AT THE SIGN of THE PENNANT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 794, 15 October 1929, Page 14

AT THE SIGN of THE PENNANT

By

KEELSON.

OUT OF THE LOCKER A. meeting of the Auckland "V. aclit and Motor Boat Association will be held in the squadron rooms this evening. There is a good deal of business to be transacted, and the secretary asks for a full attendance. • • * Opening day will probably be held this year on November 23. The destination for the big boats and launches will, as usual, be Islington Bay. The Sun's * tide-table published on Saturday has been warmly commended by boating men round the city and on the Manukau. If any yachtsman missed the issue a limited supply of papers ran be obtained from the publisher at this office. Mr. A. Braund's launch Mavis B took the water on Saturday afternoon. During the week-end, Mr. W. Thomas’s 40ft. cruiser Aloha was put iri the tide. Mr. J. Wilcox’s 26ft. mullet-boat Otira was floated down on Saturday morning. That boat and Kokiri went for a spin during the week-end. A number of boats at St. Mary’s Bav are ready, but at present are shut in. At Richmond the following boats are now afloat. Messrs. Downes Bros.’ Wild Wave, Mr. T. Bell’s Leveret, Mr. R. Thompson’s Sun, Messrs. Herdigen and Wilson’s Scud —all 13-footers. The 16-footer Cyclone is also on the tide, as is the 14-footer Awaroa, owned by Mr. R. Porteous. Quite a number of boats were up the river during the week-end. * Ladye Wilma, from the Talcapuna Boating Club's hauling-out ground, is o be launched on Labour Day. Several •>f the club’s boats took the water last week-end, notably Marie, Celox and Alex a. The cruisers Hanene and Ro..vth 11. are also down. • , * •* Added Interest will be lent to the H elass this season, with the inclusion of Omatere, a Logan-built mulletboat, which has been brought back from Thames, having been purchased by Mr. ID. M. Jones, of Stanley Bay. Omatere has been champion of her class, and some keen racing will be looked for. Mr. G. Grimmer has been appointed clubhouse captain of the Akarana Yacht Club, and Messrs. H. Smith and B. Edgecumbe assistant clubhouse captains. NEW STARTING SYSTEM INVENTION FOR OUTBOARDS A unique indicator for starting outboard motor-boat races has been invented and recently completed by Mr. .Ernest Maud. the well-known enthusiast of the sport in Auckland. The mechanism, which is called the -Maud Precision Starting Clock." is an ingenious piece of work and it is hoped will do away with the troublesome and very often inaccurate method of starting by flags or numbers, which has caused confusion on the part of officials and competitors in last season’s racing. In form, the indicator is a sheet metal face five feet square with bold, black figures spaced on a circle of four feet diameter. The figures start with zero at the point occupied by the 12 on an ordinary clock. From the “0" 60 seconds are marked off in multiples of five. Thus, five, ten, fifteen seconds, and so on round until the minute is reached at "0” again. Now comes the bright idea. When the hand, which, of course, is two feet long, has completed 60 seconds, the figure 1, denoting the expiry of the first minute, appears in red just above the point known to ex-soldiers and territorials as “six o’clock.” When the hand has ticked off two minutes the figure two shows in red. In effect the action is not unlike the mileage indicator oh a motor-car. Mr. Maud states that the figures can be easily seen at a distance of 100 ft to 150 ft, which should be sufficient for all practical purposes. The apparatus, which Is beautifully finished, is worked by an official, who with stop-watch in one hand, turns a motor-car steering wheel with the other so that the seconds are synchronised. The hand jumps five seconds at a time after the manner of an electric clock. The operator, who stands behind the indicator, has before him a miniature dial showing what is the reading on the other side. Mr. Maud will submit his clock to the new Outboard Racing Association for examination, together with a proposed starting programme. His plan is that a warning gun shall be fired five minutes before the advertised starting time of a race, and a flag immediately hoisted above the clock. After five minutes the flag is dropped and the clock started. After the hand has gone round once a red 0 appears.

and the starting gun is fired simultaneously. The race is then on, and the limit boats speed away. The others, watching the progress of the hand, follow according to handicaps. Of course, it will be noted that a new system of allocating handicaps will have to be employed. Limit boats start at zero, and the others will be sent away at varying times reckoned after zero. Thus, the boat having the greatest allowance will set off at 0. The next being, say, 1 min ssec later, will wait until the red 1 has appeared and the hand swung to the figure five. A competitor with a handicap smaller by 40sec will hold on until the hand touches the 45 mark. Scratch boats will therefore have to wait until the hand has gone round perhaps several times, the number of revolutions being determined to a large extent by the number of competitors. The boat having the largest handicap will, therefore, be allotted the smallest figure when the handicaps appear in the Press, and the scratch boats the largest. THE OUTBOARD BOOM RECORD SEASON AHEAD Prospects are very rosy for the outboard racing season. Every week brings advice of new boats being built for the racing fleet and there should be a. fleet of at least 20 on the lists. Besides these there are numerous runabouts and speedy cruisers for those content with lesser thrills. The Outboard Racing Association formed last week should give a decided fillip to the sport, at the same time putting it on a recognised and well regulated basis. There are hopes that speed will touch the 40 m.p.h. mark. Several of the older craft and some new ones have been taking advantage of the smooth water obtaining during the last three week-ends and trial runs have been undertaken. All the engines being new, the record of about 34 miles has not so far, it is believed, been topped. When the power units have been run in and properly tuned there is every reason to expect an extra five or six miles. Among the prominent competitors will be Miss Arawa 11, (Mr. Townsend), Hum Bug (Mr. Stericker), Miss Akarana (Mr. C. Palmer), Miss Marquette (Mr. W. F. Neal), Miss Evinrude (Mr. E. R. Butler), Goodrich Baby (Mr. E. W. Pidgeon), Miss Dizzy (Mr. Hopwood Jnr.). Then there are others built or being built by Mr. W. Allen. commodore of the Point Chevalier Sailing Club, who is at work on a 13ft hull to have a four-cylinder motor; a single step boat by Mr. J. Johnson fitted with a two-cylinder engine; a third by Mr. Jack Palmer; another by Mr. Cadman Jnr: : a fifth by Mr. R. H. Sheppherd. of Devonport and others about the city being constructed by builders. Mise Marquette is beautifully finished in motor-car paint with attractive colouring. She will be the beauty of the Waitemata.

The new association has not yet determined on its official racing course. The choice lies at present between the Whau River and the Panmure Basin — both excellent runs but rather far from the city. It is sincerely hoped the association will give careful attention to catering for the public, whose sympathies should be enlisted. If the association goes out of its way to give the people thrills and excitement there seems no reason why outboard contests should not become as popular as airplane pageants. AKARANA’S OFFICERS At a general meeting of the Akarana Yacht Club, held last Thursday evening. the following committees were appointed: Sailing Committee. —Commodore T. McKay, Vice-Commodore H. Howell. Rear-Commodore H. Messrs. T. McKnight, E. B. Webster, G. Miller. W. A. Wilkinson, C. Chapman, E. Edgecumbe and W. A. Ure, racing secretary. Outboard Committee. —Messrs. W. A. Wilkinson. M. Palmer, R. Shephard and T. McKnight. House Committee. —Messrs. T. McKay, P. W. Jeffers. H. Howell. E. B. Webster, G. Grimmer, G. S. Miller, E. Edgecumbe, H. Smith. T. Boswell, K. Peachey, C. Cook, J. Skelton. Social Committee. —Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Heard, Mrs. Webster, Mrs. McKay, Mrs. Jeffers, Miss Radcliffe, Miss Hanlon, Miss Vercoe, Messrs. T. Patton. E. Vickerman, S. Carter. J. Norman. Mr. T. Boswell was elected secretary. Building and Finance Committee.— Messrs. E. B. Webster, G. E. Laycock, L. Heard, G. Grimmer, G. Miller, H. Smith, T. McKay, P. W. Jeffers, H. Howell. V. Taylor. * * * The following were appointed handicappers for the season.—A, B, C. E Classes, Messrs. G. Laycock and W. A. Wilkinson; H and I Classes, Mr. E. Edgecumbe; L Class, Mr. T. McKnight; N and S Classes, Mr. C. Chapman; V and Y Classes, Mr. G. Miller; T and X Classes, Mr. W. A. Wilkinson; Outboards, Mr. G. P. Robertson; Launches, Mr. W. D. Ross. ON THE MANUKAU Manukau yachtsmen have taken time by the forelock and many craft are ready for the season. A number have already taken the tide. They include Nyria, the crack 34i footer, which looks smart in new sails, ! and is said to be able to put up an j even better performance than last seaI son. Sea Toller is also on her moor- | ings, and Drone recently arrived for | Mr. Belcher, the former owner of Val- ! dora. The launch Katui presents n chic appearance on moorings ready for the first race day. Anahera is ready to launch, and the speedy launch Dione, owned by Mr. Seccombe, is being fitted with a new engine, which was ordered late last season. Her competitor. M’mselle, is also being reengined. Hetty has bee nsold to a Waitemata owner. Some members of the Manukau Yacht Club have discovered a rival sport to swordfishing. Last week-end the launch Regal towed a punt down to the Waiau banks, and four enthusiasts had a great day’s shark fishingThree tiger sharks and one mullet shark were landed, while several others went without the courtesy of leaving the hook. The experience has aroused immense enthusiasm among followers of the sport, and a party is being formed to try out the method used (rod and reel) with swordfish. It is expected that these sharks will give just as much sport since they often are Oft. to 12ft. in length. The grounds being fished over were the favourite hunting grounds of the Maori sharking parties, which secured enormous; quantities of this food and sun-dried it for future use. The Manukau Yacht Club and the Cruising Club both meet next week to plan the season’s fixtures after the association meeting this evening.