ON THE LAKE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 593, 4 January 1916, Page 8

ON THE LAKE.

SAILING MODEL YACHTS.

HARDER THAN IT LOOKS.

[Written for THE SON.J Of course the ordinary p'Trson I who has never in his life had anyI thing to do with yachts, great or small, looks with indulgent contempt on Ihe man who sails a model yacht 'on Victoria Lake. But then, the orjdinary person knows nothing about j model yachts, and so he regards it I (as he does everything else that is beyond his comprehension) as a I childish or stupid pastime, indulged ] in only by peculiar people, and much too low in the scale of things entertaining to engage the attention of a | serious individual who grows his ;own potatoes and tends the front lawn in his spare moments. II is really a great deal harder to j sail a model yacht successfully than ■it is lo sajl a full sized craft: for i whereas in the big boat you may personally handle the tiller and superintend the movements of the vessel, in . the model boat you must so adjust your tiller that it will act more or jless automatically and keep the little j vessel up to the wind. Considerable ! calculation and care is required in j setting her out, and in practically I every run she makes you must match jyour ingenuity against the vagaries iof the wind. Thus.thesailingof model yachts becomes more entrancing as added experience opens wider avenues for the exercise of judgment, and as growing knowledge displays new obstacles to overcome. Operating these little boats is by no means a childish pastime, and quite staid people all over the world indulge in the sport. In practically every respect the little boats are counterparts of their larger representatives, arc amenable to the same rules and subject to the same weaknesses. Most of the boats that sail on Victoria Lake are beautifully constructed and finished pieces of workmanship, built with all the care that is so requisite to ensure good sailing qualities. Their lines are as graceful and as fine as those of the best 30 or 40 footers that ever carried sail, and a photograph at close range would give the uninitiated some hard guessing to tell whether the craft was a miniature or not. They most generally differ from the larger craft in that they carry jib-booms and ribbed mainsails, and (comparatively) they are more heavily sparred than the big species. Their sailing qualities, however, are very much the same, and they arc true prototypes of their seniors, also, in this: that for every hour you spend in actually sailing them, you may spend two hours in arranging and fixing rigging and performing those multilarious minor duties that the sport calls for.

There are few things more pleasant on a nice afternoon than idling among the surrounding trees and {watching the white wings on the lake. The big models will give you jail the poetry of sailing-craft I motion, antl present dozens of artistic pictures to delight you. If you want to be amused, however, you must be handy on a Saturday morning, when little Tommy brings along that craft that father pushed into his stocking at Christmas. Usually these toy boats are the greatest of frauds. They were built especially to fill Tummy's mind with glowing visions, and then to capsize decisively. They jlook very nice in the shop windows, 'but a stilT breeze will capsize them, i and a breeze that won't capsize them will leave them minus steering way ;to drift stupidly to leeward. The ; amount of patience expended by j schoolboys on these fraudulent cfjfigies is amazing. Occasionally, howlever, the small boy gets hold of a | shabby-looking home made affair, that will really sail if given a reasonable chance. When Tommy gets hold of this craft he dreams wildly of the Spanish main that used to cxjist when boats did remarkable i things. He promptly puts on full jsail in a two-reef breeze, and enteri tains himself mightily. Usually the ill-used craft swings promptly in !stays, and drifts thus till she is ! swung before the wind. Then the mainsail flies out like an ample spinnaker, and the little boat tears I away at a great pace, to the inlinilc delight and satisfaction of the small i navigator. The passage isn't a [smooth one. If the wind shifts a • point from dead astern, or the craft 'swings round because of the yrc- | dominating sail in the rear, (ho end of the main boom gets into the water and puis her hard round. Then the I wind gets her over-suited spars broadside and she performs Unit action known ;is lying on her beam ends. Gradually, if her keel holds, I she will work round before the wind ■again to perform the whole programme once more. The efforts of small boys to sail boats are always amusing. Nearly always they have too great a mainsail for the jib carried, and their craft usually make as much leeway as headway. The boys who haven't got boats fit out pieces of board with masts and pieces of paper, giving a square-rigged appearance - and acting in many instances as satisfactorily as the more pretentious frauds of the other boys. On a warm summer morning Victoria Lake presents a rather weird collection of craft, the structurally perfect model to the extempore caricature created on the spot, all sailing more or less to the satisfaction of the owners, ;md all providing an infinitude of entertainment and amusement. But, let it be here reiterated for the benelit of the scoffer, the man who can successfully sail a model yacht isn't an ass —not by any means. B. O'N.