YACHTING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 151, 27 June 1936, Page 21

YACHTING.

LAUNCH OF ENDEAVOUR 11. MANUKAU'S 45TH YEAR. FURTHER BUILDING ACTIVITIES. (By SPEEDWELL).) Mr. T. C). M. Sopwitli's new .T class yacht Endeavour 11. was launeliod at Cowes a fortnight, ago, and s-lie is expected to sail her first race at Falmouth <111 June 27, during the Itoyal Cornwall Yacht Club's regatta. The work of stepping her mast and setting up of rigging, etc., was hurried as much as possible so that she could be roady for trial and tuniugup. Great interest has been taken in the yacht ever since her keel was laid, and she has been acclaimivl by yachting writers as a masterpiece of British craftsmanship. When properly tuned-up. the new Endeavour will compete at all the big- regattas, and her performance will be watched by thousands of boating men and holiday makers.

To enable the yacht to be ready as early as possible for the short British racing season, from Juno to September, work oil her was carried on almost continuously.

The special yachting correspondent of a London newspaper, writing about a month before the vessel was ready for launching, says : Endeavour 11. has bc.en designed to the limit of the J class rule, and will be 87ft on the waterline, and approximately I(>4 tons displacement, easily the biggest modern racing yacht event sunt down the ways from a British yard. In the building-shed she looks colossal, and so long is the overhang of her bow that some of the plating at the end of the shed has had to be removed to accommodate the almost sword-like stem, and allow it to bo completed.

Simultaneously with the work of constructing the hull in nearby sheds and workshops the new steel spar is being built, her main .boom' constructed, and. all her interior fittings fashioned by tlio cabinetmakers. Most of this work is near completion, and the interior fitting-out of the yacht will be completed before she is launched.. Adjoining her building shed, in Ratsey and Lapthorn's sail-loft, the suits of sails for the potential challenger are nearly finished. Yacht Launched 011 Time. Never before in the history of building a big racing yacht has the work of assembling all her multifarious parts and gear been so, splendidly organised. To have Endeavour 11. finished by the first week in June has meant a tremendous effort on the part of all concerned at.Gosport, and so far the progress made is evidence of a triumph of efficient organisation. As far as the> actual craftsmen are concerned their labours have been spurred on by the incentive that they are actually fashioning another challenger for the America Cup, and bearing in mind that in the first Endeavour they turned out the fastest racing yacht of her class, they are not unreasonably optimistic they are now taking part in a yacht-building venture which may, at long last; bring the famous cup back to our shores.

Another account of the potential cup challenger makes the definite statement that during coronation year, in September, 1937, there will be another race for the America Cup, the most elusive sporting trophy in the world, and that Mr. Sopwith's new boat will be the challenger. The America Cup is the blue riband of yacht racing, and has been the chief competitive stimulus in the designing and building of big J class yachts. Originally it was a silver cup offered by the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes, for a race around the. Isle of Wight in 1851, and was won by the schooner America—hence its name. During the intervening years there have been fifteen unsuccessful challenges to win it back, costing over two million pounds. The initial cost of the cup was £100, and at the present price of silver it is worth about £19. Mr. Chas. Nicholson's Opiniqn. Tlie new challenges will naturally embody in her design and building all the best accumulated experience in naval architecture gained during the, past 50 years by Mr. Charles E. Nicholson, the most eminent designer of yachts in the Empire, who has built many of the finest and fastest racing yachts in the worlci. Discussing yacht racing recently Mr. Charles Nicholson remarked : "The building, as well .is the sailing, of yachts is the finest sport in the world. There is always an element of fascinating uncertainty in it. It is one of the few crafts left in the modern world where art, sport, ancr work are all combined. Yaclit designing is still jnore-of an art than a correct science, and will, as far as I can see after 50 years' experience, remain so. We design and redesign, and the speed of our yachts depends upon the harmony of line, upon sail area and efficiency, wind, and, not least, seamanship in yacht racing art and sport are subtly combined. For this reason its popularity will greatly increase. The sailing yacht will ever appeal to the artistic instincts in man."

The new challenger will be .an all-Empire production. Her beautiful hull will be shaped from British eteel plates. The mahogany of which her rudder js made comes from British Honduras, the yellow pine for the decks from the forests of Western Canada, and the cotton for her great white wings was grown in the Sudan and woven at the small market town of Crewkerne, Somerset. Thus the accumulated energies of Nature, working in diverse ways, and man's artistry will have cooperated in creating this graceful sailing ship. She has been built at Camper and Nicholson's yard, Gosport, on the western shores at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour, and it is of interest to learn that the sails will be cut and shaped in an adjoining loft, owned by Ra-tsey and Lapthorn, where about 130 years ago the sails were made for Nelson's flagship, H.M.S. Victory, before she left to light in the Battle of Trafalgar. Dimensions of Endeavour. An approximate Idea of her size may be gained from the following measurements. Her extreme length from the tip of her long painted bow to her counter will be ,132 ft, whilst her length on the waterline is to be 87ft, and her extreme beam 22Jft. Her draught is 15ft, and !jhe will be of 164 tons displacement. The part of her which will fascinate the general public will be her huge sails, especially the great Bermudan mainsail, which is 153 ft from the deck to the peak, therefore nearly as high as Nelson's monument in Trafalgar Square. Naturally, the hull form of these big racing yachts has changed very considerably since the first race -for the America Cup. In 1851 the schooner America lia<l a clipper bow, which was then fashionable for ocean-going sailing craft. Some of the vessels immediately' following her had a straight bow, but in later years designers of yachts have followed more closely to Nature and modelled the hulls of these racing craft like a half-fish • and with a nn-shaped keel. ; .

The challenger's bow is like a half-spear, and equally as shars, whilst the hull aft fines out to the counter very much like the tail of a large fish. It will be noted, too, that recently-designed big yachts, including the new challenger, have the main full form designed mucli like a giant shark's, To the lay student of naval architecture this is an extremely interesting feature, for the Arab dhow, seen in the Indian Ocean to-day,, follows Very much the lines of her ancestors of two thousand years ago, whose designers copied the shark.'s, form. Indeed, except that the bow of a .T class yacht is now elongated to do away with the bowsprit, there, is a great similarity to the bow of the Endeavour and the bow of the Arab dhows of Zanzibar. • - - J Old Ideas Revived. Another interesting innovation in the modern J class yacht is her "tumble-home" sides, resembling the above-water lines of the old "wooden walls" of England, and which was a characteristic of the H.M.S. Victory type of ship built a century and a half ago, the idea beiug .to prevent the decks being awash when the yacht is h«eling to a smart breeze.

Nature lias also been copied in the design of the challenger's mast, which is constructed of high tensile steel. The bamboo cano has served us a model for this tall, slender steel spar, 103 ft long. The knots or "rings" of the bamboo cane have been modelled in special steel and electrically w#lded inside the steel tube. The seams of the steel mast are butt-edged, ai}d . also welded by an electrical process.

It will come as a great surprise to thelayman to know the sails of these big racing yachts are all double stitched by hand,- although we' live in a machine age, and .the yarn used in the actual sewing is Of tlie same material as the sail-clotli. This provision is essential, as the doth will then Behave is one piece under all weather conditions. The Bermudan mainsail is made of one hundred and twenty pieces; and tiie cloth take's four months to prepare. In the sail loft it is placed out "to air" in an ev?n temperature so that all the various pieces can be "seasoned" to the same climatic conditions before being stitched together. In the matter of sails Mother Nature has again come to the rescue of the yacht designer, ahd in the Bermudan mainsail the bird's wing has been copied. Yet the ancients of over two thousand year:? ago set" a similar kind of sail, known as the lateen; and used in Egyptian and Arab craft to-day, except that in the Bermudan rig the sail is set differently and points higher.

Naturally, man lias applied much of liis scientific invention to the more efficient handling of a yacht's sails. To-day the hard manual labour experienced in the sailing ships of last century is mostly abolished, specially constructed liigli-geared winches being used to haul in the main sheet. Winches, the latest fashioned like a mangle, are also in favour for the latest sails, especially the Genoa jib. Mechanical gadgets are now also in favour, the latest being a tin racing flag at the mast head, which acts as a wind indicator and pressure gauge, telling the helmsman 011 a dial in front of the wheel the pressure of wind at the mast head and its direction. With the aid of this gadget the helmsman is able to steer his ship more efficiently, trimming his sails with every shift of wind shown 011 the mechanical indicator.

MANUKAU "XACIiT CLUB.

ANNUAL MEETING. The forty-fourth annual meeting of members of the Manukau Yacht and Motor Boat Club was held in the clubhouse, Oueliunga, 011 Wednesday evening, Mr. A. McLeod, vice-president, presiding in the absence of the president, Mr. W. Marks. Mr. It. Belcher, commodore, presented his report of the past season's activities, which stated that during the year yachting had made steady progress ou the Manukau in keeping with the Waitemata, the most pleasing feature being the hearty co-opera-tion of the Manukau Cruising Club.

The membership increased during the year and now stood at 206, while the register showed 40 boats (27 sailing and 13 launches). Eleven days were devoted to racing, which was keenly contested, especially the championships,. Ranui winning the open and 18-foot title, Aratu the 10-foot and Morna the 14-foot championship, Cremorne the speed boat and Masters Marks and Taylor the 12ft Gin (Z) class. This crew also won the Juvenile Harmony Cup against the Takapuna Club crew. The linanees of the club, as the balancesheet showed, were in .a flourishing condition. and the club's best thanks were due to the ladies' committee, whose efforts on the social side helped to place the club in its present enviable position. Both the annual presentation of prizes, held in the form of a dance, and the smoke concert tendered each year to the vice-presidents ,and old members of the club were very successful, socially and financially.

The club again challenged for the Cornwell Cup, and, although unsuccessful, the crew did very well and are to be congratulated 011 their performance. The «-nnual contest for the Duff banner proved to be very keen and was won after a good fight by Messrs. It. Belcher and P. Webb. Due to the efforts of Mr. Lipscombe, funds were raised to furnish the new comniittcc •room and have the lower floor put in good repair and repainted. The very cordial relations existing between this club and the sister club oil the Manukau was shown by the hearty way in which the combined fixtures were carried out without a hitch. A further instance of this good feeling was shown when two yachtsmen had their boat badly damaged in the February cyclone. A combined dance was arranged lor their benefit and resulted in a sobstantial donation being made towards the cost of repairs, which \vas much appreciated.

Mr. Belcher concluded his very comprc hensive report by thanking his fellow officers and committee, the ladies' committee, Mr. Lipscombe and all who had worked to make the past season such a success.

The balance-sheet, submitted by the honorary treasurer, Mr. Cecil G. Herbert, and duly audited, showed receipts for the year totalling £149 12/10, the principal items being subscriptions, £19; registrations, £10; donations, f4O; use of clubhouse, £10; prize night, social, etc., £40. The expenditure included prizes, £41; repairs to clubhouse, painting, etc., £1(5 payment to trustees, £15, and sunjry smaller items. The total credit balance from the social, general, trustee and Cornwell Cup funds was £84 12/9 for the year. Assets were shown as: Clubhouse, £800; furniture, fittings, piano. £105; three Z class boats, £30, and hauling out site £20. The assets totalled £1043 2/9, with liabilities nil.

The chairman, Mr. Arthur McLeod (one of the oldest members of the club and a past commodore and president), in moving tlie adoption of the report, congratulated Mr. Belcher on his excellent report and said the old members of the club generally could be proud of the very sound position the club was in. It reflected credit and showed really hard work on the part of all concerned.

The following officers were elected for the 1936-7 season:—Patron, Sir F. W. Lang; vice-jiatron, Mr. Ernest Davis; president, Mr. W. Marks; commodore, Mr. K. Belcher; vice-commodore, Mr. E. Laird ; rear-commodore, Mr."J. Mcintosh; honorary secretary, Mr; J. W. Rawlinson; honorary treasurer/ Mr; 7 G. G. Herberthilndicappers, Mr. P. J. Auger (yachts), Mr. Alf. Brain (launches) ; starters and timekeepers, Messrs. W. Grupen and C. A. Osborne; clubhouse captain, Mr. R. McLeod; assistant clubhouse captain, Mr. P. Marks; auditors, Messrs. Len. Bray and A. Houldsworth; delegates to Auckland Yacht and Motor Boat Association, Messrs. It. Belcher and E. Laud; social secretary, Mr. T. S. Lipscombe; reporter, Mr. P. J. Auger; general committee, Messrs. D. and J. McLeod, A. Taylor, T. Siebert, M. Turley, F. Fletcher, I. Sutherland, R. 11. Auger and N. Adams; sailing committee, Messrs. Herbert, Fletcher and R. H. Auger; moorings committee, Messrs. J. McLeod and T. S. Lipscombe. The sum of £15 was voted to the trustee fund and the usual honorarium to the secretary, the meeting concluding with a vote of thanks to the chairman, Mr. McLeod, and the Press. Old Clubs. The Manukau Yacht Club was formed at Onehunga in September. 1891, by the late Mr. A. Jeffs, Mr. Don Sutherland, Air. Arthur McLcod, Mr. T. Pardington and a few others and has been in continuous and active operation ever since. Next to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, then known as the Auckland Yacht Club, it is the second oldest club in Auckland, predating the old North Shore Sailing Club, now the Akarana Yacht Club, by three years. The Parnell Sailing Club was formed in 1895, a year after the North Shore Club, but was gradually merged into the Auckland Yacht Club and lasted only about four years. Mr. Lou. Louis was its first secretary and Mr. A. Bevins the first treasurer, and was nib) secretary after the first year. Mr. Bevin3 still takes a keen interest in aquatic sport. He is the founder •of the Orakei Model Yacht Club and is now its president, the clubhouse (on his property) being one of his gifts.

CLUB NOTES.

| Tlie Akarana Club will continue the series of winter lectures. On Wednesday Mr. J., N. Tattersfield Will speak on "The Evolution of Yacht Design." The talk on Wednesday week by Mr. Arthur Bone on setting sails was very practical and much -appreciated. The club's annual prize distribution takes place next Saturday. The Devonport Club is also holding a series of talks for the benefit of members. The principal subject is "Navigation" and a further lecture on this subject will bo given in the clubhouse on Monday evening. The club's prize night is fixed for August 27. . . The Tauiaki Club has secured a portion of the heavy stone foundations from the remains of the old post office. •Sliortland Street. The blocks will be used to raise the sea wall 3ft on the eastern side which was damaged in the cyclonic storm in February. The club will hold its second annual fancy dress ball next Thursday evening in the clubhouse.

The Victoria Club has lost one of its oldest members by the death last Monday of Mr. "Bill'' Harris, of Ponsonby. He was one of the old hands and a great friend of "Dandy" Cole, another old "Vic." member. These two sailed together for many year? in Mr. Cole's 18-footer Comrade and lie will be missed by his old pal and other friends. The club's prize night is fixed for July 15.

BRITISH RACING SEASON,

The British yachting season started on Saturday, May 30. with the Colne Yacht Club's regatta, followed by the Harwich Yacht Club on June 0 and 8, at which the big boats usually make their first appear, ance. On June 11 the Southend and Royal Thames Club, have fixtures. On Juno. 13 the annual race, Nore to Dover, is held. June 24 and 2j are Falmouth dates, June 30 to July 4 is Plymouth week, July 22 tp 23 Hydeweek, August 1 to 8 Cowe? .week, and other regattas carry on to the end of Al The t ciyde "Fortnight" is held from "June °6 to July 7, followed by the Belfast Lough regatta, at both of which the big boats usually compete. The Britisli-Anieiican Cup contest in six metre yachts,- four each country, begins on the Cljde on July 10 The Prince of Wales Cup for the international 34-foot class will be sailed on July 23.

PRIZE NIGHTS

July 4—Akarana Yacht Club. July S—Orakei Model Y«cht ( lub. July o—Point Chevalier Sailing Club. July 11—Takapuna Boating C lul July 14—I'onsonby Model Yacht Club. ? ; July 13—Victoria Cruising Uub. July 13—Heme Bay Sailing Club. July 20—Mauukau Cruisiug .Club. August I—Wakutere Boating Club