YACHTING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23054, 3 December 1936, Page 4

YACHTING

By Rudder FIXTURES December 12.—Combined Vau»hall and North-East Harbour. December 26.—Macandrew Bay regatta. January I.—Burkes-St. Leonards reJanuary 2.—Mussel Bay Boating Club. January 9. Boating Club. January 16.—Otago Jacht Club. January 23.—Port Chalmers Boating Club. January 30. —Ravensboume Boating Club. January 31.—Macandrew Bay (Ladies’ Day). EILEEN’S SECOND VICTORY The third trial race for the Sanders Cup on Saturday proved to be the best of the series so far, and spectators were provided with an interesting contest, as the skippers of the three boats tried to get the most out of a variable and tricky south-west breeze. After winning the second race in a fresh north-easter, the type of breeze to which she is ideally suited, Eileen showed that she was just as capable of putting up a good performance in light weather. Cuthbert, her skipper, showed excellent judgment throughout most of the race, and this was mainly responsible for her victory over Lynette, although Pettit made one mistake at the beginning of the second round which lost him a certain amount of ground. The real test lay in being able to take advantage of the puffs of wind that came along during the calm spells, and in this respect Eileen appeared to be the luckiest. At the finish she crossed the line over five minutes ahead of Lynette, which was practically becalmed only about 75 yards away. . Generally speaking, Lynette proved herself to be a faster boat before the wind than Eileen, this being shown on each of the three runs from the Belcher mark to the Castle beacon. On the first occasion Eileen rounded the former buoy half a minute ahead of the new boat, but Lynette gradually overhauled her and went to the front about half way down to the beacon. In the second round Cuthbert’s boat had a lead of about 13 seconds, but she lost this off the sheds at Vauxhall, the two 14-footers then staging a great tussle all the way down to the leeward mark. They were together practically all the way, and it was not until just before the beacon was reached that Lynette forged to the front, and rounded about three seconds in front. At the commencement of the last run Eileen was Imin 45sec in front, and this lead proved too much of a handicap for Lynette, although Pettit made up about half a minute before reaching Castle beacon. With the exception of the beat from Castle beacon to the starting line in the first round, when Lynette weathered Eileen, and again a portion of the same stretch in the second round, the latter boat showed up to better advantage in weather work. She outsailed Lynette on every occasion between the Kitchener street pile and the Belcher mark. On the last occasion Pettit was ahead as they neared the former mark, but Cuthbert showed fine judgment in holding on on the port tack to round wide out, while Pettit, right on the pile, had to go about to weather the mark, and Eileen sailed past her. Up till this time the ultimate result was in doubt, but this proved to be the turning point in the race. Eileen ran away from Lynette on_ the beat to Belcher’s, and had gained nearly Imin 45sec when she rounded.

Walker, in Betty, had most of tho bad luck of the day. The old champion was slightly in the lead when the small fleet rounded the Kitchener street pile, but she then lost the wind completely, and her crew was forced to watch the other boats slipping away in a fair breeze only a few yards . ahead. From this stage Betty was out of the race. She made the next mark 2mm lOsec behind the others, and steadily lost ground all the way. At the Castle beacon the first time she was again practically becalmed, while Eileen and Lynette footed it up the harbour at a good pace. At the finish of the race Betty was still trying to make the Castle beacon in a dying breeze.

RAVENSBOURNE BOATING CLUB The Ravensbourne Boating Club commenced its official racing syllabus of the new season on Saturday afternoon under excellent conditions, and it was gratifying to the officers responsible for the carrying out of the function to see so many yachts in the two races provided on the day’s programme. There was a total of 22 yachts and launches—undoubtedly tha largest gathering so far this season.

At the conclusion of the opening speeches two races were held—one for craft over 20 feet and one for those under 20 feet. In the first race the starters were Miti, Shadow, Vera, Irex, Dawn being late owing to the light winds. Miti soon showed her fine sailing qualities under these conditions, and had opened up a good lead by the time she rounded the Three Legs mark. Vera and Shadow staged a close race, and were never far apart, but Irex did not find the light breeze to her liking, and dropped back. Miti made the bad mistake of rounding the Challis mark on the wrong hand, and automatically disqualified herself when she had outsailed the rest of the fleet. The winner of the race was Vera, with Shadow a close second. There was another good field in tha race for the smaller craft, which were sent away to an excellent start. Tho course was down to a flagged pile oft Maia and back to the club house, twice round. The starters were Winifred, Starlight, Yvonne, Huara, Pupuke, Pegety, Iris, and Kathleen, and they made a pleasing picture for the residents of Ravensbourne as they raced down to the leeward mark, where they were joined by Toroa, Sunbeam, and Oakie, all of which were late in arriving. On the beat back to the windward’ buoy Winifred and Starlight opened up a big lead from the other, nine competitors, but on the second round Pegety sailed exceptionally well, and closed up the gap considerably. On the corrected times Pegety proved to be an easy winner from Winifred. The thanks of the committee is due to Messrs G. E. Kellett and J. Potter for the use of their boats for pleasure trips, and to the members of tho Women’s Hockey Club who served the afternoon tea. The dance held in the evening was largely attended, and it is hoped to make this part of the programme an annual affair, as it allows the yachtsmen of other clubs to meet together. The club’s next fixture will be the race for the junior yachtsmen’s trophy early in the New Year.