The Summer Season Opens

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 828, 23 November 1929, Page 17

The Summer Season Opens

Speed and Grace On the Waitemata Ml riffm for l lI E SC A by C. T. V. WATSON. J 1; ILNEI ER a suit- iner cruft *v,„ .. ...

W : W W=fs u| about their summer pastimes conaltogether sorrowing tor the other, li tas ever thus, and shall be world without eml. In that age when the shaggy Briton was punting in his new' coracle another of the spec lea. from the cave across the way was busy shaping the first football or hewing a racket lighter by several pounds titan the one w ith which he wa runner-up in Ihe Stonehenge singles. And their descendants hav, not since been able to see eye to eye on the little question ot‘ what constitutes the ideal sporting relaxation. The yachtsman is well able to w eather a debate as long as the tong shoreman omits to bring up the point about progress. Every sailorman is aware that he engages in the oldest-fashioned sport in the world and belongs to the most conservative fraternity progress has had to put up with. The yachtsman says simply. “Admitted our sails ire primitive, but come on board, sir. Learn for yourself If the life can be bettered." And the sceptical land dweller will go on board, roll out into WVemata's jobble and remain sceptical. Aye, sir, it is an unfathomable thing, the fascination of yachting. If you seek a pastime which conforms to a time-table don't take up sailing. If you have excessive speed in your blood get something with wheels or a propeller. If you waut to be certaiu of getting there don't give yachting a moment's thought. Certainly the boat ing game can give you thrills when the wind blows treaty, yet on the other hand it can be galling to a degree, and whisper It—sometimes humiliating, j's when a powered craft offers to tow you out of the doldrums. But when a tu..i. - olood .s tinctured with brine only two things can make him re-

the opinion of his "rubber-tyred” friend) relaxation. And those things are the wreck of his command (in which event he saves to build another) and holy matrimony (which often causes him to buy a launch to please the fami\y). Yet despite the allure ot the benzine *ra with Its forty, fifty, sixty miles an hour there are more yachtsmen afloat today than ever before in the history of sport. A strange thing that, for the Psychologists tell you that it is in the nature of man to demand speed and yet more speed. At most a yacht can thrash along at 12 to II knots and that is fast going. But there is a something about yachting which cannot ha defined and which amply compensates. Yachtsmen know what it is but fail entirely to put their teeliug into word-*. Instead, they sum up the whole business in the phrase "The hing of sports, and the sport of kings." From the founding of Auckland her citizens have goue afloat, first for business and soon t'or pleasure. From Scotland came men who had the eve for sweet lines. They built the finest trading vessels in the South Seas and in the course of time adapted their yards to the fashioning of yachts. From father to son the love of the running tide has been passed traditionally and the spirit of the yacht has been preserved. Then came power. In this year nearly as many engined craft as sail-

"UI it'senieu but rather welcomed as f n « w , arm ot an old "service." Add " the " a! -t cruiser the outboard motorboat and you Lave the very latest In aquatic wonders spurting in compaiiv | with the earliest. mittthi;, with most of the clubs combilling in cruising races to Islington llav tor the deep-water yachts, and in events within harbour limits lor the small fry. The outboards, too, will be busy with a programme on that exi I lent course provided by the Whan River, near Avondale. Auckland's pleasure fleet is valu' d today at (dose on £300,000. The yachts range in size from st> feet, overall, to seven feet. The smallest are natives of Tauranga, recently acclimatised on these waters for giving boys in their early teens opportunity to learn the ropes before graduation by successive steps to the large racing 1 flotilla. In all, the yachts are divided i into 13 classes, which in turn can be marked off broadly into three divisions. keel yachts, mullet-boats and ' half-decked centreboard craft. As i before stated the yachting world is I conservative, and so it is that while lAT RIGHT—W ITH MASCOTS <> V | THE SAIIjS. — .1 race for the Liptnn \ Cup. Only 21-footers may compete in this event and each boat represents a club. In the photograph can be seen Marie, Xgaru 11., Valeria and T’c-w „e

new types appear among the very, small classes an iron-bound stability ! characterises the design of boats of . 20 feet and more in length. Many new yachts appear each season in the : "mosquito” division, but in these days j of high building costs few new keelers I are laid down. Still, a regular racing entry between 15 and 20 deep-water boats lines up tor ; the more important events and competition is very keen among the big | fellows. Yachtsmen are rejoicing than a large yacht is under course of construction for addition to the racing squadron, and is to be launched, perhaps not thib season but certainly in time for the kexi. Some of the better known keel ooats are very beautiful to see. The champion is Ariki —or chief —and her performances are a delight to watch. Then there is Rainbow. which in earlier days used to win all along the line. She has not been seen in racing trim for some seasons now. her owner preferring to cruise. Viking, largest of all, is a fine ship of schooner rig. She does not race but is to be seen tramping splendidly over the tracks which lead to the innumerable resorts in the Hauraki Gulf. Ilex is another thing of beauty. Under a mass of canvas she makes a picture which every camera man wants to make his own. Cons: tent racers are lorangi. Thelma. Rawene. Moana, Nga-toa. Prize Victorv. all registered as "A class boats. In "B” class which are smaller editions there are W aioue. Windward, Uadye Wilma, Rangi. Kotiri, Ngahau and others. -C" and "E” classes complete the keel boats and then begins the inulletboat section. The largest are 2ti feet

long ,ind other- .ill of much The same pattern, are graduated into 21-footers, 22 s and 2"'s. They are flue sporting boats, easy to handle, carry a tremendous spread of sail, are ideal for deepwater cruising and are comparatively inexpensive, as yachts go. to maintain. The crews are mainly young fellows each with a moderate amount of cash

who club together in a sort of syndicate. One of the greatest local races of the year is staged by the 22-footers. They contend, each representing one of the eight or nine clubs, for the Lipton Cup; a magnificent trophy presented to the Ponsonby Cruising Club by the greatest yachtsman, Sir Thomas Lipton. Next down the scale of sizes, though in the estimation of their youthful crews as big as the stateliest keel yacht, are the 18-footers and the 16’s. In recent years racing in these classes has shown a falling off for some reason not easily explained, but this season new boats have been j added, and with the elimination of one i or two boats too fast for good com- j petition, better racing is assured. The type permits of a wholesome sail area —Auckland boatmen are fond of "crow'ding it on” much to the astonishment of overseas visitors—and the classes provide plenty ot fun and no lack of thrills for the young men. And now the 14-foot class. These are of two divisions, the Jellicoe boats ■ which are round in the bilge section I and planked like large dinghies, and : the Y’s which differ in sail area and I are of square bilge. It is with the 1 Jellicoe boats that the various pro- , vinces strive mightily year by year I for the Sanders Memorial Cup. In ] the Southern ports they like to refer ‘ to the Sanders Cup contest as, the blue riband event of New Zealand yachting, j The big boats are all very well in their I way, say the men from the South, but the fourteens are the thing. As implied in the name, the cup was given | in memory of Lieutenant-Commander ; Sanders, V.C., the North Shore boy i whose heroism and exploits in Qi ships earned the admiration of the j world. When Governor-General of the Dominion, Earl Jellicoe became greatly interested in the class and had the | iron Duke built. He sailed her him- | self and, though defeated in a memorable cup contest, won the esteem of aquatic New Zealand, and particularly : that of the younger generation of vachtsmen. The name of the great Admiral has since passed into the ! wmod and the canvas and the spars which make the most exacting little ; | boat on the tide. The contest will probably be held this season on the Waitemata Harbour, Auckland's challenger, Avalon, having regained the cup from Canterbury at Akaroa last . February. The honour of winning tile cup has now been Auckland’s on four occasions since the inception of the contests in 1921. Here is the record of the contest: i Year Winner Where Sailed 1921.. .Heather f Ota pro) Auckland 1922. Desert Gold ( Auck.) .. .Dunedin • 1923 Kona (Auck.) Auckland 1924.. Rona (Auck.) \V< llingt. 1925.. . .lona (Otago) Auckland : 192*5. .. .Betty (Cant'bv) Dunedin ! 1927 Betty (Cant’by) Lyttelton , 1928. .. .Betty (Cant'bv) Stewart Is. I 1929.... Avalon (Auck.) Akaroa

Although other ports are as enthusiastic as could be many Auckland yachtsmen are cooling off on the Sanders Cup contest. Objection is raised by the senior club, which has the support of two sister clubs, that the contest has defeated its purpose. It is claimed that the racing has got into the wrong hands, and that the

contest has become commercialised. The New Zealand Yacht Squadron recently intimated that it would no longer give financial support unless the ages of Sanders Cup crews were immediately restricted to 21 and under. The squadron authorities say that the boats were intended by the promoters in the first instance to be sailed entirely by young fellows, whereas their places had been usurped by old and seasoned hands. Exception is also taken to the exhorbitant cost of the little craft. The price is now anything up to £l6O, which is considered preposterous. Competition has been so keen among the provinces that a kind of “armaments race" has been stimulated in the boat building yards and up have gone the prices until today otil. a man of means, or at any rate a syndicate, can afford to order a 14footer. On the other hand defenders of the present order say that ages were never intended to be restricted and that another contest that for the Cornwell Cup—adequately caters for budding yachtsmen. Nevertheless, both sides have a unanimity about prices, and various schemes have been put forward with a view to correction of a serious flaw in the contest.

The Cornwell Cup contest, also sailed annually, is in many respects a

model test of yachting skill. In tha first place it is designed simply and solely to discover the two best yachtsmen in the country under the age of 19. The contest is to hold up to the boys the gallant devotion to duty shown by John Travers Cornwell, Y.C., the boy hero of H.M.S. Chester, who died in the Battle of Jutland.

Under Cornwell Cup regulations, the boat counts for little because the idea is not to ind the fastest hull. Rules provide that after each race the young crews of two change boats, which are all built to one design and are 12 feet six inches long. In this way if one boat should happen to be a little superior the advantage is shared by all crews in turn. The contest was fostered by the Takapuna Boating Club, Bays water, which is the governing author ity. Like the Sanders Cup matches the junior series has a wide following in the South, though the “Takapuna flatties” are strongest numerically on this harbour.

Again, like the senior contest, the Cornwell Cup championship has had its measure of publicity. Indeed, to the layman it might appear that the quantity of controversial spray flung up in yachting New Zealand is in inverse ratio to the size of the boats. Since the memorable contest of 1928 when, because of the interpretation of the now famous Rule 3, Auckland defeated Otago in the final for the cup, yachting lawyers, aquatic politicians and boating scribes have been hard at it dissecting that troublesome rule which simply lays it down: “No boat shall be interfered with.” How the dispute arose and how after tw T o years it was patched up is beyond the scope of these columns. Suffice it that Auckland has handed the conduct of this

season’s contest over to Otago, although the right to sail it belongs to Auckland by reason of the fact that Takapuna boys retained the cup after the racing at Lyttelton in February. These centres have held the cup: Year Winner. Where Sailed. 1925 Auckland Auckland 1926 Lyttelton Dunedin 1927 Auckland Lyttelton 1928 Auckland ........ Auckland 1929 Auckland Lyttelton Have you wondered how they start a yacht race? It is a tricky business on occasion. A sailing boat having of course no internal power, and being comparatively slow-moving takes considerable skill in the handling. Five minutes before the scheduled starting time a gun is fired as a warning. The contestants, maybe a score of them,

are scattered to all points of the compass. Then they begin to make for the line, which is an imaginary one usually drawn between the end of a wharf and a mark-buoy about 100 yards out. Simultaneously with the sounding of the gun up go five flags. On the elapse of one minute a flag is lowered. That tells the watching yachtsmen that they have four minutes in which ; to reach the line. At the expiry of i another minute a second flag drops.

: and so on. At the instant the fifth flag falls the starting gun bangs and ;• the race is on. If the crews have j timed the gun with precision ail the : yachts should cross in a body. Massed I starts, however, are the exception. | Many factors operate against an l s even break. One boat may “blanket” another, so denying her the urge of [ the wind, or have to give way under i the rules of the road, or feel a puff . which has eluded a rival. The element of uncertainty is half the fun of yachting! For the man who wishes to enjoy a day or two on the water and who has no time or desire to be the sport of the winds the motor-cruiser is the thing. It takes him to his destination straight as a die and in double quick time. Auckland’s powered fleet numbers more than 200 craft. These include some of the quaintest “coffee pots” that ever phut-phutted their laborious way over a watery path. But the fleet also knows many magnificent cruisers capable of a purring 15 and 20 knots —beautifully equipped boats, sleek and shining. Full of flannelled young men and attractive girls the motor-launches may be seen anywhere and everywhere during the summer season. Cruiser racing over courses laid within the harbour is about as lifeless as a cheese straw. And the reason is not far to seek. Launchmen, with the exception of five or six, will not waste a Saturday afternoon ambling round a triangle when they could be away in the Gulf for a long week-end. What

owner is going to leave his family on the wharf, potter round a course and report back —when it is too late to go anywhere—with the information that he has expended a can of benzine in running into third place, for which the trophy will probably be a tea-pot to

: add to the half dozen his wife has i collected in similar fashion! But when the race is. say. to Kawau or any other distant resort, the fields are good. The whole family goes, too. and i the picnic is enjoyed, j Speed-boating proper, has its dej votees. though their numbers are meagre in proportion to the size of the | city. By a speed-boat is meant a highpowered craft capable of 40 and 45 knots. The sport has not made the headway Auckland’s fine sheet of water would suggest. Fleetwing ' Junior, Hobo. Miss Clevedon. Miss | Devonport. Bonzo. Miss Xorthcote, ; Spot and one or two others are the consistent racers. “Fleetie” is the 1 fastest and holds local championship honours. There is held, annually, a Dominion contest for the Masport Cup, which at present is in the keeping of J. & J., a bullet-shaped hull owned at j Wanganui. The newest thing in speed and thrills : is of course the outboard racer. Of i mushroom growth the sport has taken , a firm grip of the public imagination here and in every part of the world. ! Four years ago outboard engines of l low' power were used only as adjuncts |to dinghies. Today power units range as high as 30-horse-power and drive the weirdest hulls at nearly 50 miles an hour —in the States. Last season ! tw’o outboards. Hum Bug and Miss Arawa, notched between 32 and 35 m.p.h. on Auckland water. With new* . engines their drivers expect to attain the 40 mile mark. The racing fleet j has been added to by the appearance

: of several “mystery” boats whose j “hush-hush” mileage is the subject of | much speculation in outboard circles, I if an outboard can be hushed to mys- ! terious silence. Efforts have been made in the new models to “gag” the ! ear-splitting exhaust which has not exactly won the friendship of residents of the headlands and the bays and some measure of success has been achieved. Still, despite their exuberance these skimming saucers have a speedy and popular future.