Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-08-21
VIGILANT WON THE RACE
Her Victory Was Easy, as the
 Defender Withdrew.
UPPER RIGGING BADLY STRAINED.

UPPER RIGGING BADLY STRAINED. The Defender Had Good Lead at the Time
 She Quit the Contest-The Next Races to
 Take Place on Tuesday and Wednesday,.
 Iselln's Yacht Didn't Do Her Best.
 NEW YORK, Aug. 21.-The first formal trial raco between the Defender and the Vigilant to give the America's cup con- mittee an opportunity to decide which boat should be named to defend the cup was held outside of Sandy Hook in the same waters that the cup race will take place in, but ended very unsatisfactorily, For the Defender withdrew, and the race was given to the Vigilant.
 The boats raced not only to give the committee line on them, but also for a k200 cup that John Jacob Astor offered to tho winner of the majority of tho races that the committee should order. That IS to say, that the winner of two of the ;hrcc trial raccs-and three have now been decided upon-will get the cup.
 The winner of the cup, however; will not necessarily be the defender of the America s cup. One boat might beat the other three times straight, and yet the Amcrica's cup committee will have abso- ute power and discretion in picking the defender. The committee might decide from their observations during the cruise of the New York Yacht club to the east ward and ignore these trial races altogeth- ar if they so choose to do. Anyhow, the committee must have been very much dis satisfied with the race yesterday.
 It is generally believed among the yachtsmon thaS the committee ordered .hCsc trial races in tho hope that they would sec Defender in a good stiff breeze, if not q hard wind, a condition of things in which she had not yet had the oppor- tunity of displaying her power.
 The Stiff Breeze Was Responsible.
 They came very near having the desired viow but they were fortstallcd by an &C., cidcnt that prevented Defender from real iy showing what she could do in breeze of wind that went over the water proba- ply at tho rate of 20 knots an hour. In :act, it was the very stiffness of the breeze hat brought dire injury to the fin kccled boat. The breeze stirred up her rigging 50 much and played such havoc among it that it lOoscned it to a material extent up toward the masthead and caused such damage that the new boat had to with lraw or take liberal chance at carrying Away her top1nast. It was afterward found >ut that the slackening up of the rigging vas so extensive that the yacht would not )c able to compete in the second trial raco 'or a week. The committee having learn sd this fact decided at the New York Yacht clubhouse that the next two trial aces would take place on Tuesday and Wednesday Of next week.
 As usual tho Defender went about al- most as soon as she had crossed tho line.
  the Nigilant continued on a long board. The Defender, which had not attempted to raise any sail on her outer jibstay, stood on port tack for couple of minutes and then went about to overhaul Vigilant. For some time it looked Gs though Vigi- lant would not be overhauied. It seemed as though she was actually Outfloating the Defender.
 Defender Didn't Do Her Best.
 1t was plainly true that Defender did not get in her finest work during the first six or seven minutes of that tack, but when she did really settle down to busi- ness she went up to the Nigilant's wind ward beam and nailed her omphatically. When they both stood back for the Jersey shore the Defender was fully half a milo in the lead. Both yachts made tho outer mark on this tack, the Defender gaining right along, as she had done from the start, and rounding the mark at 1 hour 9 minutes and IS seconds.
 Then camc the run before the wind home. For nearly half the distance tho Nigilant's spinnakcr and the balloon jib topsail, which she had set in common with the Defender, drew very badly, while the Defenders was full all the time. After half tho distance had been covered, how cvcr the wind fell trifle to the south
 
 It was too late, however.
 Coming to point within mile of the finish line, the Defender hauled down her spinnakCr and balloon jib topsail, running considerably to the westward in doing so. Then sho made a reach for the homo line and got there at ; hours minutes and 29 seconds. She turned tho Sandy Hook lightship all right. The Nigilant pulled in her spinnakcr and big outer jib at point somewhat nearer the line ard mado her rounding of tho lightship in pretty much the same style as the Defender. The Defender stood away on tho port tack for probably two minutes, but all of a sudden she caScd off sheet and stood awiy for sandy Hook point Instantly Cranks set up q cry that Defender was afraid. There was m ominuus gathering of wind clouds sway down to the southward, and the kickers all said that Defender was afraid If blow and for that reason had showed herself a rank quitter.
 Sustained Serious Damage.
 It turned out that the critics, who were half a mile or more away from the basis of fact, did not know what they were talk lnS about, as may havo been the case be- soru. Tn truth, the boat had really sus- tainod 2 serious damage i'll that her upper rigging, as told above, was so badly stretched and loosencd that if she had been forced into second round of the course when the wind was freshening from a 20 knot strength sho might have carried away a tOpmast or a jibstay or two or part of the standing rigging, if not the mainmast itself. Sober judgment will convince any reasonable person that the act of withdrawing tho boat at tho time she was taken out of the race was the re- suit of excellent judgment.
 In the meantime the Nigilant went around the Scotland lightship in first class shape but she had no sooner begun her second beat on the ten miles to windward than she took down her club topsail. A very few minutcs after that little act of sailorizing her jib was so completely torn into shreds by the blowing wind that the pieces wore only fit to be sold to a rag man. The Vigilant had seen by this time that the De1endef had qult, put her com mander, Mir. E. A. Willard, was going over the course anyhow. And another jib was sent up as fast as possible, and away the centerboarder sped on her repeated journey. Nor for long, however. As soon as the committee boat saw that Defender had gone home tho Vigilant was over taken and informed by the authorities that she need go no further-that the days race was hers.
 Relief For Newfoundland.
 LONDON, Aug. 21.-The supplementary