De Thier’s Finn title

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32846, 21 February 1972, Page 3

De Thier’s Finn title

Although beaten by B. Winters in the final heat, B. G. de Thier comfortably retained his South Island Finn class yachting title at Lyttelton during the weekend.

De Thier dominated the two races on Saturday, but was fully extended by B. E. Treleaven yesterday morning before conceding line-honours to Winters later in the day. The success achieved by Winters was quite unexpected. because he had finished no higher than fourth in the preceding events. However, he was able to make his own pace as de Thier concentrated more on covering Treleaven. At the completion of the initial beat, Treleaven had already opened a useful margin over the other 15 starters, and he extended this to 40sec before the end of the triangle. There was little between de Thier and Winters in the minor placings. The pattern of the race was changed considerably on

the windward leg as Winters prospered in the moderate conditions. Rounding the top mark for the second time. Winters was Imin lOsec in front of D. Campbell—another to improve on his earlier performances—with Treleaven and de Thier next. Leeward run

De Thier headed Treleaven and Campbell on the leeward run, but was not able to make much impression on Winters, who had an advantage of 48sec. Campbell was only lOsec behind de Thier. The major positions in the other three heats were filled bv de Thier, Treleaven and J." S. Wearn. There was an

exciting climax to yesterday morning’s event when de Thier and Treleaven were locked in a tacking duel throughout the last beat, the title-holder just managing to beat Treleaven to the line. A. MacFarlane (Lake Wanaka) was the most prominent of the skippers from other provinces, being fourth in two of the races, and also on the over-all points table. Wearn’s consistency placed him third in the series behind de Thier and Treleaven, with Winters and Campbell fifth and sixth respectively. Results: — South Island Finn Championship First race (19 started). —Finnsarby (B. G. de Thier), 12:16.38, 1; Jan <B. E. Treleaven), 12:17.52, 2; Jolifin (J. S. Wearn), 12:18.42, 3; Tiffany (B. Winters), 12:20.42, 14. I Second race (16 started).—FinnI sarbv. 4:35.25, 1; Jan, 4:37.38, 2; ! Jolifin, 4:40.33, 3; Finntana (A. MacFarlane), 4:41.47, 4. Third race (17 started). —Finnsarby, 12:9.11, 1; Jan. 12:9.13, 2; Jolifin, 12:10.8, 3; Finntana, 12:10.47, 4. Fourth race (16 started).—Tiffanv, 3:52.17, 1; Finnsarby, 3:53.5, 3; Hi Jinx iD. Campbell), 3:53.15, 3; Jan. 3:53.40, 4. Overall points: de Thier 3 points, 1; Treleaven, 17, 2; Wearn, 30.1, 3; MacFarlane, 37.7, 4; Winters, 38, 5; Campbell, 49.7, 6.