AT THE SIGN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 782, 1 October 1929, Page 14

AT THE SIGN

OUT OF THE LOCKER Tho Richmond Cruising Club has its annual meeting at 8 o’clock this evening at No. 8 "West End Road, Herne Bay. The commodore, Mr. T. L. Thompson, asks for a good attendance. Still another fine week-end enabled yachtsmen and launch-owners to get something more done to their boats. All the slipways from Richmond to Tamaki and from Northcote to Devonport, and over the peninsula at Milford, were busy, with crews hard at it with blow-lamp and brush. Next Saturday there will be a good spring tide, and it is expected that a number of craft will go down. * • * Mr. John Matheson, who is wellknown in connection with the West End Rowing Club, launched his cruiser, the Princess, during the week-end and went for a short trip. i The first big keeler to go down appears to be Mr. H. J. C. George’s yacht Victory, which was launched during the week-end at Northcote. The mullet-boat Otira was all ready to move off during the week-end, but was locked in by other craft at St. Mary’s Beach. Mr. F. Woolley’s launch Ozone will be going afloat this week. Mr. G. Hyauiason’s cruiser Leone is also due to take the harbour in the course of a few days. As happened last year, members of the Victoria Cruising Club are having hard luck with the painting of their boats. During the week-end a heart-breaking fall of coke-dust from the gas works nearby came down, and virtually tarred and sanded new paint. Some owners had to clean off several times and found it impossible to do anj r thing to abate the nuisance. It seems the only chance of success is to complete the sides and bottom, leaving the superstructure until the boats go afloat.

WHAT’S IN A NAME The naming of boats is almost as great an art as the naming of racehorses; and modern genius does not seem to “have anything on” boatnamers of 60 years back. Girls’ names are, of course, the standard type for boats, as the boats are mentioned always in the feminine gender. Rose, Blanche, Jenny, Kate. Mary are names one may see in any register, even a hundred years old. Looking through the names of craft that raced in Auckland regattas one may find in some instances of applied genius. Thus “Just-in-Time” should be expressive of hard effort; “Son of the Waitemata” must have been tended as a patriotic reference; “Venture” speaks of enterprise; a boat called The Lizard should not have been expected to appear in the front row at gun-fire. One firm built the Gleam, Glitter, Glint, Glance —all expressive of the water. Rainbow still survives as a yacht name. Sensation no doubt was intended to “knock spots off” some of the competing boats. Severn, Dorset, Avon, speaks of the Old World. Shooting Star was the dream of some enthusiast. Black Angel savours of recklessness; the Prairie Flower is romantic. Ripple, Foam, Frolic, Wave, Mischief, have been handed down as memories to our own day.

AUCKLAND’S FIRST REGATTA

The Auckland regatta has been carried on for 89 years. The first effort was at the ceremony of the official establishment of Auckland on September 24, 1840. The programme included a race between a five-oared gig belonging to the Surveyor-General Watchman mark down to North Head mark and back to flagship; rowing races for amateurs (pair oars); watermen, whaleboats, five oars; course to North Head and back; four-oar gigs, course to Watchman and back; for square-stern boats not exceeding 25ft keel and pulling four oars; canoe races for big and small c.-noes. Sailing events were fixed for cargo boats not under six tons, prize £2O; course from and a six-oared gig belonging to the Anna Watson, barque, both manned by amateurs, a whaleboat race for sailors, for a purse of £5; and a canoe race for natives. The programme for 1851, 78 years ago, was inspected the other day. It shows that effort was not counted in the days of long ago. The 11 items on the programme included an event for decked, half-decked and hatch boats, 5-25 tons, first prize £ls; course from the flagship round the flagship to North Head, to Watchman, and to flagship; aaid for sailing boats of five tons and under, prize £5. A TO,AST TO YACHTING Proposing the toast to “Yachting,” at the annual prize-giving of the Royal Brighton Yacht Club, Australia, the Governor-General, Lord Stonehaven, said; “Yachting is a kind of brotherhood in which men are drawn together by the love of the sea, and love of the sky, and from which they derive health, recreation and interest, and develop some of their best qualities and get rid of some of their worst.” At the same function, a framed silk embroidered burgee was presented Sergeant Douglas, who made a magnificent effort to rescue the late Mr. K. Hitchcock and lieutenant Anderson, who were lost while searching for the Southern Cross monoplane. Sergeant Douglas is part-owner of one of the boats registered in the Brighton Club. WACKETT’S FIREBOLT Wackett’s Firebolt, about which so much has been heard of latelv, is now undergoing trials at Rose Bay, Sydney. The hydroplane is 20ft long and driven by a six-cylinder aero engine, taken from a Zeppelin. The screw was cut from a solid ingot of steel, which weighed several hundred pounds before it was cut to the designed screw, which weighs only 81b and has four plades. The engine is rated at 400 h.p., and the screw hauls instead of pushing it. The real trouble is to maintain the balance of the hull at high speed; with a quarter throttle a speed of 40 m.p.h. was reached. Commander Wackett reek°ns that if he can keep the boat upright his speed will stagger tile world. The 21ft restricted class inter-state contests are arousing considerable interest in Australia, where the Tasmanian class has had almost a monopoly hitherto. In New South Wales a committee of businessmen is helping *- h ®. y achtin e clubs to finance the building of two, and if possible, three boats. In addition, an old boat in the class is to be reconditioned. New boats are being constructed in VicCup 1 ’ The Class races f °r the Forster