messing about in boats

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31230, 30 November 1966, Page 15

messing about in boats

Moths Next week-end the Australian Moth class will be holding its third South Island championship series at the Tlmaru Yacht Club. Not only will this be a tune up series for the forthcoming New Zealand title series on Lyttelton Harbour in early January but will also give the contestants valuable open water sailing and racing

experience. Between 20 and 30 contenders, mainly from Christchurch, are expected but there will also be entries from Oamani and Tiraaru. The winners of the two previous events have been H. H. Wagstaff, of Eastbourne, and H. M. Hobden, of Christchurch. Main contestants for the 1966 series will be O. Brown, G. Wilson and A. M. Holland (Waimakariri), B. R. Marriott and M. C. Holland (Canterbury), and H. M. Hobden and M. Robertson from the Christchurch Club. Fast Boat One of the more encouraging performances in the speed section of the recent Benmore 60 Freshwater classic was put up by the yachting champions G. J. and C. J. Cooke with their new Miss Glasskraft. Powered by a 65 h.p. Mercury outboard C. J. Cooke, the normal for’ard hand, drove the little 14ft 6in fibreglass runabout round the placid surface of the big lake in a most surprising manner. Beating home many larger boats with a lot (even twice as much) more power, Miss Glasskraft averaged near 40 miles an hour for the journey and finished eleventh overall. Like most of the other competitors the Cookes had expected rougher conditions and their actual speed was far faster than their nominated speed.

Most of the lower powered entrants take such a pounding from the bigger ones that a separate race for different speed categories would make the racing more interesting for everyone. Big Lake The visit to Lake Benmore opened up the thought of a new world of boating pleasure. This immense stretch of water has a virtually untapped potential for every facet of boating. There are excellent launching and caravan facilities at Sailors Cutting with a boat harbour, two concrete launching ramps and a fuel pump on the jetty. From there interesting excursions can be made through the gorge, twisting round the mountains to Benmore Dam or up to Lake Benmore proper with its incredible view of the Mackenzie Country and Mt. Cook. Lake Benmore would be an ideal yacht racing or power boat racing venue and is not a long distance from Timaru or Christchurch. After last weekend’s race with its 77 entries, next year could see an even faster and greater number of entrants. V Bottoms To vee or not to vee—that is the question in power boat design. How one bottom shape handles, performs and compares with another is sharply brought to the test When boats are driven at full speed over a specified course. One of the more modern trends is to go for the deep V bottom which gives better handling characteristics in rough water and is certainly more comfortable when a boat is being driven hard. The more normal warped bottom with its fine bow and flatter sections aft gives perhaps a better all round boat but it can be uncomfortable in rough conditions. While the flatter boat is faster in flat water, one of the better all rounders is the steady or constant deadrise hull. The Hustler comes into this category and seems to offer some of the best of everything. Overseas the big offshore racers, after all going into deep V are now going back to the flatter hulls which give a greater all round speed for racing. It’s all a question of compromise and how big a motor can be fitted in to give the maximum speed possible.