Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1899-09-06
RATES or ADVERTISING.
FOLLOWED US
Designer Fife Adopted Lines Of Amer
lean Yacht In Building Shamrock.

In designing the Shamrock to win
back the Americas Cup, Fife has
closely followed American ideas re
garding type and sail plan. There Is
not much difference between the lines
of the Shamrock ana those of the Col
umbia, and the sail plan Of the English
boat is larger in area, If anything. than
that of the cup defender.
Conservative in everything. the Brit
Usher cor years refused to give up his
worn out notions of how boat ought
10 be built and how she ought TO be
rugged.
Ii took years of repeated defeats in
his attempt to get back the cup to con-
vince him that the American method
of cutting fore and aft sails so that
they would sit fat on the wind was
far better. from speed point of view,
than his idea of having them ia bag.
Year after year he found himself a bad
last following the American yachts
with their mainsails laced to the boom.
He stubbOrnly continued to have the
foot of his mainsail free, with only the
tack and clew dashed.
But when the Thistle-the best he
ever sent-came over there was a
change. Her mainsail was laced. and
Mr.. Englisbman has never since set his
sails flying.
After the keel schooner Amreica won
the cup the Americans beat the Eng
lish with centre-board boats until %
when the Defender made such n fool
of the Valkyrie III. For the first time
In the history of the cup races the Eng
lishman built challenger with plen-
ty of BEAM He tried the American
type without the board. but he didn't
know how and was hopelessly beaten.
Al this time Herreshoff also reversed
the order of things. ON this side OF
the water the yacht designers. Edward
Burgess in particular. had conclusive
~ proved the superiority in speed OF
the centreboard over the narrow Eng
lish cutter. The board had always
been sneered ut by the Englshman,
Notwithstanding that it had always
finished ahead of him. Herreshoff
abandoned the board in the Defender,
and showed his English rivals that
they did not know how to build cutters,
n type peculiarly their own.
Now designers here and across the
pond are following each other closely
as day and night, and there is practic.
ally no difference in type and rig be-
tween the two boats which Will race
for the yachting trophy in October.
So long as the Englishman stuck to
his old models tie cup was never in
danger. The American model was so
superior to the English that the result
of the races was never at any time in
doubt.
But II is not so now. The English
idea of solid construction to withstand
all kinds of weather. short rigs. with
heavy iron work on deck and aloft and
a general make up to prevent anything
carrying away. does not obtain. Over
there they have at last absorbed the
fact that lightneSs above the wafer
line wins races in Summer weather.
In the Shamrock, Fife has not de-
signed n boat to weather the storms
of a wintry Atlantic. but to slide
through the riplets of an October day
off Sandy Hook Everything has been
sacrificed to lieltIRss of construction.
to easily moved lines. with the greatest
sail carrying power-the American
idea exactly-and in consequence there
will he no radical difference in type
when the challenger and defender meet
Rut. as always on til sea. there will
still he n difference in American ship
construction and seamanship, and that
difference will win.