YACHTING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23705, 12 January 1939, Page 2

YACHTING

By Rudder FIXTURES January 14. —Broad Bay Club's races. Cornwell Cup contest at Plimmerton. January 19.—Sanders Cup contest at Bluff. January 21.—Nees Memorial Cup January 28.—Port Chalmers Club races February 4.—St. Leonards Regatta February s.—Combined picnic. February 11.—Port Chalmers Club I*ctCGS February 18.—Ravensbourne Regatta. February 25.—Otago regatta, at Port Chalmers. THE CORNWELL CUP The Cornwell Cup, which carries the junior blue riband of yachting in the Dominion, will be competed for at Plimmerton in a series of races which will be commenced on Saturday. The number of crews taking part this season is only seven, as against 11 last year, and, although the increasing popularity of the Idlealong class seems to be responsible for the slackening of interest in the Takapunas. there should be some excellent racing This season's entries comprise crews from Plimmerton (last year's winners). Wellington, Paremata, Auckland Manukau. Tauranga and Otago. This province, therefore, for the first time for many vears. will be the only renresentative from the South Island. The Otago boys. T. S. Camp and W A. Carrington. proved their superiority in the recent trials, and if keenness and assiduous nractice mean anything they should give a good account of themselves in the coming contest. They will carry with them in the races the best wishes of Otago yachtsmen The support that has already been accorded them has. so far as Port Chalmers is concerned, been much more than moral. Messrs H. Camp and J Carrington, the fathers of the two boys made a canvass of some of the residents of the district, and as a result made a donation to the association of £2O lis to go towards the cost of sending the boat and crew to Plimmerton Mr J. Potter also lent considerable assistance in crating Runa for shipment to the North Island. The Cornwell Cup was presented in 1924 to the Takapuna Boating Club by Messrs Walker and Hall. It is a large trophy of sterling silver and was named after John Travers Cornwell, a boy of 16i years, of H.M.S. Chester, who remained at his post in the Battle of Jutland when the rest of the gun crew had been killed, keeping the gun in action single-handed although under heavy fire from the enemy warship. He died later from wounds and was awarded a posthumous V.C. for his bravery, which was mentioned in despatches by both Admiral Jellicoe and Admiral Beatty. The object of the donors was to foster the sport of yachting amongst the youth of New Zealand in the club's 12ft 6in one-design boats. The suitability of the class for youths was soon established throughout the Dominion, and it became popular at each centre where it was introduced. With only one sail to handle, except off the wind, the work is simplified, and many youths who received their trailing in this class of boats have graduated into Sanders Cup boats with marked success.

The class had its origin about 1920 when Messrs Abercrombie and Brown, of Auckland, discussed a class for boys. Mr Brown designed and built three boats, all different, and after trying them out the present type was decided vi»on. Next year seven craft were built

from the same moulds, and the class grew from then on. OLIPHANT CUP RACE The Oliphant Cup Race for 14footers, sailed on Saturday under the auspices of the Vauxhall Club, was won by Avenger, with a handicap of 3Jmin from Lynette (scr). and Evelyn. An All-Comers' Race, sailed in conjunction with the Oliphant Cup contest, was also won by Avenger, with Dawn second and Lynette third. An excellent field of 15 boats faced the starter, and when the gun went the breeze was fresh from the northeast. Dawn went into the lead at the start and was never headed, finishing about 14min ahead of the rest of the fleet. The cup race between the 14-footers, however, was more exciting. Avenger immediately tucked Lynette under her lee and held the lead for the first round of the triangular course. When the leading boats were off the Castle Beacon the wind swung to the south-east and lightened, bringinig heavy rain. The change of direction favoured the leading boats which had part of the third leg to Vauxhall on. the run, while the remainder had to beat all the way On the run to the Kitchener street pile. Lynette overhauled Avenger, and had a comfortable lead at the Castle Beacon the second time, but Lynette then struck spinnaker trouble, the balloon when being hauled in going under the boat. This accident enabled Avenger to overtake the leading boat, and in the beat to the finishing line Pettit had no hope of catching Avenger, which was being sailed particularly well. Evelyn was a long way back in third place. On corrected times. Avenger, with a handicap of 14min, beat Dawn in the all-comers' race by a few seconds. Broad Bay Club The Broad Bay Boating Club will hold a series of races on Saturday next, commencing at 2.30 p.m. The most important of the four events on the programme will be the all comers' yacht race for the Broad Bry Challenge Cup and trophies, while there will also be events for sailing dinghies. 13ft and under, and 13ft and under 18ft A launch race, starting at 4 p.m. will be for the Clearwater Cup. The two cup races will be three times round the club course, and the others twice round. Post entries will be received, and vachts will be selfhandicapped. BURKES-ST. LEONARDS REGATTA The first regatta of the season combining both yacht and rowing races will be the Burkes-St. Leonards fixture on February 4. An attractive programme has been arranged, and it includes, besides six events for rowers four yacht races, one launch race and contests for model yachts, The yachting events are as follows: Z class dinghies (start 2.30 p.m.); vachts 15ft and under, excluding X and Z class (2.40 p.m.); all-comers' yachts (2.55) and X class yachts (3.20). The all-comers launch race is timed to start at 3.30. Entries close on January 23. TORY CHANNEL RACE With dawn just breaking, seven boats drifted across the starting line for the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club's annual ocean race to Tory Channel last week. Starting in a flat calm, the boats met with varying winds and success. At one time or another nearly every boat held the lead, Argo being the first to step out in front by picking up a slant in Oriental Bay and getting out of sight down the harbour before

the next moved clear of Clyde Quay wharf. „ , , .. In spite of her clean break at the start, however, Argo was caught in a shift of wind and was last to clear the Heads. Going across the Strait (says the Evening Post) the lead changed several times, and Isca led at Tory Channel, but mistook the finishing line and anchored in the wrong bay By the time her crew realised the mistake Atalanta had crossed the line to first place. Isca had more bad luck in breakine her mast in Ship Cove in a particularly vicious squall. With the mast " fished' as a temporary repair, she made the return trip to Wellington in the Tuesday's gale, which seems to Indicate a good job of repair work. All the boats that returned on the Tuesday took a dusting in the Strait and beating up the entrance in the nor'-west gale. Kotiri. making her first trip under her new rig. blew out her working jib and sheltered in Island Bay, but otherwise her tall Bcrmudian rig stood up to a stiff test in good shane. NOTES Marjorie. Auckland's challenger for the Sanders Cup, has already been shipped to Bluff in preparation for the contest which starts on Thursday next. Lynette will be sent south to-morrow, and the crew, with the exception of E. Burt, will travel to Invercargill on Saturday. Mr G. F. Bewley. who was appointed as one of the delegates to the Sanders Cup contest conference at Bluff is unable to travel south, and his place will be taken by Mr E. A. Davis, an exmember of the association, who has always taken a great interest in yacht-