798 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Preliminary Tryouts For American Cup 
By W. G. Beecroft with photographs on page 815 by the author. 
Thus far the preliminary contest for the try¬ 
out of the contenders for defense of America's 
cup have been guessing contests between skippers 
•—and be it said in a whisper—-Charles Francis 
Adams, Jr., amateur skipper of Resolute kept 
Capt. Dennis, professional helmsman of Vanitie, 
pretty well keyed up trying to ferret out what 
was in the youngster's mind. In appearance there 
is little to choose between the two boats—up to 
the time of going to press the third contender— 
Defiance—had not put in an appearance, having- 
been hauled out at Jacob’s ship yard being mani¬ 
cured of eight feet of mast and a yard or two of 
bow sprit. Vanitie, designed by William Gard¬ 
ner, and plated with bronze, offered perhaps 
prettier lines and a cleaner appearance, but a 
more abominally fitting suit of sails never came 
from a sail maker’s loft, unless it was a remade 
suit for an auxiliary coal barge. Resolute, design¬ 
ed by Herreshoff—follows pretty closely lines 
that have made famous previous protectors of 
America’s cup. She is snow white, with flush 
deck, and graceful as a mallard. Thus far events 
have shown her superiority in close windward 
work, she points much higher than Vanitie. On 
broad reach the latter has proved considerably 
faster than the Herreshoff boat, while on the 
run things are about equal. Thus far, the only- 
day furnishing satisfactory wind, was nullified 
because of an accident aboard Vanitie, when two 
sailors slipped into the briny, and, race or no race, 
had to be collected—and they were. The first 
meeting of the two racers was on June second. 
The wind was either absent or fluky. Each 
skipper was wary of the other, although Capt. 
Bill Dennis hated to admit that possibly Mr. 
Adams had anything on him. At the end of the 
first lap, the two yachts lolled about in a dead 
calm, within a highball’s throw of each other. 
A gentle zephyr came from somewhere, a long 
way from where the wind had been a half hour 
before, and both canvases filled indifferently for 
a run to the buoy off Long Island shore. Vani¬ 
tie got her fill first and crawled away from Reso¬ 
lute, her mainsail out to port as was that of Reso¬ 
lute. Mr. Adams broke out his spinnaker, but he 
was so far inshore that the wind, what there was 
of it was killed by the high, overhanging sand 
banks. Capt. Dennis kept on with his big bal- 
looner. Half way down to the mark Vanitie 
jibed and broke out her big spinnaker, caught a 
fresh breeze, sped down to the buoy, and, from 
then on was an easy winner by sixteen minutes, 
forty-eight seconds, elapsed time. The fastest 
leg by Vanitie was 6 i-8 miles in 33:31, while 
Resolute’s fastest was the same ieg in 34:21. 
The usual lowing herd of yachts wended its way 
slowly o’er the lee. New York Yacht Club fol¬ 
lowed in the steamer Highlander, equipped with 
tango, orchestra and wireless. The up and com¬ 
ing Stamford Yacht Club, under direction of J. 
V. S. Oddie, chairman of regatta committee took 
care of members and guests admirably aboard 
twin screw steamer Nassau. The Nassau's Cap¬ 
tain outgeneralled the entire fleet at all times 
and gave his cargo the best opportunity to see 
every move of the big racers. 
FIRST 
RACE SCHEDULE. 
Vanitie 
Resolute 
H.M.S. 
H.M.S. 
Start. 
... 12:46 :46 
12 -.46 :12 
P'irst leg ... 
... 1:16152 
1 :i5 :20 
Second leg . 
... 2:02 :i2 
1 09:12 
Third leg ... 
... 2 148:28 
2 :48 :02 
Fourth leg .. 
... 4:11 :37 
4:17:04 
P'lfth leg ... 
... 4:52:38 
5 :o8 :o2 
Finish . 
... 5:26:09 
5 ; 42 :23 
Vanitie winner by 16 minutes 48 seconds. 
Elapsed time ... 4:39 123 4:56:11 
Elapsed Time by Legs. 
FIRST ROUND. 
Miles 
First leg. 
. 4% 
30 :oo 
29:08 
Sec. leg . 
. 4% 
45 : 3 ° 
43 o 2 
Third leg 
. 6V8 
40 :o6 
48:50 
Total ... 
■ 15 
1 : 55 06 
i: 5 i : 5 o 
SECOND ROUND. 
First leg 
1:23:13 
1129 :o 2 
Second le 
O' 
& • • • • 
41:03 
50:58 
Third leg 
33 : 3 i 
34:21 
Total ... 
2 : 3/ : 47 
2 :54 :2i 
SATURDAY 
In another fluky wind Vanitie defeated Reso¬ 
lute by 5m. 52s. actual time and by 2m. 40s. cor¬ 
rected. The Gardner sloop had to allow the 
Herreshoff boat 3m. 12s., or 6.46s. a mile. The 
ratings of the sloops, as announced are:—Vani¬ 
tie, 85.43, Resolute, 80.09. 
From first to last the race was one in which 
luck and clever puff hunting shared with clever 
sailing and fine design. 
When the starting signal was set, at quarter 
past one o'clock, both yachts were quite a dis¬ 
tance from the line to the northwestward, having 
been indulging in some spirited jockeying. Cap¬ 
tain “Bill" Dennis got the better of it. At the 
expiration of the two minute period following 
the starting signal they were near to the line, 
with Vanitie close on Resolute’s quarter. Power 
houseboat Buffalo, belonging to Charles T. Wills, 
was right on the course and astern of the Re¬ 
gatta Committee tug W. F. Dalzell. Capt. Den¬ 
nis was obliged to bear off from his course 
to avoid striking the Buffalo and lost much of 
the advantage of a fine start. When clear 
of the tangle the two flyers made away to the 
eastward in the very light northwest by north 
breeze, on a beam reach for the red spar buoy 
24 1-2, off Greenwich Point, a distance of six 
miles, the course being N. E. by E. 1-2 E. No. 
1 reaching jib topsails were pulling on both sloops, 
and in addition to these the other sails fitted 
very well on both, especially the Vanitie, on 
which vessel 'they have improved wonderfully 
in the last few days. 
Recovers Her Loss. 
The olive bronze sloop more than recovered 
any loss she sustained at the start, soon there¬ 
after, and at 1 :26 when off Mansursing Island, 
off Port Chester, she forged ahead, having pick¬ 
ed up a fine westerly shift as she slipped along 
close to the Westchester shore. Ballooners were 
sent up and broken out on both sloops at this 
time, the Vanitie taking the initiative in this 
move. 
Soon after, when just beyond Hen and Chick¬ 
ens, the Vanitie ran into a soft spot, and the 
white racer, getting the slant that helped her 
competitor, started to close up the gap; but be¬ 
fore she could do it they were both in a “Paddy’s 
hurricane" off Little Captain Island and pros¬ 
pects for a lively contest looked slim. 
The time around the first mark, off Green¬ 
wich Point, was:—The Vanitie, 2:07:48; the 
Resolute, 2:11:09. 
The Vanitie gained 3 minutes 33 seconds on 
the first leg. The breeze had hauled around to 
the S. S. W., by this time and was freshening 
and the two sloops looked unusually fine as they 
made for the Oak Neck mark, four and one- 
quarter miles away, course S. by W. 1-4 W. 
This gave the racers their weather work, but 
before long the breeze flattened out again. 
Slow to Fill Headsails. 
At 2:16:10 the Vanitie went about on the port 
tack and two and a half minutes later tacked 
again. At 2:27 the Vanitie’s baby jib topsail 
was taken in and a longer one broken out. At 
3:3i the Resolute went about and so did the 
Vanitie. It was noticed that it took the head 
sails of the olive bronze sloop much longer to 
fill than it did those of the Resolute. At 2:59:05 
and a few seconds thereafter the Resolute and 
the Vanitie tacked when off the Lloyd’s Neck 
buoy. 
Both sloops headed off shore at 3:21 when off 
Centre Island. Neither one was showing any 
speed, for the reason that there was next to no 
wind and such as there was came in occasional, 
gentle zephyrs, which the watchful skippers 
availed themselve of to the best advantage. The 
yachts rounded Oak Neck buoy as follows: — 
The Vanitie, 3:35:4; the Resolute, 3 :42 :oo. 
It took the Vanitie 1 hour, 27 minutes, 57 
seconds to make the weather leg and the Reso¬ 
lute 1 hour, 30 minutes, 51 seconds, the former 
adding 2 minutes, 54 seconds to her lead. 
Then came another reach across the Sound to 
the starting buoy, a distance of 4 5-8 miles course 
W. by N. 1-2 N. The Vanitie was 6 minutes 15 
seconds ahead when the second leg ended. 
Going at Fair Speed. 
A close reach to the mark, in which both were 
able to lay their courses, was made at fair speed, 
the breeze having freshened again, and the times 
as taken at the end of the first round were:—• 
The Vanitie, 4:13:45; the Resolute, 4:19:46. 
In this leg the Resolute lessened her adver¬ 
sary’s lead by 14 seconds. 
Spinnaker on the Resolute. 
On this leg the Vanitie made her two tacks to 
leeward, while the Resolute gybed and spread 
her spinnaker when she had covered three of the 
six miles and came on wing a wing, a beautifu. 
sight. The times around the mark were:—-The 
Vanitie, 5:28:17; the Resolute, 5:32:31. 
