St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-21
DEFENDER SHAKEN
HER RIGGING BADLY LOOSENED
IN HER FIRST STIFF
BREEZE.
WITHDREW WHILE LEADING.
VIGILAXT AWARDED THE RACE
At THE END OF ONE
ROUND.
DISAPPOINTING CONTEST.
Defender Might Have Lost Her
Topnast Had She Continued
on the Course.

NEW YORK, Aug. 20.-The first
formal trial race between the De-
fender and Vigilant, to give the
Americas cup committee an oppor-
tunity to decide which boat should
be named to defend the cup, was
held today outside of Sandy Hook,
in the same waters that the cup
races will take place in, but it end
ed very unsa tisfactorily. The boats
raced not only to give the commit
tee a line on them, but also for the
cup that John Jacob Astor offered
to the winner of the majority Of the
races that the committee should or
der. The winner of the cup, how
ever, viii not necessarily be the
defender of the Americas cup. One
boat might beat the other three
times straight, and yet the America
cup committee will have absolute
power and discretion in picking the
defender. The committee might de-
eide from their observations during
the cruise of the New York Yacht
club to the eastward, and ignore
these trial races altogether if they
so choose to Go. It is believed
among yachtsmen that the commit
tee ordered these trial races more
in the hope that they would see De-
fender in a good stiff breeze, if not a
hard wind. a condition of things in
which she has not yet had the OPP
portunity of displaying her power
They came very near having the de-
sired view today. But they were
forestalled by an accident that pre-
vented Defender from really show
ing what she could do in a breeze
of wind that went over the water
probably at the rate Of twenty knots
an hour In fact it was the very
stiffness of the breeze that brought
dire injury to the hn-keeled boat.
The breeze stirred up her rigging so
much, and played such havoc among
it. that it Ioosened it to a material
extent up toward the masthead and
caused such damage that Defender
had to withdraw or take a liberal
chance at carrying away her top
mast. 1t was afterward found that
the Stacking of the rigging was so
extensive that the yacht would not
be able to compete in the second
trial race for a week.
THE NEXT RACES POSTPONED.
The committee, having learned
this fact, decided at the New York
Yacht club house tonight that the
next two trial races would take place
on Tuesday and Wednesday Of next
week. It is a mystery to yachts
men. especially those who have given
the closest attention to the rigging
of boats. that the Defenders stays
weakened under a breeze which en-
abled her to still carry her club top
sail. which she did when she stopped,
and continued to do so all the way
UP the bay to the anchorage of Bay
Ridge. The Vigilant, too, was pre-.
vented from going over the whole
course. but from a different cause.
After she had made her first round
of ten miles TO windward and return
she hauled down her club topsail and
then ran UP against q wind that
burst her jib into shreds. Nothing
daunted. however, she ran up an
other jib, and was proceeding on the
course the second time, when the
committee boat Luckenbach ran UP
alongside while she was lacking and
notified her that she need not go
farther; that the Defender had with
drawn. and that she, the Vigilant.
had been decided the winner of the
days race.
When the yachts were ordered to
start on their trial journey there
was a nice little breeze of nine or ten
knots, blowing from southsouthwest
When the racers were sent off at
II 80 there was a pretty good fleet
Of steam yachts, sloops, schooners,
and even cat boats, loafng about the
line. Among them was the Eugene,
with the blind boat builder, John B.
Herreshoff, aboard
VIGILANT STARTS AHEAD.
There was no possible occasion for
a protest at the start today. When