The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-09-17

The breeze moderated consid- erably but the sea continued un- ruly.
 than Rainbow her long bow made bad work of 1t, alternately diving into the sea and then lifting faf out.
 Weather Was Ideal
 Aboard s. s. Argo (Via Mackay Radio), Sept ,17-(UP)-With stiff southeasterly breeze kicking up a frothy sea, weather conditions appeared nearly ideal this morning as Harold s. Vanderbilt took his American Defender, Rainbow, out again to meet the challenge of T O. M. Sopwith's Endeavour.
 Today's weather has been sough, for as a real test of the sailing qualities of the two yachts, and brought delight to the hearts oi yachtsmen.
 The huge spectator fleet was ex. periencing difficulty as 1t headed into the choppy seas, moving out toward the starting point off Bren' tons reef lightship. Visibility wal limited and rain squalls were ire 
 quent.
 port showed the wind at eighteen knots and freshening off Brentor reef. Smaller craft were rolling and pitching spectacuiarly and the intermittent squalls made condi- tions uncomfortable for the thou' sands of spectators.
 Endeavour and Rainbow, under tow of Vita and Vara, respectively frequently showed considerable oi their under bodies as they poked into the seas and threw great wells of spray aft.
 Skipper Sopwith, in his usual working togs. was at the wheel o1 the Endeavour.
 The going was too tough for many and scores of the smaller craft scurried back to the shelter of the harbor.
 At Il a. m. the race committee said the wind was at sixteen knots from south-southeast.
 At 11:2O o'clock course signals were hoisted on the committee boat Wilhelmina indicating the course would be fifteen miles to windward against a southeasterly breeze and return. This was the same course the boats travelled Saturday.
 Rainbow was first to set sails. She had mainsail and staysail up with another headsail.
 Endeavour had it's staysail set but was unable to get up the main- the start. A man was sent aloft to cIA nkI I1t fvx vi uyfy1 v1fy a postponement signal sent across to the committee boat
 At 11:40 the mainsail was finally set on Endeavour but short teal showed near the Huff along an up per batten.
 The tear was slight and did not appear to threaten usefulness of the mainsail.
 11:45 (EST) the starting signal was set with both yachts carrying mainsails and staysails with other headsails in steps.
 The sailors prayed for breeze because they were sick of the dol drums and disgusted with Satur. days drifting match. A row-boat, a mud-scow, or a greasy mackerel fisherman with a burned-out motor could have gone around the course Saturday as quickly as did the two million dollar piles of white canvas and shining steel. No drifting match like that ever determined the merits of yacht building or yacht sailing.
 The two crews, one a profes- sional group of sailors commanded and paid by Harold s. Vanderbilt, the other a group of enthusiastic amateurs who gathered around Thomas O. M. Sopwith. spent Sum- day calculating the chances of the sloops. All figuring brought them to naught. They were still as un- certain about the merits of the Royal Yacht squadron's contender as they were the day Sopwith brought 1t across the Atlantic.
 Saturdays match, declared ''no contest" because neither boat fin- ished the 30 miles within the and 1-2 hours time limit allowed by the rules, proved nothing more than that the races will not be a Roman holiday for Vanderbilt. Endeavour is so much better than any one of Sir Thomas Lipton's Shamrocks that there is no comparison.
 Nor is there any comaprison be-. tween Sopwith as a sailor and some of the professional shippers that used to handle the old Shamrocks. Sopwith is as daring in his yacht ing as he has been in his motor boat driving. He will take chances. He will experiment. He will gam ble, and that Is what makes yacht racing.
 There was every promise in the sky. up to a few hours before the race, that the hope for wind would be realized. The skies were fair. there was a goodly breeze around Brenton's reef, and the little sail boats that went down Narragansett bay and out to the sound found good travelin~.