The Portland daily press., 1899-10-20
FAR ASTERN.
centlnuea from Flr., Page.

the uual RAGS OF tbs international series.
At 10. ~ the course WAS signaIIed from
the COMMITTEES boat which had anchored
TO the westward Of the lis.htship. II was
so1theast by ronth, showing that tbs
wind was northwest by north, and the
prof abilities were that it would be a
spinnsker start. Tbs preparatory signal
was given at TO- As, the warning ut 10. So,
the start ct II, and the handicap gun at
ii 0s. The manoeuvrinR before the start
| was remarkably interesting. Excursion
boats and yachts gave the racing craft
plenty Of room, and Barr and Hogsrth
bad their Hetls game all TO themselves.
At the warning signal both yachts with
hcoms 10 starbosrd, sheets fattensd we'll
in, we're sailing to the northeast parallel
to the line. but about quarter of a mile
north IF 1t, with the wind little sbaft
the beam, the Columbia was to wind
ward, with the Shamrock In her lee beam
a ooupls of lengths away.
The Columbia crossed the line ~ sec
onds In the lead, within the handicap
which meant fully two lengths distance.
She crossed about the centre Of the line
1 .
out across her wake and oh ain the
weather position, kept on and gave the
Shamrock good full The Official time
OF the start was; Columbia, IL. .33;
Shamrock, 1i.02.00.
Jibs and forestaysails were taken in at
once on both yachts to give the balloons
q chance to MI. while the yachts were
crossing the line spinnaker booms were
dropped to starboard and the sails hoisted
in stops ready 10 break out, but In the
game OF luff and bluff which followed,
neither yacht had chance to set these
sails for fifty minutes. HogArth, not
being able to try his yacht ON a reach on
u triangular course, seemed determined
to make portion of the race reach at
all hazards. So they went at 1t. Instead
Of following the guide boat on the south
east by south courss,on which they might
have carried spinn akers. they sailed be-
tween four and five points TO the east-
ward of their course so as to make every
sail draw to the best advantage, thereby
covering at least five miles more ground
than was necessary.
s...During the first fifteen minutes Of this
reaching work, the Columbia seemed to
increase her lead. After that, for the
next half hour, tho Shamrock apparently
was gaining on the white slcop and at
II. 80, when they both decided to abandon
tire luffing game and set spinnskers,
ths Shamrock had certainly gsiued some.
Having tbs wind dead aft, now, the
Shamrock had decidedly the better posi-
| ton.
| While the wind remained staady In the
same quRrtsr, 1t diminished in strength
at times, coming In puffs occasionally,
but on the whole the outlook for finish-
ing the race was not very encouragin g at
one O'Clock, when the outer mark was in
plain sight from the racing yachts.
At IL. As both yachts gy bed later taking
in their spinnaksrs and set those sails
again to port, the Columbia setting hers
first. The wind carted to the westward
gradually during the next half hour an d
at i.32 the COLUMBIA gybed to port,
quickly followed by the Shamrock which
dropped her spinnaker boom to starhoard
and set the sail at 40, the Columbia
setting her spinnaker four minutes later.
| 1t WINS long drift before the wind
with scarcely enough of 1t to fill their
sails during the next IS minutes. Bal.
loon jib topsails were taken In when ths
yachts were about a mile north Of the
outer mark and as they approached 1t,
jibs, staysails and baby iib topsails were
hoisted, ready for the wind ward work
| soon to follow.
1t was noted as the Columbia came
down for tine mark that her great i1ain-
sail, With Ats oross-cut cloths, was a
brand new one, having in it four battens
and tive reef bands. At 2.20 the Colum-
bia took In her spinnaker and all hands
stood by to round In the mainshset as she
approached the mark. The Shamrock 8
| spinnaker came in at 2 "a. The official
time OF the turn was: Columbia, 4.45;
| Shamrock, 2 l.0s.
By this 1t viii be seen that the Column
bis was six minutes. Is seconds ahead at
the mark, that her elapsed time was
three hours, a8 minutes, IL seconds, and
that the Shamrook's was thrse hours, 30
minutes and so seconds, showing that the
| Columbia's gain had actually been five
minutes, 81 seconds fan the fifteen mile
run. when the Colu mbia luffed around
the mark, coming up sharp on the wind
on the starboard tack, Captain Barr found
ths wind to be about west by north,
| which meant that II 1t held In that quar-
ter he would be able on the other tack to
| lay his course fer the finish without max
ing another tack. One minute and
twenty seconds after rounding the mark,
he put the Columbia about and found his
| judgment to be correct and, better stu,
the wind freshened considerably during
the rext half hour. sending the white