The record-union., 1899-10-04
The First Race Between the CoIum-
bia and Shamrock
Declared OF Because Neither Gould Finish
Within the Time Allowance.


Port-The Shamrock in the Lead
When the Race Was Declared
Off.
NEW YORK, Oct. 3-As the sun set
a great ball of fire, behind the Nave
sink hills, and the sparkling stars came
out into the heavens, the biggest crowd
of sightseers and yachtsmen who ever
sailed down to Sandy Hook to witness
the attempt of a foreign mug hunter
| to Wrest from America the yachting
supremacy of the world returned to
New York crestfallen and disappoint-
ed. The winds from the caves of old
ocean had proved too light and shifty
and the first of the international series
| of 1899 between the two greatest rae
| ing machines ever produced by Eng
! land and America degenerated into a
drifting match, and had to be declared
| off because neither could reach the fin
ish line in the time allotted by the rules.
To avoid just such winds as occurred
to-day, in which luck and not the crew
and yachts win, the rules provide that
if one of the boats does not finish with
in five and a half hours the race is de-
! clared OFF, so at the end of the time,
when the yachts were still four miles
from home, with the Shamrock lead
ing by something more than a quar-
ter of a mile, the committee officially
declared that there had been no race.
The yachts were then taken in tow by
their respective tugs and brought back
to their anchorage inside Sandy Hook.
The clean limbed racers had sailed
out this morning fresh for battle, but
the sea had refused them a field of
conflict. Under the rules the first race
is now postponed for two days, or un-
til Thursday.
The day promised we'll at first. The
sky was smirched with a few dirty
clouds, but clear enough to permit the
thousands of spectators who lined the
| Jersey shore to see almost every foot
| of the course. The waves were crest
ed with whitecaps here and there, and
fairly fresh breeze blew out of the
north northeast, but after the Colum-
bia and Shamrock had crossed the line
the wis5d arrTed f1uky, and the race
was a fizzle almost from the start
But the fiuke gave the yachting
sharps and spectators much to think
about-and some surprises
The Columbia is undoubtedly the
prettiest boat. She is tall, stately,
with graceful lines and towering lines.
The Irish boat, with her broader beam
and longer base line, looked slower and
heavier. Perhaps her green color
makes her look clumsier, as if she were
forced through the water while the
slim Columbia pierces it like a rapier.
Though indecisive in every respect as
to the abilities of the great rival sin
gle stickers, to-day's race Indicates
that the Irish boat, with her English
skipper and her Scotch crew, is the
! ablest sloop ever sent across the At
lantic in the hope of lifting the 100
/ guinea cup which the America brought
back forty-eight years ago, and which
has since been successfully defended
against the world.
During the five and half hours sail
the Shamrock was thrice ahead, and
twice the Yankee boat showed the way.
For the first ten minutes the Shamrock
led, then for five the Columbia's grace
full bow showed ahead of the green
boat: for forty-five minutes the Sham
rock. then for three minutes the Co.
&
it was the Shamrock that led the way.
The breeze blew as high as twelve
knots an hour and as low as three, and
shifted about through eight points of
the compass.
Each in turn beat the other in run
ming before the wind and was in turn
beaten beating against the wind at
various stages of the race, SO that
many of the experts who saw the two
boats sail to-day are disinclined to be-
lieve that there is a pin to choose be-
tween them. But when the race is
closely analyzed it is absolutely proven
that the Columbia showed superiority
at every point of sailing, running,
reaching and beating whenever the
i wind freshened and that it was only in
the lightest air that the Shamrock
could make headway against her.
The features of the race which pleas
ed everybody most was the perfectly
clear field which was maintained. For
the first time this year the Govern
ment took a hand to prevent a repeti-
ton of the unfortunate occurrence
which marred the race when the ex-
cursion boats, in their frenzied eager
ness to let none of the beautiful spec
| tacle escape, crowded down upon the
racers until their back wash impeded
their progress through the water and
caused Lord Dunraven to file his pro-
| test The Government was determined
this year that the course should be pro-
tected against unofficial trespassers. A
| f1otilla of revenue cutters and swift tor
pedo boats, flying red barred white
flags, guarded the course, keeping ex-
cursion steamers. yachts and tugs at
a perfectly safe distance from the cam
vas clouded racers.
On the way down they maintained
two parallel lines, a mile apart, two
line fences through which not one of
the pushing, crowding fleet of excur-
sion vessels was permitted to poke it's
nose. The broad expanse of sea inside,
q without wash or swell. was left clear
and free for the maneuvering of the
racers. On the way back the patrol
vessels were equally effective. When
the yachts We're on the starboard tack
the torpedo boats were in column on
the same course, and the revenue cut
ters abreast behind the yachts. thus
forming right and left in the hollow
of which the yachts sailed without en-
barrassment When the yachts changed
course the patrol fleet changed with
it, simply altering the direction of the