Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-10-03
GETTING READY 10 SAIL.
Course and Conditions OF tile Yacht
Races Which Begin Tomorrow.

course ana Conditions of the Yacht
Races Which Begin Tomorrow.
+! New York, Oct 2.-Beginning Tues
day morning at Il o'clock and con-
tinuing Thursdas and Saturday of this
week and II AZ Thursday and SAT-
urday of ne, if SO many trials
will be necess & q ,eries of races will
be sailed betn cae British sloop
Yacht Shamroeo oAA the American
Isloop yacht ColuG .r the yachting
championship OF al the emblem
of which is the sols cup, weigh
ing 100 ounces, We she famous
schooner yacht Amel = 1851.
That this will be notable
series of races in theS Of the
old cup is apparent. In & nrsf place,
the two yachts are known to be far
and away the best that have ever COM
peted for the trophy. That is to say,
Shamrock is conceded to he the swift
est yacht ever produced by British de-
signers, as Columbia is the swiftest
yet built from American IDEAS.
Another important point of interest
is found i'll the mechanical construction
of the two yachts. Shamrock was
! built in the yard of the 1hornycrofts,
the most famous builders OF torpedo
boats, and Columbia came from the
Herreshoff yard. the home of the
American torpedo boat. 1t is to be a
test not only of yacht designs but of
yacht construction
And then there is the fact that this
is the latest of a long series of efforts
of the British experts 20 wrest the cup
from American ship-builders. 1t is a
series, too, that follows one wherein
had blood was found, and that fact is
worth mentioning, because it affords
such a strong contrast TO the hearty
good will and cheerful optimism that
prevail on both sides of the present
contest, fierce as the struggle for the
cup will be.
according to the, agreement under
which these races are to be sailed, the
winner of three out of series of five
IS to keep or take the cup as the case
may be. For Tuesdays race the yachts
are to be sent fifteen miles from a
point of Sandy Hook, either straight
into the eye of the wind or dead before
it and back again. Which course will
be pursued will depend on the wealth
er.
In general terms if the wind blows
from the sea toward the land they will
be sent first into the eye of the wind
and will come home before it.
If it blows from the land out to
sea, the yachts will be sent away before
| il to beat their way home after turning
the outer mark.
This mark is floating platform OF
planks and barrels. 1t carries staff
from which floats a small red flag.
On clear day it lis easily seen two
miles away, but to make it's location
more easily found a tugboat beari',r a
big ball suspended between its masts
will be stationed near the float The
racing yachts are! 10 pass between the
float and the tug. aud they Will *,
timed as they do so in order that their
work in the kind of wind and weather
they have had may be compared
Because,of the lay of the iand--the po-
sition of the coasts of Long Island and
New Jersey-the starting point for
each race is likely to be the Sandy
Hook lightship-the red hulk that is
anchored about seven miles to the
eastward of the point OF the Hook as
Guide mark for shipping. But at
times the wind comes so that the Scof-
land lightship, yellow hulk four and
one-half miles nearer Sandy Hook, is
more convenient, aud it might easily
happen that it would be Used. especial
ly in the triangular course. Then, too,
on one occasion the racing committee,
on finding the starting water at the
Sandy Hook lightship covered with ex-
cursion boats. quietly, sent the racers
to the other liglitship and started them
there before the excursion shippers
knew what was to occur.
On Saturday the third race win be
laid on the windward course, like
Tuesdays.
Ii fourth race is needed it will be
on the triangular course, and a fifth
race would once more take the straight
away course.
The starting line is to be formed by
the flagship of the New York Yacht
club anchoring near one of the light
ships mentioned. The usual distance
| is 200 yards, hut there is no specified
distance in the agreement.
Yachts Measured.
New York, Oct. a.-(By Associated
Press.) yachts Columbia and
Shamrock We're measured at the navy
ward toduy