The Portland daily press., 1895-09-11
THE FOUL.

and did ot..propose to do so. The Defen-
der was allowing the Valkyrie plenty of
room between herself and the mark and
acted strictly within her rights in keep
ing her course. Capt. Cranfeld could not
call for.sroom and there was but one thing
he could do to save himself, that was to
stop kthe headwayg the Valbyrie. The
orders were given and all her sheets
were Stacked off wide at once to spill her
sails and stop her headway. Then came
a foul, as the long boom of the Valkyrie
reaching out to leeward raked across the
deck of the Defender, only 18 or 20 feet
away and striking the topmast shrouds
on the starboard side, carried it away,
pulling the bolt out Of fssthe.brass ..spreader
strap. The Defender s. lofty topmasts i'm
mediately buckled under the strain of
her jibtopsail with a loud crack, and at
this moment the starting gun was fred
at exactly II o'clock
The Defenders crew were ordered for
ward to take in her jlbtopsail
in order to save the tormast from fur
ther damage, and in that condition she
crossed the line at II. Oh. 10.
The Valkyrie had preceded her at
II. 90. 13 as she crossed the line. The De-
fender hoisted protest flag and an
answering penant on the judges's boat a,
suoWeu IL naQ Deen seen duu Wouiu 10
considered. There is no doubt that the
responsibility for the accident rests en-
tirely with the ValkyIie. Her skipper al
lowed her to get into very tight place
where there was every prospect of his
crossing before the gun fire and so hav-
ing to return and recross. In his anxiety
to avoid this he ran down too close upon
q boat which he waslbound to look out
for as she was sailing closer hauled on
the same tack, and SO had the right of
way.
THE two boats crossed upon the star
board tack, but Immediately afterward
the Defender went about on the port tack
in order to bring the strain of her top
mast on the uninjured side, and the V al
tempt to replace the broken shroud was
immediately p'ade upon the Defender
and makshift which partially answered
the purpose was devised. AT 11.24 the
Defender went about upon the starboard
tack, and 10 seconds later the Valkyrie
followedsshe 1t was then seen that the
Valkyrie was about a quarter of a mile
ahead of the Defender and was fully 10
yards to windward This showed that
the American boat, even in her crippled
condition was doing we'll. At II. 80 the
two racers went about on the port tack
again, and five minutes later the Defen-
der broke out her jibtopsail again. She
took it in again very quickly, however,
as her weakened topmast could not stand
the strain The wind continued to fresh
en- and hauled'a little to westward. At
11.54 the Defender came about again and
the Valkyrie followed a few seconds
later, both standing off shore on the
starboard tack. The Valkyrie was still
about quarter of mile ahead. At
12 10 both tackled. to port land the condit-
ion remained unchanged, and at IL l9
another tack to starboard was made. By
this time the Valkyrie was not only three
eights or half mile ahead of the Defen-
der, but was also quarter of mile to
the windward. The wind had now fresh
ened to 10 or IA miles an hour and the
water became much rougher The Val
kyrie began to make considerable distur-
bance in the water, rolling up quite
wave under her how and slowly. but
surely, the Defender began to creep up. on
her. She not only went more smoothly
through the water, but she also beganetO
outpoint the English boat The wind
had hauled little to the westward and
the mark was easily reached on this long
starboard tack. The Valkyrie rounded
at 10 81 49, and easing off her sheets start
ed for the second mark.
AT THE MARK.
AS soon as the Valkyrie rounded the
mark she hauled down her jibtopsail and
two minutes later took in her staysail
preparatory to setting her balloon jib
in stops She broke it together with a
huge balloon staysail at 1.02 The De-
fender rounded the mark att. 33, hav-
ing been beaten three minutes and 50
seconds in the 10 miles. This did not in
clude the difference in the time at the
start. Immediately after rounding the
Defender broke out baby jibtopsail and
took in her staysails A few minutes
later she too set a balloon staysail. The
run to the second mark was broad
reach to the wind over the starboard
quarter and the sails set to port. Ehe
wind kept on increasing, reaching about
1S miles an hour at one time on this leg
and the yachts dashed on at a good pace.
Nobly as the Defender had done on the
first leg it was hopeless race for her
Being unable on account of the weakness
of her topmast' to set her balloon jib, she
could not carry anywhere near as much
sail as the Englishman. The little baby
jib topsail and balloon 'staysails offered
but poor substitute for balloon jib
In spite of this handicap, however she
actually gained II seconds on the 10
miles. Much of this gain was due to the
difference in the behavior of the two
boats in the rather stiff seaway The
olhJ AAO tAANNO 'ltuO'A i'ic1O VI CO PtahS5O
in her work. AT times cascades of water
were thrown out from under her bows
and the wake she left behind became very
marked. The Defender created but little
fuss in connection with either entering
or leaving the water.
THE LAST LEG.
At 1.58 the Valkyrie took in her bal
loon jibtopsail, and at 1853. 10 she turned
the second mark, sending up No. jib-
topsail as she did so. She then hauled in
her sheet and started for home with her
mainsail and clubtopsail, jib and jib-
topsail set. At 1.59 the Defender, which
had nearly reached the mark, took in
her baby jib, topsail and jibed and round
ed the mark at 2.01. 45. She broke out
No. 2 jib topsail, which in size, was
about as the one which the Valkyrio had
just as the boats were rounding the
mark the breeze took another squirt and
before it settled2- down again it had
reached a velocity of 12 or 13 miles an
hour. The leg was reach close hauled
with booms to starboard. This brought
the strain of the Defenders sails on her
DOrt ShrOudS which were uniniured and