OMANA DELAYED IN TASMAN

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 105, 28 January 1938, Page 12

OMANA DELAYED IN TASMAN

Exceptional Conditions By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, January 27. Delayed two days in her voyage from Melbourne by gales in the Tasman Sea, the Union Company’s steamer Omanaberthed at Auckland this morning. Exceptionally rough conditions from the south ruled on Friday and continued during the week-end, reported her master, Captain Collins. He stated that had the Auckland yacht Aurora Star, tlie remaining competitor in tlie race to Hobart, reached the central Tasman in that period, she would have had a difficult experience. Numbers of ships were at sea during the gale and all a_dvised that they were meeting adverse weather. The gale was a few points abaft the beam of the Omana, which made matters easier for the steamer, but her dqcks were frequently awash. As Aurora Star was at Cape Maria Van Diemen on Friday, Captain Collihs considered she may have missed some of the more severe weather ruling in tlie central Tasman. No sign was seen of the yacht, which has not now been spoken for a week. Picked up by the Omana on Tuesday night, the Sydney radio report gave an adverse weather forecast from the Government Meteorologist, who advised yachts in the Auckland-Hobart race to return to New Zealand.