YACHTING

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 165, 31 March 1923, Page 17

YACHTING

(By

“Nereus.”)

FROM A NOTE BOOK

The R.P.N.Y.C. are taking the opportunity of getting off their postponed races during tho Easter holidays. There ore two club handicaps for the 18ft. and under class sot down for to-day—one to take place thio morning and the other this afternoon. On Monday morning the contest for the Clark and Morris trophy—the event of the year for the small boats —is to bo held. This event was originally set down for March 17, but the weather on that date was too boisterous. On Monday afternoon a club handicap for the small craft is to be contested. On April 7 and 14 respectively the postponed first ana second-class handicap races are to take place. More than usual interest will attach to these two events, for upon them depend the winners of the championship and aggregate cups for each cltiss. 4 Tho Claire capsized near the Coromandel buoy last Saturday afternoon. After about half an hour in tho cold water the Mira came to the rescue and conveyed the crew safely back to the boat harbour. “Unless 'some new boats , of , the Rona type are speedily built, it is more than likely that owners will get tired of racing against her, and for this reason the sooner the whole matter of the official plan is published, the better for the future prospects of the class everywhere,” comments an Auckland writer in reference to the 14footers. , . _ “Mainsheet,” for the Evans Bay Club, sends the following notes:— The co-operative system of handicapping, which proved so successful in Otago, has been adopted by centroboarders in the Bay. Under this system the owner submits a handicap for tho fleet —the official hundioap being the average of all those submitted. ~ _ , Mr. Jackson’s auxiliary yacht Psyche has been on the club’s slip for cleaning purposes during the past week. After having a new propeller fitted sho was launched again, and is now at her moorings. The centre-boarder Thelma had the misfortune to capsize during a heavy squall on Saturday last. A smart rescue was made by the launch Nikau, who took the crew aboard and towed, the boat to safety. , x n By this time most of the yachts will be away on either the Easter ocean race or cruising in the various sounds, bays, etc., and tjje Bay during the holidays will be tfrotty bare of ke»l yachts. This will bo about the last important event, and no doubt some owners will be beginning to think about laying up for the winter. Mr. Bucholz,' owner of Wairero U, returned to Wellington from a trip o Europe recently. He will not put his boat into (commission this season, but hopes to be dying the colours next season. Tho first class race under the auspices of tho R.P.N.Y.0., fixed for January 20, and which was postponed on -account of a calm, will now be contested on April 7. The second class fixture, postponed for the same reason, will now bo bold on April 14. Three races for 14-footers have been postponed, but the dates on which they are to be sailed are still unfixed. In th© three regattas hold on Dunedin Harbour this season, the contest for 14-footers has been won by a diferent boat on each occasion. The three boats wei*o lona, Heather, and WimThe well-known Auckland 14-footer, Desert Gold, recently changed hands. Hor now owner is Mr. T. G. Porter, of Stanley Bay, Auckland. Reports from Australia indicate that the yacht Eun-a-mara is in a class by herself when the wind has not much weight and tho sea is calm. In a. race conducted by the St. Hilda- Yacht Club (Melbourne) recently, she covered the tcn-mile course in the very creditable time of 1J hours, winning the race.

W. AV. Harris has been talking in Australia, giving the benefit of his advice freely, as usual. To u “Globo representative he said: —“The trouble with the majority of the swimmers I have met in Australia is that they do not concentrate. They got into tha water, swim about, got out, and go home, and few of them appear to trouble themselves as to whether they aro swimming correctly or incorrectly. This might have been said in Wellington. It is probably of universal application. His most interesting remarks were on tho subject of studied training. “I would like to impress on swimmers the necessity of studying thoir pace, so that they can set themselves a schedule for each stage of a 100 yards race, and swim to that sohedule. This judgment of pace can only bo achieved by concentration while training, but the swimmer who masters it will find it of tremendous benefit to him, for in race it will enable him to know just how he is going. Here is a schedule 'I would set for a young swimmer attacking a 100 yards champion ship: 50 yards 27 sec.; 75 yards, 435e0.; 100 yards, 60sec. For the 100 yards in 58seo. my schedule would be 265e0., 41sec., 58sec.; for the 100 in 57, 26. 41. 57; and for the 100 in 56, 25, 40. 56. “Strive for consistency 1 That is my advice to every swimmer. One notices so many races lost because of the lack of tills quality. For. instance, a young man may set out in a race with a perfect stroke ■ for tho first 50 yards. After that he begins to loso his form and break up. and an opponent comes along swimming a rough stroke, but keeping it going more consistently, up to 75 yards, at any rate, and is able to win. Any man who can swim 50 yards in 27 or 28 seconds should ba able to break 60 for 100 yards if he will devote plenty, of time to cultivating consistency in that stroke regardless of what it may be.