The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-08-03
LOBSTER POT OR BALLAST MIGHT HAVE COST RACE
EndeavOur II Not in Same Class as Vanderbilt
 Yacht, So Far
By HENRY McLEMORE United Press Staff Correspondent


 Newport, R. l., Aug. 3-(UP)- High, dry and handsome, Ranger and Endeavour II, perched on dry dock stilts today while their own- CTS circled them, one with pride, one with despair.
 Mike Vanderbilt, openly enthu- siastic about the white-hulled de- fender which has won two crush- ing Americas cup victories, hauled the Ranger from the water for no other purpose than to admire the lines of what he considers the fast est class J yacht ever floated.
 T. o. M. Sopwith had an unhap- pier motive for cradling his half million dollar baby in the ship rack. Desperate because of En- deavours successive lickings of l6 and l8 minutes, he wanted to ex- anime her hull and determine If he had picked up some imperimenta. After his econd straight defeat yes- terday he expressed the opinion that perhaps the boat had run afoul Of a lobster line and snagged one of the heavy, unwieldly pots.
 Certainly Endeavour II behaved yeterday as if she were carrying Q drag. For the first five miles of the ten-mile weather leg the British challenger performed beautifully.
 She took the lead at the start and footed out to sea, but as if struck by a shell in her boiler room she suddenly lost al lof her drive. In the space of a wave she became A dead thing with no lift, no life. And in the space of five miles Ranger, outrun Up until that time, gained ten minutes on her. and left her behind in the fog that hung over the course.
 Even from spectator craft as far as two miles away the sudden change in fortune was apparent. They saw a boat that had been going easily and more than holding It's own, suddenly bog down in the troughs and labor through the water.
 The second race ended right there. From that point until Ran ger sliced across the finish line to the throaty roar Of the fleets whistles, 1t was no contest. En- deavour was barely in sight, three miles astern, when the American boat finished.
 sherman Hoyt' one of Americas s premier helmsmen. told the writer that in 1920, in the races to deter mine defender of the cup. the boat he was skippering-Vanitle-picked up Q lobster pot and the accident cost him a victory over Resolute, and possibly the right to defend the cup.
 "Vanitie was running beautiful ly and had worked out a lead when, without a bit of warning, she went dead,' Hoyt said, T couldn't steer, she wouldn't do anything. When we finally finished. navy divers went down and found the remnants of a lobster pot and lines. The center board was fouled. and 1t was heluva mess in general. It is en- trely possible that Endeavour II met with the same sort of mlsllap."
 If Sopwith and his afterguard rail to discover a lobster pot. they will make a thorough examination into Endeavour ITS ballast distri- button. The fault may be there.
 Today's postponemnt came when sopwith, right after Endeavcur II finished yesterday. hoIsted a flag asking the official committee for a one-day respite. Ills request was granted. The series vii lbe resumed tomorrow with Ranger heavily fa- vored to make 1t three in a row.