The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-09-27
FIRST RACE 4 FLUxE
The Yachts Unable to Finish Within the Specified Time Owing to Light
 ness of Winds.
C0LUMBIA'S FINE SHOWING
OU7SA THE SHAMROCK ON
 ABOUT EVERY POINT.

ABOUT EVERY POINT.
 The Cup Defender Three-qunrters of q
 Mile Ahead When the Raco Was Ohici-
 ally Declared Cff-shamrock Appar.
 sailing-The Cup Seems safe-Detail.
 of the Struggle.
 New York, Sept. 26.-One of the big
 gest crowds that ever went to sea went
 down to Sandy Hook lightship to-day
 to witness Sir Thomas Lipton's second
 challenger, Shamrock IT., and the
 white flyer Columbia, which success
 fully defended the old Americas cup
 against his first trophy hunter two
 years ago, struggle for the yachting supremacy of the world in the first cup races of 1901. But the excursion fleet returned disappointed. The great sim gle-stickers went out this morning fresh for the battle, but the sea refused them field of conflict. The wind, nev- CT more than nine and sometimes as SlOW dS lilISc hllOIS, WuS tOO ll5iit anu shifty to carry the contestants over the thirty-mile course in the time allotted by by the rules. At the end of five and a half hours-the prescribed time-the race was officially declared off and the yachts were lowed back to their berths inside of Sandy Hook.
 When the gun aboard the committee boat was fired to call attention to the signal declaring the race off the Amer ican boat was still seven miles from the finish line. The English boat was hull down astern of her, the experts estimat- ing her distance behind the Columbia at over three quarters of a mile.
 Americans will have reason to con- gratulate themselves on the result of the first trial. The yacht which carried J. F. Morgan's private signal, a black pennant with black Maltese cross, to victory two years ago was headed but once in the twenty-three miles covered. and then the Englishman showed the way for only five minutes
 Tn windward work the Columbia beat the foreigner seven minutes and fifteen seconds to the outer mark and increas- ed her lead somewhat in the broad reach for home. While the test was unsatisfactory, the yachting sharps who have been skeptical up to this time as to the ability of the Columbia to successfully defend the cup are more confident tonight that it will remain on this side of the Atlantic awhile long CT Certainly Columbia's superiority in light air appears to have been demon- strated to-day Shamrock II. did not, in fact, make so good showing as did Iipton's first challenger in the half doz- en f1ukes that proceeded the actual races two years ago. What Shamrock may be able to do in heavy weather ls' of course, problematical, but Columbia has been tried and all her admirers 1n- s,st that she is distinctively a heavy weather boat.
 Two years ago Sir Thomas prayer was for wind, but when he got smashing twenty -five-knot gale in the last race Columbia's victory was even more decisive than in the first. Since then Columbia's ability in heavy wealth CT has been proven again and again. The harder it blows the faster she goes and the better she behaves. It Is not strange, therefore, that the patriotic shippers and spectators who went down to Sandy Hook this morning with mis- piyings returned tonight reasurred and strongly disposed to wager that the pretty wreath of shamrock and white heather from the oldest yacht club in the world. which Sir Thomas is treas ,1ring in the cabin of his champion, will prove no mascot after all.
 The day had promised well at first. "A strong northeast wind had been blow ing for two days and the weather prophets had offered assurance that 1t 1 would hold. It had piled up what saiIormen call a nasty lump of sea out side and before the race began was 1 whipping the foam off the crests of the l waves. A heavy haze which hung over 1 the bay had blown away the bright sum- light which gilded the crinkling water | into glory
 The procession that sailed out of New | York harbor anticipating a fine days 1 snort. So numerous were the various | kinds of craft that they seemed to fill l the broad expansion of ocean between +he Long Island Jeresey shores as with a countless fleet. Magnificent and pa- 1et,al steam yachts, steamers and ex- cursion boats filled tier above tier with DeODle, Snup uOScu tu5o, PiSiiiS ceA SSH and sailing craft gathered about the old yellow hulk which for years has furnished guide for shipping and in front of which the start was to be made. Conspicuous among the yachts were J. r. Morgan's Corsair P. w. Conqueror, Cornelius Van derbilt's Mirage, Howard Gould's Mi agara, Elbridge T. Gerry's Electra, John Jacob Astor's Normahal, Colonel Albert Paines Aphrodite and half a dozen others, each flying the New York Yacht clubs pennant at the fore and the private signal of the owner at the main.
 The big racers had already been lowed out and when the fleet arrived they were circling and wheeling like great gulls about the lightship. The polished bronze hull of the Shamrock cleaning and glistening in the brilliant sun. made her look like craft of gold yellow breasted gull with white
 IContinued on Sixth Page.)