Yachtsmen seek three titles

Press, 7 April 1979, Page 12

Yachtsmen seek three titles

It is perhaps inevitable that the national preOlympic regatta at Auckland will fill yachting’s centre stage during Easter week-end, but Canterbury crews will also be participating in three other New Zealand championships to be run concurrently at northern venues.

A comparatively young squad is to defend the International Moth title won for Canterbury in each of the last four summers by the now-retired Melv Seiwood, a strong team is to attend the Javelin contest, and three of the province’s most promising youngsters have nominated for the inter-

mediate Starling series. Although the familiar figures of Seiwood and Andy Holland will no longer be in their accustomed positions near the front of the Moth fleet at Milford, in Auckland, Canterbury has two other New Zealand representatives, Robert Capon and Tony Blanchard, to spears head its challenge. Blanchard has been prominent at national level for a dozen years and was one of Capon’s predecessors as the South Island champion. The experience they accumulated at the world event in Brisbane last year will be to their benefit.

It is perhaps a favourable omen that Capon will be at the helm of Redeem 11, Seiwood’s champion-ship-winning craft. Capon

began the season with a new British skiff design, but was not entirely satisfied with its performance, and it was in Seiwood’s scow that he won the South Island series at Lake Aviemore. Similarly, Blanchard has a new scow, while another Waimakariri club member, Colin Sykes, has been busy tuning a self-built scow. The runner-up at the island contest, Owen Brown, who transferred from Dunedin to Christchurch 12 months ago, has a British-designed skiff. Pre-championship favouritism rests with the seasoned Ross Baverstock

By

JOHN COFFEY

(Wellington), a past holder of the New Zealand and Pan Pacific (titles and the recent winner of the North Island trophy. Supporting him is another accomplished Wellington yachtsman, Terry Doherty, who was second in the corresponding event in 1978, and Kevin Whitehead (Napier) certainly cannot be discounted.

Canterbury crews have shared the spoils in southern Javelin racing over the last few months. Pete Milliken and Brent Cowan won Sanders Cup nomination and went on to finish third in national company, Robert Norris and Andrew Conway upset the favoured combinations to

become the provincial champions, and John Fisher and Derek Brandt regained the South Island crown. The depth of the Canterbury squad extends even further. Dave Elder and Ross May have become increasingly prominent in Koro, the boat they launched earlier this summer, and two other skippers, Ricky Chapman and Stewart Poore, are also travelling to Wellington. As well as seeking top honours, the Canterbury contingent should have a keen domestic tussle, one that will virtually be the

“conqueror” to decide the most successful crew in the province. Norris and Conway have attained their best form at an opportune time, if conceding experience to their compatriots.

The national Javelin crown has not settled in Canterbury since the combination of England (Hugh) and Wales (Laurie) triumphed in 1967, and the decision of such renowned competitors as Jock Bilger,* Murray Ross and Mark Paterson to return to Olympic contention has only partly lessened the; task ahead of the 1979 squad. Gary Coleman, a former South Pacific champion,

was. with Nigel Siburn, the runner-up behind Bilger and Lindsay Kennedy at Lyttelton last summer. His North Island championship success testifies to his present boat speed, and Wellington’s Sanders Cup pair, Garth Cheyne and Murray Gibbons, should thrive in their home winds and waters. Much interest will be taken in the display of Leslie Egnot at the New Zealand Starling series at Murray’s Bay in Auckland. Miss Egnot has fashioned a magnificent record in the junior P class, in turn claiming the Canterbury, South Island and then the New Zealand inter-club (Tauranga Cup) titles to become the first girl skipper to head off her male

rivals at national level. Since switching to the Starling division, she has proved herself most competitive. However, the winner of the Canterbury trials in December, Stewart Coates, still retains top ranking, in spite of being sorely pressed by Simon Nikoloff and Miss Egnot. Coates and Nikoloff will also be sailing at Murrays Bay, The very active intermediate yachting committee in Canterbury has done much to improve the potential of promising competitors, and the coaching and racing which has been made available should soon begin to bear fruit in island and national events.