messing about in boats

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31224, 23 November 1966, Page 19

messing about in boats

SHAKEN UP The standard of crewed yachting in Canterbury may well be in the balance and considerable effort and practice may be called for in the near future. The local Javelin and senior Cherub crews w'hich travelled to Nelson for their South Island championships recently were, quite thoroughly beaten. The only crew that managed to maintain their standards were H. L. England and L. Wales who finished runners up for the second time. A crew to show some promise or consistence were the exJunior Cherub crew of P. Beaumout and B. Hart in Early Bird. A top Nelson yachtsman who watched the series said that generally the standard of crew work in the Canterbury boats was shocking—the exception was N. .Vincent for’ard hand in Snatch which finished 15th. Apparently the local Senior Cherub fleet need a shake up too because their performances were reported as being unimpressive. Not a good outlook for the New Zealand titles on Lyttelton Harbour next year.

OPTIMIST It is always a pleasure to meet the sportsman who will never give up even when the situation seems hopeless. One of these is the well known Timaru yachtsman, 3. Shanks. And the incident which calls for comment happened during the second race on the Saturday afternoon of the South Island “R” Class championships held on Otago Harbour. It was blowing quite briskly and there was what the weather man would call “a moderate chop”—rather it was a howling breeze With a big. confused, bone jarring sea. On the second leg of the triangular course Shanks skippering Frequent had the misfortune to over-

turn whilst endeavouring to set a spinnaker. This was a brave enough act in itself for not even the champions, the Cooke brothers, would dare to defy the elements at this stage.

However, Shanks came to grief and had to retire but he maintained that what he was trying was possible. Had he been successful it is thought that Frequent would have become a permanent memorial to a brave act—firmly wedged under the Kitchener street Wharf. GREMLINS

It has been proved difficult enough to build, equip and launch a new yacht and successfully race it within 12 months. When such an ambitious task as a new all fibreglass hull, alloy mast and bendy rig plus a few other innovations all come at once, it is no wonder that it takes time to fumigate all the gremlins so that all systems are working. There have been a lot of problems associated with Impudent, the latest in a long line of R class by B. C. J. Wall. On Sunday, the systems started to work. The boat is very fast on all points working to windward in less than 90- degrees and giving 50 yards to a Flying Dutchman. which started at the same time, caught it after one long lap of the

Estuary; on time Impudent was ahead of the Finns and well into the Javelins and all this on a light day. Before it came to grief, Impudent led another R class by some five minutes. Of particular interest is the fact that the lines are similar in section or style to the keelboats designed by the American R. Carter which won the Fastnet and One Ton Cups. IMPORTANT

It is vitally important for all clubs to see that their races are organised and run properly, particularly when large fleets are involved. This includes complete and properly written sailing instructions detailing every mark of the course, the running of races efficiently and properly, and the placing and flagging of marks and stakes where they are visible and in the best position to give the fairest racing. Where there is unrestricted water the best possible courses should be laid and not necessarily the one that has been used for the last five years. The racing yachtsmen are the life blood of the clubs and they demand and deserve good racing. There are too many instances of clubs running races sloppily with leading or running starts when it is possible to make them truer and fairer. THIS WEEK-END

Saturday, November 26: Lake Benmore, 65 mile Power Boat race. P class selection trials, Charteris Bay. Waimakariri regatta. Sunday, November 27: R Class, Canterbury Squadron championship, Waimakariri club. Waimakariri club regatta. P class selection trials, Charteris Bay.