YACHT RACING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22603, 16 December 1936, Page 23

YACHT RACING

TAKTOI'S CLUB EVEHTS GOOD SAILING CONDITIONS INTEREST IN TRIAL CONTESTS \ BY SPINDBirr Weal weather conditions prevailed on Satarday afternoou for the various fixtures held by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and the Pouso'nby and Richmond Cruising Clubs. A steady breeze from the north enabled full sail to be carried throughout the afternoon and when extras were hoisted the crews had little or no difficulty in holding on to them. The squadron's race for keel yachts, lie first prize for which was £lO from the Butler Bequest, brought out 14 ttarters. The A class yacht Ariki made her first appearance in a new suit of tails and looked a real picture as she led the fleet round the course. _ She *as in charge of her youthful skipper, H. Goodfellow, and was well handled, ijteh on and off the wind. Ariki, which was allowing handicaps langing from 6m 30s to 42m, ma,de up time on all of the boats except hawenej which won the first prize by the narrow margin of 15 seconds. Ariki had a lead of 3ra 5s from Rawene at the Bastion on the first time "in" from Kitngitoto channel. The second time back from Saltworks she increased her kad to 6m 465. and on the last leg Of the course from the Bastion to Sing's Wharf she added another minute and fifteen seconds to her advantage. Rawene was ably sailed by Mr. A. Gifford, who is to be congratulated his success. , It is interesting to record that the three placed boats, Rawene, Ariki and Prize, carrv gaff mainsails. The Eng-lish-built yacht Altaiv, which 13 Ber{fludan rigged, secured fourth place, hut the other Bermudan-rigged vea•els did not show up very prominently. The two M class trial races he!d by {be squadron created a good d<sal ot interest. In the' first event Mann, Manene and Manaia made a close race s&til the Sandspit beacon was reached for the second time. At this stage Mann drew away from the other boats Jnd finally crossed tho finishing line lm 28s ahead of Manene. |&The second race was very keenly ["ught between Manu and Manene. «anu did better on tho wind, but on run home Manene gained, six on her rival, which won by W seconds. Manu has now won three faces, and is well in tho lead on points. The combined races held by the Poni*°nby and Richmond Cruising Clubs *6ro n great success. In the cruising for class H, the new boat Corona krried off the first prize in both clubs, labile in the race for class L. Komuri ipso accounted for two wins. In tho "Arbour races double wins were so~ bv Hawk (class V), Gannet la 8 S) "' J °y (class Y) and Zephyr •*«ass T). PI FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY % AKARANA ARRANGEMENTS fehe Akarana Yacht Club will hold a 'pies of harbour and cruising races & Saturday afternoon. The course for Sj® kee! yachts and mullet boats will $ from starting line in Judge's Bay, ®bce through Motuihi Passage to #umb Point, thence through Wniheke s&sage to Kawakawa —a distance of • miles. Class V will also race to

Kawakawa and competitors may sail their own course, all fairway marks being disregarded. In the event of heavy north-east weather, the letter "R" will be flown from the starter s boat. The rates will be held over the same courses, but the destination will be Rocky Bay, finishing between the western point of the bay and moored south. Harbour races will be held for 14ft. Amd 16ft. classes and naval whalers.

COMBINED RAOES WORK OF OFFICIALS Referring to "Boatowner's" views on the combined opening and closing races, a correspondent, W ell Handicapped," writes as follows: ■_ Your correspondent has raised a point to which various club officials have given considerable study in an endeavour to lighten the work necessary for the carrying out of such an event as opening day. I do not think that it is generally known how much work such an event throws on the unpaid club officials. In addition to handicapping, receiving entries, and other necessary details, there were over 400 results to work out at the conclusion of the day's racing and the whole time the officials were being interrupted with requests for results. May I, therefore, Suggest to your correspondent that if he has any actual suggestion to make he get in touch with some club. Any club will bring his sugcestion before tho Auckland Yacht and Motor-Boat Association for discussion if it is of any value. "The rest of your correspondents ideas are very wide of tho mark. Iho 'pothunters' could, I am sure, be counted on tho fingers of one hand. Personally, I have met none in 25 years' close association with yacht racing. The average small boat man", is a racing enthusiast and joins sufficient clubs to provide him with racing throughout the season. He then supports these clubs by entering for all their races whether separate or combined. VY ith the sound of the finishing gun all interest in the races dies. Many competitors never even inquire about the results. Next time your correspondent hears crews cheering one another let him give the matter a little thought and he will realise that they are not cheering the winner—they do not even know who ivon —they are cheering a boat that has given them a keen tussle round the course. That is the spirit of yacht racing. "As for the prizes tho clubs have the greatest difficulty in getting the winners to collect them on prize night. In most clubs not even the officials, much less the competitors, know what tho prizes will be, yet 20 to >SO boats start in the races. In one club last season over 50 trophies wore not collected and I was asked to see three prize-winners living near. Tho prizes were a coil of inch and a-half rope, a rug and a cup which cost 10 guineas. Each winner said the same thing, 'Keep thom for next year.' It is not a question of tho nature of the prizes either. A couple of seasons back two clubs held different events on the same day and one advertised big cash prizes. The other club said nothing at all, but got more than double the entries in every class. In some classes it got every boat. As for the club which does not hand over its 'pots' for tho winners to take home, but keeps them in a showcase in its clubrooms, not even your correspondent could suggest that' it suffers from lack of keen competition in its races. It would take more than your correspondent's letter to convince anyone closely connected with the sport that there is any 'pothunting' j spirit in our yacht races." I