New-York tribune., 1901-08-28
THE SHAMROCK A FLYER.
CHALLENGER DEMONSTRATES ABILITY
IN WINDWARD WORK.
HER SPEED TRIAL YESTERDAY WITNESSED
BY MANY INTERESTED SPECTATORS.


Shamrock. for a thirty mile spin yesterday. and
provided the American yachting writers with |
some mental pa abulum. To those who have close
ly followed the international yachting of the
last ten years the first thing that was notice
able in the wtndward work Of the new boat was
the likeness of the general performance TO tnat
of the Britannia. The resemblance was not In
regard TO speed in which there are great differ |
ences in the present year, but in general deport-
ment. This boat carries her large sail spread in
a way that at once tells Of her belonging to the
same Britannia family, no matter how much this
boat may be. and certainly is. refined for speed
as compared with the model that raced the
vigilant in 1894. Neither of the two Watson de-
signs has the habit of putting her rail under in
a stiff breeze The Britannia seemed TO refuse
to do so under any provocation and Sir Thomas
Upton has said that in all the sailing or the
Shamrock they have never put her rail under.
This does not mean that either of the Watson
designs lacks life. and the windward perform
ance of the challenger yesterday showed consld-
erable activity but not TO the same extent as in
the Columbia nor was she anything like as sem
sitive in the matter of careen as the Americas
Cup defender.
The Shamrock moves in more staid way at
all times and when she is heavily pressed by
wind she sinks further in the water, as if TO get
a better grip on it. and she does not turn over
on her side like the Columbia, the independence.
the Vigilant and especially the new Constltu-
ton. The only important craft of American de-
sign which has had the same popularity IN pre-
ferring to sink rather than careen was. as ex-
plained lately by Mr.. Duncan. the Defender,
which was an improved Britannia.
While the present Shamrock shows the same
kind of ability for windward work her older
sister. and also the Queen Nab and others OF
the same great family the natural thought is
that she may have a similar mediocre ability
in beam winds and for started sheets generally
The Vigilant could beat the Britannia and Val
kyrie II in reaching and there seems 70 be moth
ing in these PAGES Of the present Shamrock 70
suggest that she will ever be remarkable in the
directions mentioned.
But when it comes TO the consideration or
wlndward work. this challenger makes a strong
suggestion that her designer whose principal
fame has been in the shaping OF weatherly
yachts has now eclipsed all his former efforts
and produced a boat which in winds above a
certain strength may be found TO be a wonder.
From her performance yesterday while eating
into ten knot breeze she seemed 10 he quite
capable of beating the first Shamrock fun ten
minutes 10 a dfteen-u mile windward mark and
in the same wind velocity. Further, II is almost
certainty that the harder it blew the further
this boat would beat the last challenger-this
estimate being based on the 1890 challenger as
she performed off Sandy Hook.
There is in this racer an extraordinary vim
and an rrepressible greed for gobDling wind
ward water that make her seem TO stand in a
class by herself.
The Shamrock was surrounded by launches
and small yachts she got ready yesterday
morning on some OF the vessels the girls and
women were packed so thckIy that there was
not standing room. and they were cheering any
thing and everything. While the crew walked
aft on the haIyards and sent up the huge light
gray mainsan the girls cheered. From the time
the big topsail first touched TO the time it
fully set and the boat paying off from
her moorings was just fourteen minutes.
Watson and Upton were both aboard the
green boat which made a sweeping and
most graceful circle round her mOOrings be-
fore she left the waters of the Horseshoe The
new club topsail. which had arrived on the st.
Paul on the previous day. proved a wonderful
fit. and was unanimously admitted to be simply
perfection"
The yacht heeled but little to the ten knot
breeze as she beat out of Gedney's Channel and
took the beyond the harbor buoys. The
tide running out cutting the bottom off
the incoming seas on the bar. making them
short abrupt and wall sided, but the Shamrock
really went at them like a savage dog. crush
Sir Thomas kept her out about hour. and
then ran in before the wind to the Southwest
Spit the boat being gybed a number Of times
as the curves of the channels required Another
gybe was made around into the ship channel
leading 10 New-York and UP this boiled the
Shamrock According to the thermometer on the
Erin DR. Mackay said the wind twelve
miles an hour. II did not look more than ten.
but it sent the Shamrock from the Southwest
Spit in through the NarrowS to near the Owls
Head Buoy in ffty-nine minutes.
She passed the Southwest Spit at 2:0I- In
other words she beat the entire distance, on
long and short legs, in two minutes less time
than she ran it in straight course with the
fresh wind pretty we'll aft. AS far as eyesight
could help the run in TO the NarrOws did not
seem particularly fast Memory seemed TO sub
gest that the first Shamrock could do IL faster,
and that the Columbia and the Constitution could
also beat it, on the other hand, the engineer
of the tug Unique had different story to tell
The Unique had been the chartered tug OF the
New-Yorl Yacht Club all summer and on many
days had had her speed tested 10 the limit by
the Constitution and the Columbia. The engineer
said yesterday that he never had to drive his
boat hard to keep up with a yacht as with
the Shamrock AS II was. his ocean tug got
badly beaten.
An item that was received on apparently good
authority was that from the foot OF the sham
rocks mast TO the top of her topsail yard is over
1870 feet.
Sir Thomas Upton has received an invita-
tion from Commodore Ledyard 20 be present at
Newport at the trial races which begin there on
Saturday. Sir Thomas said that. if he could,
he would be present on one of the days. going
down on the Erin one night and returning after
the race the following night.
To-day the Shamrock will sail ;he fun thirty
miles of the Americas Cup course off Sandy
Hook, and the chartered tug Laurence will either
set the marks or act as stakeboat at the wind