The America's Cup.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20033, 15 September 1930, Page 10

The America's Cup.

The result of the first of the races for the America's Cup between Sir Thomas Lipton's challenger, Shamrock V., and the American defender, Captain Vanderbilt's Enterprise, is a disappointment. The American sloop proved so far superior in the conditions of wind and sea, which appear to have been very varied, that the unusual spectacle was witnessed at the finish of the victor cruising up and down the line before crossing, "as a sporting gesturo to "make defeat less harsh." One race, however, does not decide the fate of the trophy, nor does one race decide which of the competitors, as skippered, manned, and sailed, is the better. According to the conditions agreed upon for this year's contest, four out of seven races must be won to lift or retain the cup. Shamrock V. and her crew therefore have ample opportunity to show that the high hopes of victory entertained When she set sail for American waters were not without foundation. Races will be continued daily, unless a contestant desires more time, when one day may intervene. The courses for the odd-numbered races will be fifteen nautical miles to windward or leeward and return, while the course for even-numbered races will consist of a thirty mile triangle of approximately ten nautical miles to a side. Since 1851, when the trophy, a silver cup presented by Queen Victoria, was won at Cowes by the schooner yacht America, the trophy has been challenged for thirteen times. Before the present contest started, no fewer than thirty-sevon races have been sailed, under conditions which have been frequently changed. Of those thirtyseven races the British challenger has won only, three: in 1871, when the Livonia beat the Columbia (disabled); in 1920, when Shamrock IV. beat Resolute (disabled); and in the second race in 1920, when Shamrock IV. beat Resolute by 2 minutes 26 seconds. This was the year when Sir Thomas Lipton got nearest to achieving his life's ambition. He had won the first two races; with another win, he would have lifted the cup. The next three races were won comfortably by Resolute, and the trophy remained in America. Sir Thomas Lipton, however, has never been disheartened by defeats, and although he has spent an immense fortune in building and racing challengers on the other side of the world his enthusiasm for the quest is as keen to-day as it was over thirty years ago, when his first Shamrock was built. His belief in the superiority of British designing, building, and seamanship, in the end, is undimmed; and many yachtsmen and other well-wishers all over the world will hop| that a stout-hearted sportsman will within a few days see the fulfilment of his dream.