THE SYSTEM OF STARTING.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVII, Issue 199, 24 August 1903, Page 3

THE SYSTEM OF STARTING.

The New York Yacht Club, under whose management the America Cap races are being sailed, is. the only important yacht racing organisation that clings to the timed start—i.e., one which gives yachts the privilege of crossing the starting line at any instant within a certain time limit, announced by a first or starting gun, and closed by a second er handicap gun. Between these two guns yachts may cross under New York Yacht Club rules, and their time be taken from the actual crossing. lii the one-gun start time is taken from the gun fire. Referring to the American system of starting, a yachting magazine says: -—"A race started by the two-gun start is always most confusing to the onlookers; indeed, not infrequently it is robbed of interest becouse of the impossibility of ascertaining the relative positions of the competing yachts throughout the course. As a rule, in a close race, under such conditions, few of the committee boat know the leading yacht. Yet it is, of course, true that the America Cup races are not sailed for the mere sake of providing an exciting spectacle, and so the onlookers' objections maybe waived. The serious objection of American yachtsmen to the two-gun start is its negative influence on smart seamanship There is no doubt that the flying or one-gun start puts a premium on the smart handling of a yacht, and as that is one of the most important elements in racing, American sportsmen look with favor upon no rules which tend to lower rather than to raise native skill. In point of fact, American skippers are very clever on the flying start, which prevails in Eastern waters, on the Great Lakes, and in most of the racing around New York. It would be strange to conduct the premier yacht race of the world on lines other than those endorsed by modern custom."