Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-04-25

outhaul 1SA Feet q Inches.
The Americas cup races and yachts
building for the challengers and de-
tenders 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 III and says:
From what is already known OF Sir
Thomas Lipton's second challenger
there Is good reason for expecting that
the huh will show some striking modi-
locations OF the form generally adopted
for the big racing yachts. The exact
extent of these notifications and the
effect which they Will have on the
speed of the boat are matters which
Will not he clearly known until after
the boat has been tried and launched
Every little change is OF Importance,
however. as indicating phase OF de
yelopment or experiment which may
improve our chances of success in this
important contest. and there viii there
fore be considerable interest in the an
nouncement which We make With con-
fdence that there will be many novel
ties in the rigging and sail plan OF
Shamrock III.
Most striking among these is the
fact that in planning the spars Mr..
George l.. Watson has departed alto
gether from the usual method of fitting
a topmast over mainmast and has
taken bold step In fitting the chal-
lenger with a pole 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 it will tape
no less than las feet. Such spar
would have been impossible in the time
of wooden masts. but this will be
made throughout OF thin plates OF nick
81 steel rolled to semicircular shape.
riveted on both edges and strengthened
inside by a large number of steel spurs
extending from side TO side OF the spar.
Three or four advantages are ex-
pected from this style of spar The
first and chief is that there will be no
topmast to be possible source OF
weakness and a permanent worry 10
the skipper every time the wind blows
more than fresh. The Shamrock only
chance in the last contest was in the
reaching race. and she lost this through
an unsupported weakness in her top
mast gear. With the pole mast stout
er and better braced spar will be secur-
ed and the risk of accident minimized.
NO yachtsman requires to be told
that the advantage of weight saved is
multiplied when the weight is saved
aloft. and in this another advantage is
expected. The weight of the doubling
which is necessary when the mainmas,
and topmast are used will be saved and
with it the weight and windage of al
the housing and part of the standing
gear. Again. the steel spar built as par'
of the pole mast can be made much
lighter than the wooden topmast, and
every pound saved at this altitude is OF
Importance.
I'm the distribution of the sail alse
- sa,~iianoar will present q
marked difference to the boat which
carried the last challenge. The great
spread of the fore triangle Of Shamrock
| was the subject of much unfavorabl
comment. 1t measured 80 feet in the
base as against Columbia's 13 feet
Mr.. George l.. Watson has cut his fore
triangle down farther even than was
done on Columbia. and on the new boat
il Will measure only II feet. This is
done not by shortening the bowsprit
but by stepping the mast farther for
ward, and the result will be to give
Shamrock III the largest mainsail ever
carried on racing yacht. On the boom
il will stretch 112 feet in length, and
the total length from bowsprit end to
mainsail outhaul will be 1S4 feet 6
inches'