TASMAN YACHT RACE

Northern Advocate, 28 December 1934, Page 5

TASMAN YACHT RACE

TE RAPUNGA FINISHES. NINETEEN DAYS’ TRIP. NGATAKI IN STRAIT. The first vessel to reach Melbourne in the trans-Tasman yacht race was the German yawl, Te Rapunga, which crossed the finishing line off Williamstown, Port Melbourne, at 5 p.m. yesterday (N.Z. time), 19 days 2 hours after leaving Auckland. According to a Press Association message from Melbourne the other competitor in the 1630 miles’ ocean race, the Auckland sloop Ngataki, was . nearing Port Philip Heads when the Te Rapunga was passing through the heads. However, a later message received shortly after 10 p.m., stated that the Ngataki had not yet been sighted at the heads. When the Te Rapunga arrived she sailed up on the wrong side of the Gellibrand lightship, the finishing point. When his mistake was pointed out to him, Captain George Dibbern put his craft about and came up on the right side. “It is better to be sure than sorry,” he said. The incident cost about 16 minutes. ■ ; Captain Dibbern’s first inquiry was for Ngataki, to whom the Te Rapunga has made an allowance of. 17 hours. He said the voyage was uneventful, blit the crew was glad it was over. Since the storm encountered at the beginning of the race, the weather had been good for. sailing. • The winner is not announced, yet, owing to Ngataki’s handicap of 17 hours. It is not known what distance separated the competitors .when the first yacht arrived, but when the Te Rapunga was off Wilson’s Promontory, the first southern portion of Australia, in Bass Strait, 150 miles from the finishing line, the Ngataki was at the entrance to the Strait, about 90 miles further from the goal. r- ;

It is expected that whichever vessel wins the result will be very , close. ■