The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-15
THE Upton CHALLENGER.
Several Novelties in the British
Yacht Shamrock II.

NEW YORK, April 1.-THE Americas
Cup races and yachts building for the
challengers and defenders receive great
attention in the latest yachting papers
from London. The Yachting World
tells of some of the novelties aloft and
of the rig of the Shamrock ii, and says:
From what is already known of Sir
Thomas Lipton's second challenger there
is good reason for expecting that the hull
will show some striking notifications of
the form generally adopted for the big
yachts. The exact extent of these modifi-
cations and the effect which they will
have on the speed of the boat are matters
which will not be clearly known until
after the boat has been launched and
tried. Every little change is of Importance,
however, as indicating a phase of devel-
opment or experiment which may improve
our chances Of success in this important
contest and there will, therefore. be con-
siderable interest in the announcement,
which we make with confidence, that
there viii be many novelties in the rig
ging and sail plan of Shamrock II.
Most striking among these is the fact
that in planning the spars, Mr.. George
J.. Watson has departed altogether from
the usual method of fitting a topraast
over a nainmast, and has taken a bold
mast Needless to say, the spar will be
the longest ever stepped in a vessel of
any kind, and from the step to the truck
IL will tape no less than 14S feet. Such
spar would have been impossible in the
time of wooden masts, out this will be
made throughout of thin plates of nickel
steel, rolled TO semi-circular shape, riveted
on both edges, and strengthened inside
by large number OF steel spurs extend
ing from side to side of the spar
Three or four advantages are expected
| from this style OF spar. The first and
| chief is that there will be no topmast TO
| be a possible source of weakness ana
| permanent worry TO the skipper every
| time the wind blows more than fresh
| Shanrocks only chance in the last con-
| test was in the reaching race, ana she
| lost this through an unsupported weak
| ness in her topmast gear With the pole
| mast a stouter and better braced spar
| viii be secured and the risk of accident
ninimized-
! No vachtsn1an requires to be told that
| the advantage of weight saved is multi
I plied when the weight is saved aloft, ana
| in this another advantage is expected
The weight of the doubling which is nec-
! essary when nainmast and topmast are
| used will be saved, and with ii the weight
and windage of all the housing and part
of the standing gear. Again, the steel
spar built as part of the pole mast can
be made much lighter than the wooden
topmast and every pound saved AT this
| altitude is Of Importance.
| There are disadvantages in the plan,
| but these are trivial as compared with
| the benefits One OF them is that the
| length of the topmast Is expressly set out
| as factor in the measurement, and there
| may be some trouble in applying this
| where no topmast, strictly speaking, ex-
| lists The disadvantage of this Will be
! with the measurer, and the only real
| drawback which the yacht will suffer Will
| be from the fact that il will be impossible
| TO snug her down by housing topmast
, should such q course be necessary. 1t
! may, however, be pointed out that there
| was only one occasion on which housed
| topmast was considered necessary in a
cup race and even then the opposing boat
| kept hers on end
i'm the distribution of the sail also the
new challenger will present a marked
difference to the boat which carried the
| last challenge. The great spread OF the
| fore-triangle of Shamrock was the sub
| ject of much unfaYorable comment. 1t
| measured 70 feet in the base as against
| Columbia's 70 feet Mr.. George l.. Watson
has cut his fore-triangle down further
even than was done on Columbia, and
on the new boat II viii measure only IL
feet This is done, not by shortening the
bowsprit, but by stepping the mast fur
| Their forward, and the result will be to
| give Shamrock ii the largest mainsail
| ever carried on racing yacht. On the
boom IL will stretch 1l2 feet in length,
and the total length from bowsprit end to
mainsail outhaul Will be 1874 feet inches"