New-York tribune., 1899-07-14
THE sHAMROCK's TESTS.
COMPARISONS OF THE NEW CHALLENGERs TIN
WITH THAT OF THE BRITANNIA.

COMPARISONS OF THE NEW CHALLENGEKS IiNH
WITH THAT OF THE BRITANNIA.
What Englishmen are closely figuring at the
present moment is the amount OF time Dy ""ic"
the Shamrock will have to beat the Britannia III
order to hold a chance for the cup. Englisn ne"s-
papers have stated that the Shamrock VIII nave
70 give the Britannia full thirty minutes oetore
she can entertain hope.
That is very far from being the case. Inc lines
NJ comparson come from the Nigilant-Britannia
races In England And they provide as satisfactory
a working basis to-day as they did "heh the ias.
challenger came over in 1895. The exact record OF
the Vigilant In England is not now readily OBTAIN
able but when the present writer sa" her ias' al
Cowes she had up to that time lost about ten out
Of fourteen races To speak of the Vigiant as an
eoual of the Britannia would therefore be highy
incorrect 1t was only in the beam Winds ana
reaches and in the more unimportant parts VI Is"l
weather sailing that the Vigilant did we'll Wheh
It came to any kind Of hard weatherly test sne
was outsailed-a fact Nat Herreshoff carefully
watched and learned FROM ana puiil ito"'' "He"
he produced the Defender.
For the purpose Of simpfcation, let 1t be sup
posed that the Vgllant and the Britannia were
equal The Vigilant returned to America and soon
went into the trial races 10 test out the ne"
Defender. The summar of 1895 was hot one so
far as trial races were concerned. The Nighant
was fitted out like new pin for these. and she
vas sailed hard She received also some altera-
tons which may have slightly improved her speed
On looking up the old records 1t is found that the
then new Defender h4d just as hard work to prove
a marked superiority over the Vigilant as the Co.
Mnba is now having with the Defender. In their
first race from Scotland Lightship fifteen miles to
windward and return, the Defender came In two
minutes and forty-hve seconds ahead The result OF
the second was spoiled by luke In the
third between Glen Cove and Huntington. the De-
fender had a lead of minute and forty-nine Sec
he Defenders
refused to act
The fifth from New-London TO Newport, was a
failure, owing 10 a mishap to the Vigilant. In the
sixth, the Defender was towed home disabled The
seventh from Newport to New-Haven, thirty-eight
miles gave lead to the Defender OF six minutes
and twenty-four seconds The eighth. back from
Vineyard Haven to Newport thirty-eight miles. was
a lead for the Defender of nine minutes and nine
seconds In the ninth contest In which the Wig
liant asserted that she was wrongfuly compelled
TO lose time. the Defender had the lead at the
finish by six minutes and ten seconds. Thus the
Defenders leads the hrst, third. seventh, eighth
and ninth trials. that completed and fairly
conclusive showed an average ability to come IN
tive minutes and fifteen seconds ahead;
That the way this writer figured 1t out at the
time, and there was subsequent race which came
close TO his average in whcn the Defender won by
just five minutes and twelve seconds
These fouI year old items cleaned from the scrap;
% SqHN make exrs good reading for Sir Thomas LIP
trustworthy trials were considered. the Defender
did prove herself TO be safe six minutes better
than the Vsilant. Supposng, therefore. and for
simpihca ton, that the Britannia is no better than
the Vigant OF lS9i-'95, Sir Thomas has only TO
beat the Princes boat by six minutes, day n
and day out to let him know that his boat Is In
the Defenders class; and as the Columbia has
shown no ability to beat the Defender more than
three minutes and fraction in thirty mile course.
Sir Thomas may consider the Shamrock to be In the
columbia's class if she beats the Britannia ten
minutes. And every minute he surely beats her
beyond that holds a further promise for the cup.
This calculation is based on supposition which
IS coDfessedly wrong. namely that the Vigi,ant
the equal of Britannia and II any possesses the
full record of the Vigilant's racing in England he
can find out just how much better the Britannia
averaged In those contests but the races there
were often straggly, iukey and unsatisfactory and
in some cases would lead TO wrong ideas; that
in getting secure line Of the Shamrock il is allow
ing good eeway and assuming safe position to
call the Britannia and Vigiant equal.
From these figures II will be that Sir Thomas
Upton does not have to beat the Britannia any,
thing like thirty minutes to hold good chance for
the cup. II he beats the Britannia ten minutes
he is perhaps even terms with the Columbia.
II he can give the Britannia regular and as
sured twenty minutes over a thirty mile course he
is probably winner of the Americas Cup.
These figures therefore OF the first interest
now that the trials between the Shamrock and the
Britannia about to begin at once. The tests OF
course, will depend for their real value. on the
excellence with which the Britannia Is handled
But as the Princes old skipper Captain Carter, is
to be In charge 1t may be taken for granted that
the old English victor will be put through as we'll
In her first season