YOUNG YACHT SKIPPERS

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28492, 23 January 1958, Page 13

YOUNG YACHT SKIPPERS

In two Prclass yacht races held at Charteria Bay last Sunday afternoon the youngest competitors were each aged eight years. One Of. these was a , girl, Susan Currie, who sailed Noddy in the second race and the other eight-yeaf-old was lan Mackey, the son of the commodore of the club, Mr F. Mackey. Another girl skipper, Pamela Rudkin, aged 12, sailed Tui in the second race and distinguished herself by capsizing twice, righting the boat each time and finishing the course. These little P-class craft, designed for the very young, are unsinkable. The first thing the youngsters are taught is how to right them when they capsize. In a contest held on the estuary, near Mount Pleasant, some years , ago, one of the conditions was that the boats had to be capsized and righted once in each round. Unofficial times taken of the capsizing showed that the fastest time was made by one boy who laid his boat over, mast touching the water, righted it and was under way again in seven seconds The usual practice is for the occupant to climb out on to the centreboard where the extra weight brings the boat up. The occupant scrambles back aboard again as the centre-board sinks under him.