The San Francisco call., 1899-10-20


the start at II, the handicap gun at l:O2
The maneuVering before the start was
remarkably interesting work. Excursion
boats and yachts gave the racing craft
plenty of room, and Barr and Hogarth
mad their little game all to themselves.
At the warning signal both yachts, with
booms to starboard and sheets hattened
well in, were sailing TO the northeast,
parallel to the line but about a quarter OF
mile north of it, with the wind little
abaft the beam. The Columbia was to
windward, with the Shamrock on her lee
beam a couple of lengths away. 1t being
necessary 10 use the tlve minutes between
the warning and starting signals, both
yachts leaned far over to the northeast,
gradually luffing to the northWard. When
three minutes were left the Columbia
luffed into the wind, then coming about
tacking like the Columbia, wore the
Shamrock sharp around on her heel,
bringing her close UP under the Colum-
bias lee, both having booms to port.
Hogarth lost both time and headWay by
luff1ng instead of tacking, so that when
the Shamrock hauled up nearly on the
wind the Columbia, under better head
way, was pointed straight for the line,
couple of lengths TO the good. AS soon as
Hogarth realized this he broke out the
Shamrock's balloon jib topsail, her crew
trimming the sheets smartly just as the
gun was fired. The Columbias crew broke
out her balloon sail while the smoke from
the gun was blowing away.
The Columbia crossed the line twenty
seven seconds in the lead without the
handicap, which means fully two lengths
distance. She crossed about the center
of the line and Hogarth, after a vain at
tempt to luff out across her wake and
obtain the weather position, kept off and
gave the Shamrock a good full.
The official time of the start was: Co
lumbia, II :0l :33; Shamrock, 1:02.
The Shamrock's actual time in cross
ing the line was u:02:02. She was handi-
are allowed seven minutes from the
starting signal in which to cross the line,
and she exceeded that time by two sec
onds. Jibs and forestry sails were taken
in al once on both yachts TO give the
balloon sails chance to fill. While the
yachts We're crossing the line spinnaker
booms were dropped 10 starboard and the
sails hoisted in stops ready to break out,
but in the game of luting and bluff which
followed, neither yacht mad chance to
set these sails for fifty minutes. Ho-
on a reach on a triangular course, SEEM
ed determined to make portion of the
race a reach at all hazards. So they
went at it. Instead of following the
guidebCat on the southeast by south
course, by which they might have carried
spinnakers, they sailed between four and
five points to the eastward OF their
courses in order to make every sail draw
to the best advantage, thereby covering
a. least five miles more ground than was
necessary. The excursion fleet gave
them miles of room, keeping so far away
that the yachts were hull down" most of
During the first fifteen minutes of this
reaching work the Columbia seemed to
increase her lead. After that, for the
next half hour, the Shamrock apparently
was gaining on the Columbia and at
u:50, when they both decided to abandon
the lufilng game and set spinnakers to
starboard the Shamrock had certainly
gained some on her antagonist. Having
the wind dead aft now, the Shamrock had
! decidedly the better position If, with
the assistance of some of the friendly
puffs, she could succeed in closing in on
the Columbia her chances of blanketing
the latter would be felt. While the
wind remained steady in the same quar-
ter it diminished in strength at times,
coming in puffs occasionally, but on the
whole the outlook for finishing the race
was not very encouraging at / o'clock
when the outer mark was in plain sight
from the racing yachts.
! At u AS both yachts gibed after taking
| in their spinnakers ana set those saiIs
again TO port, the Columbia setting hers
! first. The wind canted TO the westward
/ gradually during the next half hour and
at 1:32 the Columbia gibed to port quickly
! followed by the Shamrock, which dropped
/ her spinnaker boom TO starboard ana set
! the sail at 1:40, the Columbia setting her
/ spinnaker four minutes later.
1t was a long run before the wind, with
J simply enough of it to fill their sails dur
ing the next forty-fiye minutes. Balloon
! jib topsailS were taken in when the yachts
were about a mile north of the outer
mark and as they approached it jibs.
| staysails and baby jib topsails were hoist
I
/ follow. 1t was noted that as the Colum-
! bia came down for the mark her
! great mainsail with its crosscut cloths
! was a brand new one, having in ii four
/ battens and two reef bands. The cloths
/ in her spinnaker ran horizontally, while
! those on the Shamrock were perpen-
/ dicular. AT 2:20 the Columbia took in her
/ spinnaker and all hands stood by to
round in the main sheet as she ap-
! preached the mark.
The Shamrock 5 spinnaker came in at
/ 2:27. The official time of the turn was:
Columbia. 2:24:45; Shamrock 2:31 :O3
BY this it will be seen that the Colum-
! bia was six minutes eighteen seconds
ahead at the mark, that her elapsed time
twelve seconds. and that the Shamrock S
was three hours twenty-nine minutes
thirty,two seconds, showing that the
! five minutes flfty-one seconds in the
/ fifteen miles. When Columbia luffed
around the mark, coming up sharp on the
! found the wind to be about west by north
/ which meant that il it held in that
| quarter he would be able on the other
/ tack to lay his course for the finish with
! out making another tack One minute
| and twenty seconds after rounding the
mark he put the Columbia about and
( found his judgment to be correct and bet
ter still. the wind freshened considerably
| during the next half hour, sending the
white sloop along at six-knot clip. Ho-
garth who went breeze hunting off to the
seconds lost just about that amount of
time for when he tackled and stood to the
/ northwest like the Columbia his inn
! aginary advantage was that he was to the
windward of the Columbas wake, while
/ the latter yacht was nearly two miles
| ahead of him and pointing direct to the
finish.
| AS the Columbia stood on to the north
west, the wind canted to the southwark
gradually, and at 1886 she was able TO
set a big topsail in place of the baby.
She also set a balloon staysail. Fifteen
minutes later the wind had canted 10
South-southWest. Down came the Column
bias jib topsail and UP went a larger one.
! The Shamrock followed suit a few
minutes later. The wind was now falling
lighter every moment The Shamrock
was nearly three miles astern of the CO.
lun,bia and while the lightship was in
sight from the Columbia's decks she was
still five miles from it at O'clock with
only half an hour of time left to finish
within the limit. At 4:10 the committee
boat sheered in toward the yachts and
at 4:19 exactly she fired gun and hoisted
a signal declaring the race off. The
yachts kept their sails drawing and head
ed toward the finish for some ten minutes
longer, until their respective tugs came
alongside and took them in tow.
When the race was declared off the CO.
lumbia was leading by about three miles
She had sailed toward the finish about
eleven miles. So ended the eighth fnke
Of the interesting series. The yachts will
race tomorrow over similar course to
windward or leeward and return.
~