Yachting crews geared for cup challenge

Press, 6 July 1983, Page 32

Yachting crews geared for cup challenge

The selection of the 46ft German Frers-designed Lady B by the team captain, Peter Blake, completed the three-boat New Zealand team to participate in the 1983 Admiral’s Cup yachting series off Britain in July and August. Although Blake and his crew will be sailing a chartered boat, it could hardly be considered outdated — the Lady B was launched just three weeks ago.

Built in the Benitau yard in France, the Lady B is an enlarged version of Shockwave, the only New Zealand-owned entry in the challenge, which is being sponsored by Auric Finance. At present, Lady B is undergoing modifications, especially to her keel, at Cherbourg. The alterations are intended to reduce her 1.0. R. rating from 36.5 ft to 35.3 ft.

trials. But it is regarded as a really speedy yacht, and carries all of the latest navigational equipment and a full wardrobe of North Canada loft sails.

As soon as Lady B’s modifications are completed, it will be tuned to racing readiness by Blake and his crew. They will benefit from the expertise of the Shockwave crew members, who, naturally, are more familiar with the Frers designs. Lady B is then to take part in pre-series trials against the other New Zealand yachts. The crews for the New Zealand challenge were announced last week, and the squad is regarded as the most experienced to compete in Admiral’s Cup competition. Blake is only one of a number of yachtsmen who

competed in the last Whitbread Round-the-World event. Some were with him on Ceramco New Zealand, others were enlisted to sail on the race winner, Flyer. There is also a sprinkling of accomplished smallboat Olympic class yachtsmen, including two who made their mark in Canterbury before transferring to Auckland — Bret de Thier, an Olympic Finn representative, and Peter Lester, the former world O.K. dinghy champion. Blake’s co-skippers are Neville Crichton, who did so well at the helm of Shockwave in the Australian Admiral’s Cup trials, and lan Gibbs, who has chartered Swuzzlebubble IV (formerly named Wee Willie Winkie, and one of the craft used by New Zealand in the 1981 challenge).

Shockwave has already been shipped to England on the French container vessel, Kangaroo. It was not an uneventful journey, for the yacht suffered some superficial damage when its cradle snapped and it fell sideways into a container. Four crew members were in England to receive Shockwave and repairs will be completed in time for the warm-up races.

The New Zealand contingent will have assembled at Cowes by next Sunday, and training will be carried out on the Solent and the English Channel.

Sixteen nations have entered for the Admiral’s Cup contest. The five-race programme begins with a 30-mile race on the Solent on July 27 and ends with the 605-mile Fastnet Classic, beginning on August 6.