ON PORT NICHOLSON

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 17, 21 January 1924, Page 15

ON PORT NICHOLSON

aPON the waters of Port Nicholson during this second Welcome Week will be held one of the most historic events since the early pioneers sailed through the Heads more than eighty years ago. The Anniversary Cay aquatic celebrations, which have been held annually, with only one break, since the early days of the colonisation of Wellington, and which form the principal link' with the city's past, this year assume secondary importance. The significance of the time-honoured regatta is overshadowed on this occasion by the fact that on the ensuing days the most coveted yachting trophy in the Dominion, the Sanders Memorial Cup, is to be competed for between selected boats from all provinces. Not only is Wellington the special resort, therefore, of hundreds of visitors: from North and South, attracted by the other features of Welcome Week, but the interest of thousands of yachtsmen and sporting enthusiasts in other parts of the Dominion is turned towards Port Nicholson on this auspicious occasion. The aquatic events of the week were the chief factors weighed by the executive in fixing the dates of the iCarnival. The importance of the yachting fixtures was such that the dates set down for their decision could not very well have been ignored.

Anniversary DayKegatta is the biggest day in the local yachting year, for it is the only occasion on which the various clubs come into active competition one with the other. For the remainder of the season the various yacht and motor-boat clubs conduct their own programme, /hut on Anniversary Day they combine forces. This year, for the first time, the arrangements are in the hands of the Wellington, Yacht and Motor-boat Association, which has achieved a new status and a new lease of life within the past few months by the resuscitation of its functions. The history of the organisation of the regatta is one of the most interesting chapters in the story of the growth of the port. It is one of the most time-honoured institutions Wellington can boast. The first regatta was held in 1841, one 3 ear after the arri/al of the first settlers in the Aurora. Since then it has never been missed, excepting in 1864, when the celebrations took the form of a harbour excursion. Even in those early days it is apparent the event was regarded as one of great importance, for the omission in '64 aroused a storm of in-

dignation at the time, and lengthy correspondence ensued in the columns of the Press. Foundation Day was the biggest event on the calendar, and the necessary arrangements for the aquatic sports, which constituted the principahpart of the day's programme, were made for fifty years by a committee of citizens. Several decades ago, therefore, the regatta was a civic event, not merely one in which the participants alone found interest, as is prac-

SANDERS CUP CONTEST

tically the position to-day. The evening of the anniversary was given to banqueting, in the course of which complimentary remarks were made about the pioneers, and the survivors of the early vessels were toasted. As the early colonists passed away, however, the enthusiasm in the celebration, of the day waned, and there are few living to-day who remember the scenes of enjoyment and merriment of those hard, years during which the foundations of the present city were laid so truly. The regattas in the early days—the 'forties and 'fifties—consisted of whaleboat races, " cargo boat" races, dinghy, races, and promiscuous sailing boat races; and interest in the programme was greater in proportion to the population than it Is in these days of fast, trimly-built, and more picturesque cruising and racing craft. In 1883 the Port Nicholson Yacht Club was formed to give permanency to the institution of the regatta, but the Citizens' Committee continued to manage the programme annually until a few years later, when, at the usual meeting in the Town Hall, it was decided, on the motion of Sir Francis Bell, to place the management of the function in the hands'of the club, which has been the controlling body up till this year. During the war the. regatta was kept going by the older members of the yachting fratern-

ity in a mild way consistent with the times, and it has now regained its pristine importance, though, as mentioned previously, public interest is not. so keen as it was half a century and more ago. The races are open to allcomers, and the prize money is donated by mercantile houses in the city and by private individuals, who recognise the importance of maintaining the.old traditions of the port and of keeping alive an institution which they hope will never cease to be an annual event in the city's history, as it has always been in the past. The Sanders Cup. The annual race for the Sanders Cup, the trophy which carries with it the blue riband of yachting in New Zealand, is of younger , birth, and its inception in 1920 marked a new epoch in the history of the sport in the Dominion. Fifty years hence yachtsmen will probably still compete for it, and no doubt the promoters of the sport will make a point of instilling in the minds of the young crews of the time the significance which attaches to the cup. It will recall to them the Great War of

1914-1918, and the valiant deed which the trophy commemorates—the heroism on the high seas of a New Zealand hero who distinguished himself in action, was awarded the Victoria Cross, and a few weeks later met his death in farther engagement with the enemy. The cup was presented by Messrs. Walker and Hall, of Auckland, for annual competition between 14-foot one-design boats, in memory of Lieut.Commander W. E. Sanders, V.C., DiS.O.,

R.N.K. The officer hero was born at Auckland in 1887, and as a boy was of a modest and retiring disposition, not particularly robust, but evidently full of grit and determination. His future career lay entirely in his own hands. At the age of seventeen he went to sea, and in the following year he signed on the Government steamer Hinemoa

as an ordinary seaman. He took seriously to the study of navigation, procuring^ the necessary books upon the profession out of his small earnings. In 1914, at the age of 27 years, he secured his extra master's foreigngoing ticket in Sydney, and immediately applied for naval service. The war was in progress, but at the time the' Admiralty did not cordially welcome the enlistment of mercantile marine officers. Sanders was determined to join the Navy, and sailed on a troopship for England, where he again applied, securing a sub-lieutenancy. After some experience he was appointed to the command of, li.M.S. Prize, a decoy schooner with auxiliary power, whose duty it was to entice enemy submarines within close range and destroy them, on 30th April, 1917, Sanders sighted, about two miles off, an enemy submarine, which soon opened fire. The order was given to abandon ship as a decoy move. The submarine gradually approached, pouring in a heavy fire, which put the motor out of action, wrecking the wireless and causing other damage. Lieut. -

Commander Sanders and.his Bmall party remained carefully hidden until the submarine had come within range. At about 100 yards distance they cleared the guns for action and opened up at point-blank range, but not before the submarine, firing both guns, had wounded several of the men. The first shell from the Prize hit the foremost gun, blowing it overboard, and the second carried away the conning-tower. The submarine endeavoured to draw away, but appeared to be on fire and to sink. The survivors were picked up, and the commander was so impressed with the conduct of the crew of the Prize that when examined subsequently in London he declared that "it was no disgrace to be beaten by the Prize, as he had not considered it possible any ship's company would remain silent while subjugated to such a gruelling, nor did it seem possible for the crew to bo imbued with such discipline." Sanders was awarded the V.C. for his action, and decorations were given to the • officers and crew. Some weeks later Sanders again engaged a submarine, in the Atlantic, but was not successful in putting her out of action. After remaining submerged and following the Prize until nightfall, the enemy vessel torpedoed her with all hands. Thus, at the age of 34 years, ended the meteoric career of New Zealand's naval hero, and the cup which bears his name is one of the greatest incentives for young yachtsmen to qualify, as did the gallant officer they honour, to take their part in the naval or coastal defence of the country or the Empire should the occasion arise.

The six little fliers to compete in this week's races represent Auckland (the defending province), Hawkes' Bay, Wellington,

Canterbury, Otago, and Southland. Wellington, so far, has not had the honour of holding the cup, which has now been competed for three times since it was presented. In 1921 the Dunedin boat Heather was the winner of the first contest held on the Waitemata, and the locale of the second race was thus shifted in the following year to Dunedin, where the

Auckland boat Desert Gold wrested the trophy from the holders. Last year the northern province successfully retained the cup with a new boat, Eona, which was subsequently adopted as the type for all. new boats seeking to compete for the trophy. Boats built prior to that decision, however, and conforming with the original requirements as to dimensions, are still eligible to compete.

Possibly before very long Australia may issue a challenge for the Cup, and the importance of the contests, from the national point of view, will then be still further increased. New Zealanders will have an incentive to keep it in their own country, and in the same- way as in other fields international competition has done much to raise the standard of sport, the participation of the Commonwealth in the annual races will add more than a hundred per cent, to th.c significance of the event. One cannot .but be struck with the enthusiasm that surrounds the Davis Cup, the America Cup, the Ranfurly Shield, the Plunket Shield, etc.; but it will be surprising if in a few years any tro-

phy will be more sought after, or held in higher esteem by challengers and defenders for it, than the Sanders Memorial Challenge Cup, which will then be regarded not merely as the "blue riband" trophy of yachting in New Zealand, but throughout Australasia. Already the Sanders Cup takes its place amongst these famous trophies, and judging by the great enthusiasm that was displayed when the Cup was first competed for in Auckland, it will not be long before it achieves the same significance for New Zealanders and Australians as the America Cup holds -for Britishers and - the people of the United States.

The Cup itself is simple in design, and one of its principal features is the King's message engraved upon the silver panels surrounding the oak plinth upon which the Cup is mounted. "It is a matter of sincere regret to me," stated His Majsty, "that the death of LieutenantCommander Sanders deprived me of the pride of personally conferring upon him the Victoria Cross, the grandest of all rewards for valour and devotion to" duty.—George, R. 1." On a second panel is a message to j'achtsmen from His Excellency the Governor-General, Lord Jellicoe, the Admiral of the Fleet in which Sanders, V.G., played so gallant a part. He pays a tribute to the hero as a fine seaman and a great leader, who imbued his ship's company with the magnificent spirit of discipline and courageous self-sacrifice which even his defeated enemy testified with admiration and respect. "He set an example," wrote Viscount Jellicoe, "which \yill appeal to New Zealand yachtsmen for all time." A third panel bears a brief description by the Lords of the Admiralty of the action which won for Sanders the coveted Victoria Cross.