YACHTING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1617, 7 December 1912, Page 12

YACHTING.

[Bt Mainsheet.]

BLUE ENSIGN & TE RUHU CLUB. A Mattßr for Mr. Bates. Matters relating to local .yachting are quiet just now, and the,reason for this is, no doubt, the unseasonable weather. Such weather has always had and always will have the effect of making one and all. feel quite miser-able. ' The month of December has -arrived, and yet there are yachtsmen and others suffering from colds and other winter ailments to which poor humans have nonbusiness to be heirs to at this time of the year. No wonder some of our local yachtsmen aTe getting'tired of the sport. They have had, so" f&r this season, very few days on which they could enjoy a good summer sail. The weather at the time of writing shows 6igns of improvement, and it is to be hoped that we will 6ee a little summer before long. Mr. Bates please note.

Races for To-day. The Port Nicholson Taclit- Olub will deoido races for first, second, and Patiki classes this afternoon.' When the first race was held a fortniglit.-ago, ,tke startei;unknowingly made an error, by starting the first-class yachts off the mark at 3 p.m. instead of at 3.15 p.m. This error naturally caused some of the yachts to start late, tut good finishes were recorded. It is -understood that some of the competitors in this raoe have entered a protest against tlie starting. On, the other hand,- however, it is only fair to mention that the starter had not been officially notified on Thursday that a protest had been received, and that it would be necessary to resail the race. If. the race is to-be resailed it will in. all probability take place this afternoon.

The P.N.Y.C. and the Ensign. The new Yacht Club which has been formed recently may be benefitting some of the yacht-owners, but it is certainly not doing the Port Nicholson Yacht Club any good. The club which. I refer to is the' Te Ruru Social Cruising Club—l thinlc that is what they call it. It is an attractive name, and has for taking a. good few yachtsmen and yachts from the ranks of the P.N.Y.C. Well, after all, the Port Nicholson Yacht Club is the club that should be supported. Although a good deal has been said in this column regarding the management- of the club, the writer is of opinion that' it is making an honest endeavour to "set its house in order."

Then, too, it is the mother yacht club. It was founded as far back as 1863, and was frantecl a Royal Charter. According to a little booklet issued by the club, the olub has now a fleet of some 24 yachts. It is the only club in Wellington which is allowed to fly the blue, ensign, and yachtsmen should take this point into consideration, as it is a somewhat important one. If the total tonnage of the fleet gets below 100 tons, the club at once loses its right to fly th£ blue ensign. To Ruru Club seems to have been formed by a few dissatisfied ex-members .of . the senior - club. Undoubtedly ther6 was a time when members had a reason to become -dissatisfied, but those times hardly exist now. As far as losing the right to fly the blue ensign in concerned, it will bo the real enthusiast that' will suffer. Yachtsmen realise that it is an honour to fly the ensign, and if that honour were lost, many of the old-time yachtsmen would feel sore —very sore indeed.