The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1903-08-20

the Puritan, beat the challenger Genes
ia by the narrow margin of a minute
and half in a twenty mile run to lee
ward and return. Experts generally
advance the theory that had William
Sutton brought over the Genesta in 'S2
he very likely would have been success
full. AS it was he came nearer to the
cherished cup than any other challenger
Next year the Galatea, designed by
Beavor-W Webb, who also designed the
Genesta, proved a failure, while the
American Mayfower built by Burgess
proved much faster than his first Puri-
tan and easily defeated the English
yacht.
Then George L. Watson designed the
first British racing machine. For the
first time a naval architect built a boat
for the express purpose of winning in
certain water and certain probable con-
ditions
The result was the Thistle now called
the Meteor and owned by the Emperor
of Germany. she was built on the
Clyde in 81 for James Bell of the Royal
Clyde Yacht Club. She measured
fraction under ninety feet and possess
ed a radical departure in a beam of
over twenty feet.
Burgess was called upon once more,
and responded with the Volunteer, per-
haps the fastest boat that ever went to
windward. The straight stem was
done away with in favor of the clipper
bow, she was three feet shorter than
the Thistle and three feet wider and
gained an Overwhelming victory.
steel frames had now replaced oak
and now in '93 in the big "single stick
ers" came the steel hull. Lord Dunra-
ven came forward with the Valkyrie
and Herreshoff succeeded Burgess with
the Vigilant.
She was the first craft to have an
underbody of Tobin bronze to reduce
the minimum of friction and was as
light as possible above the water line
with a tremendous weight in her keel
to carry a great sail plan. Her center
board of hollow bronze had a drop of
ten fee drawing fourteen feet without
it. She was 1876 feet over all with
16 foet beam.
The Valliyrie was the prettier look
ing craft of the two, but she was beat
en- nevertheless One race indeed the
Valkyrie might have won had it not
been for a little tear in the spinnaker,
made in hauling it out of the locker
it was on the run home, and the squall
found the flaw and blew that sail and
a succeeding hurricane cloth, into rib
bons. The Vigilant saved the cup that
day, October 49, 1898 by only forty sec
onds. Meanwhile the challenging cut
ter though the loser, had so OutpOinted,
outfooted and outrun the centerboarder
that Herreshoff boldly abandoned the
centerboard and brought forth the De-
fender in '95 as pure a type of racing
craft as was ever designed.
Now the national characteristics of
the crafts had cased to be distinct,
they were no longer national types and
differed no more than boats designed
by different men in the same country
might.
The factor of safety on the two boats
of '95 the Defender and the Valkyrie III
was reduced to a minimum. The races
proved nothing. They were truthfully
summed up as a foul, a fuke and
fizzle."
In '9S came Sir Thomas Upton with
his Shamrock designed by Fife win
ull!S lOF Ile CIlctllCLSCl HluSh POPuAS'Ai'S
but not the cup. The Shamrock was
the nearest boat ever built by the other
side to American traditions and had
wonderfully fitting suit of sails.
1t is generally conceded that the
Shamrock was not sailed at her best.
Her owner was sick, unable to see the
race, and three expert English captains
sailed her Still the Columbia was the
better boat and won on her merits.