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Category: 1903 : CHALLENGE N°12
Aug. 28, 1903 - The light winds that prevailed yesterday about Sandy Hook and off the Jersey coast were not strong enough to drive Reliance and...
... Shamrock III. over the thirty-mile course within the five-and-a-half-hour time limit, and the race was declared off. It was a fortunate thing for Shamrock III that the day's work resulted in nothing, for when the “No race" signal was sent aloft on the committee boat, the challenger was drifting along a mile and a half astern of Reliance.
It was a procession over twenty-nine-thirtieths of the course, and a race against time for the remainder. Time won, as it is apt to do, unless handicapped. The conditions were quite different from those of Tuesday. There was less wind, and the sea was even smoother, which is saying a good deal, considering it was then far from rough. While the wind was light it was also unsteady, though the variations were not so extreme as to cause any flukes. So far as the effect is concerned, one yacht fared about as well as the other. The wind apparently was too light for Shamrock to be at her best, and Reliance, favored by her greater sail spread, simply sailed away from her.
Barr's clever maneuvering before the start badly handicapped Shamrock and wiped out more than a minute of Reliance’s time allowance. But time allowance ceased to be a factor long before the outer mark was reached. The conditions were such as Reliance has reveled in throughout her races with Columbia and Constitution, and she showed that under those conditions she could drop the Shamrock even more handily than her sister rivals. She outpointed and outfooted Shamrock decisively in the fifteen-knot beat to windward, and on the way home before the wind outran her so as almost to double her lead at the finish.
Elapsed times for the first leg: Reliance, 2:53:20; Shamrock III, 3:05:53.
Aug. 30, 1903 - The race between Reliance and Shamrock III., which was to have been sailed yesterday, was postponed on account of a very heayy gale from east-northeast. Although innumerable postponements have been made necessary by lack of wind, this is the first time in the history of the America's Cup that a race has been postponed on account of too much wind.
Sept. 01, 1903 - Reliance and Shamrock III. seem to be still at the mercy of the weather gods, who yesterday did not scatter enough wind over the thirty-mile course to allow the yachts to finish within the five-and-one-half-hour time limit. On Thursday the two racers idled away six hours off Sandy Hook waiting for a breeze to till their sails, and on Saturday Boreas cast loose a driving northeaster which piled up great seas and kept the frail cup yachts cowering at their moorings. Meanwhile an impatient yachting public stamps its foot impatiently, waiting for the rivals to finish the series.
The wind promised well in the morning. It was doubtful, indeed, when the reduced excursion fleet started down the bay if the yachts would go out, not because of lack of wind, but because it was feared that there might be too much of it. Sir Thomas Lipton himself was so certain that the day would bring forth a blustering gale and a stormy sea that, mindful of the comfort of his guests, he advised them all to stay at home. This false breeze, however, which tried to frighten away the enthusiasts, fell away after the start almost as rapidly as Shamrock III fell behind in the race that ensued.
If there ever was any doubt as to the outcome of the series, or if there ever was any hope that Shamrock III might win a race, there surely can be neither now, for yesterday the green-banded challenger was beaten 20 minutes and 22 seconds in the fifteen-mile windward beat to the outer mark. The history of the races for the America's Cup records no more decisive beating over the same distance in the same sort of sailing. The nearest approach to it, perhaps, is the 12½ minutes’ beating which Reliance gave Shamrock III last Thursday over the same distance and under very nearly the same conditions.
The start was made at 11:45, and when the time limit expired, at 5:15, Reliance was half a mile away from the finish line and Shamrock III three miles behind.
Elapsed times for the first leg: Reliance, 3:15:09; Shamrock III, 3:35:31.
Sept. 02, 1903 - Race Is Declared Off for the Day Without a Start.
Sept. 03, 1903 - Reliance and Shamrock III. Did Not Start for Lack of Wind. Thick Fog Off Sandy Hook Yesterday -- Third Race Now Has Been Postponed Five Times.