The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-18
SHAMROCK LAUNCHED
NEW BOAT TAKES WATER ST |.
 PATRICK'S DAY.
Sir Thomas Lipton Says His Third Attempt to Lift the Cup is His Most Serious
 Effort.

Glasgow, March 1.-The Shamrock III was launched at 1:15 D. m. today.
 An examination of Shamrock III as the yacht was. revealed in the launching shed confirmed the previous dispatches of the Associated Press the subject and showed that Fife had struck out boldly on entirely novel lines instead of trying to tinker or improve on either of the pre- Vious Lipton challenGers. Like her pred ecessors, however, the Shamrock III is built close up to the 90-foot water line limit. Her length over all is 14O feet. The most striking feature of the challenger is her extremely short fin It is just twep- ty feet long. Her draught is nineteen and the fin is almost level along the level of the bottom. The lead in the hull is drawn well down to the fin. suggesting the deep body typical of the British cut ter. rather than the extreme flat -floored type, adapted from the American center board yachts and used in all the recent challengers.
 American wheel steering for the first time replaces the British tller and the lesson learned with the Shamrock II led to a longer and finer drawn bow. giving the challenger the appearance of being boat capable of negotiating com fortably any modern sea. With lesser draft and not so flat-floored. as the pre- vious Shamrocks the challenger will not have so much stability as Fife has either gone in for a lightweight boat or
 he has cut down her sail area. There
 are daring, novel features in the design,
 the effect of which cannot be accurately
 gauged except by actual trial. They sug- gest the possibility of difficulty in getting
 the new boat in trim, steer and carry her canvass. If. however. she accomplishes
 these objects well, she will prove to be
 by far the most formidable challenger
 ever sent out.
 The underbody of the Shamrock III is
 painted with a white anti-fouling compo- sition. Her topsides are white and she has broad bands of green along the wa terline and rail Her hull frames and
 plates are all of nickel steel specially
 made. The deck is of aluminium plates.
 covered with wood fibre which gives a safe foothOld. The workmanship of the yacht is superb in every detail; no dent rivet or joint is visible under the polish of her paint.
 After the launching Sir Thomas Lipton
 said to correspondent of the Associated Press:
 My third, and perhaps my last attempt at lifting the America s cup, will be the most serious and I think the most hope full of my efforts. The Reliance may beat us, but 1t will not be because I have
 not got the best boat British brains and workers can produce.
 If the cup stays in America 1t will stay there because of the extraordinary genius of the American yacht builder. If he can produce a style still further inn proved in his art, I shall begin to think that he is a bit more than human. There is no question that the best boat wins fin the international races. I believe the Shamrock III will come near filling the | bill. To my mind, she is marvel in which Fife and Watson have outdone | themselves. With good trial races and no accidents. her arrival in New York | should mark the coming of the most for | midable challenger ever sent over. scarcely need add that as much as l long | to win and expect to win, a third defeat | will only increase my admiration for a | people who can beat us at a game that
 was once our own. However, added Sir l Thomas, laughingly. "a third defeat is, | of course. quite out of the question: Large crowds gathered at the Denny g
 yard at Dumbarton. in spite of the driZ- | zling rain, which, however, ceased before l the arrival of the special visitors train. l Sir Thomas Upton escorted Lady | Shaftsbury to the christening dais. | Among others on the platform were the | Earl and Countess of Mar and Kellie | Lord Overtoun, Lord Provost of Glasgow. | the Hon. Charles Russell. Reginald Ward | William Fife and Captains W.inge and | Bevis. At l:15 p. m. Lady Shaftsbury
 bl oke the bottle saying: T christen you
 Shamrock. May God bless you and may l you bring back the cup"
 Then amid loud cheers the Shamrock | III slid easily into the water. After
 more cheering the visitors proceeded to 1 luChpOn