Yachts And Yachting.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 72, 25 March 1931, Page 9

Yachts And Yachting.

Last Saturday saw the contests for the Irene Stacey and the Beryl Stacey Trophies raced for at Lyttelton. The wind was very light from the east, with a flat sea. Before the conclusion of the Beryl Stacey race, for yachts over 12ft yin, the wind faded completelj", and none of the contestants finished within the time limit. In the Irene Stacey Trophy -race the Rerlcliffs yacht Fidget -defended the tropJiy, which she won on the Estuary last season. The other visiting yachts were Gadfly, of. Redcliffs, and The To if, of Pleasant Point. Gadfly was rather disappointing in the early stages, but later did much better. Fidget, sailed by young E. Morrison put up a great performance.- There is- no doubt that the conditions were entirely in her favour, but she made the most of her chances, and won i«y a substantial margin. With a calm sea and a light to moderate breeze Fidget’s type of twelvefooter is greatly superior to the Takapuna type, but in any sea, with a fresh to strong breeze sufficient to permit the Takapuna to plane off the wind, the margin would doubtless be in favour of the Auckland type boat. The race itself was inclined to lack interest, especially after the first round, when Fidget had a good lead, and those who had lined the Gladstone Pier in the hopes of seeing some of the bright sailing exhibitions for which the Takapunas are famous, especially in Lyttelton, were disappointed. •*« *•* Disappointment, also, was in store for the followers of the larger yachts in the Beryl Stacey Trophy event. A fleet of fourteen faced the starter, and a very keen and interesting race was confidently anticipated. However, the breeze faded out, and the race was finally called off, with Waimana in a leading position over Te Arai and Water Beetle, the next two yachts. That oft recprrlng question as to whether the Redcliffs crack. Te Arai. sailed and owned by A. F. Round, could ever beat Lyttelton’s chammon, Waimana, sailed and owned by T. Harkess, n in iii is n ® a m si hi si si in m ® m m a m m

was again to the fore, but the result was inconclusive. Waimana was certainly well in the lead of Te Arai on the day, and had the breeze held she would have beaten her rival by more than the five minutes she was conceding. Had the breeze, however, freshened to a good full-sail or one-reef easterly there ar<» jjiany who still hold that Te Arai would have had the legs of Waimana. However, the breeze was not sufficient to bring the Redcliffs boat to her most successful racing angle, and Waimana had an easy task. The honours, so far, are definitely with Waimana on past performances, but many hope to see Te Arai have her day before she joins the other half-dozen or so “ skimmers ” in their final haven, to which all but she have been called. SJ Xext Saturday will see another fine race at Lyttelton, when the Navy League Cup for punts will be raced for. Several entries will be made lrom the Christchurch side of the hill, and. given a fair breeze, some very good racing should eventuate. Nothing definite has been heard of the contestants for the cup presented for Trans-Tasman yacht racing, except that Oimara, the Melbourne entrant, has been spoke_n some 1130 miles from Sydney. Oimara has auxiliary power, and she should thus be the first, to make the other side. However, she will be handicapped on that basis, and thus, although she may be first home, she will not necessarily prove the winner. Teddy (Noryay) and Rangi (New' Zealand) na\e not been seen since leaving, but may be expected within a few days of Oimara s arrival. The auxiliary ketch Mandalay was agajn cruising last week-end. The frl lw."’ 1 ?' per ignition which prevent- “ tmdertakiag the trip to Dunedin keen ‘SSnSSgg- rtStiS&Ta'nd sK mVy ton^ui eCteC \ to un< *©rtake some more extcnsive cruising in the near future.