YACHTING NEWS

Evening Star, Issue 22896, 2 March 1938, Page 5

YACHTING NEWS

[By Spinnaker.] FIXTURES. March s.—North-east Harbour Club, Hook Cup; Ravensbourne Club, Boss Cup. March 12. —North-east Harbour Club, Oliphant Cup. , „ , „ March 13.—Yauxhall 4 Club, allcomers’ race. March 19.—Otago Tacht Club’s races. March 26.—Vauxhall Club races. April 2.— Vauxhall Power Boat ' and Sailing Club races (Vauxhall Cup, Sell Memorial Shield, Wakefield Cup). April 3.—Vauxhall Club, old-timers’ ra lpril 9.—Ravensbourne Boating Club (Cuthbert Cup). April 16.—Broad Bay Sailing Club races. _ , . April 28—North-east Harbour Boating Club (club races and veterans’ race). WHAKATERE ONE-DESIGNERS EASILY AND CHEAPLY BUILT In 1932, Mr Jack Brooke, of the Whakatere Canoe Club, designed a 14ft sailing boat for the use of the club members, who had outgrown the canvas canoe stage and required something more seaworthy. Mr Brooke set out to make a boat light, enough to be carried, of an easy type for an amateur to build, that would row, sail, or could be used with an outboard motor, and would not cost over £lO complete. As the plan shows, the sail is all inboard, the boom not extending beyond the truck. The Bermudian rig has been adopted with a jib of useful size. A wooden rudder with the blade pivoted to knock up when the craft is beached, and a wooden centre-board, are fitted. From the mast for’ard is a water-tight compartment, while 3ft at the after end is also made water-tight. This enables the boat to support easily four or more persons in the event of a capsize.

The total cost of the hull and spars, omitting labour, but including everything else, is only about £5; the sails would cost about £3 more, so that for about £8 a youth can own a 14-footer that will give him good racing, and will be handy to sail in and out of nearby resorts for a day’s outing or for a longer holiday cruise. The good points of this class of boat can be summed up thus: (1) Total cost of material and sails, £8; (2) weight of boat will not exceed 1501 b; (3) nonsinkable with two water-tight compartments; (4) boats can be built, rigged, and sailed by young amateurs. The boats were very popular in the Whakatere club, and about 60 were built in a very short space of time. Stresss was laid on the fact that they were boys’ boats, and were superior to the Takapuna class as the training ground for future yachtsmen. A yachtsman of much experience in all types of craft was full of praiso for the cheap boats of Mr Brooke’s design. The V-section type was well advised, he said. This type had not been fully exploited; its very simplicity seemed to have led to being disregarded by the

authorities. As a class, it would not be equal to a round bilge boat of equal dimensions in speed, but the ease in construction, and cheapness of V-type boats was an advantage not to be overlooked. There was some difficulty, he said, in keeping a round bilge boat to her dimensions. It was a task quite beyond the reach of an ordinary amateur, whereas with reasonable guidance and care the building of a V-type boat should present little difficulty. The Whakatere class was particularly easy to build, with no difficult turns of planking, scribing had been cut to a minimum, and keel rebates and stem and iron pieces had been eliminated. The method of ending the bow on a small transverse transom also simplified building. This would be a very material factor in keeping the lines true, boat-building skill consisting in the correct turning of the plank to meet the stem. This also permitted of the bow lines being drawn out easily, and gave more sailing length than was possible with a turn in to a sharp stem. The task requiring the most care would be the

fitting of the two bilge chines. This would have to be don© carefully, so that the angles could be finished off to an exact parallel to the side planks 'and the bottom. The craft carries 90ft of sail, includa headsail. The practice of teaching young lads to sail without a jib is a bad practice. Area for area, the jib is the most effective sail, but none needs more attention and skill. The proportion of 30ft to 60ft _is rather unusual for mainsail and jib respectively, but this permits the mast to be kept well amidship, a big advantage when a hand has to go forward to set spinnakers, etc. STAN. CORDING GUP TO RUNA W. J. WATSON HEADS OLD-TIMERS An interesting series of races was held by the Mussel Bay Aquatic Club over the week-end, when ideal racing conditions prevailed, and the sport was

witnessed by a fine crowd of supporters and spectators. The first race was for the Stan. Cording Cup, presented to the club by that fine Lyttelton sportsman whose name the cup bears. It is open to junior yachtsmen of Otago Harbour. This event drew a field of 10 starters, and from gunfire the racing was keen and exciting. Sailing over the club’s triangular course, twice round, in a light northerly wind, the yachts presented a fine sight as they raced, with spinnaker set, to the lee mark. Euna (T. S. Camp) was first away, followed by Toroa (J. Knewstubb), Popeye (W. Gibbs), Val (A. Innis), Kia Ora (M. Innis), Grace (L. E, Ward), Joan (J. Potter), Aotea (A. Buchan), Perak (G. Knewstubb), and Helen (J. Morgan), on the broad lead to the Sawyers Bay mark. Kia Ora soon worked into the lead, closely followed by Euna, with Val, Popeye, and Toroa in a bunch. On the beat to the weather mark Kia Ora maintained her early advantage, and rounded 2Jmin ahead of Euna, Popeye, Val, and Toroa almost rounding together Simin later, and at intervals came the rest of tho fleet.

The order was unchanged in the second round, with the exception of Val, who had worked into third position. On corrected handicaps the placings were:—Euna (lOJmin) 1, Val (13min) 2, Toroa (llmin) 3. The second race "was the champion dinghy race. It resulted in a win for W. Camp, who managed to retain his title, defeating J. Potter by a very narrow margin. This event created quite a lot of interest, • and is a very popular race with the boys. The third and final event was tho race for ex-yachtsmen, and drew a field of five starters. W. J. Watson, in Popeye (Imin handicap) was first, Val (A. Carrington, l|min) second, with Euna (P. Hunter, scr) third. Also started were Toroa (J. Carrington) and Grace (H. Camp). Popeye and Euna fought neck and neck throughout the race, and at tho closing stages Val put in a claim, almost catching the, leaders on the run to ' the finishing line. Unfortunately veteran Alf. Wiseman, who, in company with his wife, has left on a trip to Australia, was unable to be present. However, all yachtsmen will join in wishing Mr and Mrs Wiseman bon voyage and a very pleasant holiday in Australia. HANDICAPS It has been argued in this column before that it would be better for all concerned if regatta authorities would run their races under the Mark Foy system of handicapping, and after tho Eavensbourne regatta on Saturday it is again urged that this method should be adopted. There were the makings of an interesting afternoon for the public on that occasion, with the warm weather and light breeze, but the system of sealed handicaps which was adopted left many in the dark as to the actual winners of the races. The general handicap for motor boats was an outstanding example. Nearly a dozen launches wore sent

away to a good start, and made a fine sight as they went down the harbour. Later, Sadie K. slipped over the finishing line and was given the gun. This fast little craft had outstripped the field and was on her moorings before the other competitors had put in an appearance. It was, then found that the first boat home was not placed after deducting her time allowance. It would have been a far better finish had the boats started under the Mark Foy system and the whole field been seen racing for the finishing line. It was thofjsame in the race _ for allcomers’ yachts, Dawn finishing well ahead of the other two starters. It must • be remembered that yachting is one of the few sports at which it is not possible to have a “ gate ” for the purposes of augmenting funds. If tho public cannot see a good race with reasonably close finishes it will not take an interest in the sport. The system of sealed handicaps quite possibly worked out satisfactorily in the days when there were several welldefined classes of boats, but on Saturday, in the yacht race, though Miti and Dawn were of the same class, the other entrant, Kia Ora, was a skimmer and no match for the other two, while all the launches were lumped into ,the one event. On these grounds, therefore, it is reasonable to urge the universal adoption of the Mark Foy system or some other system which would provide a better spectacle for the onlooker.