WELLINGTON-PICTON YACHT RACE

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25998, 29 December 1949, Page 3

WELLINGTON-PICTON YACHT RACE

WIN FOR CUTTER ASTRAL (New Zealand Press Association.) BLENHEIM, December 28. The Evans Bay cutter Astral won the Wellington-Tory Channel ocean yacht race yesterday. The Astral crossed the finishing line at Te Awaite at 2.48 p.m. yesterday, followed by the Restless at 2.52 p.m., the Matatua at 2.55 p.m., and the Rover at 3.13 p.m. There were nine entrants. Official placings are:—• Seabird Cup.—Astral (40min), corrected time 6hr 36min 20sec, 1; Restless (lOmin), 7hr lOmin 40sec, 2; Rover (30 min), 7hr llmin 45sec, 3; Matatua (10 min), 7hr 13min, 4. The race was held in blustery weather, and heavy seas were experienced off Sinclair Head, where several boats put in to take in reefs. At the Terawhiti rip the Katari put back to Wellington. Strong westerlies with confused seas were met half-way across the Strait, but from there on the sailing conditions were good. The remaining entrants, the Hope, Maranui, Talua, and Wakarere, were more than an hour in negotiating the entrance to Tory Channel. • . The second race from Te Awaite to Picton was won by the Astral, followed by the Matatua, Rona, and Restless. The 14-mile Journey up the Sounds to Picton took an unexpectedly long time because of the blustery southerly followed by a flat calm, and it was not till after 11 p.m. that the first boat reached port.