Boy Of 14’s Fine Yachting Win

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31863, 16 December 1968, Page 19

Boy Of 14’s Fine Yachting Win

Vitesse (P. Lester, Christchurch) yesterday convincingly won the P. class yachting trials at Charteris Bay and will represent Canterbury at the inter - provincial Tanner Cup contest.

In addition, Lester will head the team of club representatives for the Tauranga Cup series. He will represent the Christchurch Yacht Club.

The other representatives are Kapai II (C. Price, Pleasant Point), Nimbus (G. England, Canterbury R Class Squadron), Sahara (K. Bowry» Mount Pleasant) and Fidget (D. Collins, Canterbury).

Lester, a 14-year-old Cashmere High School student, proved himself the best in the fleet with his most consistent performances —four firsts and two seconds in the six races. His only opposition came from Price, who was the only skipper to better him and this was only when the breeze freshened.

These two were head and shoulders clear of the next four or five skippers, headed by G. England, who sailed very well at times but most inconsistently at others. However, he earned his third place and deserved to be ahead of Bowry. Collins and Mclntosh. Lester’s starting, tactics and general boat handling were most polished for one so young and in the light-to-moderate conditions he was quite superior. W’hen the breeze freshened

Price challenged strongly, sailing powerfully and smoothly, and his two wins in these conditions were first-class. Results were: Fourth Trial (north-east 6-8, 17 started).—Vitesse (P. Lester. Christchurch), 71:44, 1; Kapai II (C. Price, Pleasant Point), 74:19, 2: Nimbus (G. England, Christchurch). 74:22, 3: Fidget (D. Collins, Canterbury), 76:17, 4. Fifth Trial (north-east 14-18, 16 started).—Kapai 11, 59:58, 1; Vitesse, 60:13, 2; Nimbus, 60:58, 3: Sahara <K. Bowry, Mount Pleasant), 63:34, 4. Sixth Trial (north-east, 8-15, 13 started). —Vitesse, 98:06, 1; Kapai 11, 100:55, 2; Sahara, 101:13, 3: Rua (S. Macintosh, Mount Pleasant), 103:04, 4. Final Points.—Vitesse, 466.67, 1: Kapai 11. 400.01. 2; Nimbus 223.33, 3; Sahara, 206.66, 4; Fidget, 176.91, 5. Casino (A. Ineson and P. Collingwood, Christchurch) won all six races in the Junior Cherub class selection trials held at Charteris Bay over the last two week-ends. Casino will lead a team of four Junior Cherubs to contest the New Zealand championship events in Auckland in mid-January. The other members are Tahuti (B. Sinclair and C. Cotter, Charteris Bay), Rana (N. England and I. Jackson. Christchurch) and Bosanova (W. Nicholls and I. le Page, Mount Pleasant). Although Casino’s wins were well merited and the reward of consistent sailing, good crew combination and a well-geared boat, the boat was aided by the mistakes of both Tahuti and Rana which tended to flatter her performances. Both Ineson and Collingwood were far more polished than the others and had had more practice. Collingwood’s spinnaker work was very good which helped Casino on the down wind

legs but all the other spinnaker work was mediocre and some even dreadful. Casino won the last three races in fairly convincing fashion, although in Saturday morning’s race Rana was all set for a good win when England sailed into a position where he could pick up the ebb tide. But it had not turned and Casino had another easy win. The selection trials became something of a farce after it was learned on Saturday afternoon that only four boats remained in the series—the others having packed up and gone home. Of the four boats going to Auckland all could do with a lot more practice in the basic skills and Tahuti, Rana and Bosanova which will have to improve speed round the

course by some five or six minutes. Results were: Fourth Trial (north-east. 6-8, seven started. —Casino (A. Ineson and P. Collingwood, Christchurch), 77:57, 1; Tahuti (B. Sinclair and C. Cotter, Charteris Bay), 79:34, 2; Rana (N. England and I. Jackson. Christchurch), 79:38, 3; Bosanova (W. Nicholls and I. le Page, Mount Pleasant). 83:00, 4. Fifth Trial (north-east, 14-18, six started). —Casino, 59:51, 1; Tahuti, 60:21, 2; Rana, 62:19, 3; Bosanova, 64:41, 4. Sixth Trial (north-east, 8-15, four started).—Casino, 81:43, 1; Tahuti, 82:35, 2; Rana, 85:39, 3; Bosanova, 90:58, 4. Final Points. —Casino, 500, 1; Tahuti, 386.66, 2; Rana, 359.98, 3; Bosanova, 285.70, 4.