The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-29
COLUMBIA A WINNER
AMERICAN YACHT PROVES VICTOR
IN FIRST CONTEST.
HAD A WORTHY ANTAGONIST.
SHAMROCK MAY YET PROVE THE
BETTER BOAT.


Were Blue, But the Staunch De-
fender Regained the Distance
Easily on the HOmeward Run.
Crossed the Line 200 Yards Ahead
with 30 Seconds to Spare-By Cor
rected Time She Was Winner by
One Minnie, ~ Seconds-As the
Columbia Came on in Her Grand
Finish the Crowd Went Wild with
JOY and Steam Sirens Rent the Air
With Their Screams-LiptOn Ac-
cepts the Result Gracefully.
New York, Sept. 2S.-In the closest
and most soul-stirring race ever sailed
for the old Americas cup the white
flyer Columbia to-day beat the British
challenger, Shamrock II, over a wind
ward and leeward chase of thirty nau-
teal miles by the narrow, heart-break-
ing margin of 80 seconds. AS Lipton's
latest aspirant for cup honors must al
low the defender 43 seconds on account
of the extra S33 square feet of canvas
in her sail area the official record, un-
der the rules, gives her the victory by
one minute and twenty-five seconds.
AS a spectacle, the contest was superb.
From the time the two skyscraping
racers crossed the starting line until
they fled across the finish line, four
and a half hours later, the result was
in doubt and the excitement aboard
the excursion fleet increased until men
became frenzied and women almost
hysterical.
1nt tHh cd
scientific racing machines that never
after they started were the rival skip
pers out of each others hail and more
than three quarters of the time they
were so close that Charlie Barr, who
had the tiller aboard the American,
could have tossed a biscuit to Capt.
Sycamore on the Shamrock. For miles
as they beat their way to the outer
mark the black shadow of Snamrock's
huge club topsail was painted on the
big mainsail of the Columbia and for
an hour on the run home, with the two
yachts flying like scared deer before
the following wind they ran almost
beam to beam as if they had been har-
messed together.
Challenger a superb Boat.
AS a result of to-day's race, though
faith in the Columbia still remains in
the hearts of the patriots, all the ex-
perts admit that the British boat is
the ablest sloop ever sent to these wa
ters to lift the 100 guinea cup which,
the old schooner America brought
across the Atlantic fifty years ago,
and that the superiority of American
seamanship and American naval archi-
lecture, as represented by the defend
er, remains to be established. The quail
ity of a sailing ship is measured by
her ability to carve her way into an
wi md n 6ffppn-
thresh to windward to-day the golden
challenger gained 80 seconds, while on
the run home her lead was eaten up
and the Columbia crossed the finish
line exactly 81 seconds before
the Shamrock. 1t must be remembered,
however, that the challenger had the
weather gauge in the beat to wind
ward, no mean advantage, and the
nautical experts said after the race
that during the outward journey she
had been sailed to absolute perfection,
while before the wind the American
yacht not only showed a fleeter pair
of heels, but, in the opinion of the
sharps was better handled.
Disappointed by the fiuke of Thurs
day the crowd which sailed down to
Sandy Hook lightship to-day was
somewhat smaller than on the opening
day, but even so, the colony of steam
ers, steam yachts, tug boats, sailing
vessels and excursion craft of every
description formed an angle at the
starting line several miles long. 1t was
an ideal day for race.
Cant. Sycamore Gets Even.
Again to-day the course. east by
south, carried the yachts along the
Long Island shore straight out to sea.
The start was thrilling. The yachts
bounded away across the line like a
nf horses Challenger
half length ahead and to the wind
ward. In the maneuvering before the
start, Capt. Sycamore had given the
willy Yankee skipper genuine sur
prise returning a Roland for the oliver
he received on Thursday. Just when
Barr thought he had him under his lee
the Englisman deadened his headway
and then luffed under the Columbia's
stern into the weather berth. This
victory for the Shamrock at the very
inception of the race the Columbia
could not overcome in the big beat to
windward. The two yachts were an in
spring sight to the spectators as they
plunged seaward, pounding great foun-
tains of spray from their bows and
drenching the crews lined up along the
weather rail. They heeled to the wind
until their lee rails were awash in the
seas and from the windward side they
showed yards of their bronze under
bodies. Neck and neck, tack and tack
they raced like a team of horses. Dis
may began to be written on the faces
OF the patriots as Barr tried once,
twice and finally a third time to cross
the bow of the foreigner, only to be
forced around each time by the lean
golden muzzle of the Britisher. On
and on they flew turning twin wings of
foam from their bows and Columbia
seemingly falling back rather than
gaining. The hearts of the patriots
sank lower and lower.
AS the yachts got father out the
swells heightened and the white flyer
seemed to labor more heavily in the
long waves. Just after passing Long
Beach Hotel, with it's verandas and
windows filled with people, the old City
of Paris, now the Philadelphia Of the
American line, came foaming In from
the east with a bone in her teeth. She
headed slightly northward between the
racers and the shore in order not to
Impede them with her wash and went
by like an express train, dipping her
tag In salute. Il
The Erin's short Lived JOY.
The excursion vessels formed a cres-
cent about the stake boat as the yachts
rounded the outer mark, but II was a
doleful fleet. AS the Shamrock wore