Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1895-08-18
The FORMAL CONTESTS
Between the Eigilant and Defender
Begin On Tuesday.
A Glance at the Work These Fa-
nous American Boats Have Done
in the Past-Expecte to Show TO
What Extent American Yacht
Builders Have Improved.
Convrighted. 1895.

| come amiss. In fact 1t Will De tspeCIai9
interesting to all Americans, for it will
show how the new boat. on whose worth
we probably shall depend to retain the
greatest of all yachting emblems-the
Americas Cup-has been improving IN
form right along. and indicates that she
may still be further improved. As ii Is
generally predicted that the meeting pc
tween Va,kyria III. and Defender Will be
pbe closest contest ever he'd for the tro-
ply of trophies, including a better
chance for the challenger to win the cup
than ever before, the continuous better
ing OF Defender must be regarded with
surprising interest.
Now. take the first two races that the
Defender and V'gilant had. They were
! held. respectively. on July 20 and y,
starting from Sc0tla0d lignt ship, out
side of Sandy Hook, in the same waters
! and over the same kinds of courses as
the cup races will take place in.
The following table gives the times
the Defender always coming in first:
To wiudward and return, 80 miles,
won by , minutes - seconds. Trlangu-
lar course, so miles, won by 9 minutes II
seconds.
From this Il can be seen that the De-
fender had no big margin to her credit
! the first time she started. Her in
creased lead at the close Of the second
race is accounted for by the fact that the
wind suited her better than it did the
| Vigilant, as there was more beating and
reaching on that day. What the yachts
| did in their next series Of meetings,
which occurred during the annual cruise
Of the New York Yacht Club TO the
eastward. is shown in the table below,
the Defender being the leader at the
finish without variation, except in the
TWO occasions
WHEN SHE BROKE DOWN:
Glen Cove 10 huntington y miles,
won by min. 49sec.: Huntington TO New
London, 81 miles did not finish: New
London to Newport, 40 miles, Il min.
soc: Block Island course, 38 miles.
did not finish; Newport to Vineyard
Haven, 37H miles, min. 46 sec: Vine
| yard Haven to Newport, 37H miles. 9
| II. y / < I. =
miles, min. 10 sec.
1t will be seen that the third time
the champions met. Defender had an
other close call, winning by only one
minute and 80 seconds. but it must also
be remembered that that course from
Glen Cove TO Huntington was one of but
p miles. Had 80 miles been covered.
! Defender would have won on the same
basis of calculations, by not far from
three minutes.
Next came the long run Of 64 miles.
from Huntington to New London. in a
wind that could be called stiff. though
1t was not strong enough to compel
the taking in of club top-sails. The
wind was well oTer the starboard quar-
ter all the way Defender was more
than two minutes ahead when her
steering gear went wrong. and she had
to give up, not far from New London
In this run Vigilant made the astonish-
Gig record Of 1S I'll knots average dur
ing the entire distance.
ON THE FOLLOWING LAY
when the fleet had q free run from New
London TO Newport, Defender came fin
way ahead, but Vigilant never had n
chance TO so dead before the wind with
spinaker set, in which case the centre
boarder always shows her best form
over the Block Island course. off Now
port, Defender had a comfortable lead
seven miles from home, when her eafr
| broke, and Vigilant svon the cova+ed
G0elet Cup for Single-stickers.
Ihe two races which followed were
really the decisive contests of the cruise
ana 1t was not until after the first of
these-the run from Newport In Vine
yard Hayen-that Mr.. Willard of the
Vigilant would admit that the No
| render was a better boat than his IN
the voyage out the Defender won bv
6m. 24s., and on the return over tho
same course showed her consequently
| increasing superiority by coming i'm qp1
VS. ahead. On the last day Of all. when
the racers net over short triangular
course seven miles to the leg. the fine
keel boat did better than ever She
beat the centreboarder by ON. 19s. on
the dead beat to windward in the first
seven miles, and put I'm. 22s. more be-
tween them on the reach to the second
mark. On the run home the Vigilant
set her spinnaker when she had covered
half the seven miles. and it drew very
well. In this she had no trihing ad-
vantage, and was sailing in her most
| favorable and best manner. vet she
only overhauled the Defender. which
did not hang out her spinnaker at all.
by only 30s. The figures in this last
race, which, by the way. was
FOR THE DREXEL CUP.
are especially interesting in showing
what the defender can do in beating and
running. the two forms Of sailing in
which Valkyrie Ill is said to be at her
best
The two, or possibly three. races
which will be held this week will prove
more cOnclusively than any meeting the
yachts have yet had the true difference
| between the boats. When they come
together on Tuesday next they will be
| more highly keyed and faster afoot
than at any time during their careers.
The Defender has been taking daily
spins from her mO0rings at New Ro-
| chelle. it being the wise belief of her
| owners and her captain that in every
test Of every kind-blow high or blow
| low-an added advantage has been
found in the tautening of rigging,
stretching of sails and general tuning
! I'D. Her sails have been cut and al
tered in various ways. until It can be
truthfully said that the keel boat has
! tat+ar fi+tfng canvas IN more suits than