messing about in boats

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30091, 27 March 1963, Page 11

messing about in boats

Sold North

; Two well - known J Olympic Finn yachts left ; Christchurch last week for j new owners in Auckland. 1 They were Fintere, which * has been raced by G. D. { Hobson (Canterbury) and ! Selena, which has been * sailed by D. Nixon j (Pleasant Point). 1 Hobson will exchange J his former wooden boat * for a new plastic-hulled * Finn which he hopes to * sail in the Waimakariri j regatta at Easter. » Nixon has sold his boat J before leaving New Zea- * land next month on an » overseas tour. He expects ; to be overseas for about j two years and intends to » race in foreign and interi national contests to gain

experience. Nixon has done well in heavy weather racing in Canterbury in the present season and twice—at the Waimakariri regatta in November and the Chatteris Bay regatta in December—be and A. J. F. BaUlntine. the Canterbury title-holder in the class, and F. G. Mander, were seen within a couple of lengths ot each other for race after race in each series Nixon sailed Balliniine’s boat in the Estuary pennant championship last Saturday and finished fourth.

Second Generation

Sons of one of Canterbury s former top racing crews were sailing on the Estuary last week-end. They are Robert Smith, aged nine, and his brother, aged seven. Their father, who competed in the Estuary pennant race on Saturday at the helm of the new Junior Cherub yacht, is I. R. Smith—a member of the famous Mander Sanders Cup crews in the earlv 1960’s and the world champion 18-footer Intrigue. Smith, who now lives at Hororata, built the Junior Cherub. which is called Huntaway, for his beys from kitset parts.

Junior Crews Commercial production of a boat designed as a crewed training craft “to fill the need between P Class and existing twoman dinghy classes tor many youngsters who, having entered the P Class at seven or eight years of age, wish to move into a more advanced type of boat at an age which renders existing two-man classes unsuitable" has begun in Christchurch. The boat is the 10ft 6m Flying Ant and the quotation is from the designer, J. Spencer, of Auckland, made when he introduced the class in 1980. The first of the class in the South Island was launched this month on the Estuary and sailed by B. Mackay and K. P. Reed, of the Christchurch Yacht Club. Nine other boats are expected on the water by the end of the season. Offshore The success of the Olympic Finn open sea race 10 days ago has induced organisers to arrange more off-shore sailing in Sumner Bay. Weather permitting, there will be two afternoons* racing next week-end; and senior

crews of a<ny class will be eligible to participate. Boats will be launched from Bell s Baths, Scarborough, The courses to be sailed will be Olympic type and will be set further out to sea than previously to avoid inshore currents. The 11 skippers who participated in the experimental race found that open sea racing was an exhilarating experience, especially as they could stop worrying about shoal waiter and fluky breezes bouncing off nearby headlands and concentrate on sailing. Variety The record number of 113 yachts counted on the Estuary on Saturday afternoon represented 15 distinct types. Racing in the pennant champion ship were 16ft catamarans (4), 12ft catamarans (2), R Class (5), Javelins (2), Finns (12), OK dinghies (11), senior Cherubs (2), Junior Cherubs (8), Frostplys (4), Heron (1), Frostbites (8), Takapunas (7), P Class (38), a total at 102. Boats not racing included two Cherubs, five P's, a Takapuna. a Frostbite.. an Eventide class keeler, and a midget Polynesian outrigger sailed by a bearded skipper.