The morning call., 1894-07-05
ITALIAN FlsHERnEN COMPETE.
This Race May Be Declared Off Be-
cause of misunderstanding.
The Other Winners.

programme was carried out in a manner
which reflected credit upon the committee
which had the arrangements in hand.
1t was not pleasant day on the bay on
account of the mist which drove in from
the ocean, and made things as disagree
able as possible for all who were out on
the water.
There was fair wind blowing. though,
which made the participants in the days
events happy. Altogether the races were
goOd, and finishes were rather close.
A large number of people were disap-
pointed at the wharf at the foot of Folsom
street, whence the official tug started, be-
cause thev were not able TO get aboard.
The tug Relief carried the judges, referees
and about 200 spectators.
Arrangements had been made for the
tug Fearless, which is more commodious
than the Relief, but at the last moment it
was learned that the tugboat company had
placed the Fearless in commission, as il
were, for the coast trade to Santa Cruz
and Monterey.
SO the Relief had to 90 in her place. and
there was not room for more than half OF
those who heldlnvitations to go on the
Fearless and see the regatta.
Another cause of disappointment was
that the tug pulled out about a half an
many who went down thinking they were
in good time found themselves left.
The two events for the afternoon were
the whitehall boatrace and the contest be-
tween the Italian fishermen.
The course was well selected. The
starting point in both races was from
Fisherman's wharf around Blossom Rock
thence to the stakeboat off the foot of
Powell street. and from there to the stake
boat off Fort Point. From the latter place
the contestants returned to the foot of
Powell street. The distance covered in
the course was about ten miles.
AS soon as the Relief with its load OF
passengers rounded the seawall and took
up its position the signal for starting was
given.
A prettier sight than when the little
craft spread their canvas to the breeze has
seldom been seen on the bay. The breeZe
was just strong enough to fill the sails and
make the whltecapS curl around the prOws
of the vessels as they sped away in the
competition for the prizes.
In the whitehall race there were twenty
entries. and there were five prizes to be
apportioned out of the $500 given for the
event by the committee. The winner of
the first prize got $50.
The boats made an excellent start. and
for quite a stretch they were punched to-
gether like flock of geese. but in beating
and the contest centered in the three lead
ing boats. the Stewart Menzies, the Star
and the Dan Burns. All the way the
MenZles had the best of il. although sew
eral times the Star gave her close call.
On the homestretch all the boats acted
well, but there were good dozen of them
who maintained their tagging position.
Dan Crowley's boat, the Stewart
Menzies. came in first. and was closely fol-
lowed by Morris Behan's star. The next
in order were TIN Hawkins Dan Burns,
Win Clarke's Senator Fair and Martin
Bulger's Murray. The others trailed be-
| hind tha winners for a mile or two.
The fisherman's race was a feature of
the day for which the Italians had made
great preparations. Sixteen sturdy Ital-
ians had entered their boats for the event.
and it was said that several hundred COL
lars in side bets had been made upon the
result OF the contest. There were four
cash prizes, the highest being $50.
A. Paladlna and 5. Sanguinetti had been
chosen as judges and Captain BaZietto
was referee.
The boats made an excellent start and
headed toward the Fort Point stakeboat
with DO one having any particular advan-
tage. 1t was at the stake boat where mis-
understanding occurred which may cause
difficulty in awarding the prizes. In
fact the race may have to be called off.
sells rounded the buoy at the fort and
then headed for home. without rounding
the stakeboat as they should have done.
They came in first, but the judges decided
that as they had not rounded the stake
boat they were not entitled to considera-
tion.
The judges finally. awarded the first
prize to boat No. 2, that having been in
the lead among those rounding the stake
boat properly. The others who won
prizes were: Alfonso Finnie, boat No. 1,
second; E. Trappaine. boat No. 8. third.
and ID. g. Ovestiti. fourth. No official
time was kept. 1t took the winning boat
about two hours TO make the course.
Those who neglected to round the stake
boat afterward entered protest with the
judges, and claimed that they had not
been made acquainted with the course.
They wanted the race run over again.
The matter will be decided by the re-
gatta committee before any of the prizes
are awarded for the fishermen's race.
At o'clock the races were over and the
Relief steamed up to Folsom-street wharf
and landed her passengers.
The regatta was viewed by thousands of
people from the beach shore, Telegraph
Hill and other convenient points of vantage
from which a good view of the bay might
be obtained.