THE SECOND RACE - SEPT. 15, 1930

Yves GARY Hits: 3714

Category: 1930 : CHALLENGE N°14

ENTERPRISE SAILS AWAY FROM ALTERED SHAMROCK IN SECOND YACHT CUP RACE

NEWPORT, R.I., Sept. 15.-- Wheeling around a triangular course of thirty miles with the apparent ease of a great, soaring bird, Enterprise, defender of the ...

... America's Cup, swept this afternoon to her second straight victory over Sir Thomas Lipton's Shamrock V.

"It is very disappointing, very!" was Sir Thomas Lipton's first comment after Enterprise had crossed the finish line today, a decisive winner over Shamrock V in the second match for the America's Cup.

THE START

On Monday, the spectator fleet, somewhat reduced in size but still very large, was well handled by the Coast Guard and never gave an uneasy moment to the contestants. The second race was sailed in a southwest breeze, varying in strength from 7½ to 10 knots, and sloppy sea. The course was triangular, a 10-mile beat and two 10-mile reaches.

Enterprise crossed the line on the starboard tack, on Shamrock V's lee bow, soon after the gun. Ten minutes later Enterprise tacked to port, crossed her rival's bow and tacked again just forward of her beam.

The first leg

Presently the Challenger tried a series of short tacks; the defender followed suit and seemed to gain every time she tacked. It soon became evident that Shamrock V was hopelessly outclassed sailing to windward. Enterprise was sailing just as fast and about half a point higher. As she approached the weather mark on the starboard tack Enterprise took in her No. 2 jib topsail and broke out her small Genoa after rounding. The wind was light near the mark, and although Enterprise had allowed over seven and a half points in our last short tack for the mark, it was not quite enough; she had to pinch a little to fetch it, but not nearly as much as Shamrock V, which was so badly starved that she lost a lot of headway before she finally drifted around.

The second leg

On the second leg Enterprise increased her lead by over 3 minutes, due partly to holding a better breeze and partly to carrying a more efficient sail combination. The Challenger set a ballooner which appeared too large (the wind was but a point aft of the beam), while the Defender carried a staysail inside of her Genoa. Enterprise's experience had proven the latter combination to be more effective under existing conditions.

The third leg

Some time after jibing around the second mark the wind hauled farther aft and Enterprise set her small spinnaker. Later she shifted from the small to the large Genoa. Half a mile from the finish she took in her spinnaker and crossed the line under large Genoa and mainsail. The relative positions of the two yachts did not change materially on the last leg.

The race had finished just in time — soon a dense fog blotted out the large sightseeing fleet; even Vara, on the other end of our tow line, was hidden from view. Half a dozen Coast Guard boats immediately surrounded us, formed a guard on each flank and protected Enterprise and her tow line from possible damage. Luckily there were no accidents in that fog. Every one had the good sense to maintain course and speed.

On Tuesday the fog persisted and the race was declared off for the day at 10:30 a.m. Late in the afternoon the fog finally lifted, the sun shone brightly, a fine breeze came in from the southwest and it looked as if we were in for a spell of good weather. That evening Harold S. Vanderbilt received some photographs of Enterprise and Shamrock V, taken during the windward leg of the second race. Sherman Hoyt applied a straight-edge to the luffs of the jibs and jib topsails of the two boats; the Defender's were nearly straight; the Challenger's sagged off badly — one of the reasons for her defeat had been revealed.

•   THE FIRST RACE - SEPT. 13, 1930
• THE THIRD RACE - SEPT. 17, 1930