The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-15
THE DEFENDERS RIG.
THE QUESTION RAISED WHETHER
1T II TOO LIGHT.

sIOOp he steered by TilIer.
Views OF an Expert.
From the New York Tribune.
Not much attention should be vouch-
safed to constitutional croakers. Yet GER
tain men of early days who assisted COM
ing events to cast their shadows before
them were objectionably correct. Daniel
was a most uncomfortable person for
small tea party. and some other people
are now getting themselves disliked'
who shake their head forebodingly when
they refer to the Defenders frequent
mishaps and breakages. They say that
she is too lightly rugged. and liken her
hollow gaffs to brittle, hollow straws-
straws to show how the wind blows.
And as the broken pieces always drift to
leeward, these croakers take the augury
as unfavorable.
Not every one understands why a hol-
low gaff should be as strong, or, as some
say, stronger, than one made of solid
wood. The theory has been said to be
this-that the outside shell of a spar is
the only part which takes the strain and
the fiber of the interior does nothing to
assist long boom to resist bending ana
breakage when subjected to a force later.
ally applied. Others have even tried 10
demonstrate that this interior part aideu
in the breakage by not allowing the out
side shell to collapse a little when I'M
der great strain.
This may be all highly scientific. and
the theories regarding the superior adj
nf he
rect, but there are large numbers of old
fashioned people who believe that heart
of strong fiber is as valuable In a boom
as 1t is in a boy. Many of these possibly
Anticipated persons have been out camp
ing sometimes, and have had TO break up
their own firewood to cook with. While
doing this they generally prefer to stamp
on boughs that are hollow or merely filled
with pith. rather than break their foot
on a piece that is solid fiber through and
through Such experiences are entitled
| to no consideration whatever if science
has definitely proved that the solid stick
/ breaks easiest, but they may be said to
! have a controlling effect upon the imag-
| ination when a two days lameness tends
| to exclude consideration of scientific dicta.
OF course ightness is what is being
sought for. But small differences in the
weight of the top hamper are not nearly
/ so important at the present day as they
| of ballast were carried and when the
! very board beam Of the yachts was ex-
| pected to supply the chief portion of the
| stability. In those days much shifting
! ballast was piled out to windward as a
| counterpoise against the sail stress and
/ the weight of the spars aloft. But when
\ boat has eighty tons of lead on its
/ keel 1t holds a potent factor for stability,
/ Indeed, few people realize what an enor
nous power eighty tons of lead supply
when in this position. lie means that you
/ can blow every spar out of the boat
| without capsizing her--that the worst hur-
ricane ever known will not upset her. II
/ also means that no difference could be
perceptible in her sailing if the weight
| of the Defenders present gaf were treb-
| led. 1t is no more than a sparrow on a
church steeple; and 1t should be under
stood that to run the smallest risk in
| order to acquire lightness of spars Is
the worst of all economies. This craze
/ for a useless and precarious lightness
/ of spars and rigging is perhaps to be ex-
pected In those whose lifelong consider
| alton of a light centerboard's necessities
/ has become a sort of instinct or second
nature, which cannot be all at once dis
regarded when a different type of craft
/ makes further and other requirements.
As she at present appears, the Defender
! seems to be rugged with cobwebs. This
| does not suggest that her fine wire rig
! ging lacks sufficient tensile strength to co
| it's proper work, but 1t accurately describes
her appearance as she sails past in race.
| Probably there is no room for doubt in
regard to this wire rigging. The HERES
hoffs doubtless tested 1t thoroughly, but
/ Ii dismayed two English yaehtsmen, who
witnessed the Defenders first race at New
York. These men did not apparently un-
| derstand the excellence of the American
manufacture in this kind of rigging, and
1 hAfr@ i~ic Nf Inc
| it touched upon the use of turn-buckles.
The accident to the Jubilee just before
arriving in New London the other day is
another case in point regarding the turn
| buckle. 1t is only one of a long list. Prob
| ably more mishaps occur from the draw
| ing out of turnbuckles than from any 9TH
| er cause. No one can deny that they Of
! ten do their work well, or that they pro-
| vide an Improvement in the matter of
| neatness. But there are turnbuclxles and
turnbuckles. Half the time no one can
tell, when acquiring them, whether they
are good, or only good up to a certain
strain, which latter. quality too often re-
suits in a big wreckage. Half the time
! the maker himself cannot tell whether
there be that small rift within the lutte
which later on gives rise to considerable
! discord when the spars go over the side,
and a coat of paint can cover more sins
than charity.
ne Settling up u anu OODStdyS
with lanyards, in the old way, may not
be as neat to look at as the turnbuckle,
which is now part of the general cob
web, but no one who has heard of it
carrying away when done properly In
this case, one knows where zee are
an impossibility when this satisfactory
reliability is risked for useless slender
ness. After being on five racing yachts
which were dismasted and totally
wrecked through the inefficiency of turn
buckles, the writer may, perhaps, be
allowed TO say that he loathes them.
Three of these smashes occurred through
the bobstay turnbuckle yielding in "a
jumping sea. The sloops (the old rig)
had no forestry left when the bowsprits
went out, and the masses Followed.
OF course, men who use turnbuckles
swear by them. So. no doubt. did Gen.
Paine, when he put them on his own
intended cup defender. But that did not
prevent one or two OF them from pull