AT THE SIGN OF THE PENNANT

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 598, 26 February 1929, Page 14

AT THE SIGN OF THE PENNANT

By

KEELSON.

RICHMOND’S REGATIA BUSY DAY FOR SMALL CRAFT The Richmond Cruising Club's annual regatta held last Saturday was u great success, many more yachts than last year facing the starter. Twelve months ago 50 boats took part. On Saturday they numbered 63. Of these, 56 actually finished. It was a creditable showing and one which the club might well be proud of. The increase was mainly in the v and T classes. This latter division has been growing steadily of late, and some yachtsmen sailing with the 14-foot square bilge boats say that this is due to the fact that one boat, which used to be prominent and generally finished consistently first or therefore encouraged to come out. and race again. The young fellows, it is said, are therefore encouraged to come out. The wind, which started off lightly from the south-sou'-west, gained in velocity as tho afternoon progressed, until about 1.30, when it suddenly fell and rose again almost west. At that time a number of boats were broken off and curious incidents befell some of them. Boats apparently out of the race were placed In favourable positions and leaders thrown back. It was a day for limit boats, but on the whole the handicapping was satisfactory. Leveret's win in the . V class was expected by everyone except the hundieappers, so the competitors say. Surprise lived up to her name by finishing ahead of Drone. It was notew-orthy tliat the yachts, generally Speaking, which got a lead on the first run to the Rona buoy, kept those positions round the whole course.

On the last leg across harbour back to the flagship a number of skippers made tho mistake of holding toward Northcote instead of getting out into the flowing tide, which would have given them several seconds. The owners who made the error, however, were mainly those who were not regular racing men.

Tho finest finish of the day was stagjed by the 26-foot mullet-boats. Btarlight beat Spray in by 19sec, and SHtarloch was only another 13sec astern. Celoxwa* lmin 3-sec further away. The first three battled well.and it was a good race. Mr. T. Tate, who was looking forward to racing' his Belle, found he cou d not get her off at Walker’s Doint. His boat was one of the few Which did not start.

Using the three-flag system of starting, the officials certainly got the boats away in fast time —perhaps a little too fast for several boats. That may have amounted for some of the straggling starts.

The club president, Mr. J. Donald, aga.in gave of his unbounded hospitality aboard his launch Marion D. Looked at from all angles the regatta was a top-notch fixture.

OUT OF THE LOCKER Air. R. J. Worssam, owner of the B class keeler Waione, is leaving this week on a six months’ visit to England. In his absence Mr. E. C. Alexander, an old member of the Royal Now Zealand Yacht Squadron, will sail Waione. The crew of the 26ft mullet boat Celox has challenged the men of the C class keeler lona to a race which will be sailed off on Sunday week probably to Islington Bay, where the Takapuna Boating Club is holding its aiinual picnic. A week ago members of the Takapuna Club assembled in force to repair the slipway at Bayswater which wis damaged by heavy weather some time ago. There is further work to bo done and the club hopes members will see the job through.

Ladye Wilma, the B class keel yacht, took the opportunity of cleaning alongside the old hulk at Matiatia during the week-end.

The Akarana Yacht Club is to give an official welcome to Auckland’s victorious Sanders Cup challengers, who returned to Auckland heavy with the trophy on Saturday morning. The club function is scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, March 13.

Two well-known members of the Devonport Yacht Club. Mr. R. Mays and Mr. “Mick” Ensoll, have both been in hospital and have missed the best of the yachting. Mr. Mays is now convalescent after a serious operation. Mr. Ensoll lias had weary months of hospital, due to a recurrence fo an old trouble caused by playing football.

It has been suggested that to meet the expenses of the Auckland crew and Avalon during the recent Sanders Cup contest the Yacht and MotorBoat Association should arrange a special picnic on the day following the closing day race to Islington Bay. The boats could run across to Motuihi or some other handy resort and a good outing would be assured if the clubs >vere to unite and push the idea.

The indefatigable outboards are to race again on Saturday—this time at the Rangiriri regatta. Mr. C. J. Collings and Mr. L. Stericker visited the course during the week-end and found it admirable. The following boats will compete in the three handicap races: Hum Bug, Miss Arawa. Fleetun, Miss Akarana, Chancit, Miss Tamaki. Nympth and The Chief.

On March 16 the Akarana Yacht Club has cruising races for all classes from 3 6-footers upward to the Wade. Mr. T. Percy, a former keen yachtsman, now living there, has offered a special prize. It has been decided to allow 3 6-footers to compete after a good deal of pleading by some owners. The boats will be dispatched ahead of the larger ones so that if anything goes wrong the crews will be safe. On the same day the outboards will bo invited to compete for the Maud Shield. The event was to have been run at the time of the club’s annual regatta, but as many of the best boats were at Wanganui, the race was postponed.

The Devonport Yacht Club is equipping its hauling-out site with an oilengined winch. This will be a decided improvement, and a number of eit> men, who own bouts, are applying for halding-out space at Devonport this winter and the club is endeavouring to provide reasonable facilities. It is also pushing ahead with the construction of dinghy lockers. A temporary wooden ramp is to be built to give access to the dinghy shelters pending the completion of a reclamation which the club has in view. The Devonport Yacht Club is one that can boast of being free of debt, and its members do not rush into extravagant schemes.

RACE TO TE KUME YACHT SQUADRON'S BIG EVENT No incidents of extraordinary importance characterised the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's grand annual race to Te Kume for the T. M. Alexander Memorial Gold Cup, won on Saturday by Ida.

It was light weather racing, but with the wftid in the sou’sou’-west for most of the distance, the finishing times were not by any means late. The squadron has every reason to be pleased with the number of starters. No fewer than 16 of the best the Waitemata can boast turned out, and hulls which ordinarily do not race also joined in, Nga-toa made a strategic move in keeping out of the tide for the run out of the harbour, and so led the squadron for a considerable distance. When near the sandspit Ariki began to luff Thelma and a great match was seen to the Bean Rock. The two were then close behind Nga-toa. The rest were led by lorangi. Off Emu Point the veteran Waitangi got a leader as a spinnaker and began to pull up feist. A little later lorangi, Ariki, Nga-toa and Thelma put up a great fight which continued almost to the finish. Off Onetangi Kotiri met with trouble with her spinnaker luff-rope, and had to come up into the wind to clear it. Ilex carried away a brand new spin-naker-sheet and lost valuable seconds. Near Te Kume Victory lost her spinnaker boom and had to pick up the spur. Of the B class boats Windward led the way in.

A curious thing about the finishing times is that in every case the seconds are some multiple of five. Most show the dead minute, or 30sec over. The time-keeping cannot have been wonderfully accurate, and it is too much of a coincidence that all 16 finishing times should be devisible by five. In the case of Kotiri and Waione the former is shown to have led the way over by 30sec, but the crews state there was only a couple of bowsprits difference. This should be the subject of investigation, as there certainly seems to be an error somewhere.

NORTHCOTE REGATTA The following entries were received last evening for the NorthcoteBirkenhead regatta, which will be held on Saturday, March 2: A and B Classes. —Victory, Windward. Mahaki, Lady Sterling, Lady W ilma. C and E Classes. —Dolphin, lona, Mahoe, Loloma, Wadriki, Scout, Delville. H. Class.—Celox, Why Not, Starlight, Awatere, Spray, Katie, Awhanga. L and N Classes. —Waima, Rakoa, Valeria, Malua, Wairere, Winifred, Lovelight, Matariki, Mowai, Wyoming, Varuna. M Class. —Maratea, Manene, Maroro, Maia. Matarere, Mawhiti, Marere, Maira. V and S Classes. —Rita, Wild Wave, Secret, Ngaire, Swiftsure, Waitui, Drone, Lancia, Aratu, Scud, Cyclone, Desdemona, Sceptre, Mystic Surprise, T, X, Y, and Z Classes. —Romp, Janet, Fay, Eleanor, Joan, Continuance, Ace, Shalimar, Manu, Oreti, Sea King, Caprice 11., Ramona, Bronzewing, Meteor, Sea Dawn. Outboard Motors. —Miss Tamakl, Miss Kohi. Yachts, 18ft and under, local. — Tamure, Eileen, Ola 11., Foam, Phoebe, Shrimp. Local Auxiliary Launches. —Joyce, Zoe, Bluebird, Mermin, Ethel Rose, Welcome Jack, Kereru. The ketch Miro will act as flagship, being placed at the disposal of the committee by the owners, Nobel Explosives, Australasia, Ltd. Handicaps will be declared later in the week.

MR. MOLLER GOING SOUTH Mr. O. A. Moller, chairman of the Auckland Yacht and Motor-Boat Association, who has recently been appointed Dominion organiser of the United Party, will leave for Wellington about March 6. His departure will be greatly regretted by a large number of aquatic men. He has done much to promote the sport on the Waitemata, particularly among the boys. His influence on the controlling body was just beginning to make itself felt and it is unfortunate for the association that its chair will again become vacant. Perhaps Mr. Moller may find time to assist yachting in the capital city, and if so Auckland’s loss will be Wellington’s gain. The best wishes of yachtsmen will go South with him. In farewell to Mr. Moller, who is also president of the Takapuna Boating Club, a social will be held in the boathouse on Thursday evening.

ON THE MANUKAU

The Manukau Yacht Club’s race to Cornwallis on Saturday was partly spoiled by the strong wind and the turning of the tide when the boats were half-way. Five yachts started, but only two finished, Waitere II and Gold Bight. Waitere is big enough to face all weather. In the club’s launch race the placed boats were: Dione, 1; Madamoiselle, 2; Ramona, 3. The Manukau Cruising Club fared better. The final section of its cruising race, in which eight started, was well fought out. Sylvia, a 22-footer, was capable of making good headway, but Champagne, an 18-footer flattie, made a great effort, catching up five minutes in the last mile. Sea Horse was third. In the launch race Regal was first, Sea Morn and Surprise being next in order. The club holds its annual championships on Saturday, when the Yacht Club suspends its programme. The championship of the Manukau for 20 feet and under is in the schedule.

r ßy “THE ROC”)

No longer a bare and ungainly paddock, the Auckland Aero Club’s Airdrome at Ihumatao has developed into a regular hive of activity. Lately there has been a surprising number of arrivals and departures of various planes while in the early hours of the morning, when the air is still and most suited to instructing, can be heard the drone of the club’s Moth with instructor Major G. A. C. Cowper, now a busy man, carrying out the work of training young pilots.

Although so far it has only one machine on hand (others are due to arrive in the' near future) with oyer 16 pupils having been up in the air for instruction, the Aero Club can well claim that it has entered on the active phase of its existence. There is a big waiting list of pupils, but this should be lessened considerably in the very near future when more planes are due to arrive. The average time of flight in the air at a time for each pupil is a quarter of an hour, and this is marked up on a chart situated in the instructor’s office at the 'drome. At an early date the Aero Club’s committee intends to organise an aerial pageant and an official opening day, when ail machines available will bo collected at the airdrome.

The following are the first 15 pupil members of the club to commence the club’s course and take the air:—Messrs. R. Laidlaw, T. Philcox, E. Luks, R. Talbot, T. McLaughlin, R. Gardner, A. Hodson, P. Hayes, R. Crosbie, T. Firth, E. Firth, D. Cattenach, R. Teppenden and R. Clark.

A Busy Moth Already the A.A.C.’s Moth has done over 15 hours in the air dual instruction work, while in addition to this the plane lias flown nearly nine hours in giving flights to passenger members of the club. On Sunday 29 club members made flights as passengers, and it appears from this as though no small part of the club’s activities will be the arranging of short flights.

Wireless Exam. In the quarterly examination tor wireless operators’ licences, which commenced at the Druleigh College Wireless School in Anzac Avenue this morning, there is one branch of the syllabus which calls for considerable knowledge, from the point of view ot wireless used as a means of communication with airplanes and air-ports. This particular branch of the sicence, it has been announced, has increased the number of abbreviated signals twofold. m m

Dismantled Airplanes An Auckland enthusiast contemplates building his own airplane, and is experiencing some difficulty m securing a suitable used aero engine. The machine, a two-seater seaplane, would need a Cirrus or a radial engine of about 60 h.p. Several planes have been dismantled in the Dominion _at various times, and “The Roc ’ would oe pleased to hear from anyone having one of the engines.

Planes Lower Defence Cost As a means of saving great sums m national defence, the airplane lately received this definite tribute from the Secretary of State for Air, Sir Samuel Hoare: Five years ago Britain was spending £20,000,000 a year on the defence of mandated territories. Garrisons were given over to the Air Force and as a result, expenditures had been reduced to £2,000,000 yearly.

New Light Plane Records Advice just received by C. C. Wakefield and Co., Etd., states that Captain Neville Stack, piloting an Avro Avian light airplane, fitted with a “Castrol” lubricated Cirrus Mark 111 engine, flew from Croydon, England, to Berlin, Germany, a distance of about 620 miles, in four hours 15 minutes, thus averaging 127 miles an hour. This is a record speed for a long-distance flight in a light airplane. In addition, H. W. R. Banting, piloting a Simmons Spartan airplane, also fitted with a “Castrol” lubricated Cirrus Mark 111 engine, carried a passenger from Croydon to Berlin in seven and a-lialf hours, and returned three days later in five hours 55 minutes. These two flights constitute the longest non-stop light airplane passenger flights on record.

British Makes in U.S.A. The invasion of the United States by units of the British aircraft industry in assuming important proportions. In each case an American corporation has been formed to manufacture in the States a British product, thus hurdling import tariff walls in the way long customary in America and abroad. Th latest development is a plan by an established New England concern to build the Avro Avian. It is also reported that the Whittlesey Body Company is preparing to build that popular little English sport biplane at Bridgeport. While a number of efficient small planes are being built in the United States, none corresponds exactly to the class represented by the Avian and the De Havilland Moth. The latter plane is to be built at Bowell by the newly-formed Moth Aircraft Corporation, in which Earl House and Kenneth Unger are interested. The Wright Aeronautical Corporation of Paterson is to build the four-cylinder-in-line De Havilland Gypsy air-cooled engine. A company at Belleville, N.J., is undertaking the manufacture of the Cirrus Mark 111. and E. W. Bliss is making the Bristol Jupiter air-cooled radial in Brooklyn.