The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-03-20
LAUNCHING OF SHAMROCK III.
Lady S~haftesbury Broke the Bottle,
Saying May God Bless You and May
You Bring Back the Cup.

Glasgow, March 1.-THE Shamrock
III was launched'today under the most
successful conditions. Lady Shaftes-
Royal Ulster Yacht Club, christened the
yacht in the presence of a number of
distinguished guests. Shamrocks and
hopefulness were much in evidence. Sir
Thomas Upton divided 1000 punches of
the former in honor of st. Patrick and
voiced the general sentiment of hope
fulnesS by saying: With just a little
slice of luck, the battered old mug will
find a resting place on his side of the
water"
At lis p. m. Lady Shaftesbury broke
the bottle, saying: Il christen you
Shamrock, may God bless you and may
you bring back the cup"
Then, amid loud cheers the ]pontoons
on which Shamrock III was resting,
slid easily into the water.
In a speech after the luncheon, Sir
Thomas Upton said the Americas cup
must now be homesick. Here they had
learned lessons from the past and they
were never more confident. They had
fifty years experience with American
| yachts and yachtsmen and none would
cheer a Shamrock victory more heartily
than the Americans.
The Lord provost expressed the wish
| that some diplomatic Pierpont Morgan
would organize a vast international
combination RELOCATING the fighting
navies of the world to the scrap heap
| and replace them with Shamrocks as a
means of settling differences"
An examination of Shamrock III as
the yacht was revealed in the launch
ing shed, confirmed the previous dis
patches of the Associated Press on the
subject and showed that Fife a
struck out boldly on entirely novel
lines, instead of trying to tinker or
improve on either of the previous Lip
ton challengers. Like her predecessors
however, the Shamrock III is built close
up to the ninety foot water limit. Her
| length is over all 140 feet. The most
striking feature of the challenger IS
her extremely short fin. 1t is just
twenty feet long. Her drought Is nine
| teen feet and the fin is almost level
along the bottom. The lead in the hull
is drawn we'll down to the fin, suggest
ing the deep body, typical of the Brit
ish cutter, rather han the extreme fiat
floor type, adapted from the American
center-board yachts, which was used In
all the recent challengers.
American wheel steering for the first
time replaces the British tiller, and the
lesson learned with the Shamrock III
through her pounding in head seas has
lead to a longer and finer drawn bow,
giving the challenger the appearance Of
being a boat capable of negotiating
comfortably any moderate sea. With
lesser draft and not so fiat foored as
the previous S~hamrocks, the challen-
ger will not have so much stability, so
Fife has either gone in for a light
weather boat or he has cut down her
sail area. There are daring novel fea-
lures in the design, the effect of which
cannot be accurately gagged except by
actual trial. They suggest the possibil-
ity of difficulty in getting the new boat
to trim, steer and carry her
If, however, she accomplisheS these OBJ
1ects we'll she will prove to be far away
the most formidable challenger ever
sent out.