Thom was down, but not out

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33774, 21 February 1975, Page 24

Thom was down, but not out

I By

JOHN COFFEY)

Two skippers who capsized on the start line, Barry Thom (Auckland) and Bryan Treleaven (Canterbury), provided the most eyecatching performances in the opening heat of the Laser class yachting championship at Lytelton yesterday. Thom was able to recover quickly and was in seventh position until he struck the wing buoy and had to rewind around it. But even this second reverse was not enough to deprive him of line honHowever, it was only in the final 50 metres that Thom was able to get ahead of his provincial team-mate and

training partner. John Moyes. They had crewed together in the 1974 world Soling class championships in Australia.i Yesterday, they were keen] rivals as they took part in j a two-way tussle for victory \ on the last beat to windward, | A former outstanding P-I class junior, the 20-year-oldl i Thom has already earned recognition as this country’s] leading Laser helmsman. He] and Peter Lester (Canterbury) represented New Zea-] land at the international! series in Bermuda earlier this season. After the race, Thom said that he intended to make a bid for one of the three North i Island berths in the national, squad for the World Finn Gold Cup at Brisbane. He rei cently competed in the North . Island Javelin contest withI'out too much success, but

has made the Laser his first it preference. ] t There was no such story-Il book ending to Treleaven’st tale of woe. He was at least ( three minutes behind the fleet when he managed to right his 1 I craft, and made up a remark- 1 i able 28 places during the tri- ( II angle section of the course. 1 Treleaven eventually came i i ] home ninth, and has lodged a t ] protest against Lester as an ; aftermath of the mishap as the race began. Il i As he proved once under I] i way, Treleaven would have]] ] been ideally suited by thei< I fresh easterly conditions —I :[ whereas Thom and Moyes, 11have a preference for lighter]; Lairs. But they and the other] i' front-runners had covered i •ijust too much water before; i Treleaven got under way. i Both Thom and Treleaven | II left brothers behind them as I

they sought to cancel out] ]their costly capsizes. Murray] |Thom (Auckland) was seven-] teenth and lan Treleaven] (Auckland) was eleventh. ] Bocock (third), Freerkl Kempkers (Canterbury, i fourth) and Bill Thomson] (Auckland, fifth) sailed evenly to gain their prominent piacings, while Lester was third at the completion of the triangle before falling to sixth. One of the many noted ] Finn yachtsmen entered, ] I Dave Campbell (Canterbury), I ]lost ground over the later] stages to be twelfth. Results:— Race one <47 started): B. Thom I (Auckland) 1, J. Moyes (Auck-I land) 2. M. Bocock (Auckland) 3,] F. Kempkers (Canterbury) 4>. i W. G. Thomson (Auckland) 5. P. Lester (Canterbury) 6, G. P. Baumber (Wellington) 7. M. A. I Pope (Nelson) 8. B. E. Treleaven I (Canterbury) 9, P. Costello (Auckland) 10.