SANDERS CUP.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 189, 12 August 1933, Page 15

SANDERS CUP.

AUCKLAND AND OTHER CENTRES. LOCAL POLICY DEFENDED. (To the Editor, "Auckland Star.") The specious and unjustified attack by "Speedwell" in Saturday's issue on the Auckland Yacht and Motor Boat Association for its refusal to join the so-called New Zealand Yachting Council will be strongly resented by all the delegates of the fifteen clubs which comprise the Auckland Association. Yachting is a sport which Auckland yachtsmen endeavour to conduct in a manner worthy of the highest ideals of sportsmanship, and in accordance with the traditions of the sea. It is Auckland's strong objection to the manner in which recent Sanders Cup contests have been conducted that has led to the present situation. Briefly stated, Auckland's contention is that contestants for the Sanders Cup should be strictly one design craft, i.e., all crafts being precisely alike, so that the best crew in the competing provinces should prove the winner. Owing partially to imperfect plans and an incomplete specification, there has always been a danger that certain competitors would not build to the spirit of the rules of the contest, and there haa been a general feeling that this has been the result, especially as the systeni of providing measurement certificates has been far from satisfactory. It is owing to this believed abuse that Auckland yachtsmen have been unwilling to build challengers, knowing that unless they deliberately evaded the spirit and letter of the rules they had little chance of success.

I*o endeavour to remedy the trouble a resolution was carried by a_ conference of all provincial yachting associations at Wellington in February, 1931, instructing the Auckland Association to perfect the plans, and draw up complete specifications so that future competitions would be fair to all, the cost of this work to be shared by all provincial associations. The Auckland association went to no end of trouble to Carry out their instructions and perfect the plans and specifications, but eix months afterwards the southern provincial associations reverted to the old conditions, and so far have failed to honOur_ their obligation to the Auckland association, although it is confidently expected they will in the near future. As the Canterbury Yacht and Motor Boat Association were the'last winners of the Sanders Cup, their right to hold the next contest in their provincial waters has not been disputed by the Auckland association; on the contrary, the Auckland association has rightly asked if the Canterbury association intends to carry out the contest in accordance with the rules governing the _ contest. Auckland yachtsmen, with their long record of racing behind them, do not need "Speedwell" to advise them as to their duty, nor are they likely to evade straight-out issues, by disloyalty to their own association, which he apparently advocates.

As regards the memory of LieutenantCommander W. E. Sanders, V.C., D.5.0., R.N.R., the Auckland association will certainly not permit his name to be used in connection with any form of unfairness or unsportsmanlike conduct, and the writer, who is a retired Naval Volunteer officer, has very strong opinions on this point, in common with other experienced yachtsmen. It will, therefore, be seen that the Auckland association is not "offside," but definitely "on side" in its endeavours to rectify a wrong, and not to perpetuate the errors that have characterised recent interprovincial yacht racing contests, and certainly not improved the yachting relations of the various provinces.

In conclusion, every one of the yacht and motor boat clubs comprising the Auckland Yacht and Motor Boat Association are definite in their decision that a New Zealand Yachting Council, as at present constituted, will not be a benefit to the sport, and certainly not to Auckland yachtsmen, who constitute the big majority in the Dominion. C.ET. PALMER, CUnua, Auckland Yacht «nd Motor Boat A—ociation.