YACHTING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 62, 14 March 1930, Page 14

YACHTING.

CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS. NGA-TOA'S BIG STICK SNAPS. SQUADRON AND DEVONPORT RACES (By SPEEDWELL.) The north-easter which prevailed on the harbour last Saturday was not in • tltn least "vicious" or "dirty," but at ! the same time it had a "kick" in it, and I in the early afternoon caused quite a ": chapter of accidents. In the race for i the Governor-General's Cup, held by the i "Royals," Messrs. Hulme and Creagh's ; big boat, Thehna, had the misfortune ! to carry away her mainsail when making i a board down channel from the Bastion ' beacon. The sail, which went right . across from leach to luff, was soon got \ on board and the yacht came home under ■ her heaclsails. In the same race, lorangi, \ Mr. George McKenzie's first-class racer, carried away her bobstay at the stemhead. As the bolt drew out there was • no chance of making repairs and lorangi \ retired. When hoisting her topsail prior ' to leaving her moorings at Northeote, I Mr. Harold George's yacht Victory got } her topsail sheet foul, and in attempting >to .clear it the sail was split. It was . lowered and during the race was re- ;• paired, and only set for the final run i home. Victory also had for misfortune ' to lose her spinnaker overboard on the first run in, and felt the loss of it later. j There were some hard puffs as the boats '■ made down tlie harbour for the Bastion, 4 Tlielma and Nga Toa laying down at a \ big angle. Nothing happened at the I time, but Nga Toa must haA T e sprung ; her mast, for this big stick, easily the - tallest single stick in the Dominion, , snapped off short in two places Avhen ; the yacht was sailing off Narrow Neck on Sunday. The winner, Mr. W. P. Endean's Prize, and Mr. W. R. Wilson's Ariki were the only boats in the race which completed the course withput mishap. The 16-footer Rangatira, owned by Peter Ross, jun., capsized when competing in the Ponsonby Club's regatta. Mr. W. .1. Wood's Venus promptly went to the assistance of the crew and towed the boat to safety. Earlier in the clay a. small centre-board boat also capsized ofF the King's wharf. She was taken alongside the ketch Coronation, whose crew gave every assistance in righting and baling out the swamped boat. Mr. H. 0. Wiles' big cruiser Lady Margaret, when competing in the Power Boat Association'sl race to Kawau, ran a shaft oiler dry. This heated the shaft, which was eut as clearly as if done with a saw. The Harbour Board's pilot launch Waitemata picked up the disabled boat and towed hei , back to her moorings shortly after 5 p.m. Outboard Hurdles Another Boat. A sensational accident, fortunately not attended with injury to the occupants of either boats, occurred on the Wliau River last Saturday between Mr. E. J. Schofield's Nymph and Mr. 0. J. Melvern's Chief. Both boats were competing in the final outboard race for'the day, a general handicap. When turning the top mark for the run home Nymph, which was having a great race with Chief, was slightly astern of her at the turn and ran into Chief's wash, as she tijrned. Both boats, which are IG-foot runabouts, were doing a good 30 miles. Nymph got out of control when she hit the- wash and headed straight for Chief. Striking the latter on the gunwale, Nymph rose out of the water, jumped clear over Chief and the two men aboard and landed on - th'e water, 15 feet on the other side. How- the engine managed to miss Mr. Melvern and his friend is a wonder, as the big Seahorse motor was . full out. Needless to say, both skippers got a bit of a shock, but the only damage was to the gunwale of Chief and a bent blade protector on the engine of the hurdler.

That outboard engines can jump out of the water has been demonstrated -before. At a British outboard meeting a competing boat threw its driver out at a turn and careering on, ran up the bank and into some of the spectators. A favourite stunt in America is to run a boat up an inclined plane over the water and after quickly "tilting" the motor, she takes off from the springboard and lands several lengths away. This is not recommended for step boats with brass fins. Other escapades have been attempted by runaway boats after ridding themselves of their drivers, but last Saturday's incident is surely the iirst time one boat has actually jumped clean over a competitor. This should rival the Maori hurdle events which take place to-morrow at Ngaruawahia regatta. Considerable activity in the outboard division is evident. To-morrow; all the racers will be competing at Ngaruawahia regatta, and on Saturday week they will be back on the Whau Eiver, when, in addition to outboards, the rowing men will bo seen in aperies of trials and the annual "eights" race. Both Collings and Bell and S. Ford have a number of orders in hand for outboard hulls. Collings and Bell have already built many racers, including the Humbug family, Miss Arawa, Silvertown Kid and Marquette Pug. This boat, which is owned and driven by Mr. W. F. Neal, won the D class championship last Saturday. It amounts to the open championship, as there is no higher class here than D. Her speed over a measured mile at Rangiriri two weeks ago was 30.5 miles per hour. This included two turns, so that it. is pretty safe to reckon her speed on a straightaway as 40 m.p.h.

The other competitors last Saturday y.ere: Humbug, Mr. Les. Steriker's latest, Mr. Sam Ford's Ocean Mule, and Mr. A. P>. Townseiid's Miss Arawa, which finished in this order.

S. Ford delivered a 14-foot runabout last Saturday to Mr. Paul Cropper, of Neil), Cropper and Co., to be used as a demonstrator for Johnson motors. Two 14's, one Hi, and a 13-footer are now being finished oil - . Mr. Ford is standardising a 10-foot runabout outboard with double cockpit, and has already booked orders for six of this type. This boat is quite distinct from the racing hydroplane hull witli a step and fin, The 10footers are stepless and of quite a good seaworthy type, and should tend to popularise more than ever this new branch of motor boating. THE RACE TO COROMANDEL. In response to several requests from small boat-owners, "Speedwell" lias requested the Coromandcl regatta committee to make the division in the two races from Auckland at Easter as 20, 22 and 2(\lt in the iirst race, and all under 20ft

in the other race. This should make for a better race in each class. It is hard to handicap satisfactorily a 26-footer and a 14 or lli-footer. Each type is quite distinct, a ballasted and an unballasted one. Coromandel folks are noted for their I hospitality, luirt visitors arc promised a {good time. A dance has been arranged in the new hall for regatta (Saturday) night, and drives to some of the scenic spots will be part of the outing. Easter is still live weeks ahead, and the weather will be a big factor, but the advantage of a full moon is to be counted on. The regaUa will, take place at Tawhiti Bay, on Beesoirs Island, at the entrance to Coromandel Harbour. Mr. McNeil will be in charge of events there as usual. CLUB NOTES. ' A feature of the Squadron's race to Kawau to-morrow is the trial in.a cruising race of the Mark Eoy system of giving the handicaps at the start. If the wind is "in," it will mean an early start for the limit boats or a very late one for the scratch ones. The Devonport Club will hold cruising races to Matiatia to-morrow, and harboiy events for the classes under 20ft. The first heat for the Schmidt trophy of the Point Chevalier Sailing Club was won by Kittiwake, with Mystery second and Aratu third. Mistral led all the way, finishing over four minutes ahead. To-morrow a. race will be held to Beachhaven, starting at 3 p.m. Entries close at 10 o'clock this evening. The Ponsonby Club's annual regatta was held last Saturday. The north-east wind gave a lot of "off wind" work and events finished early. Only in a few cases did the scratch boats get unto the prize list. Quite a number of boats which duly started failed to finish owing to various causes. On the whole, the racing was very close and keenly contested except in one of two classes where boats won with a good margin. All events were handled from. Mr. E. J. Kelly's motor boat Linda, and everything ran as smoothly as possible under such veterans as Messrs. Kelly, W, Joynt, H.. E. Arthur, and R. Francis.

The championship yacht races of the Manukau were sailed on Saturday. Champagne won the ISft championship, Drone the open championship, and Nyria the 14ft championship. Surprise won the speed boat championship and Tua Tea won three races out of four in the Z class. The Manukau Yacht club is also fortunate in having an enthusiast like Mr. Will Vaughan for starter, timekeeper and judge, while . Ivo Dennes always handles the Z class well.

■ Windward, Mr. M. D. Grayson's well known yacht, added to he honours on Saturday by winning the second-class race in the Squadron. Her record for this season is now five firsts and three seconds for 12 starts. Very good, too, but it has entailed a lot of hard work getting her ready, as each time she has received a scrub and a touch of polish.

Tui Waldron's My Girl won tlie Power" Boat Association's race to Kawau on Saturday in the good time of 111 40m. Tins was done in the teeth of a fresh north-easter, and a good sea kicked up by the ebb tide all the way clown. Messrs. Hoyes and Todd's Chrysler was second, and Mr. Kapley's Vivecn third. Only three boats finished.

ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON. RACE TO KAWAU. The Royal Now Zealand Yacht Squadron will hold a cruising race to Kawau tomorrow afternoon. The race will be started on the Mark Foy system of giving the handicaps at the start. The limit boat will start at 1.30 p.m. Following are the entries: —Thelma. lorangi. Prize, Ladye Wlima, Windward, lona, Alexa, Janet, Kotuku, Waitangi, Ariki, Rawene, Kotiri, Rangi, Scout, Wairiki. The handicaps will be declared to-mor-row morning. In the event, of the weather being very light, the destination may bo changed. The times at Kawau will be taken by Mr. C. H. T. Palmer and the starting arrangements will bo carried out by Messrs. B. W. Beaumont, A. M. Gilmour and G. D. Deery. MANUKAU CRUISING CLUB. RACE TO CORNWALL-IS. The Manukau Cruising Club will hold cruising races for yachts and launches to Cormvallis to-morrow afternoon, starting on No. 2 course. Yachts •will start at 3 p.m. The following are the entries and handiCfIPS "—~" Yachts. —Aomn, on the wind scr, off the wind scr; Syliva, scr, 2m ; Drone, 3m, scr; Champagne, 4m, 3m;. Sea Horse, Cm, 7m (no extras) : Daphne. Cm. 4m ; Sea Gnome, 13m 7m; Nyria, ISm, Sm; Wild Wave, 32m, K>m ; Mist Maid, 37m, ISm : Miss Mac, 37m! ISm (dinghy)-; Shirley, 42m, 20m. Launches. —Surprise scr. Pal-o-mine oin, Kama 15m, Elma 22m (dinghy), Rainbow 92m Real, Hinemon, 254 m, Tarawera 32m, (dinghy) ; Cremornc 30m, Ramona 41m, Grace 63m. Mermaid and Katui have sealed handicaps. DEVONPORT YACHT CLUB. CRUISING AND HARBOUR RACES. The Devonnort Yacht Club will hold a race to-morrow afternoon for the IT, L. and N classes to Matiatia, via the outside oi: Hnngitoto. Harbour events for M, T and Star class will also be sailed, all starting off Victoria wharf, The following are the entries and handicaps : — H, L, and N Class, to start at 2.30 p.m. Course, from starting line between eastern end of Victoria wharf and mark moored south to Matiatia, keeping outside Snntlspit beacon and. Rungitoto and Motutapu Islands, finishing off entrance to the bay.— Starloch, on wind scr, off wind scr; Omatere, am, lm; Awatere, Cm, 3m; Rakoa 7m, Sm ; Why Not, 10m, 9m. M Class, to start at 2.40 p.m.. Course, from starting line, round Samlspit, thence round Resolution buoy, thence round mark off Stanley Bay, twicn round, keeping marks to starboard.—Maroro, Manonc, Maratca, Mann, Mawhiti and Matarere, all scratch. T Class, to start at 2.50 p.m. Co::- - same us M class.—Shalimar, scratch ; Ramona, 2m ; Resolute, 7m. Star Class, to start at S p.m. Course sumo at M class. —Maid Marian, Moa, Juno, all Bcrntch. The odicers for the day are : Starter and timekeeper, Mr. W. A. Wilkinson; judge, Mr. G. Miller, Mr, A. T. Prosser will be judge at Matiatia and Mr. E. A. Mann timekeeper.