The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-11-10
The TROUBLE OVER KINGS CUP
C. SHERMAN HOYT EXPLAINS
~ PROTEST or MANHASS1sT.

II the Kings cup il the means of bring
ing about some way Of measuring yachts
correctly il will have accomplished much
srcre than it's illustrious donor anticipated
This cup, donated by King Edward to the
yachting committee " the jamestown
Exposition. was for sloops Of class q, IL
w % feet rating. and was for a series Of
races that were sailed OF jamestown last
EAptember. II il "A handsome trophy
and attracted. consideHD Ole attention in
the yachting world and during tEs aeason
yachts Of this class raced with this cup
in view. Each owner tried to get his craft
in the best possible shape. hoping that
when the yachts rom Massachusetts.
Long Island Sound. Gravesend Bay 'and
Southern waters got together his would
be the one to capture the trophy.
The Manhassct, a boat built from Card
ner designs for Clarence Robbins OF
the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club scored
the most points in the series. and the Cap
siCum. owned by G.. Sherman Hoyt Of the
Seawanhaka -Corinthian Yacht Club and
built from his designs. iinished SECOND.
"A soon as the series was ended Mr.. Hoyt
protested the Manhassct on the ground
that she exceeded the limit Of measure
ment Of the class. - feet. and asked that
the Yacht be remeasurcd. Mr.. Hoyt had
given notice while the series were in progress
that he would take such action If the Cap
Aicum finished in a prominent position
in the race. The Manhasset was remeas-
ured and found to exceed the class limit
by 20 feet and was disqualified. The
Capsicum was r~emeasurcd. found To fit the
class properly and Mr.. Hoyt has been de-
clared the winner Of the cup.
A yachtsman who protests * always
somewhat harshly criticised for his action
and men who own and race yachts IA a rule
are very careful about making any protest
against another vessel unless well satisfied
thai It il for the best interest Of the sport.
Mr.. Hoyt was criticised, and it was said
that he had waited until the races had been
sailed before bringing the matteH TO the at
tRntion of the committee when a more
kportsmanlike way would have been to
have called the attention of the owner OF
the suspected boat to the fact that his yacht
was under suspicion. Mr.. HOyt paid little
attention to these criticisms. but recently
wrong reports have been published in the
ewspapers and yachting publications and
be has given TO The SUN "A statement Of
the whole affair, which is Ar follows:
~In an article printed in THE L on
November Z, headed Kings Cup for Mr..
Hoyt,' and in several other notices which
have appeared in different papers since
the races for hat trophy. my position in
asking for a remeasurement Of Manhasset
seems TO have peer misunderstood. and
the inference seems 10 have heen generally
drawn that my conduct was not altogether
s~portsmanlike n Capsicum has been
given little credit for the excellent showing
made at jamestown.
"ln the above mentioned article IL il stated
that she won chiefly through a tcchnicality,
as II ia generally conceded hat several Of
the other boats are faster. The picture Of
Capsicum being left TO herself to calmly
SCORE points must have beer drawn by
somebody who saw the races from some
such distance as New York. That Capsi-
cum was little bothered in the first two races
is quite true. as an examination Of the record
will show that she was in the lead and in no
position to he bothered by far the greater
portion OF the time. hut | am quite willing
to let the question of her speed rest on the
records.
~In justice TO my crew and to myself,
however. | feel tha It is time, in view Of the
many stories in circulation, to make the
whole matter public.
-In the first place the Kings cup is, within
my knowledge. the most valuable prize
that has ever been offered in this country
to be won outright in "A single series for "a
small boats as those of Class q. There
were ten new boats built in TINS class this
most with the avoweu purpose OF
winning this trophy. In addition to these
ten there were some six older boats which
participated in the active racing of the
summer ana the six who jOurneyed to
jamestown were supposedly thep pick of this
fieet OF sixteen and the only ones who
thought they had some change of winning.
We had TO travel many hundreds Of miles.
several chartered tenders and all we're put
to much heavier expense in preparing for
these races than IL ordinarily encountered
In racing boats Of thiss size, and while in the
vicinity Of jamestown We had to submit 20
exOrbitant exposition charges for any work
IN connection with our boats. On the
other hand we were to compete for "A trophy
very valuable intrinsically and doubly so
on account of the position and reputation
of the illustrious donor as one of the leading
yachtsmen of the world.
THE natural superstition would nave been
that the contestants would be subjected
90 the closest scrutiny to see that they
complied with all the requirements Of the
CLASS, eSptClhIly III VIEW Vi Nue tuCJ maj |
considerable doubt had been cast upon the
eligibility of some Of the entries. The
boats had been measured in general by
different club measurers. and owing to the
extremely loose and Ambiguous wording
OF our present measurement rule and the
almost inSlrmountable difficulties TO ac-
curate measurement which it presents |
should unquestionably have been remeas-
ured by one measurer, who would have
pursued the same method for all.
unfortunately the jamestown regatta |
committee experienced such difficulty in |
procuring entries which might he expected
10 really materialize at the starting line
and had TO work under such trying circum-
stances throughout that they were unwill-
ing 20 impose any conditions which they
could possibly avoid. They had been
unable 10 get their measurer there on the |
and were evidently too much
about the actual conduct of the
races 10 look into the eligibility ~ the few
who appeared.
ION my arrival at Jamestown | was ap-
preached by the owner Of one of the q
boats who had very good reason TO believe
one OF our competitors could not
measure into the class If properly measured;
was extremely anxious that we should
lay the matter before the regatta com
mittee and ask, for n remeasurement OF all
q boats, especially after | told him thai
i rather doubted If Manhasset and one Of
she other BOATS were within the class limit. |
We approached rhe committee and we're
told that they would NOT consider the mat |
ter unless we made formal protests against
the boats we suspected.
I'VE, however, were averse to singing
any boat in particular and in order
IN have all measured would have had TO |