TWO FIRSTS FOR NX. YACHTS Jury Dismisses Protest Against P. G. Mander

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30576, 20 October 1964, Page 20

TWO FIRSTS FOR NX. YACHTS Jury Dismisses Protest Against P. G. Mander

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) TOKYO, October 19. A great day for New Zealand yachting ended in nerve-racking tension at Enoshima tonight as P. G. Mander battled to hold a wonderful chance of winning his second Olympic medal. But it was no longer a battle on Sagami Bay in his trim little Finn class yacht.

This was a verbal battle before the international jury to retain the 1620 points he scored for a magnificent win in the fifth race of this absorbing series.

A protest against Mander threatened to shatter New Zealand's rejuvenated hopes of winning two gold medals in the Olympic yachting after a double victory in today’s racing.

Less than 20 minutes after Mander had crossed the line at the head of the Finn fleet, H. O. L. Pederson and E. Wells were surging in first in their Flying Dutchman yacht, Pandora.

The protest was lodged by Henning Wind, of Denmark, who finished second in a very tight finish.

Tacking Protest Wind, who says he had not previously lodged a protest in any race during the last seven years, alleged that Mander tacked too close to him 250 metres from the finishing line when the two rivals were locked together in a stirring duel. The New Zealand manager, Mr D. St. Clair Brown, said that he had no doubt Mander was in the right but there was a complex technical point involved. Mander was on the starboard tack at the time and changing to the port tack to lay the finishing line.

Both Second He had to prove that he had not committed a breach of the rules. This was difficult under the circumstances. There was intense relief from the New Zealanders as Mander and Wind came out of the committee room, shaking hands to announce the verdict.

The New Zealand competitors are now in second place

on points in both classes. Pedersen and Wells, the only Flying Dutchman crew who have scored two wins, have 4112 points. Ahead of them is the British pair F. K. Musto and A. W. Morgan, with 4434 points, and if the first four performances are discarded the New Zealanders are in front with 4011 points to Britain’s 3914.

Mander, who won a gold medal in the Sharpie class at Melbourne, shot up to second from fifth place. With 4910 points he is well behind the German, Willi Kuhweide, 5717, and if the first performances are dropped Mander is third behind the United States representative, Peter Barrett. On the form shown today Mander must still be given a great chance of heading off Kuhweide and Barrett in the remaining two races.

Greatest Race Pandora, the sleek yellowhulled yacht sailed by Pedersen and Wells, is owned by Mr W. A. Stevenson, of Auckland, the manager of the New Zealand Olympic team. The building of the boat four years ago was supervised by Wells, who is a foreman in Mr Stevenson’s construction company.

Pedersen and Wells have been teamed together in Pan-

dora for the last three years, and in that time have developed a smooth co-ordina-tion that has impressed many skilled observers on Sagami Bay during the present Olymnic fiprtas Today, they sailed one of the greatest races of their lives.

They made a fair start, better than several they have made here, and had the lead 100 yards from the first mark. They were beaten round the buoy, however, by Norway and the United States. Hit Marker

On the next lead, New Zealand lost its third position to Australia, but the Australians had the misfortune to strike the next marker and had to withdraw. Their bad luck came in almost an identical way to that experienced by the New Zealand pair in the second race when the marker moved a long way in the swell and caught them by surprise. This has been a problem troubling many crews here and is caused by the very long line needed to secure the buoys because of the exceptional depth of Sagami Bay. Norway still held the lead starting the windward-leeward section of the course from the consistent United States crew. The New Zealanders were still a handy third. These three were in a compact bunch beating into the strong wind for the second

time and it was at this critical point of the race that Pedersen and Wells sailed right away from their rivals.

Played Safely

They got the lift they were looking for and Pandora turned on a tremendous burst of speed to leave the Norwegian and American boats struggling in her wake. For the final two legs of the course Pedersen was content to play it very safely. Norway slipped back to fifth when Rhodesia suddenly improved from ninth to third. Norway won back the third position on the final run but eventually finished seventh as France, Rhodesia, Denmark and Britain improved their seamanship over the latter stages. The consistent Americans stuck to the New Zealanders in second place and closed the gap considerably at one stage of the final beat to the finishing line, but the New Zealanders met the challenge and had an advantage of lj minutes as they crossed the line. Held Points Lead France finished well to take third, close behind the Americans, and Rhodesia was also close up in fourth place. Denmark, which was second on points until today, finished fifth and Britain finished sixth—good enough to hold its points lead. Points of the leading group at this stage, with two races left, are, Britain 4434, New Zealand 4112, United States 3890, Denmark 3714, France 3617, Rhodesia 3033. The only change in positions when each country drops its worst performance is that New Zealand moves ahead of Britain, with 4011 points to 3914.