N.Z. OLYMPIC YACHTSMEN

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28150, 13 December 1956, Page 16

N.Z. OLYMPIC YACHTSMEN

WELCOME HOME FUNCTION The New Zealand Olympic yachting medallists, Peter Mander and Jack Cropp, were given an enthusiastic welcome home at a function in the Mount Pleasant Community Centre last -evening. When the two men appeared at the entrance to the main hall, many of the crowd of 400 engulfed them and bore them at shoulder height to the stage, where they were given a rousing reception. Opening the function, Mr I. White, president of the community centre, said Mander’s and Cropp’s success was the culmination of years of hard work and was a reward justly deserved. Their success marked them as two of the world’s foremost yachtsmen, he said.

In presenting a photograph of Mander’s Olympic boat, Jest, to the two guests of honour, Mr K. Abernethy, vice-president of the • Canterbury Yachting Association, said that for three years Canterbury yachtsmen had hoped for Olympic representation so that New Zealand could' be put on the map. The photographs he presented showed Jest sailing on Lyttelton Harbour.

Mr F. G. Briggs, Mayor of Lyttelton and commodore of the Canterbury Yacht and Motor-boat Club, and Mr C. Papps, on behalf of Canterbury yachtsmen, also spoke.

“The people of Mount Pleasant made a great contribution to our victory through their support,’’ said Cropp when replying to the addresses. “If a fleet of Canterbury yachts had taken part in the Olympics. I feel sure they would have been in the hunt,’’ he said.

The results were only made possible through the support of the people throughout New Zealand, said Mander. “Our experiences in Australia will not be forgotten,’’ he said.