Junior Cherub Yachts

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29070, 5 December 1959, Page 5

Junior Cherub Yachts

’J’HE first junior cherub yacht in Canterbury and probably the first in New Zealand was seen in action at the Waimakariri Sailing and Power Boat Club regatta at the week-end. Built by Peter Braithwaite, aged 18, of the Christchurch Yacht Club, the junior cherub is the result of an attempt to provide a lighter craft for skippers under 19 years of age. The new class is being sponsored by the Christchurch Yacht Club in conjunction with the Kohimarama Yacht Club in Auckland. The hull of the junior cherub is exactly the same as the senior cherub, but it has a shorter mast and longer boom, giving a lower sail aspect with the same sail area. A two-man craft, it carries a spinnaker and a trapeze, and in heavy weather it is easier to manage that the senior cherub. The class has been devised mainly for safety with young skippers, and it must be constructed so that it will remain buoyant for one hour when submerged carrying 4901 b.

Responsive The junior cherub is a very responsive yacht compared with the stable Takapuna. The hull is rigidly controlled except for the diameter of spars, and a fair degree of latitude is permissible in the rigging. The sail plan of the junior cherub was conceived by Peter Mander, and the rigging is of similar area to that of a Takapuna. Peter Braithwaite hopes that he will be able to claim No. 1 for his mast as the first junior cherub registered in the country. With two others of this class already being built in Christchurch, the chances are bright for the junior cherub filling an important place among craft for young yachtsmen in this country.