YACHTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14629, 15 March 1911, Page 9

YACHTING.

VICE-REGAL WELCOME. " Longshoreman Billy" lias made the following suggestions in regard to ;i yachting welcome to Lord Islington. He writes:"lf you think the following suggestions worth consideration, you might make this proposal public, I understand that His Excellency the Governor 43 coming to.

Auckland shortly and that the Viking is being put in commission in order that ho may enjoy some yachting on the beautiful waters of the , Waitemata. I: think something might be done by yachting men to welcome him and at the name - time (rive him some idea of our fleet. I would suggest that he might be asked to l«> present to " i view the running of two general handicaps (No. I i"a* for keel yachts and No. 2 for centre-board yachts) ' ; ."«'* to be held some Saturday afternoon -after his ar- '' rival. We ought to get 50 or 40 entrant* for each race, and given a tine afternoon, it would make a fine sight. I would further .suggest that the Yacht Association be asked to manage the races, and that they get some disinterested gentleman or gentlemen to undertake the- handicapping— ,' -t Mr. Kilfoyle, for instance—a sweepstake of, say, > ', Is from every member of competing crews, and ■ ~. the profit from one or more steamers to follow the. races would provide ample funds to conduct the races, provide prizes, and a steamer for the use. of His Excellency and . party. His Excellency might be persuaded to give the Viking a run." ,'., V;j THEFTS FROM PLEASURE CRAFT. ? The sneak thief is still very much in evidence along the foreshore, and the need of police pro- ! _' tection for floating property and for property ad- .f J! joining the waterside is shown more clearly "every "-;-] day. Last week the launch ZeaUindia returned . '.1 : late from her week-end cruise and was placed securely on the mooring. The next evening one at '~; the crew went down' to dry the sails and found that she hart been entered and completely cleaned) out, rugs, pillows, and other goods being taken, >'|S.| and, as the yachtsman described it, " They didi £*i not even leave a marlinspike." This is not an '.'<£ "fi isolated case. A young man at Devonport who owns an open boat left the sail aboard one evening, and on going down next day found tliat. it „ was stolen. The Auckland Yachting Association is now offering £5 reward through their secretary i:;; (Mr. E. J. Fenni for the conviction of any person |<ja or persons for this class of offence, but it seems '.;U:i| that the yachtsmen themselves will have to catch the offenders and hand them over to tho authorities. -