N.Z. half-tonner wins

Press, 26 November 1977, Page 60

N.Z. half-tonner wins

’ NZPA Sydney ■ The New Zealand yacht, I Rangiriri, yesterday won the > final race of the Dunhill International half-ton cham- ' pionship to win the series from her team-mate, ’ Swuzzle Bubble. ■ Rangiriri, skippered by • Peter Willcox, of Auckland, i crossed the line only Imin 56s ahead of Swuzzle I Bubble, skippered by lan I Gibbs, after 25 nautical miles and 40 hours of ■ sailing off the New South i Wales coast. The two yachts had gone 5; into the final race with ii Swuzzle Bubble a mere :| quarter of a point ahead. jßut the yacht which finished ■ i first in the final race won ifthe series.

Throughout the race, sailed in light to moderate winds, the two New Zealand i yachts were never more than a few hundred metres apart. Off Coogee at 6.30 a.m. yesterday, they were within 100 m of each other. , Third place in the race seemed certain to go to Twenty-two Sixty-nine skippered by Graham Oborn, with the Olympic bronze medallist, John Bertrand, as his tactician. Twenty-two Sixty-nine is leading the point scores for the Australian championship, which is the selection trial for the seven-colour world : half-ton cup starting on December 6. Two miles astern of Twenty-two Sixty-nine was Magic Dragon (Mikle Cal-

der), with Liquidator (Mike Fletcher) two miles further astern. Then came Incredible, the Irish yacht Silver Shamrock 111, Industries, and the Victorian yacht Casablanca all close together. There was a gap of several miles to Bodega and Abaganda, the two Western Australian yachts, with three miles to another group of yachts which included the Tasmanian Nirelowa, Bulldog, Fact I, Lot’s Wife, Grasshopper, the Papua New Guinea yacht, The Hum, Nantucket, and Pride of Oleron. The New Zealanders celebrated their victory with a champagne breakfast at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.