AT THE SIGN OF THE PENNANT

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 34, 3 May 1927, Page 14

AT THE SIGN OF THE PENNANT

By '

SATURDAY’S RACING In beautiful autumn sunshine the Victoria Cruising Club held its final fixture of the season on Saturday. The annual cup day promoted by that club has always drawn a large number of entries, but this year, probably due to the lateness of the event and the fact that crews are preparing for winter games, they did not come up to those of previous years. The day itself was all in favour of the light weather craft, a light southerly prevailing throughout the early afternoon. Progress was very slow, however, the harbour races taking about double the usual course time. The Casey Cup The classes competing for the Casey Cup were less fortunate still, the wind treating the boats were poorly, and fizzled right out at times. To add to the monotony, it became very cold indeed towards sunset, and only those keen and hardened yachtsmen would care to continue racing under such conditions. It was no day for a test of sailing, and anything may have won. The winner, Venus, nevertheless put up a good performance by finishing first and winning the handicap by Bmin. 36sec. from the consistent 20-footer Winifred. The Rae Cup On such a day, one would have expected the Patiki entrants, to extend the Surprise, but with the exception of the Maroro they were disappointing. The two mentioned had the race to themselves, and finished well ahead of the rest of the fleet, the Surprise getting the gun and incidentally the cup with a margin of lmin. 54sec. Boonstra Memorial Cup The Boonstra Cup race brought the Ngaio to light in a new role. The Sea Gnome and Kismet kept very close together during the first round of the course, but on the second the Ngaio headed both and crossed first, one and a-half minutes to the good, winning the handicap easily. BALLASTING SAUNDERS CUP CONTESTANTS Since the inception of the Saunders Cup contests, the ideas put forward in an endeavour to make the class a true one-design have been legion. The earlier racing proved to us the necessity of doing something to bring about an equality, or as near as it is possible to obtain, in the shape of the hull. By dint of hard work and a considerable sacrifice of time our advocates were successful in having adopted by all the yachting centres throughout New Zealand plans, etc., for future building. All this good work eventuated three or four years ago, and it was generally thought that the whole difficulty had been overcome. So much so that interest grew in the class, and was responsible for the building of the following boats: Koninl (Napier); Wellesley and All Black (Wellington); Kia Ora and June (Dunedin); Secret, Linnet 11., Betty and Usher (Lyttelton); Murihiku 11. (Stewart Island); Dulcie, Avalon and Queen March (Auckland). Notwithstanding the large number of boats turned out by the builders, the Betty proved herself far superior to any of them, and judging by her performances this year it looks too big a risk spending the necessary money building a craft to try and beat her. The general consensus of opinion is that the light construction of Betty is mainly responsible for her speed. Her superiority has been admitted, but indirectly, by a local authority, who suggests a standard weight for the hulls, and that those toeing under the required poundage to carry wood ballast to make up the deficiency. Whether this would be a step in the right direction or not remains to be proved. Why not ma'.<e it optional whether they put a bulb of lead on the centreboard, or carry the suggested wood? It is practically the same thing. The heavier hulls carry the extra weight in decking, planking, etc., which is of very little assistance in stabilising or stiffening the boat in a breeze. Certainly the conditions would be about equal in a drifting match, but immediately the wind comes along the wood or other ballast round about the keel would function, and the advantage gained can be readily seen. Further, that the stiffening of the craft would allow of a lighter crew' being carried is obvious, because it only amounts to an addition of dead weight and a reduction of live ballast. This scheme cannot therefore improve matters under average conditions. and no doubt we shall have to look elsewhere for a solution that will renew interest in the class by making the majority of the 12 boats mentioned above possible Saunders Cup winners. _ . * c +1 One thing is certain, that if the ballasting suggestion is universally agreed to. then the weighing of crews must necessarily follow. Up For The Winter Now that the season has drawn to a close, yachtsmen are busy stripping their boats preparatory to hauling out for winter storage. Some have already reached the hard, and each week-end from now on will see their numbers gradually increase. Yacht Club Dances The Fonsonby Cruising Club has decided to hold fortnightly dances, the first of which was held on Saturday night in the clubhouse. The opening danpe proved a most successful function, great credit for its organisation being due to the secretary. Miss Arthur.