A Yachting Report

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30677, 17 February 1965, Page 12

A Yachting Report

Sir, —In your report of the yacht races on the Estuary during Saturday’s storm, you say: “No rescue attempts. None of the rescue boats made any attempt to penetrate the roughest part of the estuary, where all the damage had occurred, and try and rescue or assist those in trouble. A serious accident could have taken place while the rescue launches were tied up in the calm water at Mortens Jetty.” This is defamatory, and I must ask you to publish a retraction. The Mount Pleasant Yacht Club’s rescue launch Peikatini, owned and skippered by Mr T. C. Buxton, was constantly at work throughout the race, and for some time afterwards. We were in radio contact with the shore, and could have been diverted to the Fisherman’s Point area had those on shore considered it necessary.—Yours, etc., J. ERIKSON. February 16, 1965. [Our yachting contributor replies: “It was not my intention to belittle the rescue work of Messrs Buxton and Erikson, who have given dedicated service in this capacity to yachtsmen over many years; and I apologise for any imputation that they were inactive during the races. Nevertheless it is true that in ‘the roughest part of the Estuary,’ with which my report was mainly concerned, no assistance was forthcoming when several boats got into serious trouble. My own boat capsized there, the mast broke, and the boat was blown ashore. H. L. England’s Javelin lost its mast and was washed up on the South Brighton spit. C. White and R. Roberts, in a Junior Cherub, got into difficulties and landed on the spit. B. Harvey's Finn capsized and he walked his boat home round the shore. At least two other boats which I did not identify were disabled and out of control and, like the others I have mentioned, received no aid from rescue craft.”]