Arizona republican., 1903-10-03
Lipton on the Future of Yacht Racing

l Will stop to thlnk minute.
 l Upton on the Future of Yacht Racing
 In an article in the October Cosmo- | politan on "The Future of Internation- al Yacht Racing" Sir Thomas Lipton frankly admits that the evolution of the racing yacht has produced q mons | tro:ity-a craft good for nothing on | earth or on the sea. "A defeated rac- ing machine" he says, lis a useless combination of steel, canvas and hemp. It can never be transformed into q real yacht. There is danger on one at all times, for that towering spar with it's acres of swelling canvas. supported only by faith and the singing threads of wire stays, is at any moment liable to go by the board" He tells us that the real cause of the present type of ninety-footers, which since 1895 have been steadily deteriorating as pleasure craft. is readily seen. They are cX- tremes of a type that exhibits the fac tor of speed at it's maximum, and the
 
 have been aimed toward that end cx- clusively. The boats have absolutely no merit other than that of extreme facility in travelling through the water. and for other purposes are entirely worthless
 Sir Thomas merely states in this summing up the conclusions reached by the American public some time ago. and the fact that the racing yacht of today can serve no purpose whatever accounts for the decline of popular in- terest in the international races. It is no eXaggeration to say that the cor tests have become somewhat of d bore Sir Thomas confirms the verdict al ready reached when he says that types of craft such as the Reliance and the Shamrock TIT mean nothing for marine architecture except the de- velopment of speed. Their respective models exhibit TO knowledge that could be really valuable in building the craft that make either England or America. the commercial power that it is. nor can any lesson be drawn from the light construction and deep fin with it's one hundred tons of lead flirt- ing with eels and founders almost within touch of the bottom"
 He makes another very practical count in his indictment of the modern racing yacht when he complains of the extra ordinary expense of a contest. Tn the late races for the Blue Ribbo: of the sea-" he says. or my fleet was quite formidable one. I had two large racing yachts in commission. a steam yacht. an going tug, sev- eral barges, launches, and q sidewheel steamboat lie rcfrains in good taste from stating the amount he has ex- pended in his three efforts to lift the cup but experts say it is considerably more than million dollars
 Sir Thomas then proceeds to q con clusion that yachts of the Shamrock" and Reliance" type have seen their day, and they will be followed by a "legitimately designed boat" ocean recing," he says, ''is the sure outcome of better type of yacht" By a ''bet- ter type" he means yacht which will race across the Atlantic from shore to shore and teach constructors some thing new and valuable in the problem of building the most serviceable sailing ship for the purposes of commerce.
 After reading Sir Thomas sound con- clusions on these points. it is rather mystifying to find him expressing an eager desire to build another Sham rock" and to contest for the "America'' cup over the same course and under the same conditions as before. just as soon as he can find d designer who can build a faster boat than anything yet produced. And he apparently de- parts from the realm of common sense, where he is generally so much at i home, when he says, .I firmly believe | the 'America'S' cup will go abroad, if | only for one or two years, md l would give my life to be the one who carries it back to our beloved little island" In other words, having decided that the racing yacht of today is a useless | monstrosity. and after finding fault
 with designers for following extreme lines until they have produced such boats, and after stating that every thinking yachtsman must deplorc the error that has sacrificed everything for extreme speed he announces his in- tention to put a further premium on
 that error and nonsense. If 1 knew a
 designer who could build a boat for me