New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-09-13
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CLOSE CALL FOR SHAMROCK
DRAGGED AWAY FROM TOSSING
BARGE IN MONDAYS STORM.
PHENOMENAL RACING MAINsAIL SET on
THE CHALLENGER. WITH A BOOM OF
re- FEET AND A GAFF OF ABOUT IS.

re- FEET AND A GAFF OF ABOUT IS.
The Shamrock Monday evening came near be-
ing badly damaged. and perhaps sent to the
hoftom A strong wind had been blowing all
aav. and later in the afternoon 1t suddenly in
creased to a squall that lasted an hour and a
half and blew sixty seventy miles an hour.
The big 1O0-foot spar barge. with all the metal
and spare spars on board. began to drag her
mornings and to drift down on the Shamrock.
,rhe wind was from the east. coming directly off
the Sandy Hook Bar. close by. but. in spite Of
the fact that there was little distance for a
high.
The Shamrock was saved by some excellent
MANAGEMENT on the part Of those in charge Of
the Erin. Captain Matthews. of the Erin. had
steam UP on his vessel. and he hoisted anchor
and went to pull the Shamrock out OF the way
NJ the drifting barge. At that time there was
only one man on the Shamrock and one man on
the barge The Erin lowered her ifeboat with
a crew in 1t for the purpose Of putting a line
aboard the Shamrock to haul her away. This
was done with much difficulty. hawser was
passed around the mast OF the Shamrock. and
the yacht was towed sideways. away from her
position. Not only was the yacht itself re-
moved. but her moorings had to be dragged
away also. This was the only way the boat
could be saved. as her anchor chains were
shackled to the moorings and no manual power
could pull her up against such wind. Besides.
there was time to do anything Of the kind
and only thoroughly good Judgment and quick
work saved the boat
As It was, the big barge, which stands about
peven feet out Of the water heaved and
.umbed past the yacht so close TO her that
the men could jump from one vessel to the
other The lifeboat that carried the crew to the
Shamrock broke away and was not found till
yesterday.
The nfty-one foot racer Syce was anchored
rlose by at the time She dragged her two
biggest anchors mile and half before she
rame to standstill. Sir Thomas Upton. seeing
the danger she was in, sent out to her an
anchor and ha WISER in one Of the Erins launches.
Commodore Hoyt who was seen yesterday
his yacht in Sandy Hook Bay, said that the
anchor and hawser that Sir Thomas kindly
! mt were big enough to hold the City Of Rome.
bnd they held the Syce tight as a reef Of
rocks Irvine Zerega well known amateur.
who is now cruising on the Syce, said that the
waves that beat the yacht back were eight to
ten feet high. and that her decks were swept
from end to end. He also said that the Sham
rock had had close call
SIR THOMAS'S SURPRISE.
A racing boom 112 feet long. What DO you
think Of that. my hearties? main gaff 20 feet
long! What do you think of that? And this is
only a bit of it. There's topmast going up to-
day that will be ten feet higher than the pres
ent one and who can tell what kind of moon
raker will go up this new stick?
The main boom that was stretching It's new
hoy hoon
measured at III feet. but it is probably slightly
longer. Mr.. Gardner of the firm Of Gardner &
Cox the American designers Of the Cartoon, the
Eyce the Norota and many other crack racers.
taid that this new boom was close as possible
70 112 feet in length This will be three feet
longer than the Coumbias main boom. Sir
Thomas Upton and his great sailmaker, Ratsey.
have admitted several times that there were
surprises In store. and this was one OF them.
And there are more coming The Upton boat
IS now showing a part Of her light weather sail
areas.
When the press steamer Jack Dykman ar
rived at the anchorage Of the Upton fleet. about
II o'clock yesterday morning, the men had laced
the new racing mansail to the new gan. The
foot Of the sail was already hauled out to the
end Of the boom, and everything was about
ready for hosting At that time the new gaff
was lying with its outer end down on the deck.
With its jaws in place against the mast 1t
reached almost to the taffrail Of the yacht Mr..
Gardeners calculation of the length of this spar
was seventy-two feet. and that may be right
but on other calculations it seemed to be nearer
eighty. and certainly looked nearly that length
1t is the longest gait that has ever been seen on
racing yacht in this country The spar is not
yet painted, and the curious alloy Of aluminium
and perhaps nickel steel gives 1t rather the ap-
pearance Of galvanized iron. and It Is not wholly
unlike tin. The composition is said to combine
extreme lightness with great strength. So far
Is can be seen. 1t is a cylinder Of rolled plate
iapered from It's thickest part where the great
est strain comes. TO finer ends and beautifully
rivetted throughout. 1t is thought that these
tpars have internal strengtheners or braces
and that they rely altogether on the strength OF
The shell.
SAIL ON CROSSCUT PATTERN.
BY ~ o'clock the crew began to hoist the main
tail. and before 1t had gone up more than ter
feet II seen from distance that the sal
was made the crosscut pattern-that is tc
tay the cloths of the sail run in the direction In
which the wind passes along it when the boat il
heeled. This is contrary to Ratsey's usua
method, he generally prefers the up and
Gown cloth. He has. however. tried several OF
these sails in England. on the order Of different
yacht owners. but he has told the writer thai
he has not been able to perceive much advantage
10 be derived from running the cloths hori
zontally. The cloths In this sail are not hori
zontal. They run up from the mast to higher
point on the sail at the after leach, and ap
parently the idea is to have the least wind fric
uon on the seams when the boat is well ca
Seened
II took long time for the sail to be fully
hos'ed and then IL seen that the gar
peaked up high. The sail practically acts as
topsail for reaching into higher airs, and tbs
space between the gaff and the topmast leave:
ool small room for working topsa
mere is only one line Of reef points. anc
only the eyelet holes show in the sail, the points
themselves not being put in When fully Sc
me sail was found 20 fit perfectly, and no one
could find any fault with its fiatness AT the
Efi.r -Ea.L On