Tussle for the Cornwell Cup.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 5, 7 January 1938, Page 13

Tussle for the Cornwell Cup.

CLOSE FINISHES THE ORDER. To-morrow'B Club Fixtures—Struggle with Light Wind In Whangaroa Race.

(By SPEEDWELL.)

The 1!»38 contest for the Cornwell Cup, hold at l'linimerton Harbour, near Wellington. has Ikvh noted for close finishes between the first five or six boats.

Except in the first race, won by A tick land, there has been no lark of wind.

Weather conditions were, so boisterous on Wednesday that the fifth race, arranged to start in tlie morning. had to he postponed until the afternoon, when Auckland. Wellington and Manukau had capsized while waiting f<ir the start. au<i Wanganui had been blown on to the rocks.

The accompanying table shows the positions of all the contestants in the seven races saile«l up till yesterday. It will be seen that l'limmerton and Tauranya have each scored two wins, with Auckland, I'aremata and Wellington one win.

Mr. J. J. Maekay. the Auckland delegate, was elected chairman of the conference, and Mr. Terry Connor, of Tauranga, secretary. Reference was made by Mr. E. W. Burd. commodore of the l'limmerton Club, when he welcomed the visiting delegates and crews, to Mr. A. T. Round, of Christchurch. who had represented his club at every contest since its inception. Mr. J. Cox and the Suva crew were also specially welcomed by Mr. Burd.

At a mating of delegate* the question of carrying the tack of the spinnaker to leowaril of the forestay was again discussed. A motion to allow this was proposed at the previous contest at Tauranga. bi»t was defeated by a narrow margin. At this year's contest it was decided that it should be optional to carry the spinnaker tack either to windward or to leeward of the forestay. In ••Speedwell's"' opinion this is a decided step forward. The hard and fast rule observed at all previous contests of not allowing the tack to be taken to leeward of the forestay. the custom in all other classes in club or contest racing, has been the cause of frequent capsizes in a fresh breero. The «ame rule applied in the Sanders Cup contest up till last year, but was deleted at the conference held at li.vttelton last February. In the third annual contest for small boats, the Idle Alongs. this rule was never introduced, crews always being free to carry the tack to leeward, thus helping to spili the wind out of the sail and so giving the boat ■ chance to lift herself along instead of being pinned in with the tack dragging <»n the foreotay, a real danger in a fresh breeze with the wind not right aft. The modern balloon or parachute spinnaker owes most of its effectiveness to this method of carrying the tack and sail right round the bow of the boat, as any well-set spinnaker picture clearly shows, from America's Cup contestants to the six metre and other keenly-contested racing classes In Britain or America.

The question of carrying Bermuda masts and sails instead of the present sliding gunter rig. was discussed at the conference, but no motion was proposed.