The Wilmington daily Republican., 1895-09-09
DEFENDERS VICTORY.
The American Yacht Wins the
First Race
vALKYRIE FIRST TO GET AWAY,

But the Yankee Makes Squirt and Skins
Ahead Around the Turn, Continually
Gaining ON the British boat to the End
of the Race.
NEW YORK, Sept. 9.-The first race OF
series Of three best In five between the
British yacht Valkyrie III and the Yankee
yacht Defender for the Americas cup, the
eoken OF the championship Of the world,
was sailed Saturday afternoon outside of
Sandy Hook, and resulted In victory for
she Defender that was, In some respects,
the most notable known in the history of
English attempts to build better yacht
than the Americans could do.
The figures show that the valkyrie
crossed the line four seconds in advance of
the Defender; that the Defender rounded
the flag marking half the Journey, in wind
ward work, three minutes and twenty
three seconds In advance Of the Valkyrie,
and that the Defender crossed the finish
line sight minutes and sixteen seconds in
front OF the valkyrie With the time cor
rected, the Defender won by eight minutes
and forty-nine seconds, truly victory
which mast satisfy all America
All Of the work on the run out to the
mark was windward. In this the Defen-
der showed but little superiority until
within the last three or four miles, when,
by wonderful flight Of speed, she ate
right by her swift rival which was doing
fine work at the time, and went ahead al
most as would steamer round the flag
three minutes and twenty-three seconds
in the lead. The return, instead of being
@ run as 1t was thought 1t would be, do
veloped into broad reach on the port tack,
and in this kind Of work the Defender
showed even more superiority over her
rival than she did In the windward work,
beating her in the fifteen mile reach four
minutes and fifty seven seconds.
The yachts seemed very closely matched
for the first two hours of the race, the ad-
vantage Of either being always problem
atical and very slight, but from the time
the Defender put on the burst of speed,
which the $4,000 who saw 1t will never for
get, the result Of the race was very plain
and 1t became simply q question Of
minutes. ....
Both yachts were superbly handled, and
the fisher lads from the coast of Maine
need yield not q jot the palm to their En-
glish cousins. II anything the American
boat was the better handled Beginning
right at the start the Valkyrie was first
over the line to be sure, but she was not in
the windward berth in which Captain
Sycamore had dreamed for months to land
her. The Defender had the weather BERTH
On the run out the boats kept together
very closely. After one hour and forty
minutes Of tight sailing the Valkyrie,
farther ahead but to leeward, essayed to
cross the Defenders bow and put the
American In the Toward berth, but Gran
field failed and his failure was greeted by
en- uproar from tho whole feet. On round
ing the flag and starting for home the De-
tenders crew set her balloon iib with a
most gratifying quickness and dexterity.
The Valkyrle's Grew did not begin to equal
this performance. On the reach In Half
kept up his staysail in addition to the bal
loon jib from the first. Cranfield did not
set his on the Valkyrie until at least
quarter Of the way home. When the De-
fender crossed the finish line her crew were
forwarded and had the balloon jib In and
slowed before the feet realized it.
The Valkyrie Is light weather boat
There is no doubt Of this. or the work
that she has done her best performances
have been In light airs. She was built for
light winds, and Dunraven held out
strongly for race dates early in September,
hoping for the light winds which his yacht
was designed to meet. Surely there is but
little probability that his yacht will meet
lighter winds than she met Saturday.
Two-thirds of the race was sailed in six
or seven knot breeze and at times the wind
did not blow more than five knots an hour.
In the last half of the reach home the
wind freshened to a nine or ten knot speed,
and the result was that the Defender per-
eeptibly increased her lead.
Not one yachtsman in ten can be found
who will not prophesy threo straight VIC
tories for the Defender. This is due in a
measure to reaction, for nobody looked for
such an easy victory in Valkyrie weather.
The official time table is as follows.
Outer Elansed