The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-09-27

was still windward. The fascinating
game the two shippers were fighting
was so intense that both miscalculat-
ed the time and crossed the line thr-
" seconds before the starting gun was
fired. Three blasts of the whistle
sounded the recall The two big can
Secluded racers wore around as if
turning on their heels and coming up
again in the smoke of the gun fled
away across the line, both on the star
board tack, but Columbia half length
in the lead and length to windward.
Both carried the same sails main, club
topsail, stay, jib and baby jib. The
sight made the pulses of the specta-
tors tingle with delight. Then for ten
miles down the Long Island shore in
plain view of the people there, the two
big single strickers smashed into the
head seas, sending spray smoking to
the cross trees. Strain as Shamrock
would she could not hold her white
rival even. Slowly but surely CO.
lumbia forged ahead, pointing higher
and footing faster. Shamrock tackled
and tackled again, but Columbia went
about with her each time and appeared
to be the more nimble. Timed again
ana again by the experts she was
quicker in stays by ten seconds.
A Beautiful Spectacle.
The beat down the Long Island coast
made beautiful marine spectacle. The
| patrol fleet under the direction of Capt.
| Walker of the revenue cutter service.
maintained a perfectly clear field. Half
| a mile of revenue cutters and yachts
| at an angle of four points from each
side of the course formed a right an
| gle, changing direction as the yachts
| tackled. In the hollow of this angle as
| If in fence corner there was no more
| interference with the yachts than If
| they had been sailing in the middle of
| the Atlantic, while behind the fence on
| either side were the solid floating, NOV
ing lines of careening hulls, rail to rail,
| their smoking stacks making a black
| wall above them. On into the bucking
seas the yachts went, squirting great
| geysers from their shark like bows.
| The American was undoubtedly the
prettier boat. Her sky -scraping club
topsail was not so high by eight feet
as that of her rival, but she appeared
| more stately and graceful. She seemed
a thing of life, lifting to the seas with
less effort or piercing them with less
fuss while the heavier breasted Sham
rock pointed and shivered them with
| the force of her impact. The slender
hulls of the racing machines looked too
| frail to carry the canvas which tower
| eed above them. Over 1870 feet above
the water line, hight equal to a mod
ern ten-story building, the slender top
| mast yard of the Shamrock lifted her
| pyramid of canvas, but her S33 square
| feet more of canvass than the Colum-
bia carried could not make her over
| take the white beauty.
when Shamrock Was in Front.
1t was directly off Long Beach Ho-
| tel with it's crowded piazzas that the
! Shamrock showed in front for the first
and only time during the race. AS the
| wind had hauled more to the south
ward and had died down somewhat
| Charlie Barr headed the Columbia off
short in the hope of meeting it. In
| stead he poked his nose into a dead
| calm and for some minutes the Column
bia laX with her sails Tapping, while
| the Shamrock, catching slant of wind
nearer shore, drew rapidly ahead. But
| the victory was short-lived. The cant
of the wind to the southwark held and
freshened to about six knots, making
! it from this point a close hauled
reach to the mark. The Columbia rap
| idly overlook her adversary and Capt.
! Sycamore in desperation concluded to
press on more canvas by trying larg-
er jib topsail. While the sailors We're
out on the bowsprit taking in the old
|
| Columbia went by the Shamrock as If
she had been moored to the dock, MAX
| ing two feet to her one. From
that time to the outer mark
the Columbia gained steadily.
CoIumbia's Great Finish.
AS she appeared at the turning point
the excursion fleet, going at full speed,
| circled out and massed beyond the
mark to witness the turn. AS she came
alongside, leaving the mark on the
starboard hand, Barr put his helm hard
down and luffed around it, Then she
filled away. Her great balloon jib
broke out like puff of smoke, her
boom was eased off, and she was away
for home on broad reach. The bands
crashed, the whistles blew and the
crowd aboard the excursion fleet cheer
ed The fleet courteously waited un-
| til Shamrock rounded, seven minutes
and fifteen seconds later and gave her
a cordial reception. From that time on
it was procession, not a
race The Englishman tried
half hozen head sails in
the hope of improving his
position, but the American forged
steadily ahead. Then the wind, which
had been seven knots at the stake
| boat, gradually died down and an hour
before the time limit expired it was
evident that the yachts could not fin
ish in time When the committee boat
finally hoisted her signals declaring
mo race" the big excursion fleet
headed back for New York as fast as
steam and sail could carry them. Only
the steam yacht Erin with Sir Thomas
and his party aboard remained along
side the challenger and escorted heI
to her anchorage.
Under the rules the unfinished race
will be resailed on Saturday and the
course will be again fifteen miles tc
windward or leeward and return.
How the Race Started.
The Columbia was first to reach the
scene of the start, being towed from
her moorings out to Sandy Hook light.
shin. The breeze at 10 o'clock was
blowing about ten knots an hour from
east northeast and it then looked az
though it might increase. The Colum'
bia took quite kindly to the swell thai
rolled in from the sea, making very lit
tie disturbance in the water She made
several tacks round the lightship be-
fore her rival appeared on the scene
The Shamrock came by the point o.
the Hook in tow. 1t was noticed tha
she splashed the water about consider
ably and pitched heavily in the Ions
ground swell. Her canvass set admira
bly,. Never was finer suit of sails seei
or a cup challenger.
The ocean tug Navigator, which car
ried S. N. Kane, Chester Griswold AM