AT THE SIGN OF THE PENNANT

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 148, 13 September 1927, Page 14

AT THE SIGN OF THE PENNANT

Personalities j Afloat MR. W. R. INGRAM, President A fear ana Yacht Club. The president of the Akarana Yacht Club, William Ranwell Ingram, who has agreed to accept nomination as commodore of the club, has been intimately connected with its activities for the last 20 years, with the exception of the war period. He came to Auckland from England in 1906, and soon after settling down bought the five-rater Eangatira. which

he sailed until 1911. His next command was the yawl Ethel, which he owned for following two years.* From 1916 until t le end of the war, Mr. Ingram served its a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and was attached to trawlers and other small craft

operating in the Mediterranean and the North Sea. While on war service he qualified for his navigator’s certificate, having already held his mate’s ticket. Mr. Ingram owned Ilex until 1925. when he made a change from sail to power and purchased the launch Gispa, which he still owns. On the management side of acquatics he has done his share He was a committeeman of his club for many years, and was elected commodore in 1920, a position he held until 1923. Since then he has held office as Akarana’s president, and in recognition of his services he has been made a life member. £24,000 YACHTS Racing has been called “the sport of kings, ’ but, from the point of view of cost, running a first-class racing yacht of the size of the King's Brittania, or Sir Thomas Lipton’s Shamrock IV., is truly a sport only for kings and millionaires. An order has just been placed in England by Sir Mortimer S nger, owner of Lulworth, for a new 75ft. boat which is to cost no less shan

£24,000. She is one of two such craft which will be ready for the 1928 season. The cost of running such a sh p is equally enormous. A recent estimate sets the figure at £3,528 for a seri'.son, made up as follows: Wages of officers and crew .. . . £1,588 clothes, etc., of crew 240 Hocking twice and painting .. .. 150 Fitting-out charges 300 Haying up 130 Heck stores .. 190 Insurance 1,000 Total £3,528 The staggering figures apply to a yacht the s:ize of Shamrock. Only a man possessed of fabulous wealth could afford to sail such a ship. AKARANA’S NEW HOME Tho rain upset a lot of plans during the week-end, and among them, those of members of the Akarana Yacht Club, who had hoped to make a start on clearing the site for their new clubhouse. Like their brother yachtsmen across the harbour, the Akarana men have decided to build their new home themselves, and have received offers of assistance from several members of other cluts, as well as from their own members. With a few fine week-ends, forty or fifty willing hands on the job, and a ladies’ committee to supply the necessary refreshment, the work of building the new club-house on the site inside the breakwater near Campbell’s Poi.it should progress rapidly. “BUB” AND HER CREW Air. A. Thompson, president of the Ponsonby Cruising Club, is evidently a firm believer in the slogan, “Catch 'em youn He has had ‘Bub." a tiny 10-footer, converted from a dinghy for the use of his three small sons, aged 10, 9 and 3i respectively, and named after the youngest. One large ceil is enough responsibility for the three young seafarers. “Bub” is nearly half as wide as she i.s long (4ft. 6in), and is equipped with a centre-board and a patent rudder which lifts automatically and prevents fouling in shallow water. At the masthead floats the pennant of the Ponsonby Cruising Club. As all three of her crew can swim. Mr. Thompson has no fear of letting his boys handle her on their own. VISITOR FROM WHANGAMUMIJ Hauled up on the hard at St. Mary’s Bay is a stranger to the Waitemata, tho Lexis 1)., which comes from Whangamumu. Built on the V-bottom principle, to American design, her appearance certainly suggests the speed tliat is required of her as a whale Lexie ID. recently came down from the North to have the 125 h.p. Hallengine, that used to drive FleetRm wing Junior, installed.

(By KEELSON)

OWNERS AND THEIR BOATS Thelma is looking more like her seagoing self again, having had her "stick” shipped recently.^ Mr. E. H. Northcyroft who now owns the big keeler Ilex, has sold his 20ft.. mullet boat Wayward. A start has been made on Mr. W. Dawson’s Surf. The crew was busy fitting a new deck-rail during the week-end. Mr. T. McWhirter’s Valeria is being refastened. The fitting of eight new timbers on the port side is now in progress. Lad ye Wilma which is owned by Mr. R. Lidgard, Commodore. of the Takapuna Boating Club, is all ready to go off. She will moor in the channel off Bayswater, just inside the hulks. Work on the A class keel yacht Prize has commenced in earnest. Mr. Endean himself was to be seen in the chair scraping the mast during the week-end. The 18-footer Maranui is receiving a lot of attention from her crew. Last week-end she was scraped and pumiced from deck to keel, and a good surface is apparent. * * * Mr. Sellar’s fine launch lorana is looking in good trim, and appearances point to her being one of the first oif, if a passage-way can be found. Members of the crew of Allies are putting a lot of work into her. . The outside surfaces have been keeping them busy. A new deck-house covering is also being fitted. Mr. Alf Bell has just completed the overhaul of the six-cylinder Sunbeam

engine in his fast cruiser All Bell. A burn-off on the top outside and a coat of red lead is the extent of the progress on the hull. The keeler Ngatira has yet a. good deal to be done inside and out, to be up with her neighbours. A coat of white on top-sides and red lead underneath has been applied. Rawene’s crew has been very busy. The outside surface of the hull has received particular attention from the owner. The white enamel inside adds to the finish of this fine ship. The new owners of the launch Kowhai- have wasted no time in getting their ship ready. The hull is practically finished even to the copper paint, and, on appearances, she should be in the water within the next month. Work on Mr. Tackaberry’s launch Tui is well under way. The 10 h.p. Sterling engine has received the usual winter overhaul, and the hull has been burned off top and bottom slides.. Repairs to the tail-shaft and gland have also been effected. The sheathing on Mr. L. Thode’s keeler Rangi has been torn oif, -and the cotton taken from the garboards, the idea being to allow this important part of the boat to dry out thoroughly. The interior has received the usual winter painting and the outside has been stonecl down. * * <i Mr. W. Sinclair will need to get quite a lot of pleasure out of his launch Paloma to repay him for the time and money he is putting into her. The engine and generator have been fitted in position, and lockers, galley and bunks built in. The owner was to be seen Inst week-end fitting the up-to-date ventilators, and placing in position the extensive electrical equipment. NORANA DUE NEXT WEEK Norana which her new owners, Messrs. A. Brett and T. M. "McLaughlin went all the way to Dunedin to buy, will be hoisted aboard the s.s. Waipiata to-morrow, en route foi: Auckland. The steamer, with the launch stow d on her after deck, is expected to reach the Waitemata next Wednesday.