SANDERS CUP RACE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 659, 12 January 1933, Page 9

SANDERS CUP RACE.

Big Regatta on Lyttelton Harbour. FORTNIGHT OF RACING. For nearly a fortnight from Wednesday, January 25, Lyttelton Harbour will be dotted with splashes of white during the Cornwell Cup and Sanders Cup contests. This is the first occasion in history that any one province has been called upon to defend both trophies at the same time. The yachts for the Cornwell Cup will commence their racing on January 25, and on February 1 the Sanders Cup yachts will take to the water to decide which province shall hold the cup by being the first to win three races. The full entries for the Sanders Cup test are as follows: Auckland—ldler. W ellington—La vina. Canterbury—Avenger. Otago—Avalon. Southland—Rona. All the crews have not yet been selected. It is certain, however, that George Brassell, who* was skipper of the victorious Avenger last year, will be in command of Canterbury’s choice, and that that Ivan M'Grath (skipper) and Roy Reynolds will be in the Otago crew. First to Win Three Races. Nine or ten races have sometimes had to be run before the winner of the cup can be decided. The wins need not necessarily be consecutive, the first provincial representative to register three firsts being adjudged worthy of holding the trophy for the year. . A step calculated to give renewed interest in the contests was taken at the Dominion Conference in January of last year, when an Auckland remit, urging the measurement of boats be*°re eac h contest by measurers appointed by the conference, was carried. It was stated that the effect of the decision would be to remove the feeling that had existed regarding some of the oanders Cup boats and would ensure tlla * every boat was identical. The record for the Sanders Cup contests to date is as follows: 1921— Heather (Otago), sailed at Auckland. 1922 Desert Gold (Auckland), sailed at Dunedin. (Auckland), at Auckland, 1924—Rona (Auckland), at Welling—*°"a (Otago), at Auckland. —§ e H y (O anterbur y>. at Dunedin. 1927 Betty (Canterbury), at Lyttel--1928 Betty (Canterbury), at Stewart Island. loan —Avalon at Akaroa. J???—^^ ll^ en ,^9 t , ago) ’ at Auckland. ISii —Betty (Wellington), at Dunedin. 1932—Avenger (Canterbury), at Wellington. Hero’s Memory Perpetuated. The annual contests for the Sanders Cup owe their establishment to the desire for a perpetual memorial to the late Lieutenant-Commander W. E. Sanders, V.C., D. 5.0., R.N.R., who, with his gallant crew, lost his life when the auxiliary schooner Prize, used as a decoy for enemy submarines, was torpedoed on the night of August 14, 1917. Lieutenant-Commander Sanders was a New Zealander, and his exploits in the service of the Empire madp history. Lieutenant-Commander Sanders was born at Auckland, and from his earliest day showed a love of the sea. Yachting on the Waitemata Harbour was his favourite pastime. Sailing experience came to the young man when he joined the Craig Line of sailing ships, and worked up to the position of first mate of the barque Joseph Craig. While third mate on the passenger steamer Willochra he passed his examination for a master’s certificate, and on November 14, 1914, he was the possessor of a master’s foreign-going ticket. Shortly after the outbreak of the Great War, Sanders, aged twenty-seven, accepted a berth as second officer of the troopship Hepburn, and sailed for England. He was appointed a sublieutenant in the Navy, and was sent to Falmouth for gunnery instruction. He later joined H.M.S. Sabina as second in command, and from the Sabina was appointed to the command of H.M.S. Prize, with headquarters at the naval base at Milford Haven. All Hands Went Down. The principal work of the Prize was to sail, disguised as a merchantman, into that part of the Atlantic where it was known that the German submarines were carrying out deadly work. It was on April 30, 1917, that the Prize sighted a submarine under the command of von Spiegler. The Prize was extensively damaged through fire from the submarine. The submarine drew to within a hundred yards of the vessel and was then subjected to a heavy fire from the hidden guns, which disabled her. During the afternoon of August 14, 1917, the Prize was again in action with an enemy submarine, but on this occasion she was not able to put the U-boat out of effective action. Practically submerged, the submarine followed the Prize until nightfall and then torpedoed her. All hands went down with the gallant little ship. It is thus fitting that Sanders's memory should be kept green among the yachtsmen of New Zealand, and the owner of the winning yacht each year may well be satisfied to see the name of his craft engraved upon the beautiful memento of one of New Zealand’s national heroes.