Birmingham age-herald., 1895-08-20
THE GREAT YACHT RACE,
VALKYRIE IS IN THE ERIE BASIN
The Defender Is Fit as Fiddle and Will Let Herself Out Now-Todays
 Trial.

New York Aug. 19.@The Valkyrie was lowed to the Erie Basin today, where her racing spars will be substituted for
 those she uses in crossing the ocean.
 She will then be docked and cleaned, scraped and painted The dock she will
 use is now occupied by Spanish steam CT, but that will not cause any delay,
 as the work of changing the sparS and
 riggings will take four days.
 The final preparations have been made for the first trial races to determine what yachts shall meet the challenger for the American cup, and the Defender and Vigilant will meet off Sandy Hook for battle royal. Both yachts are in better | trim than ever before and both will be | sailed to the limit of their ability. Without question the Defender has been | held back, and while probably no jock | eying has been intended, the syndicate boat has not shown her full ability to go. The newness of her spars sails and fittings has made her people cautious about subjecting her to the heavy strain that she must undergo when pushed. Now that her sails have been stretched and riggins gradually made taut, the boat is ready for her full powers to be tested. She has her big 105-foot boom and largest Herreschoff mainsail aboard, and is now equipped as she will be for
 
 chosen to defend the cup. Her crew had a busy day today. They put the last finishing touches to her, and this afternoon she was lowed from her moorings off New Rochelle to New York. The recent painting and scraping of her aluminium sides and bronze underbody, and the new spars and sails make her the | most handsome cup defender Yankee | ingenuity has ever put together. | At o'clock this afternoon the Defender made sail and started down the bay to- | wards the NarroWS. There was Spank- | ing breeze from the northwest, and un- | der mainsail, forestay sail and jib the l crack sloop ran away from her tender, | the Hattie Palmer and easily passed the | iron steamboat Taurus, with a load of 1 eXcursionists bound for Coney Island. | The Defender passed the Narrows at | 4:30 o'clock, and with her white sides | gleaming in the sunlight swept down the | lower bay to an anchorage in the Horse | Shoe, where the Vigi1ant has been since | yesterday.
 The Vigilant remained quietly at an- l chor today. She is in perfect condition | for one more trial with the Defender, | and Mir. George J. Gould, who has not | spared money or trouble, and MT. E. A. l Willard who las devoted months of time, | deserve much credit for their genuine | sportmanship. Although they saw fit to retire the Vigilant from further races at Newport, owing to the disregard of the customary rules of yachting, they have kept their word and placed the cup de- fender of 1893 at the disposal of the Amer ican cup committee for the trial races. Willard has stated, however, that any further disregard of the rules of the road by MT. Iselin, or the skipper of the De-
 fender, will be at their risk, as he doesn't propose to keep on forever giving way to
 the new boat. Although the regatta com
 mittee decided against MT. Wilard's pro test, the conoensus of opinion among yachtsmen is that the. Defender "hogged the line" The unpleasantedness is not likely to be repeated, as neither MT. Will lard nor MT. Iseln want to see the De- fender in collision.
 The race tomorrow will be one of two
 which are set by the Americas cup com
 mittee to determine which is the best yacht to meet Lord DunravenS chal-
 lenger. General Paine's Jubilee will not
 take part in the trials, and the contest
 will be between the Defender and Wig
 liant. Should one boat win two races
 and the other boat the second race third
 race may be fixed for Saturday. From
 the showing the Defender has already
 made in her races with the Nigilant there is little doubt that she will be se-
 lected to meet Valkyrie III.
 The race tomorrow, wind permitting
 will be started at II a. m. from either
 the Sandy Hook lightship, nine miles out
 side of Sandy Hook, or the Scotland
 lehtship. four miles out and will be over
 one of the two international courses.
 The courses will be ten miles to wind-
 ward or leeWard and return and an
 equilateral triangle, with probably seven
 miles to the leg. ExCommodore James
 D. Smith, chairman of the Americas
 cup committee, said today that the course
 in the trial race tomorrow will be ten
 miles to windward or leeward and re-
 turn, the committee reserving the right
 to order the boats to go over the course
 a second time if they deem it advisable.
 Hitherto the race has been of thirty
 miles distance, and this shortening of twenty miles is altogether an innovation.
 As to the distance of each leg in the tri- angular race of Thursday Commodore Smith was not positive, but he thought the committee might decide on seven ] miles, or twenty-one miles in all
 The American cup committee and the regatta committee of the New York
 Yacht club will view the race from the fast ocean-going tug Luckenbach. There will be a big attendance of steam and sailing yachts and excursion steamers and a large crowd of spectators, for now that the Valkyrie III is here interest in the performances of the Defender is n.sv1 1nfl