THE AMERICA'S CUP

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20261, 2 August 1937, Page 9

THE AMERICA'S CUP

HISTORY OF THE RACE.

THE BRITISH AND AMERICAN CONTESTANTS,

The America’s Cup is The one hundred guinea silver cup presented as an international yacht racing trophy at Cowes in August, 1851, by the Royal Yacht Squadron and which was won by the United States schooner America, which crossed the Atlantic from New York to race in some of the regattas arranged in connection with the great exhibition of that year, writes Arthur Lamsley in the Christian Science Monitor.

This cup was won by the Amerioa in a race round the Isle of Wight against yachts of British clubs. America was owned by a syndicate of prominent American yachtsmen, headed 1 by John Stevens, then commodore of the New York Yacht Club. lii 1857 the members of the syndicate presented the oup to the New York Yacht Club as a perpetual challenge trophy for competitive yacht racing between nations.

During the 86 years whioh have elapsed since that famous race, British yachtsmen have made 15 unsuccessful attempts to regain it. Of the last six, over a period of 34 years, ■five were made by Sir Thomas Lipton, with lTva yachts, bearing the name Shamrock. That gallant sportsman deservedly became popular as “the world’s best loser.” Thomas 0. M. Sopwith tried to lift the cup with the first Endeavour in 1934. UntTaunted by Failures. Undaunted by past failures, the Royal Yacht Squadron has challenged again this year with a 16th challenger, Endeavour 11., also owned and helmed by Thomas Sopwith. Whatever may have been said concerning unfair conditions regarding the race in the past years, the rules recently adjusted in a 1 series of amicable conferences in New York seem about as equal to-day as It is possible to frame them. Even the apparent Inequalities In the construction of both yachts for the last contest now become legitimate within the amended rules. A good deal of nonsense has been voiced concerning the “meohanlcal gadgets” used in the successful American defenders, and also some criticism about the construction and weight of masts, but American yachtsmen were perfectly within their rights in exploiting every possible avenue of genius In naval architecture, and the fact that, they spared no expense In the construction of their vessels is to the oredit of their sportsmanship. In the early matches for the, America’s Cup misunderstandings did happen. and It was obvious the course was never adequately patrolled, but such a state of affairs Is quite Impossible in the efficiently organised sport of today, and arrangements for planning arid -controlling the course by the United States Navy to insure equal conditions for'both contesting yachts leave nothing to be desired. Capable of Ooean Voyages. For the next series of races, commencing July 81, both defender and challenger have been built from the same Lloyd’s scantling. Tbe -days of the mere raolng shell are over and the yaohts are oapahle of ooean voyages. It has been agreed that both yaohts shall be fitted with proper accommodation for owner, guests and orew to live on board; also a new minimum' weight for masts has been aooepted by both sides which is oomparable to j Lloyd's soantling rules for hulls.' Everything has been done to eliminate any suggestion of freak designing In either yacht. A vast International sporting publio 1s now satisfied, as far as actual construction is concerned, that the defender and the -challenger are practically alike, the only essential difference being in their respective designer’s competitive art in creating the speediest hull lines. The only disadvantage to be faced by the challenger is that she must give up a considerable part of her tuning up time in order to make the passage across the Atlantic. The Endeavour. Endeavour IT. Is built of British steel, rolled and tested at the United Steel i Company's works, Appleby, Cumberland. She is an all-Empire production; the mahogany of whioh her rudder Is shaped comes from British Honduras, the yellow pine in her decks from western Canada, and the cotton for her sails was grown In the Sudan and woven In the small market town of Crewkerne, Somerset. The yacht was designed by Charles E. Nicholson. and built by his firm at Gosport, on the western shores of Portsmouth Harbour. The challenger's sails were fashioned In an adjoining sail loft owned by Ratsey and Lapthorn (who

also have a branch in New York), where 133 years ago the sails were made for Nelson’s flagship, H.M.3. Victory.

The Somerset township of Crewkerne came romantically into the sailcloth trade. Previous to 1685 most of the sailcloth for British ships was woven in France, but In that year refugee Huguenots came over and settled in the English county, bringing their trade of sailcloth weaving with them. Since that time this rural township has actually -created a monopoly in the making of the finest sailcloth In the world, for It also weaves sailcloth for the American defending yachts.

An approximate idea of Endeavour's ll.’s size may be gained from the following simple measurements. Her extreme length from the tip of her long pointed bow to her counter Is 132 feet, while her waterline length Is 87 feet, and her extreme beam Is 22£ feet. Draft, meaning the depth the yacht Is in the water, from waterline to the bottom of the keel, is 15 feet, and she Is 164 tons displacement. Change in Hull Form. Naturally, the hull form of these big racing yachts has changed very considerably since the first race for the America’s Cup. In 1851 the schooner had a clipper bow then fashionable for ooean-golng sailing -craft; the vessels Immediately following her had a straight bow and a straight keel, but in later years the designers of yachts have followed more 'Closely to nature and modeled the hulls of raoing craft much more like a half-Csh with a fin-shaped keel. The challenger’s bow Is like a half spear and equally as sharp on the extreme nose, while the hull aft fines out, to the counter very much like the tall of a large fish. It will -be noted, too. that recently designed big yachts, including both the new defender and challenger, have the main hull designed muoh like a half shark. To the lay student of naval architecture this Is an extremely Interesting feature, for the Arab dhow, seen In the Indian Ocean to-day, follows very much the lines of her ancestors of 3000 years ago whose designers copied the shark's body. Except that the bow of the defender and challenger Is now elongated to do away with the bowsprit, there Is a great similarity in the bow of these yachts to the bow of the Arab dhow in which I cruised while living In East Africa.

Endeavour ll.’s steel hull plating is riveted to steel frames, and the underwater body Is polished to a fine surface. The plates have been scientifically prepared to prevent rust and scaling. Decking the challenger was a masterpiece of workmanship. Over ■BOOO feet run of selected yellow pine was used, about 2$ Inches square In section, while making the deok watertight took nearly 50,000 feet of calking cotton punched Into the seams and secured with a special marine glue. Mahogany has been used for the skylight, deck fittings, and companions. A low footrall Is fitted to the covering board, otherwise the deck is flush. Nature Copied. 1 Nature has also been copied In the design of the challenger's mast, whioh is built of high tensile steel. The bamboo cane has served as a model for this tall, slender steel spar of 1-68 feet long. The knots or "rings” of the bamboo cane have been modelled in special steel, and electrically welded Inside the £teel tube. The seams of the steel mast are butt edged and welded by an electrical process. The challenger’s fittings are of stainless steel. The designing and racing of yachts is a most fascinating sport because of the uncertainty in it. Yacht building is one of the few orafts left In the modern world where art. sport, and natural science combine. Tn spite of the many progressive advances in naval architecture, yacht designing is still more of an art than Rn exact science. The scientific accuracy of the mathematician cannot be applied to sailing yacht designing, as it can to mechanically driven vessels which the designer builds guaranteeing a definite speed.

As Charles E. Nicholson, Endeavour IT.’s designer, explained recentlly: “We design and redesign and the speed of our yachts depends upon the harmony of line and sail area, wind efficiency, and, not least, seamanship.” Therefore. because art and sport are subtly combined in yacht racing, it will ever captivate the sporting instinct of the great Anglo-American public; it is the only “naval battle” In which they are sincerely interested.