The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-12-14
Japan Refuses to Come to Honolulu
for Cup Contest With
Yacht Club.
Wealthy Yokohama Yacht Builder Offers to Give
Y5OO0 for Contest in Japan-Walker
Home From the Orient.

An international yacht race between
Hawaii and Japan to be held at Yoko-
hama has been all but arranged for
next year. Henry E. Walker of this
city, who went to Japan a couple of
months ago with challenge from the
Hawaii Yacht Club to japanese yachts
men, returned on the Nippon Maru yes
terday, having been unable to get a
waters. Mr.. Walker however did have
a verbal challenge from 7. NJ. Latin,
a wealthy American resident of Yoko-
hama, for a race in Japan, for a s250O
cup. This he has promised to accept,
providing he can go to Japan next year,
and the probabilities are that an in
ternational race may be arranged be-
tween the Hawaii Yacht Club rep
fesenting America, and the Yokohama
Yacht Club as the representative OF
u
tween twenty lone foot boats, the small
est boat which is sailed in Japanese
waters and which is about the largest
which can be shipped to Yokohama by
steamer.
Mr.. Walker has not a very good opin-
ion of the Japanese as boat builders
and says the superiority of the Amer1-
can boats is unquestioned. The Def
ance. the yacht now owned by the
Walkers, was cited by Mr.. Walker to
the Japanese as an example of Ha-
waiiara built boat, and they utterly re-
fused to take the data in regard to her
sailing capacities seriously.
Eyes, looked up yachting little,
said Mr.. Walker at his home on King
street yesterday. where he had gone
Immediately upon leaving the Nippon
Maru. "The japanese don't go In for
yachting at all, they don't race at all.
IT is the foreigners in Yokohama that
are the yachting cracks, and they 90
a lot of it. They have weekly races
and there is lively interest in yacht
ing all the year in Japan; that ls'
among the foreigners, the English anu
a few Americans who indulge in the
sport.
az don't think that their yachtsmen
,,.o,,la stand a ghost of a show in
race with Hawaii, even with the httie
defiance representing us. They ooIf
want to come here for race, ana there
&c no chance of having cup race III
Hawaii, although they seem anxious 70
have us send boat there to compete
with them. I should say they We're
little scared of American yachts ana
thev believe that we wouldn't come to
Japan for cup race.
when I first reached Japan went
to the principal yachtsmen and trieo u
stir ND interest in an international cup
race. for a prize of, say $500 cup.
They wanted to know if the yacht we
would race would be an American
built boat, and when I told them yes
and that 1t WOQtQ De puiAL IL AAoAAS-
they wouldn't believe it. They thoushe
that there couldn't be such thing as
a boat-builder in Hawaii, and couioh
seem to make them take it seriously
Some OF them were inclined to josh u
little about the performances OF the De-
fiance, which 1 used only as an illustra-
ton of the class of boats, and of course
/ had to come to the defense OF our
boat, and explain just what she coulo
90 The newspapers took it UP ana
also seemed inclined to make sport oil
What 1 said. But would like to get
try at them with mv boat, even In
Japanese waters.
"I soon discovered that there wasn't
the slightest chance of getting the race
for Hawaii and the yachtsmen there