N.Z. yachts do well in 18ft titles

Press, 5 March 1980, Page 6

N.Z. yachts do well in 18ft titles

PA Auckland, Australian dominance in ; 18-foot sailing was partly Checked at Auckland yesterday .when New Zealand i yachts scrambled into four of the 10 top places in the third heat of the world championship. The. New Zealanders sadly lack the lucrative sponsorships enjoyed by the Australians, but they had their moments of glory. However, after three races New South Wales, yachts hold the first five places. . Steelstocks (Robert Brown), with two wins and a third yesterday, leads the field with the loss of. eight points. lan Murray, who is chasing his fourth consecutive title at the helm of Color 7, is second with 11.7 points.- . Then follow Pacific Harbour Fiji (John Winning, 20), Nine Sports (Dave Porter, . 24.4), and * PK Gum (Peter Sorenson, 30). Gary Coleman (Rank Xerox), who had a big crowd on the Orakei wharf roaring approval as he squeezed Murray out of second place yesterday, is the top New Zealander, haying ‘Jost 39.7' points. •

The race yesterday was sailed in flat water and a south-easterly breeze that seldom puffed above 10 knots. It was a day made for big rigs and apart from voluntary capsizes to retrieve wayward halyards or to free gear it was a straightforward race. Winning, no stranger to the. Waitemata, picked the lifts 'at the start, took a westward course on the first beat, and was first around the wharf mark. From there he was never headed, and went on to beat Rank Xerox to the line by 4min 3s.