Surfers Put Best Foot Forward At Royal Carnival

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30055, 13 February 1963, Page 11

Surfers Put Best Foot Forward At Royal Carnival

ALTHOUGH Canterbury lost the Griffiths trophy to one of its keenest rivals, Wellington, when the Royal surf carnival was held at Mount Maunganui’s Ocean Beach last Saturday, it did so only after a relatively close struggle for supremacy. The Wellintgon, Canterbury and Auckland teams, placed first, second and third in that order, won almost every event on the comprehensive programme and took more than a fair share of the minor placings as well. In spite at windblown sand and showery weather, the competitors put everything they had into their efforts to impress the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who took a great interest in the proceedings. There is little doubt that the visit of the Royal couple to the carnival was one of the greatest* moments in the history of the New Zealand surf life-saving movement. The carnival was also the largest interdistrict event ever held, with teams from almost every main province in the country. Many enthusiasts will say that Canterbury, the holder of the Griffiths trophy before the carnival, should have retained the shield by showing the type

r THE nucleus of an 18- - 1 footer fleet will be sailing on Lyttelton harbour within the next few weeks. Three of these sturdy craft have been out together from Charteris Bay; and their crews propose open water racing from the Canterbury Yacht Club at Erskine Point in the near future.

of invincibility that a Rugby team appears to have when it is defending the Ranfurly Shield. However, the vast majority should agree that the team which represented Canterbury performed very creditably to finish in the top bracket with the Dominion’s two other leading surf provinces, Wellington and Auckland. Whether or not a different team would have retained the trophy is a matter only for private speculation. A “postmortem” is not needed on this team.

The boats are Harmony (G. Moor), which is the pace-setter; M. Poore’s Melody, which has recently been extensively refitted; and R. L. Sparrow’s Sabrina. The illustration shows Sabrina before the wind. R. M. Bassett is at the helm, and crewing with him are R. Eastmond (mainsheet)

The one surfer who could have been selected but was inadvertently omitted from the final selection was the Waimairi man, T. Gaskell. This was no fault of the selectors. The team for the Royal carnival had to be nominated before they had had a chance to sOe many of the competitors in action at the Canterbury championships and consequently, selection had to be made in the main on last year's form. Who could have foreseen that Gaskell was going to perform so brilliantly in the Canterbury belt championship after mediocre displays in the same event last season?

The best senior performer in the Canterbury team was undoubtedly G. Dann. Although he could only manage third place in the Canterbury belt championship this season, he proved beyond doubt that he is not losing his touch when he took second place behind R. Harker (Auckland) in the senior belt event. Harker is one of the Dominion’s most experienced beltmen and had it itot been for Canterbury’s R. Blair, at present in Australia, he would probably have held the national title for several years. Surprisingly enough, Dann, who is one of the few

and G. S. Sparrow, son of the owner (jib sheet). Sabrina, built in Wellington in the 1920’5, was acquired by G. S. Mander some years ago and bought by the Sparrows in 1960. Originally it had a gunter rig; its marconi rig was put on by the present owners.

New Zealanders to have broken the minute for the 110 yards in pool swimming, could only manage sixth place in the individual surf race. The second Canterbu.ry man home was the captain, A. Lee, who filled twelfth place.

Winner of the senior surf race was K. Ryan (Wellington) who had a magnificent tussle with his team-mate, B. Crowder and the two

Aucklanders, J. Sneyd and R. Harker. All four have been in the top class for many years, and it is a credit to them that they have retained their superiority in the face of increasing younger opposition.

In the main event of the carnival, the six-man rescue and resuscitation contest, Canterbury's performance was only fair. With a reasonably large points deduction of 9.65, Canterbury was probably lucky to take third place. Wellington (C. Billing. K. Ryan. C. Blakely, P. Perkinson P. Griffin, C. Symonds) won the event with a total deduction of 8.6 points. Gisborne was second with a deduction of 9.5 points. Canterbury did well to win the march past, which was held to coincide with the arrival of the Royal couple. The team, which has had very little march past practice, thoroughly deserved its win. R. McDowell (Canterbury) was one of the outstanding juniors competing at the carnival. He won the junior surf race and was runner-up to the national champion, K. McDonald (Canterbury), in the open paddle board event. In the junior surf race. McDowell, who was once a Cook Strait aspirant, was losing to the Aucklander, N. Corbett, when they came out of the water: but the Canterbury boy’s more powerful running carried him to a fine victory on the run up the beach. Both had strayed off course as they shot in on the breakers and Corbett, who was without his glasses, was slow to sight the finishing flags

McDowell, who has not been showing up very prominently in swimming events so far this season, could obviously do a lot better locally if he made the effort. The Canterbury junior surf race championship should prove a very interesting event this year.

as junior competition here is extremely strong at present. G. Le Cren showed hitherto unsuspected qualities when he took third place in the beach sprint for Canterbury. C. Billing (Wellington) and H. Whittle (Taranaki) were first and second respectively Detailed provincial points gained were:—Wellington 30, Canterbury 23. Auckland 13.5, Gisborne 10. Taranaki 6.5, Bay of Plenty 3. Otago 3. Hawke’s Bay 1, Western Districts 0, Nelson-Marlborough 0. Dineen's Good Record When he appears for Central Districts against the New Zealand cricket team in a practice match at New Plymouth on February 18, 19, and 20, B. M. J. Dineen will continue an interesting record of appearances against international teams. He was full-back for the New Zealand Universities Rugby team which beat the 1956 Springboks, and for Canterbury when it beat the 1957 All Black team on its return from Australia. He appeared in international football also as a member of the under-23 team to Japan and Hong Kong in 1957-58. At cricket Dineen played for New Zealand Colts against the West Indies, in 1956. Successful appearances as an opening bat against the New Zealand team at New Plymouth could well lead to international honours for Dineen who at Christchurch Boys’ High School showed himself to be a most Mien-' ted batsman.