Leander prize beckons yachties

Press, 7 February 1986, Page 21

Leander prize beckons yachties

By

ANDREW MACALISTER

Sixteen of Canterbury’s top R-class yachtsmen leave today for Auckland with the aim of carrying off the prestigious Leander Trophy. Each year the nation’s R-class yachtsmen gather to compete for the trophy, one of New Zealand’s oldest and most historic yachting prizes. Canterbury yachtsmen have won the trophy in three of the last six years, and last year narrowly missed regaining it after a series of protests. This year’s contest, named the Westpac Leander Trophy series, will be sailed out of Okahu Bay, Auckland. The first of the six races will be held on Sunday, and the series will continue until Thursday. A fleet of about 40 yachts is expected to compete.

The top prospect among the Canterbury sailors is Steve and Paul Mclntosh, who were an unlucky second last year and held the trophy from 1980 until 1982.

Their new yacht Growler must also en-

hance their chances because of its innovative features.

Growler has a wing mast, which, instead of being rounded like most masts, is an aerofoil shape that reduces air disturbance around the mainsail and should greatly increase their boatspeed. The yacht also has a bowsprit-like prod which extends in front of the yacht and is used to set the headsails and spinnakers to increase their sail area.

The Mclntoshes used the prod last year and it was the cause of much protest. This year, however, the national R-class association has declared the prod to be legal and five of the Canterbury yachts will use it during the competition.

Two other crews have a good chance of winning the trophy, based on performances so far this year when they frequently beat the Mclntoshes. They are John Bowman and Grant Nelson in Bad Boys, which was third last year, and Sean Milner and Peter Hiskin in Grunta.

Bad Boys also won the Otago R-class championships earlier this year. The publicity officer for the Canterbury R-class squadron, Jonathon Smith, has described these three yachts as very even and

he is optimistic that Canterbury yachts would fill at least two of the top four places in the competition. “We have got a very good chance of winning the trophy back this

year,” he said.

Smith said the Rs were a very important class nationally because they acted as a development class for new ideas in hull, rig and sail design which could later extend further into all fields of yachting. The yachts are not restricted by any limitations except over-all length and so it was an excellent testing area for new ideas, he said. “As a result they are a very hard and competitive yacht to sail,” he said.

The other five Canterbury yachts in the series are Rum Run R (Jonathon Smith and Mark Mclntosh), Hard Attack (Rob McGregor and Tony Park), Hot Gossip (Gordon Sutherland and Peter Greenway), Raging Rash (Rick Chapman and Graeme Innes) and U Boat (Kevin Holland and Tim Johnston). All but one of the yachts have been shipped free to Auckland aboard the Coastal Trader and most of the crews will fly up today.