YACHING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 140, 7 March 1908, Page 9

YACHING.

:\By,Mainsheet.) Tho outing- held' by tho Port Nicholson Yacht Club last Saturday was a great success, and' included in . tlio yachts which: turned out were.. tho followingNgaira, Maliina, Janet,' Nancy. Stair, Petrel, May, Waitangi, Ruihi, Tuna and Nanoya.- Tha whole: of the fleet Was. reefed down at the start; but - th 6 wind - died away before Scorching Bay Vas reached. , The wind'wa* from the east and necessitated a close_ haul to Point Halswell, the consequenco being a late arrival at. tho Bay, and a shortening of the stay ashore. . . Once ashore the crews laid themselves put to make the afternoon enjoyable, and several tugs of war were held on the beach, the Vim put into the work, re- , : suiting in the breaking of a stout anchor lino no less than tlireo times. The teams numbered about 25 a side. ■ A start for homo was-made, betwceii 6. and 6.30 in a nice breeze. The Jjinet and Tuna were both prominent in the, dash for home. -Sunday was a' day oli which, fine weather., yachtsmen' were, tempted to stay at home. In the morning it appeared , from the boat hqrbour that*a good solid three reefer waa blowing, but there was found to be something more than this when the boats got out into the harbour.The squalls that camo down fairly, shrieked through the. rigging, and had'a sting in them which provided a topic of conversation for yachtsmen for two'. or tlireo days. The Janet was seen beating out of Evans Bay, and was getting through tho water in great style. Tho Petrel made good weather of it. Tho others camo through without'mishap, which speaks well for their gear. The only decent anchorage in such a blow was Scorching Bay, :aiid hero practically all tile. boats that ventured out collected. Tho Ngaira, May, Petrel, Janet, Te Rkunit and Nanoya, were all at anchor in. tho Bay. < ' • ■■■' j ■ < Tho Kotiri' was seen beating up the entrance in tho afternoon, and it was a picture to see her battling through the_ heavy weather. 'She called -in. at Scorching Bay . and sailed homo with tho others, and sailed, •well, too. Tlio Taiparo had a warm time commg up from Pencarrow lighthouse. .It is* stated that she had three ''tucks" in for tho second time since her present owners havo been sailing' her—six seasons at least. ." Th(! P.N.Y.C. will have a representative attho Napier carnival regatta, • in' Aubrey Smith's new packet, the Tuna. ' Ted Bailey is going up to' sail the boat, and A.: Smith, anct W. Highet : will , form part, of tho crew. The action of the'owner of the boat is' that of a sportsman,- and may good luck attend him for his enterprise.' • •!■!■'' ' Entries,for the. Ocean Yacht Racei-are;' said': to: btS' coming in satisfactorilyand:',it is : anticipated that / with' anything like fine weather there . will bp at least 12 or 13 competitors:' ' • " A boat that, has not been figuring in the racing-lists-'for a' long :■ time-past is thei. •••Viking.' but it is stated -Mat her now - -'" tiwneri' Q. Hedjands, intends giving her a go in;tlio "oe'ean race, and has'decided to fit her out with a new suit-of sails, a taller mast, and more lead before next season's racing begins. ... A. correspondent- writes:—-"Those taking part in the ocean 'race should keep, their weather eye' lifted, .for v an; outlying 1 rock, about 100 ft. to the' southward ,of the Black Rock." ; Tho writer goes' on, to state that the rock i can be seen at ■ low, water, .when there is a .heavy swell-and details how therock should bo rounded. 'I take it that most yachtsmen iii deepkeel boats know the Black y Rock arid:its surroundings. ' • Tho launches have rendered good assistance to tho 'yachts at various occasions, but. tho'order, of things' wak reversed .recently' when ono of tho third class yachts was. called upon to, tow a launch home from Evans Bay. . v., . .- The Atalanta is. about- to appear in a now suit of sails, Vand not, before they were needed. ■ \V.atty, hasbeen entrusted with: the : order) and - tho''sails- should' transform the', boat. ,-■■/ t '•' ' . . Changes in the ownership of various boats ar'o still being talked of. Tho latest rumour is ,tliat .John Si' Swan wants to sell the Syren, and intends; getting a bigger boat built to his own.design.; It is also stated that Dr. Fell is. giving ; tho sport'up, and that th'e';Mahiiia will.bo ;on the market at, tho endvof tho season. ..

.-. The Auckland built patiki Wariho lias been sold by J. Laing to A. White, who is said to be a brother of Steve : White, who away back in tho, dark ages used 'to, do' a consider-, able amount of sailing. With; average luck, the Wariho should give tho other patikis. all they want.- 'V The 'Tuna _ had 'some bad luck on- Sunday week, capsizing oif Ward: Island. There were only two on' board'.Tho| launches which stood by her for i cou&la of 'hours p deserve a word of praise for. their, sportsmanlike, action. They concluded by towing-the crippled sailer homo. : The Tuna-is a lino'littlo packet, and with enough live ;ballast about would weather most gales. - A: centre-board boat in a breeze' and'without ballast"-:is' a tricky, shell to handle. •• . Tho Secretary of tho P.NVY.C., Mr. Arthur Holmes;' lias received a) letter from Mr.Thos. F. Day, editor of the "Rudder," intimating that ho . will bo glad , to .roe'eivo .photographa s{ any local yachts or their surroundings, presumably for, publication in the well-known yachting journal with aview to giving an .idea of- the class-'of'yachts ..racing in New Zealand. v

Tho following notes were' unavoidably held over last Saturday on abconnt' of the pressuro on space: — ' ■ The racing; season was brought to a close' on Saturday'week with events for first jand second class boats.' The only competitors in tho first class race; j\xre--\Vaitangi_ scr.j Syren loifiin., .aiid 'Ngaira' lSram. ' Waitangl completed the "course in : tho fastest time, but had-to take second ( place to tho Syreny which won oil her timo allowance... Ngaira did uot ,finish/. ;The Syren deserved her win—she; is stated-to have gone round the course, with" a' crew of two. .Their-, work must havo been, hard to 'say; the..least of it. - The times of thd boats 'wore.' as followsWaitangi, 2hr. Bmin.';Syreri,. 2hr. 22min.' 15scc.'. A squally lior'wester.was blowing when the second class boats gathered on tho starting lino. The. Janet, scr., got ' the best of a; good start, the others' Wairoro, scr., Mahina, scr., Muritai, 7min., Nancy Stair, 12min., and Taipare, 15min., following. ■ Tho run to Halswell was dono without event, the boats kcoping well together,' but' 011 the .beat : to Korokoro tbo ,fleet spread: out fall over the harbour. , The Taipare appeared to go dead up to Korokoro with a westerly, whilst the othors.had to. stand out. towards .the'islands nono of them being able to lay as closo, as tho 'Taipare. Dx- Fell apparently noticed the change in'the wind and put about on tho starboard ;tack, tho result being that tho Mahina rounded the buoy first with Taipare second. Soon, after this a fresh southerly came up, and after tho first few puffs settled, uoivn to a solid full sail breeze. TJIO Janet, and Wairero made a big effort; to. get up amongst the leaders, but tho'Nancy Stair was seen makitig a -board on tho port tack; for some timo 'which may, account, for her not getting placed, hotter. The - Muritai should havo como along better in tho stiff wind, but sho had a lot to mako up'when the wind changed. ' Tho race homo saw;tho Mahina finish first with Wairero next, tjion tho Taipare, ; and' the Janet. With tho handicaps tho result was as follows:—Taipare, 2lir.- 27min. 4osep., 1; Mahina, 2hr. 22min. losec., 2; Wairere, 2hr. 26min. lasoc., 3Janet, 2hr. 28min.Nancy Stair; 2hr. 43min. 306« c.; Muritai,'2hr. 41min.