User talk:David Finn/1903 America's Cup draft

12th America's Cup
Date	August 20 - September 3 1903
Defender	New York Yacht Club
Challenger	Royal Ulster Yacht Club
Winner	New York Yacht Club
Location	New York City

The 1903 America's Cup was the 12th America's Cup race to be held, and was won by the American defender, Reliance, who won all three races against the Irish challenger, Shamrock III. It was the fourth Cup win for designer Nathanael Herreshoff and the third for skipper Charlie Barr. The 12th America's Cup was the last to be raced under the Seawanhaka Rule.

The Cup was defended by the New York Yacht Club, and all races took place along the New Jersey coast from Sandy Hook. In total 8 races were held between August 20 and September 3, but unfavourable weather conditions prevented 5 of the races being completed within the time allowed. It was the last America's Cup race to be held from the New York Harbor.

Shamrock III was entered by Scottish selfmade millionaire Sir Thomas Lipton, founder of the Lipton tea company. The 12th America's Cup was the third consecutive Cup to be unsuccessfully challenged by Lipton - first in 1899 with Shamrock, and again in 1901 with Shamrock II. The third Shamrock, as well as the first, was designed by William Fife. Lipton made two more unsuccessful challenges on the Cup, in 1920 with Shamrock IV, and again in 1930 with Shamrock V

Reliance was entered by a syndicate of New York Yacht Club members, headed by C. Oliver Iselin.

History

The America's Cup is named after the yacht America

The Competitors

The Challenge

text - when was the challenge issued?

Race Regulations

The Cup was to be decided over multiple races, each beginning from a line between the race committee boat and the Sandy Hook lightship. Each race was be held over 30 miles, beginning as soon as possible after 11am and not later than 1pm. For each race the time allowed was 5.5 hours, and in the event that neither boat could complete the course within that time "no race" would be declared. The races would continue until one of the yachts had won three. Boats from the United States Revenue Cutter Service would ensure clear passage for the entrants.

The boats were to be rated under the Seawanhaka rule, with a maximum waterline length of 90 feet. The rating, or sailing length, would determine if either boat would receive a time penalty.

$Rating={\frac {Load\ Waterline\ Length+{\sqrt {Sail\ Area}}}{2}}$

The rating system was based on the waterline length and the sailplan. The beam was not accounted for, nor the overall length, and this allowed designers to exploit the rule to create narrow boats with long overhangs at both ends.

Trials

Both Reliance and Shamrock III were chosen to participate in the Cup after trial races with other potential challengers confirmed them as the most suitable boats.

Reliance competed in trials against Constitution and Columbia. All three yachts were Herreshoff designed. Columbia had successfully defended the Cup in 1899 and 1901, both times with Captain Barr at the helm. Constitution was intended by Herreshoff to replace Columbia for the 1901 race and was thought to have been the better boat, but during trials for that race Barr secured victory for Columbia and the right to defend the Cup for a second time. There were 20 trials held to establish which boat would defend the 12th America's Cup, with Reliance crossing the finishing line first in all races. Reliance was chosen as defender by the New York Yacht Club on July 28, 1903.

Reliance

Reliance was owned by a syndicate of 8 members of the New York Yacht Club, including William Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Elbert Gary, Clement Griscom, Peter Widener and James Hill. The syndicate was managed by C. Oliver Iselin, who had previously managed Cup defenders in 1893, 1895 and 1899.

"Call the boat a freak, anything you like, but we cannot handicap ourselves, even if our boat is only fit for the junk heap the day after the race." said Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Many of the crew of Reliance were Norwegian.

Shamrock III

Sir Thomas Lipton, in a statement issued on the day of the first race, said "I am eating, drinking and sleeping with the hope of lifting the America's Cup, and I have put away all business until I either win it or lose it".

Lipton said that he would not consider commissioning a light framed vessel with a very large sail plan such as Reliance, believing it to be too great a risk to it's sailors to sail across the Atlantic to America where the Cup challenge would be held. The necessity of such a voyage was seen as a handicap for the challenger who would have to build a heavier boat to withstand the rough seas.

The Race

Measurement

On Sunday August 16 1903 onlookers had an opportunity to inspect the competitors side by side as Reliance and Shamrock III occupied adjacent dry docks in the Erie Basin to prepare for official measurement the following Wednesday. This was carried out by the New York Yacht Clubs measurer, Charles Mower. A large crowd was in attendance to watch the proceedings, and both designers watched from a small boat alongside. Sir Thomas Lipton observed the measuring from the deck of Shamrock III.

The official measurements were as follows. The sailing length is text

	Waterline length in feet	Length overall in feet	Sail area in square feet	Sailing length in feet	Crew	Handicap in seconds
Reliance	89.66	201.75	16,169.92	108.41	64	105
Shamrock III	89.81	187.54	14,337.45	104.77	56

Although Shamrock III had a slightly longer waterline length, Reliance had almost 2,000 square feet more sail. According to the rating system this gave Reliance a time penalty of 1 minute 45 seconds over a 30 mile course. According to the racing rules the distance from the mast to the end of the spinnaker boom could not exceed the distance from the mast to the tip of the bowsprit, and as a result of the official measuring Shamrocks boom was found to be eight inches too long. At Mowers direction the excess was sawed off to comply with the regulations.

Following a last minute change of sailplan, Sir Thomas Lipton asked that Shamrock be remeasured, the result of which was another 12 seconds advantage gained over Reliance, making the total handicap over 30 miles of 1 minute 57 seconds in favour of Shamrock.

"No Race"

The first meeting took place on August 20 and consisted of a 15 mile race south west along the Jersey coast from Sandy Hook and back. The race commenced shortly after 11am in 5 knots of wind and heavy sea swells, but within 30 minutes a storm broke with torrential rain and winds rising to 12 knots. Despite conditions that had been thought favourable to the challenger, Reliance maintained a lead throughout the race, excepting 2 minutes at the start. By afternoon winds had dropped to as little as 2 knots and progress slowed. Reliance rounded the 15 mile mark first, at 1537. 8 minutes later Reliance and Shamrock III passed going in opposite directions. The regatta committee made the decision that the race could not be finished in the 5.5 hours allowed, and as the two boats passed each other the race was declared "no race" and postponed until August 22. During the race Reliance sailed about 20 miles, with Shamrock III sailing about 17.5 miles.

The First Race

Reliance won the first two races, one with a margin of 7 minutes 30 seconds, and the other by 1 minute 19 seconds.

The Second Race

In total five attempts were made to hold the third race, but light winds and fog prevented the first four attempts from being completed during the allowed time.

Although low winds affected many of the races, on August 29, for the first time in America's Cup history, the race was postponed due to high winds, with gales blowing up to 50mph.

The Third Race

The third and final race took place on September 3 in light winds and heavy fog.

Reliance Wins

After the failure of his challenger, Sir Thomas Lipton said "They tell me I have a beautiful boat. I don't want a beautiful boat. What I want is a boat to lift the Cup – a Reliance. Give me a homely boat, the homeliest boat that was ever designed, if she is as fast as Reliance, I want a Reliance.".

Reception

The 1903 America's Cup drew much interest in America and Britain. In Belfast and Glasgow there was such interest that streets were blocked by crowds looking at race bulletins. In many places systems were set up to inform the surrounding country of the results, including a coloured searchlight service, bombs, rockets and balloons.

An estimated 20,000 people turned up to watch the first of the races in New York City, many paying to travel aboard passenger boats that had been temporarily withdrawn from their regular work of servicing Coney Island. Hotels in New York were overflowing, some having to set up cots to accomodate all those wishing to stay. To ensure the safety of the spectators seven members of the Steamboat Inspection Squad, which eventually became the United States Coast Guard, were present. They were responsible for general safety and regulating the number of passengers aboard each vessel.

However the boats used to contend the 1903 America's Cup were described by some as "freaks".

There was much speculation as to whether Reliances victory was due to the design of the yacht or the skill of Charlie Barr in sailing her. Lipton himself proposed to allow the two boats to swap crew after the race to decide the matter, but the offer was refused by the owners of Reliance. Barr was considered to be the most skilled seaman of the day, and is now thought of as one of the best yachtsmen in history.

Sources

[1] The Milwaukee Journal - Sep 3, 1903, Reliance has Long Lead

[2] MIT, model of Reliance on display at MIT

[3] Universal Rule, enacted after 1903 AC

[4] American Heritage history of AC

[5] BBC guide to AC

External Links

[6] The Yacht Photography of J.S.Johnston, including pictures from the 1903 America's Cup

[7] list of materials held by Library of Congress regarding 1903 America's Cup