YACHT RACING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19859, 1 February 1928, Page 16

YACHT RACING.

LAST SATURDAY'S CONTESTS. LIGHT WEATHER CONDITIONS. CLOSE FINISHES RECORDED. BY SPINDRIFT. Another race for the Macky Memorial Trophy has been decided and on this occasion Ariki will have the honour of having her name inscribed on this valuable cup. Held under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the race brought out six competitors. The weather was rather light for racing, but there was enough " life " in the breeze to enable the boats to keep going until shortly after five o'clock. By this time Ariki, which had opened up a nice lead from the rest of the fleet, had crossed the finishing line. The wind fell very light and the five other boats almost got becalmed in Judge's Bay. A little later the wind came out from the south and this enabled them to finish. All were very close together, and it was interesting to watch them slowly making their way up the harbour. Rawene, which had beaten lorangi in tho second round of the course, was passed by her larger rival just below the eastern tide deflector. There was very little between Prize and Nga-Toa until toward the finish, when Prize headed her rival. The former, however, did not have the satisfaction of beating Nga-Toa "in." Both lay up the harbour together and when within a few lengths of the finishing line, Prize drew clear of Nga-Toa and came up into tho wind, her skipper being under the impression that he had crossed the finishing line. However, he had still a length or two to go and before the yacht got going again Nga-Toa passed the line 10s ahead of Prize. Even if the breeze had held throughout the afternoon Ariki would have more than likely won, as she had her time in hand when she rounded the Bastion beacon on the run in from the channel for the last leg of the course. Both Rawene and Victory sailed well on the day but lorangi, Prize and Nga-Toa did not come up to expectations. A Youthful Skipper. In the race for the Johnson Cup, Kotiri had matters all her own way, leading from start to finish. Early in the race for class M, Maratea looked like an easy winner, but she did not do as well on tho wind as usual, and was beaten by both Manene and Maroro. The latest addition to tho class, Maia, did not start. To give one an idea how keen and close the racing is in this class it might be mentioned that only lm 31s separated the first from the fifth boat at the finish on Saturday. It is interesting to record that the ! youngest competitor in the recent Cornwell Cup contest was Master Graham Carter, of Tauranga. He has just turned 12 years of age and has a wonderful record. At the age of eight ho secured two wins in the race for third-class yachts at Tauranga. A year later he carried off two seven-footers championships. He also won the Laird Flag, having crossed the line first 18 times out of 25 starts. When 11 years of age he won the Maher Cup, securing three firsts out of five starts. In the Coniwell Cup contest he gained the following places:—Second, third, fourth, fifth twice, sixth twice and seventh. In the cup races his forward hand was his brother George, a lad of 15 years, and with the exception of two races in the contest the Carter Brothers were at a disadvantage, owing to being rather on the light side. Ttiey were certainly allowed to carry iron ballast to make up the weight required by the rules, but even this did not put them on the same footing as the other crews, which carried live ballast only. In the special race for Cornwell Cup crews, arranged by the Akarana Yacht Club, Carter added another second to his record. In this particular race, he actually finished third, but as Manukau has since been disqualified for carrying an Auckland skipper who was not a member of the Cornwell Cup crews, Whangarei has been placed first and Tauranga second. Mr. P. F. Carter, father of the boys, is a very keen yachtsman and is owner of the launch Helen C. He made the trip to Auckland and back to Tauranga in his launch, his two sons forming members of his crew. News and Notes. Next Saturday the Now Zealand Powerboat Association will hold a marathon race for outboard motor boats. The fixture will be the first of its kind held in the Dominion and is causing a great deal of interest. The boats will start off King's Wharf and will then round the Pandspit beacon. From there they will proceed up the harbour as far as the beacon off Birkdale and will then shape a course to the Whau River. The total distance is well over 20 miles. On the same afternoon the association will hold its annual picnic at Robertson's paddock, up the Whau River. Sports for children and dinghy races and other events will be held for adults. The Richmond Cruising Club will hold its annual regatta on Saturday. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron will hold its annual race for the ITorton bequest of £2O on Saturday. The race will take the form of a general handicap for first and second-class yachts. A race for class M will also be held for Mr. J. H. Frftter's prize of £5. The launch Ny-ia left on a fortnight's cruise in the Gulf on Saturday. Anniversary Regatta. The Auckland Anniversary Regatta, held on Monday, was marred somewhat by the absence ol' a good sailing breeze so far as yachts were concerned. The light woather conditions, however, suited the launches and outboard motor-boats, which raced under ideal conditions. When the first-class yachts were sent away at ten o'clock, there was a light western wind, which afterwards fell away to almost a calm, and all the boats, with the exception of Nga-Toa, Rawene and lorangi, lost all the wind at North Head on the first time out to the channel mark, and were never prominent. The three boats mentioned however, were more fortunate than the others, and although they experienced a calm patch at one stage, they opened up such a big lead from the rest that when the wind came out from the north, only Rawene, Nga-Toa and lorangi were left to decide the issue. Generally speaking it was any boat's day, and only those which were fortunate enough to pick up a breeze had a chance of securing a prize. In many cases the handicap boats beat the scratch boats "in." Since the results have been announced it has been reported to the officials that several of the placed boats did not complete the course, which will now aiter the placings. These boats, it might be pointed out, actually crossed the finishing line, and their times were recorded in good faith by the timekeepers. Had the boats observed the rules of racing by keeping outside the finishing line after they had withdrawn from the race, their times would not have been taken. Several boats raced with the wrong class letter and number on their sails, which led to confusion, both to the officials and the public. The writer would suggest that for future regattas no times of boats bo taken where the wrong class letter and number are carried.