Brown still unbeaten

Press, 5 January 1979, Page 3

Brown still unbeaten

By

JOHN COFFEY

The extremely proficient Wellington A class helmsman, Andy Brown, retained the only perfect points score when the Rothmans National Catamaran Week fleet of nearly 80 boats returned to the Lyttelton shore after the third heats were sailed yesterday afternoon.

Brown, not content to settle for the runner-up role that has been his lot for the last two championships, has won all of his races by decisive margins and has a handy points advantage over his closest rivals.

Equally dominant in the moderate south-westerly morning breeze and the light and flukey afternoon conditions, Brown has only once conceded the lead during the series. That was when Norm Codd (Wellington) surged away in the third event before being caught by Brown. Codd had headed the chase in pursuit of Brown a few hours earlier, but was forced to withdraw. The defending title-holder, Mai Haddon (Wellington), had been characteristically consistent with a third and a second in his first two appearances, only for his chances to slump when gear damage caused his early exit yesterday afternoon. Once again, the biggest craft in the contest, the Olympic Tornadoes, provided enthralling competition, with Bret de Thier and Steve Moffatt (Canterbury) being fully extended by Rex Sellers and Gerald Sly (Nelson) and Peter Douglas and Chris Timms (Auckland) as they

twice successfully sought line honours. It was on the third beat to windward that de Thier and Moffatt evaded the cover of ! Sellers and Sly in the morn- ! ing, fending off a return challenge to the finishing line. However, the afternoon heat developed into an intense struggle as Des Bryson and Grant Nelson (Canterbury) also crossed tacks with the top trio. De Thier and Moffatt started magnificently and were Imin 18s to the good of Sellers and Sly at the first buoy. Towards the completion of the triangle, though, the Nelson combination had closed to within 10s and Douglas and Timms were matching them for boat speed. There was a veritable merry-go-round at the next few marks — Douglas and Timms by 4s, then Sellers and Sly by a similar margin, and de Thier and Moffatt back in command (bv 40s from Bryson and Nelson, who had made up an amazing amount of water) as they started the last triangle. The experience of de Thier as an international yachtsman of considerable quality eventually prevailed.

A splendid performance on the opening beat had Rob Preston (Nelson) more than 3min clear of the large Paper Tiger contingent in the third race and it was left to Peter Gray (Cam bridge), Harry Handley (Auckland) and David Partington (Nelson), who was well back in the early stages, to dispute the minor placings.

j Preston had lost his unI beaten record in the morniing when Handley had adJvanced from fifth to first on the second-to-last leg. Prejston was the runner-up, ahead of Gray and PartingIton, who had taken turns in ’front midway through the i heat. With only three points ! lost, Preston lias some leeway over Handley (13.7), 'Gray (18.7) and Partington (19). I The usual D class order was shuffled somewhat when Lyall Kissell and Allan Marsh (Canterbury) received the winner’s siren in the second event. The over-all ascendancy, however, rests with another Canterbury crew, John Ashby and John Dove, who have had two firsts and a second. All results will remain provisional until the protest committee meets this afternoon. The fourth heats in all classes will be held this morning.

Paper Tigers.—race two: Kraka (C. Handley, Auckland) 1, Asterix the Gaul <R. Preston, Nelson) 2, Country Cat (P. Gray, Cambridge) 3, Slygambler D. Partington, Nelson) 4, P.T.O. (T. Valder, Auckland) 5, Short n Curly (A. Thompson, Napier) 6. Stratagee (P. de Lacey, Auckland) 7, Rapid Transit (J. de Lacey, Auckland) 8. Race three: Asterix the Gaul 1, Country Cat 2. Kraka 3, Slygambler 4, Stratagee 5. Blue Duck (R. Craig, Kaikoura) 6, Tropical Itch (D. Dunn, Auckland) 7, Short ’ll’ Curly 8. D class—race two: Stanley T G P.H. (L. Kissell and A. Marsh, Canterbury 1, Tanglefoot (J. Ashby and J. Dove, Canterbury) 2, Wammes Waggle (M. Pickering and A. Wilson, Picton) 3. Race three: Tanglefoot 1, Wammes Waggle 2, Stanley T.G.P.H. 3.

Results (provisional and subject to protests) were.— B class—race two: Too Much (B. G. de Thier and S. Moffatt. Canterbury) 1. A Good Runner (R. Sellers and G. Sly, Nelson) 2, Bloody Mary (P. Douglas and C. Timms) 3, The Teaser (T. Rolton and P. Jones, Canterbury) 4. Race three: Too Much 1, A. Good Runner 2, Bloody Mary- 3, Blue Rhapsody (D. Bryson and G. Nelson, Canterbury) 4.

A class—race two: Git ’n Behind (A. Brown, Wellington) 1, Boney Banana iM. Haddon, Wellington) 2, Katrina (C. J. Hensley, Canterbury ) 3, Super Dragon (P. Brown, Wellington) 4, Sneaky Heat (G Bennett, Wellington) 5. Race three: Git ’n Behind 1, Spintella (N. Codd, Wellington) 2. Double Trouble (G. Walter, Canterbury) 3, Super Dragon 4, Sneaky Heat 5.