The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-09-29
An Exciting Race From Start
to Finish.
WATCHED IN BREATHLEss SUSPENSE
Colum bia Wins Amid q Hurricane Of
Cheers. Tuesday the Yachts Race
Over q Triangular Course 10
Miles to the Leg.
(By the Associated Press.)

(By the Associated Press.)
New York, Sept. 2S.-In the closest and
most soul-stirring race ever sailed for
the old Americas cup, the white f1yer
Columbia today beat the British chal-
lenger over a windward and leeward
course of thirty nautical miles by the
narrow heart breaking margin of 80
seconds. AS Lipton's latest aspirant for
cup honors must allow the defender 43
seconds on account of the extra 1913
square feet of canvas in her sail area
the official record under the rules gives
her the victory by one minute and
twenty-five seconds.
AS spectacle the contest was superb.
From the time the two skyscraping racers
crossed the starting line until they fled
across the finish line four and half
hours later the result was in doubt and
the excitement aboard the excursion fleet
increased until men became frenzied and
women almost hysterical. So evenly
matched were these two scientific racing
machines that, never after they started
we're the rival shippers out of each other
the time they were so close that Charlie
Barr, who had the tiller aboard the
American boat could have tossed a
biscuit to Captain Sycamore on the Sham
rock For miles as they beat their way
to the outer mark the black shadow OF
Shamrocks huge club topsail was painted
on the big mainsail of the Columbia, and
for an hour on the run home, with the
two yachts flying like scared deer before
the following wind they ran almost beam
to beam as IL they had been harnessed
together.
THE SHAMROCK A DAISY.
AS a result of today's race, though
faith in the Columbia still remains in
the hearts Of the patriots, all the ex-
perts admit that the British boat is the
ablest sloOp ever sent to these waters
to lift the one hundred guinea cup, which
the old schooner America brought across
the Atlantic fifty years ago, and that
the superiority Of American seamanship
and American naval architecture, as rep
resented by the defender remains to be
established.
The quality Of a sailing ship is measur-
ed by her ability to carve her way into
an adverse wind and in the fifteen mile
thresh to windward today the golden
challenger gained 80 seconds, while on
the run home her lead was eaten up and
the Columbia crossed the finish line ex-
actly 81 seconds before the Shamrock
1t must be remembered, however, that
the challenger had the weather guage in
the beat to windward, no mean advantage
and the nautical experts said after the
race that during the outward journey
she had been sailed to absolute perfec-
tion, while before the wind the American
yacht not only showed fieeter pair OF
heels but, in the opinion of the sharps
was better handled.
AN IDEAL DAY TO RACE.
Disappointed by the fluke of Thursday
the crowd which sailed down to Sandy
Hook Lightship today was somewhat
smaller than on the opening day, but
even SO the colony Of steamers, steam
yachts. tug-boats, sailing vessels and ex-
cursion craft of every description formed
an angle at the starting line miles long.
1t was an ideal day for a race