Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-06-08
"IF AT ONCE YOU"
Sir Thomas Upton VIII Try to
LIE Americas Cup After
Years Of Failures ~.

A FTER twenty one years of fruit
"A less effort, Sir Thomas Upton
will make another attempt this season
to "lift" the Americas Cup, the great
est yachting trophy in the world Not
only for his perseverance. but also for
his general good sportsmanship, Sir
Thomas is the most popular challenger
who ever sent British yacht into
England cup worth intrinsIcaliy a
few hundred dollars. for the posses
sion of which several millions at least
have been spent.
Entirely aside from the underlying
motive of national pride in its owner
ship, the cup has some interest in the
fact that II now bears the name Of the
yacht which first won II. The schooner
America was sent to England in 1851,
primarily to show British yachtsmen
what could be accomplished by our then
popular type Of fore and aft" ves-
sells. The Americans challenged all
comers, but no attention was paid to
them. A second challenge brought
them the information that they might
enter their schooner in race for cup
offered for the yachts Of all nations,
The cup was then known as the Hun
dred Guinea up" The America brought
that cup back to the United States,
and it has been here ever since. Six
teen yachts entered that race, from a
forty seven ton cutter to 302-ton
schooner,
With the winning Of the first race the
name of the cup changed. 1t has ever
since been the Americas Cup" and
the original name has gone so com
pletcly out of existence that few per
sons, even yachting experts, now know
what it once was. The conditions of
the cup race are that the trophy shall
remain in the custody of club and
shall not become the property of any
individual, so that II may be challenged
for ut any time. Accordingly few
years after the first victory the winners
gave the cup into the keeping Of the
New York Yacht Club.
BRITANNIA may rule the wave, as
- we are Informed by one of the ma
tional songs of Great Britain. but since
1851 she has never had jurisdiction over
that part of 1t devoted to yacht racing.
Nevertheless. with true British per-
sistencc, the yachtsmcn of that country
have made many efforts to take the cup
back where it originated. However. the
trophy had not then acquired the pub
lie attention which it aftcrward com
mandcd. and it was not until 1870,
nineteen years later, that the first eff.
fort was madc' to rccapture it.
This was made by James Ashbury, Of
the Royal Thames Yacht Club. whose
! schooner Cambria was defeated by
the Magic. Fifteen schooners took
part in this race, of which the
chal llcngcr finished tenth. The fol-
lowing year Mr.. Ashbury tried
again with the Livonia. the New York
Yacht Club entering four schooners
against the challenger. reserving the
right to name the competing yacht on
the morning of the race. The Columbia
sailed three Of the five races and the
Sappho two for the defenders. Four of
the five were won by the American
yachts, the Livonia. getting. the third
race. The owner of the British yacht
protested two of the decisions and some
feeling developed, but there was no
doubt that the American boats had
proved their superiority.
ENGLAND having failed in two at
IL tempts to lift" the cup. Canada
then tried, and in 1875 the Royal
Canadian Yacht Club sent the schooner
Countess of Dufferin as challenger, but
she was defeated by the Madeleine in
two successive races. Canada tried
again in 1881. but the iron sloop Mis-
chief won two races against the chal-
lenger. the sloop Atalanta. thus retain
ing the cup. In this series the American
defenders held trial races for the first
time to determine the choice of the dc
Tending boat.
Four years later. in 1885. the British
sent the first of the ninety footers td
compete, the cutter GeneSta. America
had two defenders, the Puritan and the
Priscilla, of which the former was sc :
lected after the trial races and defeated
the challenger in two straight races
winning the second, however. by / min .
ute and SO seconds. This was the clos
est race ever sailed in an Americas Cup
series.
Two more unsuccessful trials to gain
possession Of the cup were made by tn,
English in 1856 and 1887. In the first
the American yacht Mayiower won two
straight against the British cutter Gala
tea and n the second the Volunteer q
new steel sloop. did the same against the
Scotch cutter Thistle.
CIX years went by without an effort
- to regain the cup. In 1893 Lore
Dunraven entered with his Valkyrie !
The rules were changed this year, re,
| QulrlUH tllTtP out OF I'VE luSteut
OF two out of three. The American sloor
Vigilant won three straight. In IS0i
Lord Dunraven again challenged will
Nalkyrie III. the second Of the nam,
having been lost in the Mediterranean
sea. The challenger was beaten in thre
straight races the second being awarded
to the Defender on foul and in tn,
third the Valkyrie crossed the line an,
then abandoned the race. The onl.
serious display of feeling that almos
sixty years of yacht racing has en-
gendered in the blue ribbon event of tn
yachting world came at the close of thi
/ series. Lord Dunravcn accused the Ne,
York Yacht Club and the manager of tn
Defender of trio kerry. His accusation
were promptly investigated and bein
|, found utterly without foundation he wa
expelled from the club.
e CIR THOMAS Upton then entere
e - the lists and since 1890 has bee
a the sole challenger. He brought ovt
D the sloop Shamrock I, the first of I'll
D name, in that year, but she was beatc
@ by the Columbia in three races. TT
I Shamrock II met the same fate in 100
8 the Columbia again winning. The Co
II lumbia is the only boat which has he
G the honor of sailing more than once
an Americas s Cup race. In 1908 ;
Thomas sent over the Shamrock III
but she. like the earlier ones of h
Z name, was defeated in three straigl
u races. Thus in almost sixty years q
r English yacht has won only a sing
o though the Valkyrie III apparently VIC
e the race in which she fouled the I'
e fender by forty seven seconds correct'
. time. However, In the fouling the d,