The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-06

but surely until the Shamroek's skipper found
the right sheet trim m ing com bination. and
thon for time the Irish boat held her Yankee
rival. They were nifty yards apart. with the
Columbia to the east Of the Shamrock. After
twelve minutes OF sailing the green boat had
pulled up TO almost even terms with tho Column
bia. and thus they sailed along for three min
utes more. Then the defender gradually
gained again. There was nothing very spec
tacular about tho contest thus far. The boats
were making not moro than six miles an hour.
and to the crowd OF spectators things appeared
rather slow. The wind would not brace w q
bit and there were many miles to be travelled
The only consolation was In the fact that the
American boat was In the lead and drawing
away further and further as the minutes went
by. A number OF the excursion boats seized
the opportunity to seurry around from the east
to the west OF the line.
COLUMBIA SAILING WELL AHEAD.
At IL 20 or after twenty minutes OF sailing
the Yankee boat had succeeded In showing
clear water between herself and the Shamrock.
Her sails were all drawing we'll, though the
breeze was light At this point the shamrock's
balloon lib topsail began to belly In and out.
The Columbla's big head sail shivered q Bit.
too. but not near as much as her rivals At
IL :25 she had gained twenty more feet on the
Shamrock. Tho Irish boat had her main boom
out as far as 1t would go and she made no at
tempt to spil wind into her balloon jib topsail.
Her crew wero gathered away aft while the
sailors on the Columbia were split up In
groups. some close to the mast and some as far
back as the taffrail.
The excursion boats stretched out on both
sides making long lane through which tho
Cup racers slowly crept toward tho mark
The line was of generous proportions. being
fully mile and a half wide. and the handlers
OF the yachts certainly had no cause for COM
plant 1t was easy for the revenue cutters
and torpedo boats as they had nothing to do
The excursion boats behaved themselves
splendidly.
The Columbia had been ginning right along
and at 1.30 was fully length In front Of the
Shamrock. This does not seem much. but 1t
was probably considerably over tho 10 seconds
which she needed In order to win tho race.
The challenEer's balloon lib topsail was still
shaking while the Colum bias was full except
for faint shiver occasionally. The difference
in the drawing power OF the sails could
be easily noted. The leech OF the Sham
rocks canvas hung straight from stay to
deck while the Columbia's curved gracefully
outward. Both boats were shaping true
course. following directly after the guide boat
which was steering by compass for the mark.
At IL :35 the Colum bias big head sail began
to shake, but as the Shamrook's ballooner did
not show any improvement the defender lost
nothing as far as the eye could see. By this
time the Liehtship was lost to view in the haze.
SHAMROCK TWO LENGTHS BEHIND.
At11:40 Columbia was two lengths to the
good. which meant the gain OF ono length in
ten minutes. 1t was slow work The excur-
sion steamers ran under one bell or stopre |
short. There were wind clouds in the sky and
old mariners said there would be good blow
before tho day was over. But up to this time
old Boreas had refused to exert himself. At
! As the head sails OF both yachts were belly
ing in and out with every rise and fall Of their
bows. During the last Ave minutes the Sham
rock had not allowed her rival to gain a great
deal on her. but still with every boat length
travelled. the American boat put something to
her credit
At IL :55 there were indications that the
wind would get huky Colum bia hauled her
boom aft and moment later the Shamro let
run her spinnaker as far as the masthead.
She would not haul the sail down altogether.
but sent two men aloft to hold II close to the
mast in case It should be wanted again in a
hurry. Tho wind then hauled nearly to the
north. The Columbia caught the change first
and promptly drew away from her rival in fine
ward and tho Columbia followed her example.
This was the first stage OF long lufflng match.
The Vlgant WAS away of to the east feeling
tho wind with mainsail working topsail. stay
sail. lib and flying lib. The handlers OF the
Cup racers saw by a glance at the old Cup ham
pion that she was getting the wind more to the
east than they were. so the Shamrock edged
still more in that direction hoping to get to the
windward OF the Columbia. but as fast as the
challenger would lufr. the defender would
meet her. and so 1t came to pass that shortly
after noon both boats we're heading four points
of the true course.
BOTH YACHTS ON A REACH.
All the sails were now drawing well as the
boats were on a reach. The Columbia had had
her staysail up all along. but with tho change
OF course the Shamro,k refused to set hers In
this sho was doubtless very wise. as that sail
on the Columbia did not appear to be doing O
bit OF good. in fact 1t took wind from the
balloon topsail and prevented 1t from doing it's
best work. At 1907 the Columbia saw her
mistake and hauled down her staysail I'm
mediately tho big head sail felt the full force
OF the wind and swelled out to its influence.
They had the wind nearly abeam now. and
head sheets were hauled almost fiat
The Shamrock continued to lufY. but the Co.
lum bia met every move. She did not propose
to let the foreigner get to tho windward OF her.
BY this time the American boat was about
furlong ahead. They were heading in the d.
rection OF Montauk Point. instead OF out to sea.
where their true course lay. and were losing q
lot OF ground which they would have to make
up later on. as they were going away from the
stake boat all the time. They were making
good speed on this reach. however. and the ex-
cursion boats had to Jingle bells in order to
keep up with the proc esson.
The Columb was carrying quite a bone In
her teeth. but the Shamrock was bowling along
In iine style, too. and for a time neither boat
cnlild ualn on tina nihAr rhla lI,n tak