THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1934 THE AMERICA'S CUP

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21910, 20 September 1934, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1934 THE AMERICA'S CUP

Two victories for Endeavour—two in succession and as yet no defeat — in the races for the most famous yachting trophy in the world! It would be a poor British heart that did no rejoicing over this fact. The America's Cup is not yet won, by any means, and there is no certainty that it will come back to British keeping this year. But the achievements of Endeavour so far are remarkable as excellent British triumphs relieving a long tale of defeats. Because of that they are to be hailed with special delight. The first of them roused enthusiasm on both sides of the Atlantic, for Britain has no monopoly of sportsmanship, yet its gladdening of the Gosport workmen that built the challenger was particularly natural and rightly shared by British folk everywhere. Such exulting calls for no apology, so wholesome is it and so innocent of cruel glee at others' discomfiture • - The contest is no mere clash of strength and wit between rivals bent on damaging each other: it is for both of them an exerting of prowess against sea and air, a struggle in which a brotherhood of skill can be enjoyed as well as the zest of competition. Sir Thomas Lipton, so eminently devoted to the hope of regaining this trophy for his country, established a reputation as "a great loser," and in the ardour of hiß sustained efforts was never a touch of mean ambition. In that spirit the rest of the races can be sailed and watched, and British eagerness to win be kept above a paltry level. The story of the trophy encourages this assurance. It begins with the organising of a sailing race at the time of the 1851 Exhibition in London, the Royal Yacht Squadron presenting a cup for a contest open to all yachts; a simple affair, with no restrictions of tonnage or design and no time allowance for disabilities of build. The course was "round the Isle of Wight, inside the No Man's Sandhead buoy and outside the Nab." Fifteen vessels—cutters and schooners, one three-masted —assembled at Cowes and started from moorings. One of them was the America, 170 tons, built in New York for the express purpose of competing with British craft. She won the trophy. Thereupon its history took wider scope. It was not originally meant to be a challenge cup, but was given by the owner of the America to the New York Yacht Club to become one of this sort. Thus the Hundred Guinea Cup of the Cowes race in 1851 was by deed of gift made "the America's Cup" and dedicated for friendly competition among nations as a supreme trophy for speed under sail. In the conditions eventually attached to the trophy it was stipulated that the races should be between one yacht built in the country of the challenging club and one yacht built in the country of the club holding the cup, and that the challenging vessel should "proceed under sail on her own bottom to the place where the contest is to take place." Certain broad details of design were framed, together with rules governing challenges! In 1870—prior to the limiting of the contest to two representative vessels —the defending New York Yacht Club beat all-comers, the America, then owned by the United States Navy, finishing fourth. In the following year there was a series of five races, and again the New York club was successful against foreign challenge, two vessels of its squadron achieving two victories each. Five years later two races were sailed to decide the issue, with the defenders once more triumphant. Then, under the restricting rules, Canada produced a challenger in 1881, only to suffer defeat as had the English contestants before. Afterwards, with greater frequency, the contests between two representative boats were continued—always with the same result. Yet for the good of yachting, prominent American sportsmen have said, it was hoped that the America's Cup would be taken away—to become the object of even greater vying to possess it. It would be difficult, however, to imagine keener contests. The event has become classic. Conditions, especially that of proceeding under sail to the rendezvous of the race, may have seemed arbitrary, and from time to time there has been discussion of other details, but the general effect has been to incite skill in design and yachtsmanship. No wonder need be expressed at the eagerness and strength of the American defence of the trophy, for there has

been more than a century of enthusiasm in the United States for construction of sea-going craft, from the days of sturdy whalers voyaging from Bedford and Nantucket, through the time of the tea-clippers that made and broke records round the Horn to the East and back, on to the modern era of naval and mercantile ambition. In its way the America's Cup has helped to keep alive interest in the designing and handling of smaller craft, an activity encouraging a skill that mechanised sea-travel threatens to destroy. Well is it, too, that in the older British home of seamanship such incitements to excellence are appreciated. When last October, in conformity with the rule requiring ten months' notice of the challenge, accompanied by details of the challenging vessel, the Royal Yacht Squadron made its entry of the Endeavour on behalf of Mr. Sopwith, this was all that was needed to revive widespread interest in the next contest. If the result should be a return of the trophy to British keeping, that interest will deepen. In any event, the good performances of the challenger will react beneficially on yachting everywhere it is seriously followed.