Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-06-06
SHAMROCK " TO
GETA WARM RACE
Three Candidates for Defending
Honors to Be on Trial
Till September.

New York, June with the pass
ing of the first few tuning up tests of
the trio OF yachts striving for the hon
or OF defending the Americas cup
against the Shamrock " next Septem-
Der, the shippers and crews are pre-
pairing for the all-summer series of
racers which will evolve the successful
candidate to be chosen by the cup
committee from the Resolute, Def
ance and Vanitie. During the coming
week the yachts will pass from Long
Island Sound to the ocean course on
Sandy Hook for three tests under
sterner conditions over the same
course which will be used in the cup
races. There will follow a week de-
voted to repairs and changes in the
yachts, to be succeeded by two weeks
more of Sound racing. All of these
events of which there are eleven of the
schedule will be of preliminary ma
ture. In fact they have been arranged
more to get the boats and crews in
condition for the more serious tests off
Newport in July and August, when the
Americas cup committee will aid in
judgment on the performances and Sc
lect the best boat to meet the Sham
rock ".
The starts for all the racing in the
Sound Will be off Great Captain island.
near the entrance to the harbor of
Portchester. Half a dozen courses of
from 20 to 80 miles each have been
laid out, some of which will carry the
yachts down the Sound beyond STAN
ford, while others will take them well
up TO Execution Rock and over to the
Hemstead shore. With starts off Great
Captain island it will be possible to lay
a fifteen mile course to the windward
in case the breeze is from the prevail
ing direction, southwest.
Eleven years ago the three cup
yachts, Reliance, Constitution and
Columbia, were given numerous trial
races in this part of the Sound, but
the starts were off the Long Island
shore near Matinicock Point. and 1t
was found difficult to send the boats |
to the windward on the first lag.
BY agreement between the manas- |
ers and the regatta committee of the
New York Yacht club Is minutes will |
be allowed between the warning and |
the starting signals for the fight for |
position. Two minutes will be given |
for the yachts to start, and in that |
brief period each boat will be timed |
to the second, as she crosses the line.
II she is late her time will be taken as |
starting at the end OF the two min
utes, although she may be three, five
or even ten minutes behind. The strug-
gle for the best places at the line, the
weather berth If the first leg is TO wind
ward, a snug place away from the
others with the. wind clear IL the
course is to leeward. is the supreme
test OF the sailing master and many
a race has been won or lost through
success or failure at the outset.
The helmsmen of the three yachts.
George NJ. Pynchon on the Defiance.
Charles F. Adams on the Resolute and
Dennis on the Vanitie, are mas
ter hands at the starting game. and
the best yachting sport of the year VIII
be in watching the game played by
these cool, calculating shippers. 1t is
a rare game-this handling OF a big
powerful yacht, especially in breeze,
while even in soft weather the very
best Judgment is required. Each as he
stands at the wheeI must know just
where his own boat is, how fast she Is
going, where the other yachts are. and
how fast they are sailing. He must
know when his own boat has the right
Of way, and when his opponent must
give way and in a tight place, not to
take an inch or concede one. or the
race Is lost
No fixed plan OF campaign will bear
the best under all conditions. With the
big yachts the skipper must have help,
and the assistance OF a cool man with
the watch and another to watch the
opposing yachts is of paramount i'm
portance. Forward. the mates have
their men well drilled. and the hand
ling of sheets, tacks, back stays and