Award To Wrong Yacht

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32143, 12 November 1969, Page 37

Award To Wrong Yacht

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) LONDON. Crusade, Sir Max Aitken’s ocean racing yacht, should have won this year’s Fastnet race. The Royal Ocean Racing Club admitted this on Monday, and said that a letter had been sent to Sir Max Aitken apologising for an error made in the rating of Crusade. The race was the last in the Admirals Cup series, won by America.

Crusade was third to arrive in Plymouth behind the huge and heavily rated United States craft, American Eagle, and Kialoa.

At the time there was some stop-watch conflict between the race officials and Sir Max Aitken, who maintained that his yacht was 3min 42sec faster than the official time. Usually over the 605-mile course (from Cowes to Plymouth, passing the Fastnet Rock on the southern tip of Ireland) this would not have been so critical, except that on corrected time Red Rooster, the United States sloop sailed by R. Carter, was declared the winner by only Imin o.Bsec. Three Months Now, almost three months i after the event, the Royal [Ocean Racing Club has discovered that Crusade was wrongly assessed in the first i place and should have been (allowed about four or five

minutes more on her rating. This would, unquestionably, have given her the Fastnet race. What the measurers failed to take into account was a layer of glass fibre put on to protect the plywood of the decking after the hull had been measured and when the hull and deck were still, in fact, separate. “Bad Luck” Mr A. Paul, secretary of the club said: “It is terribly bad luck, but there isl nothing which can now be done. The result is calculated on a boat’s rating before the start of the race.”

Crusade’s real rating came to light recently when the yacht was measured tb contest the Southern Cross tro-, phy in Australia.