Evening star., 1901-02-16
WHY RACING BOATS COME HIGH
Costs a Fortune to Build and Sail
a Defender.
OF THE EMBLEM

cessful cup defenders have been built be-
fore. 1t has not always been the case that
America has presented only one candl-
date for the honor of defending the cup
as she did two years ago. In fact. in this
regard the conditions of the cup races have
varied a great deal. Those who know the
history of the emblem which Sir Thomas
Upton is trying to lift will recall the fact
that the America won her great victory
over a fleet of fifteen English yachts OH
Cowes on the 22d of August 1851, beating
the best Of them, the Aurora, by twenty
four minutes. The cup, which was the
gift of the Royal Yacht Club of England,
was won outright, but the owners of the
America presented it to the New YORK
Yacht Club as a perpetual challenge cup.
The America did not return after the race,
but was sold to an English yachtsman.
England did not challenge for the cup Tor
nineteen years. Then Jas. Ashbury sent
the schooner Cambria over to sail against
an American fleet and was beaten by the
Magic in thirty-nine minutes twelve sec
onds.
The following year Mr.. Ashbury raced
Livona, best four In seven against the
choice of the New York Yacht Club, to be
selected on the morning of each race day:
The Columbia won the first two races ana
lost her steering gear and the race in the
third contest. The Sappho then won the
fourth and fifth races and the contest.
The Royal Canadian Yacht Club challeng-
ed with the Countess of Dufferin In 1876
and she was beaten in two straight races
by the Madeline. Five years later the Bay
of Quinte Club of Canada sent the Atlanta
to race against the Mischief, and she, too,
was beaten in two straight.
Other Former Contests.
In 1885 another challenge came from Eng
land, and Sir Richard Sutton sent over the
Genesta. For the first time Boston became
o. factor in the races. The Boston-built
boat Puritan beat the Genesta by SIX MN
utes forty-seven seconds in the first ana
two minutes nine seconds in the second
race.
In the following year another Boston
boat MayfoWer, beat Lieutenant Hem
cutter, Galatea, by twelve minutes twenty
seconds and twenty-nine minutes forty
eight seconds. In 1887 Volunteer, also bos-
ton built, beat the cutter Thistle, owned by
James Bell Of Glasgow, by nineteen MIN
utes twenty-three seconds and eleven MIN
utes fifty-five seconds.
When Lord Dunraven sent over VAL
kyrie H. Boston built two boats, the Jubi-
lee and the Pilgrim. Hereshoff beat them
both in the preliminary races with his
Viglant and the Vigilant defeated the Dun
raven boat by seven minutes thirty-siX
seconds and two minutes thirteen seconds,
actual time. Corrected time gave the Vigi-
liant only forty seconds advantage IN the
second race.
BOSTON built no boat in 1895. Hereshor
built the Defender to meet Dunravens VAL
kyrie III. The American boat Won the
first race in eight minutes twenty seconds.
The English boat won the second by 1ofty-
seven seconds, but lost through foul, and
Lord Dunraven then withdrew the Falkyrie
III. after crossing the line in the third race.
The victory Of the Columbia over the
Shamrock in 1899 is fresh IN the mlnos OF
the American people.
An Expensive Undertaking.
I7orv few nerscns not directly connected
I'm some way with marine matters under
stand why it costs SO many thousands of
dollars to produce a yacht to defend the
Americas cup. 1t is the purpose Of this ar
ticle to show briefly the principal reasons
for sulh large expenditure of money.
In the first place, the defense of the
Americas cup is an international affair, re-
earded by yachtsmen rs Of such great i'm
portance that the best design material and
Workmanship must be had at any cost, IN
order to properly defend that tlme-honofed
trophy.
In the case of the yacht now building for
Mr. Lawson under the supervision of
George Lawley al the Atlantic works, East
Boston, her designer, b. Il. CroWnlnshleId,
had to furnish at short notice an elaborate
design the result of years of study boiled
down to perhaps a months actual hard
work. This had to be submitted to COM
mittee altered several times, and finally
accepted and turned over, with the work.
ing plans, to the builder, George Lawley
When the contracts are signed for the con-
struction of such yacht the price agreed
upon includes, of course, the designers fee,
which although the success Of the boat
depends principally on his work, is gen
orally the smallest sum expended. The
builders first payment has to be expended
almost Immediately for material, the latter
generally making subcontracts with sail
makers, sparmakers, plumbers and Others
Some of these furnish the material and in
stall it in the yacht. The builder, in the
| cac of the Lawson Yacht. not having Suf-
ficient facilities at his own yard, "farmed
OUT the work so to speak. to the Atlantic
iron works, where facilities for fashioning
the frames and the steel plates were bet
ter.
Molding the Keel.
The first step in the construction Of the
modern cup defender is the molding of the
lead keel For this some ninety tons of
lead are used. A wooden trough is built of
the size and shape required, into which the
molten lead Is run from an elevated posi-
ton. Hurry orders have been sent out the
moment the contract was signed to firms
who furnish steel. so that by the time the
keel is run some of the frames are generally
on the way to the ship yard. Being received
In straight lengths Of angle iron, they are
made hot at the ship yard, placed upon
what is known as a bending platform, and
by means of wedges and pins are bent to
the shape required by the designers plans.
A long fiat piece Of steel called the keelson,
reaching the, e,entire length of the yacht. is
i first fastened TO the lead keel by long bolts,
fsthen the stem and stern posts are set up,
l. the stern post being the portion of the
frame to which the rudder Is later at
tached. The middle ribs generally the
ones first fastened to the keel and keelson,
| the deck beams, which are fastened to the
upper portion of these frames, being put in
place at the same time Twenty inches is
the average space between all frames, and
as soon as the frames are all in place the
riveting of plates begins. The Lawson yacht
has one hundred and forty frames and
eighty-si deck beams. The plates. of Tobin
bronze, are very wide. All these plates are
first carefully rolled and bent to the shape
of the frames. The lower one next the
| keel called the cardboard strake," is put
on first.
The next step is the laying of the yachts
| deck In this case it will be combinat ton
| of aluminium and steel, upon which may be
| laid light wooden deck.
Constructing the Hull.
For the purpose of Strengthening the in
| terror of the yacht long strips of steel
reaching longitudinally from the deck to
the keel and crossed by others are used.
| The same plan is carried out under the
deck, wide fiat strips of steel crossing each