SANDERS CUP

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 23 January 1939, Page 5

SANDERS CUP

THREE BOATS WITH ONE WIN WELLINGTON SECOND TWICE lUnited Press Association 1 INVERCARGILL, 22nd January. The second and third races of the 1939 Sanders Cup contest, sailed at Bluff yesterday, resulted in wins for Canterbury and Auckland, Wellington, who won the first race, being second each time. With three boats each with a win, the contest is now at a particularly interesting stage, as the cup goes to the first boat to secure three wins. The weather yesterday w'as line in the morning, but there were some heavy squalls in the afternoon, and the strong wind and heavy sea fully tested the seamanship of the crews. Sailing times for the second race, over a triangular course, were:— Huia (Canterbzurv) 1.47.27 1 Vanguard (Wellington) 1.41.35 2 Lynette (Otago) 1.41.37 3 Vorena 'Southland) 1.42.43 4 Marjorie (Auckland) and Lavina (Stewart Island) withdrew early in the race. Sailing times for the third race, over a windward and leeward course, were: Marjorie (Auckland) 1.24.38 1 Vanguard (Wellington) 1.26.12 2 Lynette (Otago) 1.26 33 3 Vorena (Southland) 1.32.50 4 Lavina (Stewart Island) withdrew early and Huia (Canterbury) did not

start because she was unable to reef her sail. The fourth face will be sailed at 10 o’clock morning. FINE FINISH IN MORNING The race in the morning provided one of the best finishes ever seen in a Sanders Cup contest, and Huia’s win was extremely well received by a big crowd. Lynette was the early leader, but Vanguard took command on the beat to Windward in the first round, and for 2 a long time it seemed that Wellington l was going to win its second race. For- j 5 tunes varied in the concluding stages, * first Huia and then Lynette moving | into second place. I The final beat to weather produced j [• the best sailing. Huia was keeping on j , the starboard tack and she triumphed j 1 in a duel, forcing Vanguard round. Huia | had a lead of eight seconds on the Wei- j lington boat at the turn, with Lynette j j 50 seconds behind. On the final run to ! j the finishing line, however, Lynette, l , showing a great turn of speed, came up j with the other two. Huia held a slight lead and made the most of it to cross the line eight seconds ahead of Van- [ guard, which just beat Lynette. > Auckland’s win in the third race was j convincing Marjorie led from the start j and at no stage was she in danger of j being displaced. The fact that her crew , is the heaviest in the contest proved a great asset, and in the heavy going she r was always safe The weather was fine . for most of the race, though a heavy sea [ and a strong westerly wind made con--2 ditions difficult. In the last round there 3 was a heavy squall. I Apparently finding conditions to her v liking for the first time in the conest Marjorie gave a sound exhibition of

sailing. Having established a good lead her skipper took no risks, paying more attention to avoiding capsizes than to increasing his lead. She won by more than a minute. In gaining second place Vanguard put up a line performance, holding her position behind the Auckland boat throughout the race. She. too, had the benefit of a heavy crew, Lynette was recalled for breaking at the start, and had to get under way again with a substantial handicap. In spite of this she went into third place I comparatively early in the race and j held this position to the finish. Her spinnaker work was again outstanding.