THE AMERICA CUP.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 267, 10 November 1893, Page 3

THE AMERICA CUP.

VICTORY FOR THE VIGILANT,

DESCRIPTION OF THE RACE

By the mail-Bbeamer Mariposa particulars are to hand of the races between the American yacht Vigilant and English racer Valkyrie for the celebrated Cup. The first heat resulted in an easy win lor the Yankee representative, which quite out sailed the Earl of Dunraven'a craft. Capt. Oronfield, of the latter, speaking of the race said " We were beaten fair and square. She beat us oa the wind and off, and,when the conditions were such that we expected to gain on her she sailed away from us the fastest." On the occasion of the second race, and more easily than the first, the America's cup defender, Vigilant, defeated the English representative, Valkyrie. The race sailed was on a triangular course from Sandy Hook, and under conditions that could not have been more gratifying. At che start the Valkyrie went ahead through the water with groat speed, and it seemed as though she were running right away from the Vigilant. Presently, however, the sails of the latter caught the still breeze properly, and from that moment she began to win the race. At both tacking, and running before the breeze the Vigilant accomplished some astonishing work. The official time W as :—Vigilant—Stare, llhr 25min ; finish, 2hr 50min -leec ; elapsed time, 3hr 25min •lsec: corrected time, 3hr 25min "lsec. Valkyrie—Start, llhr 25min ; finigh, 3hr •2min 24sec; elapsed time, 3br 57min 24sec; corrected time, 3hr 35min 36sec. Thus the Vigilant beat the Valkyrie by 12min and 23sec on elapsed time, and after taking off lmin arid 48aec, time allowance, by lOmin aod 35sec, After another race, in which theyachts exceeded the time limits, although the Vigilant was far ahead at the finish, the deciding race eventuated. Plenty Of wind, a spleudid sea and an almost ideal day for yachting satisfied everybody. At the start -the yachts made a short board on the starboard tack, but changing soon, took a long run to port. The Valkyrie had the lead from the start and kept it. She turned the stakeboat at '2.33^ o'olock and the Vigilant followed at 2.35. The Valkyrie at 2.36 set her 'silk spinnaker, which glistened like a sheet of silver in the wind. The effect was apparent immediately. The Valkyrie began to draw further away from her rival, bub the sheets of the Vigilant then went home, and she, too, leaped forward. Then the Valkyrie doused her jib and forestaysail and set her balloon staysail in place. The Vigilant hauled her balloon jib slowly up and set it. From that time ib was a foregone conclusion that the Valkyrie would be beaten again. As the Vigilant drew up behind she blanketed her rival and the silk Bpinnaker ruffled. It was not long, however, before the Vigilant got out of her wind, and the sails filled once more. It was estimated that there were threequarters of a mile between the two boats, but tbey were closed rapidly, and at 3.30 the Vigilanfc's bowsprit was abreast of the Valkyrie, and a few minutes later a line of open water appeared between the two vessels, this time with the Vigilant in the lead. Suddenly, at 3.34, men on the Valkyrie were seen running to and fro, and then a glance showed that the silk spinnaker had split into flapping ribbons. It was quickly brought down and another hoisted with marvellous rapidity. Shorb as the delay was, it is feared it lost the Valkyrie tho race, for the boats were very close together. Meanwhile the Vigilant was driving along at a furious rate and crotsod the finish line a winner, according to the corrected time, by 40 seconds. It was one of the finest races seen in years. Forty seconds on a beat to windward of fifteen miles and return is so close that the splitting of the Valkyrie's spinnaker might eaaily account for it. The official record shows the following :— Corrected time— Valkyrie, 3hrs 25Uuu 19aec; Vigilant, 3hrs 24min 39soc. Elapsed time — Valkyrie, 3hrs 53min 52sec; Vigilant, 3hrs 24min 39sec Time passed at the finish—Valkyrie, 3:53:52 ; Vigilant, 3:51:39. , The owner of the Valkyrie sailed away from New York with his family on the White Star line steamship Britanaic, October 18th. Lord Dunraven may challenge tor the America's Cup again. He is positive the Valkyrie has not yet shown her beat qualities as a racer, and stated through bis representative, H. Maitland Kersey, on the inorning of his departure that he wishes to arrange for a series of races next spring between the Valkyrie and the yachtß that were built to defend the Cup. He believes that his yacht is theequal to any boat in American waters. Ho has not yet decided whether he wiil challenge for the America's Cup in 1595. He may send a new yacht to the United States year after next to contend for the famous trophy. Before the Britannia left the pier, Lord Dunraven gave to H. Maitland Kersey some memoranda concerning the recent international race, and requested him to give them to the newspapers for publication. "The first races," wrote Lord Dunraven, "were reaches. They should have been to windward and back. The Valkyrie had a fluke the first day, and came out ahead; on the second day the Vigilant had the fluke, and won the first race. The firsb day's race was void, and the second day's was won by the Vigilanb. That made a vast difference in the contest for the Cup, but the merits of either boat were not determined. Looking at it from that point of view, the first and second races should not be considered in judging the merits of the yachts. In the third race, the Valkyrie was fairly beaten, but the Valkyrie was oub of trim and had nob enough ballast. Id our desire to conform to the 85-foot limit, we sacrificed too much. The fourth day's race was a single-reef breeze race, and T think the Valkyrie could have fairly won the race if our two spinnakers had held out. This wa3 vory unfortunate for us, and it was very Biujjular, too. Such an accident soldoms happens in England. Aa a total result, Ido not consider the relative merits of the two boats have been determined. I shall leave the Valkyrie over here, with the intention of racing the yacht next spring jn America if I can make arrangements for match races. 1 understand that quite a number of cups were raced for this year. For those I will try. The Jubilee, Colonia, and Vigilant, any one of these, or all, flhould come to England to race. In fact, I am anxious that they should do so."