THE CHINA MAIL, MAY 15, 1937.
AMERICA'S CUP PREPARATIONS
EXPERIMENTS WITH
NEW RIGS
RANGER'S REDUCED
MAINSAIL
RAINBOW AND RANGER COMPARED (By WILLIAM H. TAYLOR,
THE
London, April 21.
HE American yachting public is beginning to feel just a little bit dizzy, ás plans for the coming season in the J class mature. Nothing seems to follow the old familiar patterns in the preparations for the 1937 America's Cup series.
FOR ONE THING, THE DESIGNERS ARE FLYING OFF IN ALL DIRECTIONS IN THE MATTER OF RIGS. WHILE ALL- THREE AMERICA'S CUP DEFENCE CANDIDATES WILL HAVE APPROXIMATELY THE SAME SAIL AREA OF A LIT- TLE OVER 7,500 SQUARE FEET, NONE OF THE THREE SAIL PLANS WILL LOOK ALIKE.
As described in a recent article, Mr. Frank Paine and Mr. Gerard Lambert have installed in Yankee a rig of the relative proportions of a small-boat sail plan, taking 500ft, out of the fore triangle to add it to the mainsail with 9ft. more main boom, the masts 611⁄2ft. farther forward, a short-base fore triangle (which means a short spinnaker pole, too) with a single headsail instead of the usual jib and forestay sail,
A. Keown, above, will be seen in the 300 Yards Free style relay for Great Britain to-night at the V.R.C.
1930.
much of the success of Enterprise in his book written about`, the series, and there is no question but that Hoyt was an important factor in pulling Rainbow out of the hole
in 1934.
TO-DAY'S BASEBALL ENCOUNTER
H.K.B.A. To Clash With H.K. Chinese
EUROPEANS STRONG IN BATTING
An interesting League baseball game should be witnessed at Caro- line Hill this afternoon, when the Hong Kong Baseball Club, who are making a bold bid for the cham- pionship this season, encounter the Hong Kong Chinese, who will be comprised of the most of the play. ers who were seen in action last season with the Overseas Chinese. The Hong Kong Baseball Club are fielding their best team and are making several positional changes as the result of their game against
the
Japanese a fortnight ago. Thompson or Walker will do the catching, with McCall pitching, while the short-stop position will be allotted to either Divett or Mc- Call Jr. Hearther will be at base.
:
game, the
first
Club the
YOUTHFUL TALENT The new boat's afterguard is
In their fast Olin and Mr. Rod Stephens, predominantly young
blood. Mr. showed that they are one of under 30, are crack racing men and and it is in this department that both hardest-hitting sides in the League, have sailed big boats before, in they have a distinct advantage over Weetamoe,in 1934 and with Mr. the Chinese. If they display the Vanderbilt in Rainbow last sunt-same form as in the last game, the Chinese fielders will be kept busy. and
mer..
LINEUP UNCERTAIN The Chinese are still uncertain
To-morrow, the
Now, along comes Mr. "Mike" than 25 tons heavier than Rain- Vanderbilt with the news that bow, and she measures 135ft from Mr. Starling Burgess and Mr. the top of her snubbed-in stem to Olin Stephens have gone in the the taffrail of her long, lean coun-have plenty of youthful talent this Thompson are good bats.
All the American J boats will Muir, Hearther, Smedley opposite direction. Ranger's ter mainsail will be only 4,825 square
Waterline and draft are set at Rainbow will include his two sons, year. Mr. Hovey's afterguard in feet, against 5,553 in Yankee's the maximum, 87ft and 15ft, as in his nephew, Morgan Harris, and of their line-up, but it is understood new rig, and 5,061 in Rainbow's the new Endeavour. The new boat's perhaps a few other lads of college that Wally Ching, will be at short mainsail, the latter being what beam remains a secret—why, no and just-out-of college age. has hitherto been considered body can explain. All they will say
stop with B. S. Chung covering normal proportions.
is that she is under
A minor deviation from past either second and third. The balance of the 7,550 square which means she is narrow
22ft beam, Vanderbilt practice is to be seen in Chang may also turn out and will Matty feet, 2,725, goes forward of the Yankee and the two Endeavours, terprise, like the other J boats -of
than the interior fittings of Ranger. En- do some pitching. mást, and apparently the forestay and may or may not be sail is to be much larger in
down to 1980, was all winches and working demy, last season's champions, are Pui-ching Aca- pro-Rainbow's 20.92ft, though she is portion to the jib than is usual. The probably wider than that.
gear below decks. Rainbow, in 1934, due to play two distance from the mast to the tack
had what the rules required in the will be against the Japanese start- games, the first An even more startling change, in of the staysail in Ranger will be the Vanderbilt
way of accommodations, but psychology is his only two feet shorter than the whole apparent lack of haste in getting to British idea of what was proper game against the Volunteers.
hering at 10 am, and this will be fol- equipment fell so far short of the flowed immediately after base of Yankee's fore triangle.work. In 1930 and 1934, with the that Mr. Sopwith had a ton or so This rather smacks of the "Ste-Cup races scheduled for the middle of bathtubs and other portable gear phens fore triangle" which has of September, he was breathing fire ferried ashore to even things on
ALL 1937 RACING TIMES proved successful în such yachts as and smoke by mid-April, and could Dorade, Stormy Weather, and Edlu. not get his boats in commission fast
TO DATE It will give Ranger tremendous enough. Last fall he was all for light sails for running and reach-launching the new boat as soon as ing.
the ice went out of the Kennebec.
Now, for no reason
BASIS OF COMPARISON
#
that score.
with a
(Continued from page 18) 1.44.3-Ranger (Black, 150); 2 Able Amazon (Ip, 160); 3, Home Brew (Proulx, 158). Neck and head. 3rd E..
ONE MILE 171 YARDS
LUXURIOUS QUARTERS Ranger, on the other hand, will fulfil the spirit as well as the letter Ranger be- of the rules below decks. Her crews With Yankee and Ranger going to ing practically finished he sud- and officers' quarters are spacious 1.55.4 (record)--Electron (Deitz..155): these extremes, Mr. Chandler Hoveydenly settles down to spend the and well fitted. Her owner's quar- will bring Rainbow out with just spring in Florida, and postpones ters will even be luxurious. about the same rig she carried in the launching from April 14 to
Yankee should be under sail be- 1934 and last year, which at least May 11, leaving himself only six fore the end of April testing out her will give us a basis of comparison. weeks of sailing before the start of new rig and finding out whether the Apparently, this rig business is any- the final trials here, and two and a steel mast, about which some critics body's guess, and the only sure half months before the first Cup have their doubts, will hold it up. thing about it ̈ is that somebody race. must be very, very wrong.
SAME PERSONNEL
Ranger will have her first sail off Newport about May 17, and Rain- Nobody can ever say that Mr. The fact that Ranger will have aboard some gear from Weetamoé, bow, now at Herreshoff's taking Vanderbilt and Mr. Burgess aren't much the same well-trained crew will be out a bit later. open to changing their minds about personnel as sailed Enterprise and things. They made Enterprise the Rainbow may have something to do
PRELIMINARY RACES smallest of the four 1930 J boats, with this, and the weather in April because a study of weather records and early May is not especially fav- preliminary races to ștart May 29 The schedule calls for a series of off Newport indicated that a small ourable for tuning up a yacht, any-off Newport; an observation series how, but it still looks like complete starting June 16, and the final In 1934 they had the smallest boat confidence. again, Rainbow being, though 10
trials, on the America's Cup course off shore, beginning July 3.
boat would be the best bet.
7
It is too soon, to say what the
of the guard. effect here will be of the British
for proposal to start a 56-rating class,
While the crew will be pretty tons heavier than Enterprise, smal-much the same as in the past, the ler than either Yankee, Weetamoe, reverse is true or Endeavour. Now, just by way of all the amateurs who of contrast, they built the biggest the Cup in Enterprise and Rain- but the chances are that a similar Jaloop in the world.
bow only Mr. Zenas Bliss, juu, class will be launched in America Rainbow's navigator, will be in within a few years, an increasing Ranger's displacement is 166.5 Ranger. The most serious loss, un-number of yachtsmen have been tons, two and a half tons more than questionably, is Mr. Sherman Hoyt, contemplating the desirability of an Endeavour II. and Yankee,⠀⠀⠀ more Vanderbilt credited Hoyt with L class.
YANKEE HEAVIEST
2, Able Amazon (D. S. Li, 157); Centre Court (Davis, 155). 1.58.3 Blandford (Deitz, 148);
lengths and 14. A.M. 4 Snowy River (Black, 154); lengths and 2 2nd E (1st). Saucy Face (H. C. Pih, 159). 1.55.3 (record) Strathroy (Black, 165); 2, Holiday Eve (Yuen, 140); 3, Gypsy Love (S. C. Liang, 160). 2.00.1-A Great Time (Proulx, 152); 2, 6 lengths and neck. 2nd. E. (2nd). Twilight Star (Ip, 147); 3. Solerina (S. G. Liang, 147), 11⁄2 lengths and 123rd Eu
1 MILESE 2.12.0 Strathroy (Black, 154);
Electron (Deitz, 154); ~8, Able Amazon (D. S. Li. 157), 11⁄2 lengths and 4. A M. 2
217,3 Home Brew (Ralph, 162)-
Courting. Eve (Needa, 155);: Solerina (8. C. Liang, 152), Short head and many lengths. A.M. 4. 108 (record) Strathroy(Black, 152) 2. Electron (Deitz, 165); Gypsy Love (D. S. Li, 155). lengths and 2. AIM, 5.
14 MILES
2.43.8-Gypsy Love (D. S. Li, 155); 2, Lancashire Chips (H. C. Pih, 152); 3, Courting Eve (Needa, 155).. lengths and . A.M. 37. Results of the Fourth Extra Meeting in the Jockey Club's Race Pro-
igramme.