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Otago Daily Times, Issue 22810, 20 February 1936, Page 4

YACHTING 0

By RuDDEE. FIXTURES February 22. —North-East Harbour Club: All-comers’ yacht and launch races; Strang and Elliot Cups; Burkes-St. Leonards regatta. February 23.-—Otago Yacht Club; Cruising races. March 7.—Ravensbourne Regatta. March 14. —Ravensbourne Club: Ross Cup (local boats only). March 21. —Vauxhall Club: Wakefield Cup, Jell Memorial Shield, Vauxhall Cup (members only). April 4. —Ravensbourne Club: Cuthbert Cup (open to all clubs). April 11. —Broad Bay Club.—Yacht ancl motor boat races (open to all clubs). April 18. —-North-East Harbour Club: All-comers’ jacht and motor boat races.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT “R. S. R.,” Waikaia. —Your information regarding the yachts built at Port Chalmers is correct. They were built to the order of Christchurh yachtsmen, and were of the same design as the Te Rapunga, which is very similar to the Teddy, although there are slight differences in construction. The Te Rapunga, however, is a ketch-rigged vessel, while the Teddy is cutter-rigged. The details you require regarding the dimensions, sail area, and rigging of the latter yacht will be forwarded in due course.

BURKES-ST. LEONARDS REGATTA The Burkes-St. Leonards Regatta Committee has completed its arrangements for the regatta to be held on Saturday. Record entries have been received, consisting’of 26 yachts and 22 motor boats in five sailing events, and 34 rowing entries for eight races. Arrangements are in the hands of capable officials and committee, and provided the weather is good intending visitors should have a pleasant afternoon’s sport. Music will be provided by the West Harbour Brass Band, and in the evening a concert will be held, when the presentation of prizes will take place. A dance will follow at the conclusion of the concert. OTAGO YACHT CLUB All is in readiness for the cruising races to be conducted by the Otago Yacht and Motor Boat Club next Sunday. Record entries have been received from all the sister clubs, and, given a fine day, the sailing race especially should provide an excellent contest for this end of the harbour. The boats will all leave the startling line together, under sealed handicaps at 11 a.m. The course is ns follows: —Starting from a line between the mouth of boat harbour and Black pile on the half-tide wall; thence round threelegs on the port hand, passing to port, of the pile off Challis’s and the pile at Mncandrew’s. and finishing across a line between Company Bay wharf and a flagged dinghy off the wharf. Any boat passing the beacons or piles on the wrong hand will be disqualified. The club is still making new members, the latest addition to the register being Mr D. Bowman’s launch Aehernon, from Waipori. This craft was formerly the Ada. BOWIE CUP RACE The starters id the Bowie Cup Race, held over the Ravensbourne Boating Club’s Challis’s course on Saturday- afternoon, were required to produce their best seammanship in the stiff north-east breeze that prevailed. The start of the race was a poor one and few of the nine yachts got away well, but on the long beat down to the weather mark Kia Ora. Shadow, and Dawn showed their fine sailing qualities. Dawn rounded the buoy first, followed by Tucana and Shadow, and this order was maintained to the finish. Shadow, however, won on her handicap, with Dawn and Kia Ora second and third respectively. The other race, held over the club s channel course, was a chapter of accidents. Nera carried away her headsail at the start of the race, and Toroa carried away a side stay after working out a long lead from Winifred, which w,as finding the going too heavy for her exceptionally fight crew. Winifred retired halfway through the second round to leave Iris, which had started some 10 minutes late, to finish the race on her own. This was not the easiest of matters, as the wind had increased considerably and her skipper was having a buav time keeping her from broaching on the final run down from Mala. This eventually happened and Iris hit the retaining wall. Her crew promptly took advantage of this stop to take a further reef in and to sail on and finish the course. VAUXHALL CLUB At a committee meeting of the Vauxhall Club it was decided that a smoke concert should be held in the clubhouse, Vauxhall, on Saturday evening, February 29. A cordial invitation is given to all yacht and motor boat men in Otago Harbour. A sub-committee has been formed to arrange a programnie for the evening. The club race, which was to have been sailed at Vauxhall ou Saturday last, has been postponed until Sunday afternoon, March 1. The secretary will receive entries for this event until February 26. It was also decided to hold an Old Timers’ Race in the near future, the exact date of which has not yet been fixed. IDLE ALONG CHAMPIONSHIP Idle Along enthusiasts all over New Zealand have every reason to feel satisfied with the success of the first Dominion championship contest for this popular class of yacht, and there is little doubt (says “ Mainsail ” in the Evening Post) that the importance of the contest in future years will match the enthusiasm that wa s shown by all concerned this ye 'l’he four competing crews, South Auckland, Nelson, Marlborough and Wellington, all showed a thorough knowledge of seamanship, and an enthusiasm that augured well for the success of the Idle Alongs, of which more than 150 have been built in New Zealand since the original craft made ite appearance on Port Nicholson, and it s designer, Mr Alt Harvey, was able to convince the sceptics that it really was a boat that was simple, cheap, fast in all weathers, and able to be righted and sailed with all sails set and the cockpit full of water. Though naturally disappointed at the non-success of Wellington, the home port of the Idle Alongs, local yachtsmen recognise that no better thing than a nonWellington victory could have happened. The I class is so strongly in favour here that it cannot be shaken, but in other ports of New Zealand the Tauranga success will be a definite encouragement to its adherents, allowing conclusively that Wellington, despite its greater familiarity with the boat, is not impregnable, even in its own harbour. Graham Carter, Percy Carter (his father) and R. Tonkin, the South Auckland crew which won the trophy in Mr Harvey’s Idle Along, fully deserved their victory. Any crew that could defeat “ Chum ” Beck and his men in Evans Bay must be a good one. Ag a result of it they went back to their Tauranga Club full of enthusiasm and determined to have four Idle Alongs built there for next season. At present the type is not on their club register, a fact which makes their win the more meritorious. The advice of Mr Harvey and several practice runs in the Idle Along, sharpened up their innate capabilities enough for them to There are five Idle Alongs in Nelson, and the representative crew said that there would be 15 there next season. Marlborough. like Tauranga, have no boats of the I class, but hope to have one soon. Incidentally, Marlborough's men had never set a spinnaker until they came up for the contest, a fact which added to the merit of the performance they put up. Nelson were rather more experienced, and did correspondingly better. Of the performance of the Mayfair’s crew little need be said. Beck did his best, and it was an exceedingly good best, obviously superior in the first two races to the visitors’ performances. He went down in the last three races to a better crew. A pleasing feature of the contest was the friendliness of all interested, which means of the whole “Idle Along” family. The visitors were royally entertained and looked after by the Heretaunga, Royal Port Nicholson, and Evans Bay Clubs, and had time permitted no doubt still more ample entertainment would have been provided. INVERCARGILL REGATTA The annual regatta of the Invercargill Boating Club, to bp hold on the estuary next Saturday, should be an outstanding

success. The comprehensive programme (says the Southland Times) will include two handicap yacht races, an auxiliary launch race, two Sea Scout rowing races, a senior four, a youths’ four, a youths’ double sculls and an eight-oar race. There will also be dinghy races and two handi-cap-swimming races. Three yachts from Riverton, three from E’ortrose, and one from Bluff are expected to be present. These, together with the local craft, should provide a big fleet for the yacht races, and some deep thinking for the handicappers. The first yacht race will start at 1.30 p.m. The courses have not yet been fixed, and will depend largely on the state of the tide and the weather. A. Wilson, who in the past has produced some excellent finishes, has again consented to act as handicapper for the auxiliary race. This contest, which is to he run to the Clifton stick and back, should be one of the most spectacular races of the day. It is expected that 12 boats will enter.