The sun., 1901-08-04
CLOSE CALL FOR COLUMBIA.
BEATS INDEPENDENCE IN a
fas SPANKING BREEZE.

why Dteeeed and Has Treuble W1th
Her sells Columbia Fouls Inde-
psadsncs st the start. bat No Pro
y test h Msdc-Oid Champion sails
- Miles in = Hours u Minutes a.
SECONDS Her Rival Reaches Fast,
NxwroRr. Aug. s.-The yacht race to-
day betwesn the Columbia and Indepen-
demon was the hardest fought and closest
Of any seen between big boats In many
yeArr. In Q breeze that varied In strength
from 10 to IS knots and In tumbling sea
with the waves covered with whitecaps. the
Columbia beat tho Independence. boat for
boat, by 10 seconds. and on corrected time
the Columbia won by minute II seconds
Tho racc was over a triangular course
ten miles to each leg. The first was to
windwArd, the second q broad reach and
the third close reach. Turning to wind
wsrd the Columbia gained minutes and
80 seconds. Reaching to the second mark
with tho wind over the starboard quarter,
the Independence gained minute IS sec
ons. and on the close reach to the finish
the Boston boat made further gain OF
IS seconds. The last two legs Of the course
twenty miles in all. the Independence sailed
In I hour 81 minutes seconds, which Is a
little bettor than an average speed Of Is
knots an hour.
The Independence should have won
the race, but she lost through being poorly
handled At the starting line she crossed
q tho leeward end, but this position was
forced on her In q measure through the
Columbia fouling her just as the two were
standing for the line. When near the
first mark and while the boat was appar-
emily doing very well. Capt Han gave a
full to the Independence, and while the boat
footed fast she lost more by sagging to
leeward than she gained In footing. and
in the last mile Of the windward leg she
dropped further behind than she did over
any part Of the ten-mile beat. On the
last leg she steered wildly and yawed all
over the course. A No. jib topsail was
used on this leg. II would not draw at
all and then after trying for some time it
was taken in and few minutes later set
again.
1t is said by those on the Independence
that their compass was three points OF on
this leg and that is the reason why this
lib topsail was used. This, however, will
not account for the wild steering. The
yacht luifed well to the south Of her course
and then bore OF with the wind abeam.
laid over so far that the water was almost
up to her mast. It looked as IL she would
carry it away before she righted, but Capt.
Half coaxed the contrary lady gently and
after while she settled down on her course
and then sailed very fast.
The race throughout furnished lots Of
material for the theorists to figure on
In Thursdays race on the second leg. but
with the wind further aft than it was in
to-day's race, the Columbia beat the Inde-
pendence badly. To-day the Independence
gained on the Columbia. In the last leg on
Thursday the Independence made her big
gain. but to-day with the direction Of the
wind the same, the course the same and
the wind stronger she did not sail as fast
as she did on Thursday
the starting line, about a minute before
the sigma was given. the Independence,
close hauled on the starboard tack. was
standing for the windward end Of the line.
The Columbia was reaching in from the
west and had the wind more free than
the Independence. When she neared the
Boston boat the Columbia bore down on
the Independence and, blanketing her.
IttHA Gha mt ;.,tA
being to spill the wind from the Co.
lumbia INTO the Independence sails
and check her headway. II was the trick
tried by the valkyrie with the Defender
in the second Cup race in 1895 The VAL
kyrie fouled the Defender and broke her
just missed the weather shrouds, but il
caught on the forestay and grazed across
the head sails. Fortunately no damage
was done The Columbia was clearly in
the wrong. After the race was over
Thomas W. Lawson was seen just as he
was leaving for Boston. He had watched
tho race from the deck of his steam yacht
Dreamer. He said
-The race to-day is recompense enough
for me for building the Independence
and would be willing to build two boats
for the pleasure got out Of the race No
boat ever sailed better or faster than the
Columbia. and the Independence was not
very DenlHu. L lldNt Hldut no DidnS
for the future, but am willing to race the
Independence whenever there is a chance
for any cups that may be offered by yacht
clubs for contests in her class"
Speaking of the foul, Mr.. Lawson said
There will certainly be no protest made
1t was an accident and no notice will be
taken of II. | don't want TO win a race
through the use of the protest flag The
story of my having offered to divide $1,000
among the crew of the Independence IL
she defeated the Columbia is a malicious
lie and do not understand the object of
ite author"
Capt. Haff. who sailed the Independence,
said: After turning the second mark
we sailed the course according to our com
pass and could not understand how the
Columbia was heading. When we were
able TO make out the lightship we found
that We were point and half on. This
was probably the heeling error. At the outer
mark the boat steered very wild. The
yacht got on her ear and twisted the stern
so that the rudder post jammed and we
could not steer her at all. The working
,opsail we used set very poorly, One had
been ordered from Boston but II did not
arrive in time and We had to Use the one
we had"
c. c. Clapp. who sailed on the Independ-
ence. said:
.Our compass was of and that accounted
for the course steered on the last leg II
was wonder that something was not
carried away when the Columbia foued us.
The boom just missed our rigging and
the sail grazed over the forestry and the
headsails We talked over the anvisabiliy
Of protesting. but decided not TO do SO"