The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1937-08-03
RANGER WALKS
OFF IN YACHT
RACE MONDAY
Sopwith Is Astonished at
Failure to Perform in
Worst Beating
By THEoN WRIGHT
II,;,.5 Press Staff Correspondent

NEWPORT, X. L. aug
uIP1-Harold Vanderbilt'S WHITE
bnlIed Ranger sailed home TO her
second straight victory MONDAY
ond the gentlemen who guard the
vonlt at Tiffany'S where the
Americas Cup is stored, may as
we'll throw the KEY away so 1ar
as this years jouSt i concerned
Endeavour III. the British ehal-
longer, hmped home three miles
behind the American defender 10
minutes and 80 seconds behind IN
time-taking the worst heNlhS
any cup yacht has ever suffered
over a triangular course.
The victory made the series two
ont of two for Vanderbilt; ana
oven the hardest anglophlIe IN
this salty port was willing to ad-
NIT Endeavom ~ was beaten Oy
the speed and sailing skill OF the
Vanderbilt entry. and not oE
luck. :, souod
Late last night Sopwith offered
his own explanation Of the detea'
of Endeavour 1.-THE "possioll-
inv" of a lobster pot Snagging the
heel of the British yacht as she
heat southwark on the weather
leg. ,y
He said he was pretty sure
he had the race until halfway up
the weather leg. when Ranger
suddenly crept up and Endeavour
ri deadened. Sopwith said he was
forced 10 task to clear the WIND.
at was the most astonishing
thing | ever saw ne declared
"Ranger was pointing much high
or and we could not point any
higher than we were. In five miles
we lost ten minutes. Is II possible
we picked up one of those lobster
pots?" -.
home leg of the 3O-mile triangu-
lar course, making 10 knots an
hour under a freShening breeze,
her tall sails tipped against
slanting afternoon sun, she was
so far ahead that all you eoulo
see of Endeavour III was her
family visible canvas glitterlng IN
the haze of mist which lay over
the sea. III,
Shortly after the blue hulled
British boat nosed through the
cluster of boisterouS yachts that
closed in at the finish. her owner
and skipper, T. D. NJ. Sopwith,
hoisted a signal asking postpone
ment Of today'S race.
The next race in the best-ot- |
seven series will be on WedneS-
day. ~
Endeavour lis defeat was all
the Joora narrowing because she
won the Start, clearly Outmaneu-
vering Ranger, and had a sizeaole
lead in the first mile of racing.
Sopwith slid along the starting
line keeping Vanderbilt behind
him and heeled over 10 seconds
after the starting signal. Wander
bilt was forced TO hitch over,
cross the line on a port tack and
come around on the Starooard
hitch in Endeavour IFS wake.
Ranger slid over the line at
4:2t:Ss -. -. EST, an elapsed
time or three hours. IL minutes
and 33 seconds. Erdeavour III
glided over the line at 4:4O:Oo
o. m. Only once before in fifty
years of modern cup racing his
tory has a boat taken a worse
licking, and that was last Satur-
day when Ranger beat the Briton
by more than 10 minutes on
Northumberland course.
Yesterday even the die-hards
conceded that the defender will
have little trouble holding the cup.
and that it will take a stroke of
providential good luck for the
Briton TO win one race.
Endeayour III was the victim
of unfortunate handling. She
footed fast at the start when her
sails were trimmed. but when
Vanderbilt forced SOpwith to kick
over, to keep Ranger from pass !
ing her lee, it was all over. En-
deayour III lost way, had TO ease
off TO pick up speed, and the day
was lost. She seemed almost list
less on the way in. her heel down
as she piled through a roughen-
ing sea, unable even TO make q
race of il. ST.. ..~.... U.s. ..
Once Ranger got the wind IN
her teeth, Vanderbilt wheeled her
into the lead. and held it. Ranger
worked TO windward on the first
leg in an hour and AZ minutes,
travelled the second in an hour
and came home in So minutes.
Sopwith took Endeavour III up.
the bay to Bristol Immediately al
ter the race to have her bottom
looked over. Speculation was as
varied as il was vague as TO what
happened. 1t was believed the
Briton's keel may have snagged
one of the lobster pots which dot
the racing lanes: and it was also
rumored Sopwith has ordered a
new racing sail for lighter winds.
It was expected he would change
ballast.