The Savannah morning news., 1903-08-18
NOW THE YACHT RACE.

NOW THE YACHT RACE.
Towards the end Of the week yacht
ing enthusiasm will be at fever heat.
The first brush between Reliance and
Shamrock III for the Americas Cup
is scheduled to occur Thursday. Both
boats are ready, both crews are on ra-
zor's edge of training and both Mr..
Iselln and Sir Thomas Upton are as
full of confidence as it is possible for
two men to be with respect to an event
in which one of them must lose. Aft
er noting the performances of both
vessels during the past few weeks Sir
Thomas says: II am more confident
than when l left England that Sham
rock III will lift the cup. Nothing in
the world would give me such satisfac-
ton as the winning of that cup after
a fair and free contest" That is fine
and well said: but, despite the brave
talk, is there not just a bit of the ele-
ment of doubt in Sir Thomas mind,
which shows itself when he says that,
should he fail to win this time, he
would want to try again? Mr.. Isle
lin, managing director of the defender,
says that he is thoroughly satisfied
with the Reliance. She is the fast
est yacht l ever saw, SO She is a
perfectly astonishing racer" is his
comment on the boat as she is ready
TO enter the contest. He has no fear
that she will be defeated.
1t was to be expected, however, that
these two gentlemen would say just
about what they have said. Indeed,
they could hardly say otherwise, since
leading boat builders have put
forth their very best efforts and
constructed two racing yachts that
embody the sum Of racing-yacht
knowledge of the world. No expense
has been spared in the building of the
boats, and the most expert men avail
able have been retained to sail them.
Thers'is abundant reason, therefore,
for both pride and confidence, on the
part of the managing director Of one
craft and the owner of the other.
But how do the yachting experts
who are not directly interested in the
yachts size up the prospects? They
have been studying the form" of both
vessels and keeping tab on their per-
formances. All admit that the chal-
lenger is a formidable, powerful craft,
and that she may actually lift" the
cup; but should she do SO it would be
an instance of the unexpected happen
ing. Bringing the performances of
the Reliance and the Shamrock down
to an arithmetcal calculation and bas-
ing the calculation on the races of each
boat with her trial horses. it appears
that the Reliance has covered a course
of thirty miles a number of times in
an average time of about five minutes
less than the Shamrock has covered Il
similar course in average time. That,
of course, is not conclusive as to what
the boats will do when they come to-,
gether. but it is fact that is graft
flying to those who want to see the
trophy stay on this side of the ocean.
1t is fact which seems to Justify the
confidence that is felt in the Ameri-
can boat.
+ Sailors are proverbially superstltious, 1
and there are Some apprehensions felt
in salt water circles because Of the
fact that the forthcoming contest will
be the thirteenth of it's kind. The SUI
perstitious ones are inclined to fear
that the hoodOo number will cause a
reversal of the fortunes of the Ameri-
cans. But why should not the thir-
teen mean bad luck for Sir Thomas,
rather than for the other side? SUI
perstitions and guess work aside, 4
there is every reason to believe that
the series of races to be begun on
Thursday will be close and exciting,
and will put both contestants on their
mettle. at