The San Francisco call., 1903-09-05
YACHTS OR RACING MACHINES.

OIR THOMAS Upton declared before the
late series of began that if he won the
- America cup he would fix the terms OF compe-
ttion in such a that the contests would be
made by genuine yachts and not by racing machines
In developing his views he said: Racing machines
are dangerous and useless. If Shamrock III loses
shall have to throw her upon scrap heap. II she
wins never will her type of boat again for the
Americas cup unless the cup again should leave its
native shores for the United States
The implication in that statement that Americans
are more devoted to racing machines than to gent
inc yachts is hardly fair. Since first the public be-
gan to get warmed up to an interest in the rivalry
between Shamrock III and the Reliance the press
OF the East which certainly fairly reflects the sent
ment of the people. has been well nigh unanimous
in deprecating the racing machine and calling for
revival of racing between genuinely good yachts.
Long before Upton made any public utterance on
the subject OF the leading papers OF New
York, Boston and Philadelphia had earnestly urged
the adoption OF set of regulations governing
future contests that hereafter the emulation and
rivalry for the cup would tend to improve yachts
instead OF wasting energy in the construction of a
machine fit for nothing but racing in light winds.
The only dissenting voice that has been heard is
that of contemporary that argues in defense of the
racing machine that it serves the same purpose as
light sulky made for trotting races. "The man
who drives Lou Dillon to a two-minute mile" says
this authority "does feel that the sport of tro-
ting demands that he should drive her to a vehicle
that can be used as express wagon between heats
The argument is ingenious, but there is no analogy
between the two things. The trotting is main
tanned not to improve sulkies but improve horses
II there were devised style OF racing that did not
improve the breed of horses and thus increase the
efficiency of that animal both for work and for pleas
ure is safe say the public would not long sane
tion it The object OF yacht racing should be the
improvement of yachts and since the construction OF
the machine type does act as an incentive to any
genuine yacht improvement, the present outburst OF
condemnation of that kind OF racing is quite JUS
tiiabe
A reviewer in describing the changes by which the
tonnage OF competing yachts has diminished while
the sail has been enormously increased, says:
These staggering changes have become possible by
the adoption OF the fin keel The displacement of the
Columbia, for instance, is I45 tons and ninety tons
of this weight is in the lead bulb carried twenty feet
under her water line Ninety tons is practically the
weight OF the average locomotive and its tender
Imagine boat but ninety feet long and twenty foui
feet beam carrying a cotton locomotive suspended
twenty feet below her underbody and the enormous
stability of the racing machine is explained But ;
boat OF las tons, whereof ninety in her keel
has not much capacity left for carrying he1
crew and their creature comforts; she is yacht by
courtesy only, and not a vessel that can cruise OF
make voyage"
The limit of the racing machine has not yet beer
reached and if the competition in that direction &c
further shall doubtless see something still more
wonderful in the way of racing craft fitted for ligh
winds, but useless for anything else Still it nov
seems evident that majority of yachtsmen, any
rate have no desire to see further successes in tha
line. The demand for genuine yacht race for th
cup is becoming formidable and may be strong
enough to bring about some change in the terms
when the next challenger comes forward