Dismal Easter Regatta

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31654, 15 April 1968, Page 12

Dismal Easter Regatta

Nearly abandoned on Saturday for lack of wind and suffering from too much wind yesterday, the Waimakariri Easter regatta was a fairly dismal affair.

The highlight was the open race yesterday afternoon for the Eco Trophy. It started in a fresh south-westerly, which increased and gusted to strong proportions. A brilliant display of high-speed sailing was given by the Waimakariri Club Moth skipper, O. Brown, who finished 3J minutes ahead of his club-mate, A. M. Holland, and was the fastest boat around the course. Flurry, sailed by Holland, finished second but withdrew for fouling M. Seiwood on the starting line. Elapsed times for the fastest boats round the course were: Jaqui, 37:37; Flurry, 41:07; Adonis, 41:25; Zenith, 41:27; Glenley (Junior Cherub), 41:38; and Likely. 42:29.

The class championships on Saturday were sailed over a shortened course and were started in a drifter (the morning race had been abandoned for lack of wind), which gradually gave way to the lightest of easterly breezes. In the Moths, T. Blanchard

had a good duel with Seiwood and Wilson, who crossed the line together, while another close battle in the O.K. gave victory to P. Whitmore after Emma had been the early leader. In the R class. Unique sailed away from The Hustler and Technique to win by more than five minutes, while the Junior Cherub,- Amokura '(I. Woodward and Miss L. Denvir) impressed by leading the whole fleet at one stage and going better in the drifting conditions than the larger and faster R class. In the P class, the South Island champion, L. Kennedy, from Blenheim, was far too good for the others in the Saturday and Sunday morning races. In the harder going on Sunday afternoon he had only a slender lead over P. Price when he lost his mast. Price sailed another of his fine races to win narrowly from W’aimakariri’s K. Graham. The final race will be sailed at 2.30 this afternoon. Saturday Moth Class Championship (eight started). —Reply (T. Blanchard, Waimakariri), 4:01:14, 1; Adonis (M. Seiwood, Waimakariri), 4:01:28, 2; Havoc (G. Wilson, Waimakariri), 4:01:28, 3. O.K. Class Championship (six started). —Pinto (P. Whitmore, Mount Pleasant), 3:58:08, 1; Zenith (D. Hobson, Canterbury), 3:59:09, 2; Emms (R. Gibson, Mount Pleasant), 3:59:25, 3. R Class Championship (three started). —Unique (B. Kitson and B. McEwan, Waimakariri), 3:47:23, 1; The Hustler (C. Mor-

gan and R. Nicholl, Mount Plea sant), 3:52:46, 2. Junior Cherub Class Championship (two started). —Amokura (I. W’oodward and Miss L. Denvir, Waimakariri), 3:54:45. I. P Class Championship (10 started).—Supreme (L. Kennedy, Blenheim), 3:32:09, 1; Petite (P. Lester, Christchurch). 3:33:28. 2; Kapai (C. Price, Pleasant Point), 3:34:54, 3: Fidget (D. Collins. Canterbury), 3:36:30, 4. Sunday Moth Class Handicap (eight started). —Flurry (A. Holland, Waimakariri), 1 and fastest: Slamat (P. Folter, Pleasant Point), 2; Jaqui (O. Brown. Waimakariri). 3. O.K. and Junior Cherubs (five started). Glenley, Junior Cherub (E. Agnew and Miss G. Denvir, Waimakariri), 1; Okaiawa, O.K. (C. Vincent, Canterbury), 2. P Class (seven started).— Kapai (O. Price, Pleasant Point), 1; Tara (A. Vivian, Waimakariri), 2; Supreme (L. Kennedy, Blenheim), 3 and fastest. Open Class (Eco Trophy, 17 started). —Jaqui, Moth (O. Brown, Waimakariri), 13min, 3:09:37, 1; Adonis, Moth (M. Seiwood, Waimakariri), 13min, 3:13:25, 2; Zenith, O.K. (D. Hobson, Canterbury), llmin, 3:15:27, 3; Likely, O.K. (J. Bunker, Waimakariri), 12min, 3*15:29 4 P Class (10 started). —Kapai (C. Price, Pleasant Point), 3:29:10, 1; Evelyn (K. Graham, Waimakariri), 3:29:20, 2; Cadet (P. Stemmer, Christchurch). 3:30:24, 3; Petite (P. Lester. Christchurch), 3:31:25, 4. Handicap winner; Kapai.