Omaha daily bee., 1899-10-18
LlPT0N'S HARD LUCK
Shamrock's TOpmast Unable to Endure
Strain Of Heavy Wind,
C0LLkPSES SHORTLY AFTER THE START
Green Yacht at Once Abandons Contest. and
Returns to Mooring'
COLUMBIA FlNSH.S COURSE ALONE
Never Was There More Magnificent Start
in q Cup Race.
oLyMBIA FINISHS COURSE ALONE
IRlSHMAN CARRIES OFF FIRST H0NORs
Yankee Graft suffers on Account of
shnmrock's superior Gcncrnlship
in Getting Weather Gauge ns
trnft Go over Line.


trnu Go over Line.
NEW YORK, Oct. 17.-An informal meet
ing Of the regatta committee of the New
York Yacht club was held tonight and II
was decided that the next race should oc.
cur Thursday. II was also decided the re.
| measuring OF Shamrock should be done at
the navy yard tomorrow morning at
o'clock.
NEW YORK, Oct 1.-THE topmast of ths
cup challenger Shamrock was carried away
twenty y-hve minutes after the big single
sticker had crossed the starting line today
and lts enormous clubSall, with its 5000 feet
! OF canvas. came rattling down on the deck,
! leaving 1t helpless cripple No amount
| of pluck or courage could face such a ca
tastrophe and Shamrock abandoned the race,
! towing back to the anchorage after the
wreckage had been cleared
Columbia continued over the course alone
placing to its credit the second OF the races
| for the Americas cup. The accident to
shamrock ruined the race and caused the
keenest regret among the yachtsmen and the
! thousands of sightseers who were on hand to
! witness what had promised to be a glorious
duel.
! 1t Is unfortunate that the defender should
| have been the beneficiary of an accident AS
| there is little glory in beating cripple, but
the rule is ironclad. If crippled before the
start time is allowed for repairs. but one,
over the line, II anything carries away, the
sufferer must make such repairs as he can
or If rendered hors de combat, as Shamrock
was today, he must take the consequences
| There are good sense and logic behind tn,
a test nf
as well as design and seamanship Doubt.
less, II Mr.. Iseln could have had his choic,
in the matter, he generously would have de-
clined to continue in view of the crippled
condition of his rival, but the rules gave him
no alternative He was in duty bound to 60
on, and he finished well within the time
limit the race was he.
Columbia in the Lead.
Had the accident not occurred It. is he
lieved that the Yankee boat would have re-
peated the beating it gave the challenger
yesterday. During the twenty-five min
utes the yacht sailed it had gone through
Shamrock's lead like a streak and had es-
tablished lead of more than 300 yards on
the weather bow.
When Puritan fouled Genesta on
the inside course in 1887, carrying away the
challenger's bowsprit and topmast, although
the race was at his mercy under the rules
Lord Richard Sutton magnanimously refused
to claim it. To avoid just such a contin-
! eency, in which the beneficiary OF an acCi-
} dent is always reluctant to claim his rights,
a special clause was added to the regular
rules this year, leaving absolutely no option
in the matter. This clause was signed by
Sir Thomas and Mr. Iselin a few days be-
fore the first attempt to race The accident
today shows what a delicate machine
| do, &c to
lively light structure, weighed down by
= enormous ballast to carry the gigantic
spread of canvas The most delicate and
scientific adjustment of weights is neces-
: sary. The simple breaking of a stay today
, wrecked Shamrock
= The wire backstay that helps to support
the slender spars gave way and this sup
port removed, its Oregon pine topmast as
big as telephone pole sixty feet long
and fourteen inches in diameter snapped off
e like Il match, just above the lower mast
S cap. This mast not only supporting the
pressure of fifteen knot breeze against it's
big kite, but was also sustaining the
y crushing weight of the sail itself and the
! two clubtopsail yards, each forty feet long.
Third Race Thursday.
e Later in the afternoon Shamrock was
S towed up to the Erie basin in the upper
morrow and it will be remeasured. 1t Will
e probably be taken out for a spin tomorrow
= to try its new stick, and the third race
= OF the series wiz be sailed on Thursday
o This will be over a windward and leeward
| course, and If Columbia wins, the series
It will have been completed without giving
- Shamrock an opportunity to test its merits
@ in it's favorite point Of sailing over tr-
s. angular course
= The day had promised a glorious contest
g There were only gray neutral tins in the
d morning, but a hard twelye-knot breeze
s. out OF the east kicked up the whltecapa
! and the wind and tide helped pile up the
T. waters. The pulses Of the sportsmen quick
,, ened In anticipation and big excursion
d fleet went out to witness the duel. Some
OF the small sailing fleet got outside, plung
= ing their bOwsprits under and wetting their
headsails, until they were glad enough "a
square away for more placid seas Later
Il in tho day the wind drove the clouds away
leaving an almost Hawless vault of blue
overhead. The shining waters and the gay
flags and bunting made brilliant marine
m picture,
'e Shamrock went out eager for the fray
1t 1t cast off its tow before it reached thu
le bell buoy at the head OF the swash chan,
le mel and made the remainder OF The dis
tance with light shift under its own can
le vas II looked IKE "a DloW such al
r shamrock is reported to have been prayinl
81 for and the sailors OF the Irish boat mad,
at everything snug aloft in anticipation OF al
is increase in the wind. The race was Il
have been over an equilateral triangle, tel
miles to the leg which would give the chal
lenger chance at its fayorite point of sail
ne ng-reaching.
~ Irishmnn Carries on Honors.
,gg As soon as the committee had signaled IN
~ course and sent out mark boat the excur
H. sion boats began to line up TO watch tn
T. joCkeying for position. Never was there
more magnificent start in cup race and III
Irishman carried off the honnrs The tw
or yachts wheeled and cIrcled about like whit
b. ..., a.. =, ,
ed guns edIh surviving loI lhe advantage, lhel