since she
rounded the Warner, two minutes and
seven seconds. Time: Vigilant, 12:3s32;
Britannia, l2:i2:2i.
After passing the clubhouse the yachts
made q broad reach of it to Lepe as
the wind. having got around further 10
the southwark, enabled the yachts TO
carry their jIb-topsails. The Vigiant ran
hers up and broke 1t out somewhat be-
fore the britannia set hers. They tibed
around Lepe mark-boat as follows: Vigil
LIANT .i91S. britannia 1o.aa.Ol
The wind had acquired additional force.
and q moderate southeriy tendency. 1t
was reach, with jb-topsails. to the
Warner The time OF the yachts as taken
when they passed the clubhouse on the
last run 10 the Warner showed that the
britannia had picked up one minute and
forty seconds since rounding the Lepe
mark. Time ut the clubhouse: Nigilant,
loco: Britannia. 1:0ii0.
In the rest of the reach 10 the Warner
the Viellant picked up all that she had
lost. Time at Warner: Vigilant. 1:5l:l5;
Britannia, l:51:05.
THE VICTORY.
The wind from the Warner to the finish
was blowing about sixteen knots. IL
was still west of south. and the big single
stickers made the final leg almost close
hauled. The Vigilant gained forty-three
1t required no official timing 10 convince
the Americans that their yacht, in fine
wind and outside course. the narrowcs.
OF which was two and half miles wide,
had defeated the cutter. The tim. at the
finish was-Visilant 2:S6:45; Britannia,
2:i3Is.
When the centre-boarder dashed across
the line nearly a mile and half ahead
OF the Britannia. there were no shrieks
~f aVt.la md linz rlRa
from the throng ashore Only a single
toot came over the water. and that was
probably from an American yacht. No
lusty threats sent forth greeting TO the
gallant Yankee. Perhaps 1t might have
been different IL the British cutter had
won. as she has frequently, amid a tenn
pest OF cheers and yells.
The victory was one which clearly
demonstrates what often has been de-
clared by Captain Hank Half, OF the
Vigilant. and Nat. Herreshof. her de-
signer-that Is. that she Is the better boat