YACHTS SEEN IN TASMANIAN WATERS

Chronicle (Levin), 31 December 1946, Page 5

YACHTS SEEN IN TASMANIAN WATERS

Rocoived Mondiiv, S) p.m. sydxey, ])(>•. no. Early tliis aftornoon a scarchijj^ Liln-iator idt-ntilied two of tlio H yat-lits in tho Sydnoy-ilobart raco oll tho nortlioast om tiji of Tasmania. The }»i> Syiliicy soliooiitw .Mistral was tojiortnil -10 niiles i-a-n of ihe Eddvstone lighl and the Tasmanian stoel hulled fiilli'r Southern Maid a similar ilistaiioc oll' Cape Barron lsland aliout 45 miles behiml. The -Mistral still has nouriy 2!H miles to go bci'uro she rcaidii's the Jinisli Jine. Tho si-ralrh lioal Morna concedes four hotns to the .Mistral and 11 to ihe Southern .Maid. The yaehts were running into a moderate swell and the wind was westerlv with a stroi.qth of 18 knots. the leaders in the race are beliovod to have missed a 35-mi le-an-honr gale which struck Bass 8lrait and whipped uj> heavy seas. The gair ketch Uminolla was forced to tuni back and seek shelter in Twofold Bay, 011 the southern Xew South W'ales coast. The Jlox, the Xew Zcaland entrant, was battling against the gale northeast of Plinders lsland. In a radio talk with a Liberator, Mr. Xorman Thonias. skipper of ihe I le\, said the conilitions for small cral't were "terrilic'' and worse than anything he had met during the yacht 's voyage across ihe Tasman. The Ilex was still able to sail, he said, but only uuder vorv reduced eanvas. Jle rejiorted passing the Tasmanian ketch .Matthew Plinders, which W>ts hove-to uuder -bute poles. During, tli'iif conveisatidm tiro tlejc-'s fadib' wenjg dead. owing to tlie. batteries bcing thrown oul of the gimbal-s by a heavy sea.