The record-union., 1899-10-08
AGAIN ENDS
IN A FAILURE.
The Columbia and Shamrock Out
for Another Sail,
But Both Fail to Reach The Home Stake In
the Allotted Time.


Declared OFF, the Columbia Be
ing in the Lead and Improving
Her Position when the Race
Was Abandoned.
NEW YORK, Oct. Z. = Old Boreas
again to-day played battledore and
Shuttlecock with the great single stick
ers, and the third attempt to sail the
first race OF the Columbia-Shamrock
series for the international trophy end
ed in failure. The race was declared
off fifteen minutes before the time
limit expired, with the yachts still five
miles from the finish
But the vast throngs who went down
to sea to witness the battle royal were
in a measure compensated by seeing d
magnificent light weather duel. In the
end the disappointment of the patriots
was sharpened, perhaps, by the fact
that when the race was abandoned the
Columbia was in the lead and improv-
ing her position, and had 1t been I'M
ished to-day the American champion
might have had one race to her credit
After three trials the experts are
about as much mystified as they were
at the beginning concerning the merits
of the two boats. Nothing but a
spanking whole-sail breeze will fur
nish true test.
To-day, as on the two previous days,
the course was laid fifteen miles dead
before the wind and return. So evenly
matched were the beautiful clean
limbed racers that they rounded the
outer mark like thoroughbreds, almost
neck and neck, and finished after q
three-hour thresh to windward with
the Columbias s white chalk-ike nose
half a length in front and in the
weather position, but so close was her
green rival that the black shadow of
the Shamrock's looming sails was sill
houetted against the Yankees snowy
canvas.
AS a result of to-day's struggle and
those of Tuesday and Thursday, the
talent are a. good deal confounded.
Some of them differ as to the merit
of the two boats, but they seem unanl-
nous upon two things-that the Sham
rock is the ablest boat that ever crossed
the ocean to lift the mug, and, what
is still more important, she is more
ably handled than the defender. The
superior seamanship of Captain Ho-
garth and his crew was demonstrated
at several critical points in the race
to-day Though to Captain Barr and
the nervy managing owner OF the
Yankee sloop belong the credit of ex-
ecuting as brilliant and daring piece
of SeamanshiD as was ever witnessed
in yacht race, it's recklessness caused
a great deal of nervousness and anx-
iety. It's accomplishment, therefore
made the pulses of the Americans beat
higher with pride It was the spectac-
ular feature of the day, and fortune
favored the brave.
The Irish boat did undeniably better
work to windward. She carved her
way up into the wind in astonishing
style. But here again the Columbia
seemed to be able to more than make
up in footing what she lost in pointing,
and as the ability of a sailing vessel
is determined by her power to make
headway against an adverse wind, she
is the better boat by that test.
The early morning was full of prom
ises for a glorious whole sail breeze.
The heart of the seafaring folk VINO
went down to the water front was
gladdened by stiff twenty-knot blast
straight out of the northeast that COW
cred up the upper and lower bay with
a smear of whitecaps And the excur-
sion fleet went out to the stakeboat
;r~I, Of CnlQnd1d
sport But before the fleet had reached
the open the breeze began to moderate,
and the tumbling seas to spill less OF
their froth. Overhead the sky was un-
fiecked, a vault as blue as turquoise,
and so clear was the atmosphere tnat
every foot of the course was visible 10
the thousands who were watching OF
the Jersey hills from Navesink High
lands to Long Branch and Asoury
Park. Every movement OF the race
was followed by the sharpers with
glasses and the result was known long
before it was flashed by wire from the
cable boats
Outside the long ground swell rolling
in from the Atlantic with tidings of
the gale that swept up the coast yes
terday piled up what the Old sats call
a lunlpy sea. 1t brought grief to many
of the sightseers afioat. Many of them
sought the seclusion of their cabins be-
fore the vessels on which they had en-
barked to witness the race mad Weatn-
cred Sandy Hook. And all through tile
afternoon a majority of the remainder
kept suspiciously near the rails of the
steamer.
The Columbia had all the better of the
start She bounded across the line
like a race hourse, with malnsall, club
topsail and staysail drawing, spinna-
lxer down to starboard ready for the
race before the wind, and ten seconds
afterward her balloon broke out like
a cloudburst The Irish boat went over
seventeen seconds later, with the same
rig. The patriots were mad with de-
light. But their enthusiasm was short
lived. The willy English skipper luffed
to run through the Yankees lee wealth
er guage Captain Barr tried to beat
off this movement by luffing also. This
sent both boats off at almost right an
giles to the course, straight in for the
Jersey coast and straight for the mob
of 500 vessels gathered to the right of
the line of the run down. The tor
pedo boats charged down upon them
like a squad of flying cavalry to clear
the way for the yachts.
Never was there such a scampering
of ships. Bells in the engine-roons