with three very costly and extreme vessels, “Shamrock I.,”
“Shamrock II.” and “Shamrock III.” No. I. and No. III. were
designed by W. Fife, and No. II. by G. L. Watson. In 1899
“Shamrock I.” was rather easily defeated by “Columbia.” In
1901 the Americans were not especially successful in building the
vessel which they had prepared to defend the cup, and in the trial
races the old 1899 yacht “Columbia,” sailed by Captain Charles
Barr—a half-brother of the skipper of the Scottish yacht “Thistle”—defeated
the new vessel “Constitution,” which had been built
for the defence of the trophy for 1901; consequently the New York
Yacht Club again selected the “Columbia” to defend the cup
against “Shamrock II.” After very close racing the “Columbia”—which
was the better handled boat—retained the prize.
The next contest for the cup was in 1903. On this occasion Herreshoff turned out in “Reliance” a wonderful example of a large fin-keeled boat with full pram-bow and light skimming-dish hull. She was of the lightest possible construction (bronze with steel web frames), 90 ft. length L.W.L., 144 ft. length over all, with 16,160 sq. ft. of sail area, 25 ft. 10 in. beam, and a draught of 19 ft. 9 in. “Reliance” was a far more extreme vessel than “Shamrock III.” The latter had a deeper body and a less prammed overhang forward. With the same water-line as “Reliance,” the English yacht had rather over a foot less beam. The chief difference in dimensions, however, was in the sail area; “Shamrock III.” carried 14,337 sq. ft., or 1823 sq. ft. less than “Reliance.” The result was a very easy victory for the “Reliance.”
Races for the America’s Cup
| Date. | Name. | Tonnage. | Course. | Allows | Elapsed Time. |
Corrected Time. |
Wins by |
| M. S. | H. M. S. | H. M. S. | M. S. | ||||
| Aug. 22, 1851 | America | 170 | From Cowes around Isle of Wight (Aurora | 10 37 0 | 10 37 0 | 18 0 | |
| Aurora | 47 | second). | 10 55 0 | 10 55 0 | |||
| Aug. 8, 1870 | Magic | 97.2 | N.Y.Y.C. Course (Cambria tenth). | 4 7 54 | 3 58 26 | 39 12.7 | |
| Cambria | 227.6 | 4 34 57 | 4 37 38 | ||||
| Oct. 16, 1871 | Columbia | 220 | N.Y.Y.C. Course. | 6 17 42 | 6 19 41 | 27 4 | |
| Livonia | 280 | 6 43 0 | 6 46 45 | ||||
| Oct. 18, 1871 | Columbia | 220 | 20 miles to windward off Sandy Hook Lightship | 3 1 33½ | 3 7 41¾ | 10 33¾ | |
| Livonia | 280 | and return. | 3 6 49½ | 3 18 15½ | |||
| Oct. 19, 1871 | Livonia | 280 | N.Y.Y.C. Course (Columbia disabled). | 3 53 5 | 4 2 25 | 15 10 | |
| Columbia | 220 | 4 12 38 | 4 17 35 | ||||
| Oct. 21, 1871 | Sappho | 310 | 20 miles to windward off Sandy Hook Lightship | 5 33 24 | 5 36 2 | 33 21 | |
| Livonia | 280 | and return. | 6 4 38 | 6 9 23 | |||
| Oct. 23, 1871 | Sappho | 310 | N.Y.Y.C. Course. | 4 38 5 | 4 46 17 | 25 27 | |
| Livonia | 280 | 5 4 41 | 5 11 44 | ||||
| Aug. 11, 1876 | Madeleine | 151.49 | N.Y.Y.C. Course. | 5 24 55 | 5 23 54 | 10 59 | |
| C'tess of Dufferin | 138.20 | 5 34 53 | 5 34 53 | ||||
| Aug. 12, 1876 | Madeleine | 151.49 | 20 miles to windward off Sandy Hook Lightship | 7 19 47 | 7 18 46 | 27 14 | |
| C'tess of Dufferin | 138.20 | and return. | 7 46 0 | 7 46 0 | |||
| Nov. 9, 1881 | Mischief | 79.27 | N.Y.Y.C. Course. | 4 17 9 | 4 17 9 | 28 20¼ | |
| Atlanta | 84 | 4 48 24½ | 4 45 29¼ | ||||
| Nov. 10, 1881 | Mischief | 79.27 | 16 miles to leeward from Buoy 5 off Sandy Hook | 4 54 53 | 4 54 53 | 38 54 | |
| Atlanta | 84 | and return. | 5 36 52 | 5 33 47 | |||
| Sept. 14, 1885 | Puritan | 140 | N.Y.Y.C. Course. | 6 6 5 | 6 6 5 | 16 19 | |
| Genesta | 80 | 0 28 | 6 22 52 | 6 22 24 | |||
| Sept. 16, 1885 | Puritan | 140 | 20 miles to leeward off Sandy Hook Lightship | 5 3 14 | 5 3 14 | 1 38 | |
| Genesta | 80 | and return. | 0 38 | 5 5 20 | 5 4 52 | ||
| Sept. 9, 1886 | Mayflower | 171.74 | N.Y.Y.C. Course. | 5 26 41 | 5 26 41 | 12 2 | |
| Galatea | 171.14 | 0 38 | 5 39 21 | 5 38 43 | |||
| Sept. 11, 1886 | Mayflower | 171.74 | 20 miles to leeward off Sandy; Hook Lightship | 6 49 0 | 6 49 0 | 29 9 | |
| Galatea | 171.14 | and return. | 0 39 | 7 18 48 | 7 18 9 | ||
| Sept. 27, 1887 | Volunteer | 209.08 | N.Y.Y.C. Course. | 4 53 18 | 4 53 18 | 19 23¾ | |
| Thistle | 253.94 | 0 5 | 5 12 46¾ | 5 12 41¾ | |||
| Sept. 30, 1887 | Volunteer | 209.08 | 20 miles to windward off Scotland Lightship | 5 42 56¼ | 5 42 56¼ | 11 48¾ | |
| Thistle | 253.94 | and return. | 0 6 | 5 54 51 | 5 54 45 | ||
| Sailing Length. | |||||||
| M. S. | H. M. S. | H. M. S. | M. S. | ||||
| Oct. 7, 1893 | Vigilant | 96.78 | 15 miles to windward off Scotland Lightship and | 4 5 47 | 4 5 47 | 5 48 | |
| Valkyrie II. | 93.11 | return. | 1 48 | 4 13 23 | 4 11 35 | ||
| Oct. 9, 1893 | Vigilant | 96.78 | Course—equilateral triangle—3030 miles. | 3 25 1 | 3 25 1 | 10 35 | |
| Valkyrie II. | 93.11 | 1 48 | 3 37 24 | 3 35 36 | |||
| Oct. 13, 1893 | Vigilant | 96.78 | 15 miles to windward off Scotland Lightship and | 3 24 39 | 3 24 39 | 0 40 | |
| Valkyrie II. | 93.57* | return. | 1 33 | 3 26 52 | 3 25 19 | ||
| Sept. 7, 1895 | Defender | 100.36 | 15 miles to windward off Scotland Lightship and | 0 29 | 5 0 24 | 4 59 55 | 8 49 |
| Valkyrie III. | 101.49 | return. | 5 8 44 | 5 8 44 | |||
| Sept. 10, 1895 | Defender | 100.36 | Course—equilateral triangle—30 miles. | 0 29 | 3 56 25 | 3 55 56 | 0 47 |
| Valkyrie III. | 101.49 | 3 55 9† | 3 55 9 | ||||
| Sept. 12, 1895 | Defender | 100.36 | 15 miles to windward and return from Sandy | 0 29 | 4 44 12 | 4 43 43 | |
| Valkyrie III. | 101.49 | Hook Lightship. | ‡ | ||||
| Oct. 16, 1899 | Columbia | 102.135 | 15 miles E.S.E. from Sandy Hook Lightship and | 4 53 53 | 4 53 53 | 10 8 | |
| Shamrock | 101.092 | return—30 miles. | 0 6 | 5 4 7 | 5 4 1 | ||
| Oct. 17, 1899 | Columbia | 102.135 | 10 miles triangular from Sandy Hook | 3 37 0 | |||
| Shamrock | 101.092 | Lightship—30 miles. | 0 6 | § | |||
| Oct. 20, 1899 | Columbia | 102.135 | 15 miles S. by W. from Sandy Hook Lightship | 0 16 | 3 38 25 | 3 38 9 | 6 34 |
| Shamrock | 102.565 | and return—30 miles. | 3 44 43 | 3 44 43 | |||
| Sept. 28, 1901 | Columbia | 102.355 | 15 miles E. by S. from Sandy Hook Lightship | 0 43 | 4 31 7 | 4 30 24 | 1 20 |
| Shamrock II. | 103.79 | and return—30 miles. | 4 31 44 | 4 31 44 | |||
| Oct. 3, 1901 | Columbia | 102.355 | Course—equilateral triangle—30 miles. | 0 43 | 3 13 18 | 3 12 35 | 3 35 |
| Shamrock II. | 103.79 | 3 16 10 | 3 16 10 | ||||
| Oct. 4, 1901 | Columbia | 102.355 | 15 miles S.S.E. from Sandy Hook Lightship and | 0 43 | 4 33 40 | 4 32 57 | 0 41 |
| Shamrock II. | 103.79 | return—30 miles. | 4 33 38 | 4 33 38 | |||
| Aug. 22, 1903 | Reliance | 108.41 | 15 miles to windward and return—30 miles. | 3 32 17 | 3 32 17 | 7 3 | |
| Shamrock III. | 104.37 | 1 57 | 3 41 17 | 3 39 20 | |||
| Aug. 25, 1903 | Reliance | 108.41 | Course—equilateral triangle—30 miles. | 3 14 54 | 3 14 54 | 1 19 | |
| Shamrock III. | 104.37 | 1 57 | 3 18 10 | 3 16 12 | |||
| Sept. 3, 1903 | Reliance | 108.39 | 15 miles to windward and return—30 miles. | 4 28 0 | 4 28 0 | ||
| Shamrock III. | 104.37 | 1 57 | Did not finish. | ||||
* Remeasured. † Disqualified for fouling “Defender.” ‡ Withdrew on crossing the line. § Carried away topmast and withdrew.
(B. H.-S.)
