PLAYED TO WIN

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1082, 20 September 1930, Page 1

PLAYED TO WIN

How Yacht Cup Was Won AMERICAN SPORTSMANSHIP Machinery Triumphed Over Man AN American yachting expert believes mechanical devices as against man-power were the clinching factor in retaining for the United States the America’s Cup. He speaks candidly of the difference between Shamrock V., the loser, and Enterprise, the victor, and says America placed her desire to retain the trophy before her urge to play the game for the game’s sake.

ruitwi PA.—Bit Telegraph—Copyright Seed. 10.5 a.m. NEW YORK, Friday. "The machines in tlic hull of tho Enterprise did things no human being could equal.” declared one American netting expert, in explaining the defeat of Shamrock V. in the contests ior the America's Cup, "thus epitomising the traditional interest of the defenders of the Cup to retain the trophy always, and tho American aim in sport to win rather than to play •ie game for the game’s sake. “The patent boom and the duraluminium mast, the special winches and the meters to register the strain on •he sails, were some of the devices employed by Enterprise, while Shamrich V. depended upon man-power. “There is no widespread satisfaction tt Enterprise’s victory in America, and

the realisation is evident that conditions have always favoured the defender. The necessity of building a boat to conform with American specifications, sail her across the seas on her own keel and race her along the coast, whose weather and wind peculiarities cannot possibly be familiar to tile challenger's skipper, will always conspire to keep the cup in America. “The introduction of the mechanical element, which makes possible infinite surprises, seems to be the clinching factor. “Americans themselves are beginning to understand that an entire overhauling of the point of view under which the races are conducted is necessary before the America's Cup contests can prove a true sporting event.”