Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1899-10-05
ENDS IN A FIZZLE.
FIRST sHAMRocK-coLuMBIA YACHT
RACE A FLUkE.


Start Promised Well, but After the Line
Was Crossed the Wind Turned Flukey.
Shamrock Quarter Mile Ahead When
Race is Declared Of.
New YORK, Oct. As the sun set
great ball of fire behind the Navesink
hills and the sparkling stars came into
the fiawless heavens the biggest crowd
of sightseers and yachtsmen who ever
sailed down Sandy Hook to witness the
attempt of foreign mug-hunter to
wrest from America the yachting su-
premacy of the world, returned to New
York crestfallen and disappointed. The
winds from the caves of old ocean had
proven too light and shifty and the first
of the international series of 1899 be-
tween the two greatest racing machines
ever produced by England and America
degenerated into drifting match and
had to be declared off because neither
could reach the finish line in the time
allotted by the rules.
To avoid just such winds as occurred
yesterday, in which luck and not the
crew and yachts win, the rules provide
that if one of the boats does not finish
within five and half hours the race is
declared off, so at the end Of the time
last evening when the yachts were still
four miles from home, with the Sham
rock leading by something more than a
quarter of mile the committee off.
cially declared that there had been nc
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 haG
sailed out yesterday morning fresh fol
battle, but the sea had refused them {
field of conflict. Under the rules the
first race is now postponed until tomor
row.
Fizzle From the Start.
The day promised well at first. Th'
sky was smirched with few dirty
clouds, but clear enough to permit tn
thousands of spectators who lined tn
Jersey shore to see almost every foot o
| the course. The waves were crested
with white caps here and there and
fairly fresh breeze blew ont of the nortl
northeast, but after the Shamrock ha'
crossed the line the wind turned ful1e
and variable, and the race was a fZzl
from the start. But the fluke gave tn
yachting sharps and the spectator
much to think about and some surprises
The Columbia is undoubtedly tn
| =, &ol &o1
with graceful lines and towering masts
The Irish boat,,,with her broader bear
and longer base line, looked slower an
heavier. Perhaps her green colo
makes her look clumsier, as if she wer
forced through the water, while tn
slim Columbia pierces it like rapie1
Though indecisive in every respect a
to the abilities of the great rival singl
stickers, yesterdays race indicates tha
the Irish boat, with her English skil
per and her Scotch crew, is the ables
sloop ever sent across the Atlantic
the hope of lifting the 100 guinea Gu
which the America brought back 4
years ago and which has since been su,
cessfully defended against the world.
Both Alternated In the Lead.
During the five and half hours sal
ing the Shamrock was thrice ahead an
twice the Yankee boat showed the wa,
For the first 10 minutes the Shamroc
led, then for five the Columbia's grac
full bow showed ahead Of the green boa
for AZ minutes following the Shamrocl
then for three hours the Columbia, al
for the last hour and half it was tt
Shamrock that led the way. The bree:
blew as high as 10 knots an hour and ,
low as three and shifted about throug
,, eight points of the compass.
Each in turn beat the other runnin
: before the wind and was in turn beate
,, beating against the wind at vario
stages of the race, SO that many Of Il
experts who saw the two boats sail a
disinclined to believe that there is
! pin to choose between them, but VIII,
: the race is closely analyzed it is abs
lutely proven that the Columbia show
= her superiority at every point of ru
). ming, sailing, reaching and boatil
: whenever the wind freshened and th
y it was only in the hghtest air that t
!, Shamrock could make headway agair
her. Both had their share of good al
:, bad luck. The Columbia had the b,
y ter of the shifting winds on the r,
down to the mark and beat the Shal
: rock minutes and A seconds, VIII
: on the beat home, after increasing l.
- lead to over mile at one time, t
Shamrock overhauled the Yankee a
q was quarter of mile ahead when
. time allowance expired.
s. DlSPERSES INSURGENTS.