The Washington times., 1901-10-07
THE COST OF CUP RACING.
Sir Thomas Lipton's Bill Nearly
Half q Million.
Outlay for the Defenders, However,
Not Nearly SO LErgc-Expense So
Large That Only Those of Great
Mean. Cnn Afford to Participate.

refer to money get to be big figures the
popular tendency is TO eNagserate ana
make them bigger. This applies to the
cost OF yacht racing as well as TO othei
things. All sorts of extravagant state
ments, for instance. have been made oil
late as TO how much money Sir Thomas
Upton is spending in his effort this year
to win the Americas Cup. II has been
said repeatedly, and the statement went
without challenge, that this last cup
hunting expedition would cost the dash
ing Irish knight from 81 10000 TO $3.50
0ee. Yacht racing, especially when 1t in
wolves crossing 5000 miles OF sea to get
to the race course, is an expensive
enough sport in all conscience. The eX-
penditure that it entails is away up in
figures that put people who, as the world
goes, are counted rich quite in the class
OF the financially humble compared
| with those who are able to indulge in this
money deyouring pastime.
Yet costly as Sir Thomas certainly is
finding his struggle for the cup, it Is
! grossly beyond the fact that this last eff
| fort of his will have cost him by the time
| il is over from 81, 0cO,Oc0 to Sl.250, 900. As
| an incident to the marvellous expansion
| Of private fortunes and of business ven
lures Of late years, the mention Of things
as costing million creates little impress
! sion. Yet all the same, i million of dol
| lars still remains a goodly sum. You
! can do good deal with it. For instance,
! ii is quite safe to say that with that
| amount you could cover every dollar of
| two such cup-hunting excursions as the
| one Sir Thomas IS now personally con-
| ducting and still have Il tidy little sum
left over.
Sir Thomas estimated the expense of his
effort 10 get the cup in 1890 at $4,000
That, however, included $4,000 which he
paid to Count FIorio of Italy for the fine
yacht which the count called the Aegusa,
and which is now known as the Erin
This would leave his actual racing ex-
penses in 1879 at $4,000 1t is probable
that the cost Of the present races to him
will be little over that figure, but still
within S50OC00. In other words. including
the sum of s500,0c0 or thereabuuts for the
purchase and refitting OF the Erin, the
total cost to the challenger in the last two
series of races Will be somewhere in the
neighborhood of S1,30J.Oo0. But the cost of
the Erin is not of course, a legitimate
factor in the estimate of the actual racing
expenses.
Probably these last for both series will
hardly exceed SS50.O00. Vast as this sum
is to be devoted to merely a few weeks OF
sport with glory as the only possible re-
ward, il shows how extravagaut are the
statements SO often made during the past
week, that Sir Thomas was spending 81
GOO,rJj OF 81 .2J9,ONQ on this last race alone
one could take the contract at s, 900 600 of
paying every cent of Sir Thomas eX-
penses in the races of 1899 and 1891 and
have the snug fortune of from $lO00 to
Si50m9 left over, after delivering Sir
Thomas and his racing outfit in England
when all was over.
The cost, however, is something that the
hpsy
in his effort to get the cup. He frankly
said yesterday that he did not know what
IL was costing him in money, and he prob
ably will not know for some time after
he returns to England. one who is iDti-
mately acquainted with his affairs. how
ever gave some figures which justify the
above estimates
To begin with, the cost of Shamrock II
IN the water and ready for business was
close to $4,000. Her sails, of which she
mas fve complete suits of ten sails to
suit, cost $4,000. Her mast which IS one
piece Of hollow steel 159 feet long. cost
about 5000 But the bulk of the expense
was in her very costly hull of irnmadium
an alloy of tin and copper, which com
known the qualities of strength and
nBhtness in vessels body. In this
enormous cost of Shamrock II there is
very strikingly illustrated the difference
in the cost Of racing yachts TODAY as
compared with those of even eight wears |
ago. For instance. the Nigiant which |
d.. defeated Nalkyrie II in 1897. cost $4,000. |
! he cost of the Defender. which beat Val
kyrie III two years later was $4,000 |
The cost of the Columbia was somewhere |
IN IN the neighborhood Of $4,000 while the |
!, constitution was probably in the neigh |
But the cost of the racing machine |
itself is only a detail in the list of the |
racing expenses the challenger this wear
mas to meet Including the sixty men on |
The Erin, Sir Thomas has with him here
a crew of 20. Eliminating the Erin men
Lhere are 100 men who were engaged for
SIX months at an average of S35 a month
and their board For their board Sir
Thomas makes an allowance o. so cents
A day to each man, the men buying their |
1Wh PROVISIONS ana arranging their own
messes. In addition to their regular pay
)f s35 a month, to each of the forty-seven
men who composed the crew of the sham
rock there is an allowance of $75 prize
money. The usual rate of prize money
to racing yachts crew is s. a man in
case OF victory and $3.50 man in case
1t defeat. This is the rule that holds on
The Columbia. In the case of the Sham !
rock $ men, however, an extra allowance. |
win or lose was made because the men |
had to leave in the height Of the racing |
n England, thereby losing the chance TO
)lck up more or less money in the many |
races in which presumably they WOuld |
nave taken part
Captain Wringe, who sailed the former
shamrock and is present as adviser in
he present contest, and Captain Syca-
more. the captain of Shamrock II, each
Jet 5000, while the mate gets slO01 for
he season. In addition to these there is
he designer of the boat, Mr.. Watson and
he expert sailmaker, Mr.. Ratsey, who
ire both here on salaries that can hardly
'e less than $500 each for the season.
Leaving the yacht proper and coming to |
he collateral expenses there is as the |
argest item the cost of running the steam
'acht Erin for, say, the two months she
actually Is in service in connection with |
he races. This was estimated yesterday
Jy a man familiar with the subject al |
5000 month-$G0, 900 in all. Sir Thomas |
las three other vessels in attendance |
iere-thc Porto Rico. the Victor and the |
ug Lawrence. The Porto Rico serves as |
| tender and on board her live the crew
'nd other employees save those regularly
attached to the Erin. The cost of the |
Porto Rico will be about $500 from the
ime she was engaged until released after |
he races. The Victor is employed in |
arriving Sir Thomas guests to and from
he Erin. Her cost during the racing |
eason Is S223 day. or 81. $50 for fourteen |
lays. The tug Lawrence Is the sham |
ocks 5 attendant, towing her to and /
wherever else necessary The cost Of the |
is SO a day-say $500 for the |
otal time she is in use.
OWING to the aSsa assination of the Presf- | I
lent the Shamrock lay in dGcl, a nuraber
II days longer than she would otherwise
lave done. She was In dock ten days in
III. The cost for dockage was $500 a day, |
while the cost of the men empIoyed work
$50 a day. making total OF $500 for the
locking expenses.
Sir Thomas Upton, as is well known, is
very hospitable man and a lavish on | 1
ertainer. The number of his guests on :,
'oard the Erin during his stay here has | :
een as high as 240 on racing day, while !
n other days he always has had more or |
ess company. Probably s. 900 would he | :
conservative estimate for the cost of | :
his friends during his stay :
ere. His expenses for the race. then r