Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1898-09-24

/ manned IN America.
In 1881 the sloop Atlanta made rec
ord as challenging yacht. The Atlanta
was a Canadian yacht and was built
to redeem the Canadian yachtsmen from
the defeat which the Countess of Dufferin
had suffered. They were sure that they
could win the prize. The Atlanta was
designed and built by Capt. Cuffbert.
She was in the old style, and her plank
ing looked like white pine, and appeared
to be fastened with pine spikes. The
boat was inexpensive, and was built evil
IDENTIFY for fresh water. She was light
looking, and seemed to have poor outfit
in every way. Capt. Cuffbert was always
blamed by the Canadians for being too
hopeful. 1t was thought that in his GER
tainty of winning he had sighted the
building.
Our old sloop the Mischief met the At
lauta and defeated her. The Mischief
was designed'by A. Cary Smith, and those
who remember the yachting season of
1881 will recall her beauty. Her sail
plan was large and she was heavily bal
lasted. When she met the Atlanta she
had twenty-four tons of lead. She was
owned by Joseph r. Bush, who was one
of the leading yachting enthusiasts and
sports of fifteen years ago.
The fifth challenge for the American
cup was accepted in 1885, when Sir Rich
ard Sutton came over with the Genesta
He came over bent on carrying the cup
back with him, but Boston yachtsmen
were just as bent on defeating him. The
boat was the Puritan, designed by the
late Edward Burgess, and in the Puritan
great step forward was taken in yacht
designing and yacht building She was
only partly celled and in her construction
every pound was left off that could be
safely spared. She was reduced to the
lowest limit of usefulness. Her rig was
that of cutter. The jib was set flying
short lower mast and big topsail.
ST. was beautiful boat to look at and
Bostonians went wild over her. The
crew of the Puritan comprised Edward
Burgess, General Payne, Doctor Bryant,
the Forbes brothers, and other well
known victorious yachtsmen.
The sight when the race was won was
one to be remembered. In the great crew
Captain ellsworth was pilot, and when in
the last race with the Genesta the Puritan
let out to the windward in heavy squall
the enthusiasm of the spectators knew no
bounds. The Genesta was a splendid
boat, but it was seen that she was behind
the times, although her designer did very
we'll on her.
Boston again furnished the champion
boat in 1886. In that year the Galatea,
owned by Lieut.. William Hem, R. N,
was the challenging craft. The May
flower, the Boston boat designed by the
man who built the Puritan, accepted the
challenge, and raced that year. The May
flower was built as light as possible and
every available ounce was thrown over
board. 1t is said that General Payne re-
fused to allow friend to bring his jack
knife with him when the final race was to
be sailed. 1t was a hardly fought race,
but Gen. Payne led over the line and the
Mayhower won the race from the
Galatea.
The Galatea was a steel vessel and
good boat she was, but she was no match
for the Mayhower, as her owners had to
admit.
The next challenging yacht was the
Thistle, which came over in 1887. To-day
she is the Meteor, owned by the Emperor
William of Germany. The Thistle was
designed by Watson, of Glasgow, who de-
signed the Valkyrie 1. The Thistle was
steel boat and was one of the hand
soonest ever built. She had the curious
appearance of being all in one piece. She
was comfortable boat, and it was feared
that she would defeat the American craft
and take the cup so long held by this
country, but the Volunteer, good Amer
lean boat, met her and the Thistle was
defeated.
The Sappho next defended the cup,
and there were no more challenges until
the Valkyrie II. challenged the Vigilant
in 1898 and was beaten.
Three years ago the Valkyrie II. issued
challenge for the cup and Lord Dun
ravan brought over his boat to suffer ig-
nominious defeat at the sails of the gall
liant little Defender, which under the
management of c. Oliver Iselin, as the
representative of the American syndicate,
sailed away from him so easily that His
Lordship suffered not only defeat but
great umbrage.
Now Sir Thomas Upton has issued a
challenge and the Herreshoffs promise
the syndicate of American millionaires a
boat which shall keep the cup in this
country for at least one year longer.
The evolution of American yachting,
so far as single-stickers are concerned,
can be seen at a glance from the above
sketches. Just what the cup defender
and challenger of 1899 will be like no
one but Nat Herreshoff and William Fife
can tell.
Unfortunately neither of the designers
is given to discourse about their plans.
Neither of the men ever takes the public
into his confidence, so all that the aver
age layman can do is to guess what the