Rebel II well up in Tasman race

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33521, 30 April 1974, Page 14

Rebel II well up in Tasman race

The big Christchurch trimaran Rebel II and the Auckland j sloop Carmita were making good progress tonight in the Tasman [ single-handed yacht race, lying about 20 miles apart, almost 550 miles from New Plymouth.

I Two other yachts, [Valya and Easterly, reported their positions tonight, but of the other I six contestants in the race nothing has been heard since the start at II a.m. on Saturday. The Christchurch yachtswoman, Miss A. Wilde, who is 28, has been busy repairing damage to the staysail booms on her 33-foot sloop Valya. These were broken in heavy weather on Saturday, but last night she reported she had been able to repair them. They are still bent, but she hopes they will do for light weather. ’ She has sailed more than, 200 miles from New Ply- [ mouth, and her position at’ present, by dead reckoning,] is about 100 miles west of Hokianga Harbour. Winds in the area are down to 10 to 15 m.p.h., from the south-east, but the tail end of the gale that blew Valya so far north is still; producing a moderate sea and swell. In a radio message relayed to New Plymouth by the; Marine shore station at Awanui. P. Moore, on the Carmita,: gave his position as about 350 miles from New Ply-( mouth. J. Jury, of Auckland, on the sloop Easterly 1 is back in the running after returning to New Plymouth on .Saturday afternoon with ail: mainsail runners sheared off. The yachts, which_ are ’

heading for Port Cartwright, a .pilot station at Mooloolaba, i about 60 miles north of Brisbane. were battered by the storm, and the ' extent of, j damage — if any — to several competitors is not known. A New Plymouth yachtsman and topdressing pilot, Mr D. Lobb, who flew over tiie yachts about an hour after the start, said it appeared many were taken by surprise ;by a sudden increase in wind I strength. I Close to shore the land; mass had diverted the south-; [westerly into turbulent pat-’ [terns and decreased its force,l [but an hour out the yachts’ [were hit hard. I When Mr Lobb flew over, j Easterly 1 looked all right ibut Miss Wilde was strug-; Igling to sort out her tangle.; I Several other yachts were [carrying too much sail. ’ The chairman of one yacht race organising committee i (Mr W. L. Williams), who (stitched up the damaged sail! land organised the hunt for re- j (placement sliders, for Jury,’ I said that in spite of the use of I ■a motor and the fact that Jury ( [had fallen to five hours be[hind other competitors, he was still in the race. The use of the motor had ■not given Easterly I any forward advantage in the race. Mr Williams said the sliders — similar to those .used for domestic curtains —

tended to weaken with »g» and usually if one went the rest would follow. The lapse in radio communication with some smaller yachts is not entirely unexpected, as some are carry ing radios with a very limited range. Some communication might be expected from them as they pass close to Lo d Howe Island, roughly two thirds of the way along the 1200-mile voyage