YACHTING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 148, 26 June 1934, Page 8

YACHTING

THE AMERICA’S CUP NEW BRITISH CHALLENGER. FACTS ABOUT ENDEAVOUR. Alore than SO years ago Ihe schooner America sailed a race round the Isle of Wight and won what was known at the time as “the Queen’s Cup,” writes B. Heckstall Smith in the Manchester Guardian. This cup was taken back to the United States and called “the America’s Cup.’’ It was piescnted to the New York Yacht Club together with a special deed of gift setting forth the rules and regulations governing any further competition—and that was the beginning of all the trouble. Ever since that, day yachtsmen in Great Britain have been trying to win back the America’s Cup. Thousands and thousands of pounds have been spent building challengers, but to this day the cup remains the most elusive sporting trophy in the world. Now on the top of the flood tide, Endeavour, the latest challenger for the America’s Cup, has been launched from Messrs. Camper and Nicholson’s yard at Gosport. It was largely Sir 'Thomas Lipton’s association with the cup that popularised it with the public. He challenged for it five times, and every time he was beaten In the last year of his life he built his last challenger—Shamrock V. I saw her launched from the same slipway down which Endeavour slid, one April morning four years ago, and since then I have sailed many races aboard her. She was a fine vesel built to practically the same measurement rule as Endeavour, but she was not fast enough to win the cup, and so Lipton died without ever achieving his ambition; but before he died the people of America gave him a gold loving-cup for being “the world’s best loser.” I think that gave him more pleasure than winning the America’s Cup would have done. Endeavour, like Shamrock A’, is built 1 to the “J” class —that is to say, both ' yachts race in the same class, are of j similar type, and carry the same ' amount of sail. To the uninitiated eye • the two vessels would look exactly i alike. Yet Endeavour, from the very ! day that her keel was laid many ! months ago, stood a better chance of i winning the America’s Cup than ever . Shamrock did. The reason is that since ; Shamrock raced in 1930 Great Britain j and America have come to an agree- ; ment as to the measurement and construction of large racing yachts, and, 1 very sportingly, the America’s Cup ■ Committee decided that the forthcoming races should be sailed for by vessels complying with these new measurement | rules.

Everyone will remember all the talk] about Enterprise, the last America’s Cup defender, being a “box of tricks” —how she carried a wonderfully 'ight duralumin mast and any deck for the winches and wheels below deck for the handling of her sheets. All that is finished and done with, and the rules now say that neither yacht may have a mast weighing less than 55001 b. That is the most important change made in the rules since Shamrock raced. The greatest advantage that Enterprise gained over her rival four years ago was by carrying a mast that was so very much lighter. The winches below i deck are no longer allowed, and both yachts must now be properly fitted up below berths, bathrooms, and all the . ordinary accommodation of a normal * racing yacht. Thus the Americans cannqt build a “racing machine,” nor can they gain any great material

advantage, as they did in .1930, by using mechanical devices, and so the races nex’t September off Newport, Rhode Island, will be the fairest and most evenly matched races that have ever been sailed for the America’s Cup. Endeavour still has to make v he pas sage across the Atlantic under tow and sail, but a modern yacht is built to the requirements of Lloyd’s, and these demand such strong construction that the voyage to America does not strain a yacht unduly. The only disadvantage of’ the crossing is the loss of racing taining to the crew, who have to spend nearly a month at sea sailing under ocean-going rig. Taking everything into consider.<tion, I have not the slightest hesitation in saying that, theoretically, Endeavour has a better chance of winning the America’s Cup than any previous challenger. That she will be well sailed is certain, for her owner, Mr. T. O. M. Sopwith, is one of t<he finest amateur helmsmen in this country. Although he is comparatively a newcomer to the game, he is a natural helmsman, and his long experience of flying has prov< I of infinite value to him at the wheel of a yacht. I have sailed with “Toni” Sopwith and against him, and he hns all the attributes of a great helmsman —nerve, quick perception, and a power to command men. He has undertaken a difficult task, and he will be racing against a helmsman as good as himself in Harold Vanderbilt, who will steer the defender. Rainbow At the same time I can think of no yachtsman in this country to-day whom I would rather see at the wheel of the JateJ. America’s Cup challenger than “Totn'' Sopwith. Soon the challenger will be racing against the King old Britannia and against Velsheda, Shamrock, Asta, and Candida. It is more than 40 years since such a magnificent fleet of firstclass yachts sailed the summer sea, and if Endeavour and her owner can defeat this fleet as well as outsail Velsheda in the special matches tnat have been arranged, then I for one shall not he surprised if they bring ho*n>e the America’s (.'uj> al last.