YACHTING Mistook Gun Shot, Lost 2nd Place

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30026, 10 January 1963, Page 6

YACHTING Mistook Gun Shot, Lost 2nd Place

(From Our Own Reporter)

DUNEDIN, January 9.

Gavin and Colin Cooke, of the Waimakariri Sailing Club, threw away their chance of being runners-up in the national Leander Trophy contest at Dunedin today. Hearing the firing of the gun which heralded yet another win for the new R Class champion, G. S. Mander, they mistook the sound for a hunter’s rifle on the nearby Waverley shore and sailed outside the finish line, intending to carry on for another round of the course.

By the time they realised their error and returned to cross the line they had dropped 13 places, and 38 points.

The runnera-up to Mander and his crew, A. M. Holland, are D. Harrison and J. B. Watson, of the Waimakariri Sailing Club. Apart from the Cookes—who were the only crew to beat Mander in five races— A. W. Shields and B. R. Marriott were the only other pair who ever seriously challenged the champion. This afternoon, in the final heat, they repeated their performance in the first race by staying close on Mander's wake well ahead of the rest of the fleet but Mander’s tactics never let them break through. Steady improvement throughout the contest has been shown by the former Canterbury Idlealong representative, M. C. Holland and his crew, K. Fitzgerald. A brother of A M. Holland, M. C. Holland, scored two tenth placmgs, a seventh and an eighth and then worked his way through the fleet this afternoon for a fine fourth. Came From Behind Another dinghy which came from behind was that of B. J. C. Wall, who made up a lot of ground after being poorly placed in the early stages. Wail, a trapeze hand in P. G. Mander’s world champion 16-faoter Intrigue, conned his boat through to third position in the second round but could not hold Harrison, a former trophy holder, and let M. C. Holland through, finally crossing fifth. Christchurch boats dominated the contest, filling the five top platings and taking nine of the first 12 positions on the points ladder. Their standard of sailing was not only better than that of dinghies from other centres; it showed a marked improvement on rating in Canterbury events in the last three months. The weather for today’s championship heat was again

overcast, with light, patchy wind whose gusts were seldom over 10 miles an hour. For'ard hands used their trapeze wires to advantage for the first time in the contest but as gusts passed by them they were flopping the water and had to scramble inboard to escape complete ducking and capsize. Results were: Fifth Heat Frenzy (G. S. Mander and A. M. Holland, Canterbury), 3:40:31. 1; Radiant (A. W. Shields and B. R. Marriott, Canterbury), 3:41:34, 2; Retort (D. Harrison and J. B. Watson, Waimakariri), 3:48:17, 3; Contort (M. C. Holland and K. Fitzgerald, Canterbury), 3:46:35, 4; Impetuous (B. J. C. WaU and B. D. Taylor, Canterbury), 3:46:36, 5; Tempest (G. Wilson and R. J. Greenaway, Waimakariri), 3:46:51, 6. Chamois (M. Bowden and N. Humby. Manukau), 3:46:56, 7; Sari (F. G. B. Simpson and P. F. Pritchett, Christchurch), 3:47:19, 8; Beta (K. Tourell and I. W. Scott, Waimakariri), 3:47:33, 9; Flirt (I. Donaldson and D. Hutton, Waimakariri). 3:49:45, 10; Voodoo (J. Gatland and N. L. Hey, Evans Bay). 3:50:12, 11; Rebel (J. Dickson and B. Wallace, Timaru), 3:50:54, 12. * Final Points r Frenzy 466, 1; Retort 236, 2: Fantastic (G. J. and C. J. Cooke, Waimakariri) 215, 3; Radiant 211, 4; Beta 164, 5; Chamois 154, 6. Tempest 143, 7; Contort 123. 8: Freeway (C. Papps and R. Davies, Christchurch) 113, 9; Altezza (T. C. Brandon and G. Bach, Paremata) 108, 10; Impetuous 91, 11; Rebel 88. 12.