AMERICA CUP CHALLENGER

Taranaki Daily News, 2 June 1934, Page 23 (Supplement)

AMERICA CUP CHALLENGER

LAUNCHING OF ENDEAVOUR. BRITAIN’S “SHIP OF SECRETS.” The launching - of Endeavour, the •ship of secrets,’’ with which it ishopcd to regain the America Cup this’autumn after its 83 years’’ exile, was a highly spectacular event. ■ It took place in Portsmouth harbour, and great crowds had gathered, both on land and in every type of vessel, to welcome the latest wonder of yacht racing as she took the water for the first time. In the bacJc* ground .was H.M.S. Nelson, with her decks crowded with naval men, and the boats all round were decked in orange and blue, the racing colours of Mr. T. O. M. Sopwith, who is to race Endeavour against the American defender, Mrs. Sopwith, who will be the first-woman to take part in the races, christened the yacht. Breaking a bottle of champagne on its bow, she said “I name you Endeavour, and, with all my heart, 1 wish you a cup full of luck. Every ship in ’the harbour gave their new ■sister a wild welcome from siren and hooter as she dropped into'the-water. Endeavour is the first all-steel yacht to be built as a challenger for the Cup, and she is also the biggest. Her length !is 130 feet; she has a beam Of 22ft., and a draught of 15ft. ’ The ojily wood, about her is the mahogany rudder and the pine decks. No previous yacht has been built and equipped with so many scientific appliances. She will, in fact, out’rival’the American boat in mechanical gadgets, for which Enterprise, who foiled ’ Sir Thomas Lipton’s last.’ bid for the Cup with Shamrock V, was famous. ,