YACHTING

Southland Times, Issue 21662, 26 March 1932, Page 19

YACHTING

(By

“Spinnaker.”)

With the passing of daylight saving the yachting season here practically comes to a close. No more evening races will be held and the Saturday afternoon races for points for the various cups in the possession of the Invercargill Boating finish on April 9. ' While it appears fairly obvious that certain boats are almost sure to win certain cups, there is still some doubt as to who will get other of the cups. For the A. E.

Arthur Cup, there is only one point separ-

ating first and second boats and for the Munro Cup four points separate first and second. There should also be some close finishes for runner-up for all trophies. A pleasing feature of the racing of late has been the fact that so many yachts have been starting in each race even though some of them have very little chance of gaining a place in their class for the year. This speaks well for the sportsmanship of skippers and crews and augurs well for the future of the sport. It is to be hoped they keep up this spirit and all turn out right to the finish. A feature of the racing of last week was the almost total absence of wind. The race last Monday week had to be postponed till the Tuesday because of lack of wind and even on the Tuesday evening, conditions were very little better. Again on Saturday afternoon the wind was very scarce, the first boat home taking just five minutes under the three hours to do the course. In spite of the lack of wind, the racing on this occasion was for most of the course, very close, largely due to the fluky nature of the wind and the strong tide.' At the end of the first beat down the channel, •all the boats were level owing to the tide preventing the first boats there from making any progress back upstream again. Of the eight starters, Gratitude was tbe only one to withdraw, having failed to give way to Huia while on the wrong tack. Vai was the first boat home with Ariel second, Rosita third, Huia fourth, Spindrift fifth, Ulva sixth and Rata seventh.

Ariel has been sailed during the last two races by Ted Jackson, a young High School boy, who is showing promise as a skipper, having gained a place on both occasions, being third in the first race and second in the last race. With such young skippers getting their hands in now, there should be no dearth of good material to fill the boats in the coming years. Next season promises to be an even more successful one than the present as not only are a number of young fellows talking of taking on this sport next summer, but new yachts are being built at present and several enthusiasts are talking of building during the winter months. Kew is the headquarters of building operations. The boys down that way always have been keen on the water and now they are busy turning out some new crafts.

Mr J. Nelson, late owner of the Mavis, is having a fifteen-foot keel boat built by Mr T. Ballantyne. This boat is to be of the Norwegian type. Another boat under construction is a “Snipe” class boat which Mr E. Blain is building for himself in his spare time. The Snipe class is a class which has recently come into great prominence in America and is very popular both there and on the Continent. So great is its popularity that it has been recognized as an international class. Mr Blair is building his craft from designs published in the Rudder.

As well as these two boats, Mr Ballantyne has a small keeler of very pleasing design under way in his yard, which should be finished before next season.

Plans of the Takapuna class boat have been secured by Mr A. Tinnock and it is probable some of this class will make their appearance on the Estuary before long.

With these new boats under way, it looks as if yachting is far from waning in popularity.