N.Z. wins One Ton Cup again

Press, 12 November 1977, Page 56

N.Z. wins One Ton Cup again

The saying that the winner of the long offshore race of the One Ton Cup series wins the contest was proved wrong yesterday.

Stuart Brentnail, skipper of the Red Lion, sat back in the minor placings. happy in the knowledge that the coveted! cup was his, the Press Asso-j eiation reports from AuckAfter 58 hours at sea the finish of the 325-mile offshore' race took on a storybook! ending as three New Zealand! vachts, the Red Lion, Mr Jumpa and Smir-Noff-Agen, piaying the tactical game,! sailed the last four miles to the finish with only a few metres separating them. I The light airs made the; crews as tense as in the ga!e-i swept first night of the raced As the last tacks were made-Smir-Noff-Agen edged ahead to take the gun from Mr! Jumpa with the Red Lion Brentnail had to be content; with third place. It was, how-1 ever, good enough to take the One Ton championship.

Brentnail covered every move made by Mr Jumpa, skippered by Graeme Woodroofe. Smir-Noff-Agen, sailed in splendid fashion by the former world 18 foot champion, Don Lidgard, was bowling along at the head of the fleet. The Australian yacht 8195 (Tom Stephenson) was in second place during the early morning sailing. Smir-Noff-Agen, 8195, the Red Lion and Mr Jumpa cleared out from the rest of the fleet and only Mr Jumpa was in a points position to steal the contest win from the Red Lion. If Mr Jumpa had won the race with the Red Lion in fourth place Mr Jumpa could have won the cup. Through the long hot afternoon on the way in from Channel Island it was boat-for-boat racing with 100 metres separating them.

After the big blow that forced five yachts out of the race on Wednesday night, moderating winds on Thursday and a calm yesterday changed fortunes in the race. While it blew, 8195 looked the yacht likely to take the long offshore race. As the breeze, and the swell, eased 8195 dropped away and Smir-Noff-Agen took over the lead. Early this morning the other five yachts in the race were ghosting along in a big flat patch extending from Motutapu Island well out into the Firth of Thames. For Rockie (Art Merserau, U.S.), Heatwave (Jim Young, N.Z.), Wild Turkey (Jim Gosper, Aust.), Country Boy (Marcel Alcon, France) and Q.E.D. (Lou Adam, Britain) there was the prospect of another night at sea, even if it was as calm as a mill pond.