Time running out for Southern Raider

Press, 26 November 1981, Page 36

Time running out for Southern Raider

By

JOHN COFFEY

A crisis has arisen for the crew of Southern Raider, the pride of Canterbury yachting, which is to leave Lyttelton on Saturday morning to participate in the Southern Cross Series in Australia.

Alterations, designed to make the craft faster off the wind, were carried out after Southern Raider had qualified as the top boat in the New Zealand team and it was hoped to obtain a new rating last week-end. But fresh winds in Canterbury over the last few days have prevented any chance of the crew gaining the millpond conditions needed to measure the yacht to the exact millimetre.

“Time is running out quickly,” said Southern Raider’s skipper, Frank Dickson, yesterday. “It is unthinkable that the boat leave without a rating, yet the trip to Sydney could take between 10 and 14 days and must start on Saturday.

“Until it is rated we cannot go ahead with preparation. We can have no personal gear on board, only limited numbers of sails can be stowed, and the water tanks have to stay empty,” Dickson said.

“The rating must be carried out at the first opportunity. It has to be done in daylight, either early in the morning or during the evening when conditions are calm.” Dickson said that all relevant documents are required to be received by mail in Sydney by December 4.

“If Southern Raider cannot be measured before it sets off for Sydney, urgent dispensations wil have to be sought from the New Zealand and Australian federations, and arrangements

made with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia to rate the yacht after its arrival in Sydney. The latter option would in itself be a hindrance because Southern Raider’s expected arrival date of December 11 is only one week before the first of the two short Southern Cross races.

“We have been fighting time all of the way with our tuning and training,” Dickson said. “We have not seen the effects yet in our. racing in the trials at Wellington or in Banks Peninsula club events, but we are bound to pay for it in Sydney.” The changes to Southern Raider have lightened its keel by about 160 kg and are expected to alter its rating from 29.2 to about 29.4. The revision of its handicap means that it will have to sail a little faster to stay competitive, but it is believed that increased boat speed will more than counter its slightly bigger handicap. The Southern Cross contest comprises short races on December 18 and 19, an intermediate ocean race on December 21, and the Syd-ney-to-Hobart classic which begins on Boxing Day. The New Zealand team will be opposed by entries from the United Kingdom; Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and six Australia states.

Southern Raider, at 38ft, will be one of the smallest yachts in a fleet which will include maxi designs of more than 70ft. Inevitably, there will be problems on the start lines.

“It will be difficult to position ourselves — small boats get blanketed and squeezed out the back,” Dickson said.

Indeed, the Canterbury representative will take on a toylike appearance when it lines up with the record entry of 163 craft in .the Sydney-to-Hobart race. They will be joined by thousands of spectators and pleasure boats to present a traditionally chaotic scene on Sydney Harbour.

Among Southern Raider’s rivals will be yachts which have been constructed with no financial restrictions and which have professional crews. Dickson acknowledges that he will be at the helm one of the series’s outsiders, but determination and enthusiasm abound in the outlooks of his crew.

“No-one can afford to rely on the Sydney-to-Hobart race to clinch the series, even though it counts for double points. The whole outcome might be decided by then in the two short events and the intermediate (one-and-a-half points) race,” Dickson said. The other yachts in the New Zealand team are The Roperunner and Ngaruru. Two other boats from this country, Red Herring II and Expectation, have nominated for the Hobart classic, while one of the favourites for line honours will be Condor of Bermuda, which is at present being refitted in Auckland after suffering severe damage in Tahiti earlier this year.