The Portland daily press., 1895-09-09
HOW DEFENDER won.
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Continued From First Page.
a thrill in 1.-THE race that started before
| a mob of boats off Owls Head, in the
upper bay, in the presence of great
fleet The Mayfower and the Galatea
were struggling for a lead down the
Narrows, lacking to and fro when 1t was
seen amid breathless silence that the
Yankee could cross the Britisher bow,
and then the skipper OF a. tiny Tug thgs
steam say: 'Toot toot toot-toot-7
1 tootp' The shout and the noise that FOL
lowed were like unto that heard at yestef-
days race, but in volume they were as a
popgun beside Winchester rifle.
AS the steam tloated away from the
whistles of the excursion fleet the DE,
fender went about to the port tack, and
| other. the Valkyrie being already on the
| starboard tack. So everybody fell TO
specializing as to which would get the
wind more favorably as they separated
But we were not left long to speculate
so. 1t was at !. 10 O'Clock that the
Valkyrie gave up her attempt to cross the
Yankees bow and half a minute later
| when the Defender split tacks with her.
At 1.53 the Valkyrie came about to
follow on the Defenders quarter, and
| half minute later the Defender came
| about. The Yankee was now the one to
| try to see what could be done in the way
Of crossing bows. But there was no
| train on the nerves of the jipgos this
time. They had regained all their lost
on with enthusiasm only And the
events justified their confidence.
| Very easily now the two racers stood IN
toward each other until almost together,
and then the Vallzyrie went about to
avoid the inevitable. The Defender was
fair in the lead and would have crossed
| her bows in two or three seconds more
AS it was, the Defender tackled so nearly
on the Valkyrie's weather bow that some
! expected to see her take the Valkyrie'
wind, while the steamer shippers broke
| forth with another whistle tornado.
Having split tacks again at 1.57 clock,
the two yachts stood apart until O'Clock
sharp, when the Defender once more
came to the starboard tack, and thus the
Yachts held on until able to round the
| turning stake.
Then the old sharps had time to con-
slider why the Valkyrie had seemed to be
gaining so much when, in fact, she was
not ahead at the test. And it appeared
| that during those minutes that were so
weary to the jingos. the Defender had
seemed to lose because the Valkyrie was
her. It is not unlikely that while the
| breeze remained at six knots the Valkyrie
had a littlo advantage of her rival, but
the truth is, Valkyrie looks higher than
she sails, and that is point the yachts
| men should keep in mind. She makes
leeway at a rate that lis discouarging to
her friends. and If Watson, while taking
| the beam Of the old skimming dish for
his new boat had added the centreboard,
he might not have been beaten so badly.
| But If the long board out to the turn
was devoid Of tactical events, thereafter
until the turn was made there never was
a straightaway board in any race for the
| jingos 1t was more than interestingly
was increasingly glorious. Little by little
THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEE
NATION
crept away from her sleek rival. The
| Yankee nodded and slashed the wave
orests, but the Valkyrie plunged her
! bowsprit out of sight in the solid green
waves and then rose up to shake herself
clear Of the brine-a baffled sea sprite
sure enough.
By the time the turning stake was fair
~ in view-say at o'clock-the Yankee
was on the weather bow of the English.
man and at least quarter of a mil
away. There was not one hope for the
cross of ST. George. None of us knew
what she could do before the wind. We
had read of her stealing away from the
Britannia in breeze. like that, as
night bird fees when disturbed by human
hand. We had seen the Defender flee
away on the wings of a zephyr, too, but
| who could say which would be feetest
down the wind?
| The excursion fleet had heightened out
| the horns of the crescent they formed
from the moment the turning point ap-
peared. Faster turned the wheels of the
great steamers and some raced on fa1
ahead of the ruck and massed tn emselves
beyond the stake boat
The rest came rushing after, and when
at s. 80 o'clock for the last time the two
ships tackled and turned to round the
mark the fleet formed complete circle
around the two and the mark. And this
| was something never seen before.
It was the Defender that tackled first,
and she was but few minutes away. At
8 80 the big jib topsail came down on the
run and a number Of Yankee tars climbed
out on the bowsprit to snake the sail in
and pass the long bundle of the big
balloon jib to 90 up instead. This work
was quickly done-so quickly that those
| VINO IN lOrIuor OdyS udu CflUlClSou uHe
crew were sorry they had done SO, and
then all fastened on board. The great
yacht was just covering the red flag OF
the stake with her jib. The brass band on
the steamer Angler broke into the in
spring strains Of yankee DOODLE
The impatient tugboatmen began tc
make their whistles below, and then the
wheel on the yachts quarter deck whirled
up. the sheet of the huge balloon jib was
hauled aft on the run, and away she fled
as the white winged wild fowl that has
seen the face of the gunner.
Some Of us who were not used to rolling
seas were pretty sick about that time,
but there were mighty few who did not
at least stagger over to the rail for a look
at the gallant clipper.
The sharps were interested in the
Valkyrie also They wanted to see how
much she was beaten. 1t was just as the
great balloon on the Defender was spread
to help her wing her way toward home
that the Valkyrie's jib topsail came
down. She was manned by hardy crew,
and her balloon went up as the Defenders
had done. 1t was beautiful work, and
she was cheered and saluted as heartily
as the leader had been.
The official time Of the turn was: De-
fender, g. 36. 80; Valkyrie, g. 49, 80.
| A.