Mast will be assembled in Auckland

Press, 24 February 1986, Page 3

Mast will be assembled in Auckland

PA . Auckland A new mast and rigging for NZI Enterprise will be assembled in Auckland and flown to the Chatham Islands later in the week. It was decided to put the equipment together in Auckland where expert help and sophisticated gear were available, said the campaign chairman, Mr Max Jones, yesterday. The replacement parts should take crew on the crippled round-the-world yacht a day to install, he said. The new mast would arrive bn Wednesday from Cape Town in a British Airways jet. New rigging has already been sent from Los Angeles. Eight crew members were expected back in Auckland early today on an Eagle Airways charter flight. Mr Jones said the men were being recalled for rest and recreation. They would spend about five days in New Zealand. The skipper, Digby Taylor, will not return home, but his wife, Diane, flew to the Chathams last evening in the plane which will return with the crew members. The broken mast and damaged sails were flown back to Auckland last evening in a chartered Bristol freighter. The mast would be examined to see why a swage—a metal collar which connects the rod

rigging to the mast or spreaders—apparently broke. > The committee planned to seek legal advice * with a view to taking action against the company which manufactured rthe part. “If we are told we have a strong case then we will be guided by that,” said Mr Jones. “But our priority at this stage is to get the boat back on the track.” He said the yacht had not withdrawn from the third leg of the race from Auckland to Uruguay. Mr Jones said a decision would be made after the mast had been stepped and the state of the race assessed. He said it might be prudent to pull out of the third leg in order to arrive in Uruguay in time to be “fully competitive” in the fourth leg. The crew were amazed at how much the campaign committee was managing to achieve, said Mr Jones, who on Saturday accompanied a team of mast and sail experts to assess damage to the yacht. It is not known how the new mast will be flown to the Chatham Islands. The Royal New. Zealand Air Force, had planned to fly the mast in a Hercules. Mr Jones said that the Royal tour commitments meant this might now not be possible.