Cruising Yachts

Record Entries In Fiji

Yacht Race

The annual Suva - Levuka yac race, which this year attracted record 52 entries, was won duri: the October long weekend by form World War II bomber pilot, IV James Verran, in his 25 ft cn Shearwater.

Mr. Verran, Fiji’s Controller Transport and Civil Aviation, to both the coveted Mobil Cup (fij prize in the race) and the Prou Trophy (for the first inboard-power launch to cross the finishing line).

Among the competitors, though tl year without luck, were sea-goi schoolteachers Marion Anderson ai Jan Williams, who won the race 1967. They were the first women ev to do so.

From the starting line near B Island, the boats followed a 20-m course along the sheltered east cos of Viti Levu to Natovi, a sect riddled with reefs, then turned e£ for the 10-mile passage across op( sea to Ovalau. They then followi a 10-mile course around the northe end of Ovalau and down the islanc east coast to Levuka.

Despite the advantage held by b launches in rough seas, the race h been won three times in recent yea by small outboard boats.

Several competitors had to wit draw through engine trouble and tv boats were scratched, but the re continued on to make the race tl most successful since it was reviv< in 1959.

The race was held in fine weathe with choppy seas and a strong soutl east wind which favoured the mo highly powered craft. Moderate rough seas were experienced rour Cape Horn, Ovalau, on the last le Walter Whippy won the Adi Vui Cup (for the launch to establish tl fastest time from start to finish) : his 12 ft 6 in. speedboat Moc Doggie ll —on only one propel! blade. The other was broken soc after the start, when the speedbo< hit a coral patch while turning ; high speed.

Despite this, the soeedboat achieve a top speed of about 20 knots j choppy seas between Natovi ar Ovalau.

Walter Whippy’s elder broth* Mitchell in his soeedboat Tuna, car tured the overall second prize—tb

bil Trophy. He also won the rcury Trophy, for being owner of first outboard powered boat to ;s the line. he Skyline Trophy, for the first t over the line went to J. B. itford’s Nirvana 11, and W. G. nson’s Tou To won the Epiglass phy for the best overall con mt.

Ir. John Gilmore, skipper of ’ana, received a consolation prize giving assistance and thereby ig his place in the race. He with v to take Mr. Bill Cruickshank’s ibout Windmiller in tow, but was r able to continue in the event n duty boat Inez took over. ► TATALAGU, Tony Daniels’ 35 rimaran, was in Antigua, West ies, in October with plans to off for the South Pacific, via ama, early next year. ) CYTHERA, 50 ft Australian h with Peter Fenton, his wife and r 14-year-old daughter Penny, was the Virgin Islands, West Indies October. Cythera was in Port -esby in May, 1967 (PIM, June, 7, p. 113). i DOVE, Lee Graham’s 24 ft p, was in Curacao, West Indies, eptember, after a trip from Cape ti, South Africa. The sloop passed iugh the South Pacific in 1966 1967. i ATE A, 30 ft ketch, was at Cape nedy, Florida, in October with don Simmonds, his wife Cookie, daughter Carol, 18. A tea passed ugh the Pacific Islands in 1964-

Daru, Mjojo, Ohra, Bona

I, Karen Margrethe And

CAROUSIN II were all in Durban, South Africa, in early October. Ron Smith was on Daru; Rod and Di Pickering were on Mjojo; Lothar Harder was on Ohra; Fred Price, Dick Thornbury and Andy Price were on Bona Dea; Virginia and Fred Deven port were on Karen Margrethe; and Mike Kane was on Carousin 11. • QUE SERA, with skipper Charles Gibbs and a crew of three, was at Lord Howe Island recently with plans to stay on the island until Christmas when the 35 ft sloop will push on for a Pacific cruise. • NIGHTINGALE, American 34 ft ketch, arrived in Suva on October 7 from Nukualofa with skipper owner Thomas Bennett, his wife Marilyn and son Larry. Plans were to stay in Fiji until October 25, then leave for Russell, NZ. • IRIS 11, sloop, arrived in Suva on October 9 with skipper Zigurds Freilands and his wife Virginia, from Nukualofa, Mr. Freilands was con sidering taking a flat in Suva until the hurricane season was over. • ILAHEE, backyard-built ketch, will leave Vancouver, Canada, late this year for Hawaii or southern Polynesia with a sculptor, Mr. Albert Seidl, who will be doing the trip to prove that Polynesians originally migrated from the Bella Coola Valley, 350 miles north-west of Vancouver. • ISO, 42 ft sloop with Captain G. Hansen and crew members P.

Hollan, C. Blankenship and L. Geller, arrived at Rarotonga from Huahine and Bora Bora on September 4. • SCHNOUFI , 30 ft ketch with owner-captain Jean Pierre Jourdan,

[?]ochab", the Aley [?]lily's 40-ft yawl, [?]ch will remain in Fiji group for [?]ricane season, [?]n aboard are [?]d and Mrs. Aley their baby ghter Dawn Tiare.

Photo: Nitin Lal.

s wife Janine, and their two tildren, Catherine 18, and Philippe ), arrived at Rarotonga from uahine, Raiatea and Bora Bora on ptember 16.

Before the Cooks, Pacific calls jre the Galapagos, Marquesas ands and Tahiti. They intended to il to New Zealand, with a possible 11 at Tonga en route, • TALLY HO, 29 tons gaff-rigged tter wrecked at Manuae, a small Dll in the Cook Group, on August , was successfully salvaged by the ft ex-trawler, Heather George. e was filled with empty 44 gallon urns to give buoyancy, and then ked off the reef. The yacht’s mast ipped off about two feet above deck 'el during this operation, and she iched Rarotonga, almost totally bmerged, on September 12. On ptember 20 attempts were made beach her at Avatiu where owner ptain Jim Louden intends to carry t major repairs. Heather George t Rarotonga for New Zealand on stember 16. On board were owner ?tain Alan McLeod, his wife, Joan, d five of their six children. Also board were Roger Dowman, /igator-radio operator, and offrey Leeden, engineer. All are w Zealanders. • NAGADA, 30 ft ketch, with •. Edgar Haering and his wife, will ve Finschhafen, New Guinea, late s year for Madang and the start 18 month’s proposed cruising.

Mr. Haering, who has done some lising to the Ninigo Islands, 80 les east of Madang, says there is •me money to be earned”, before extended cruise begins.

• NOMAD, 50 ft NZ steel yawl, left Finschhafen in August after a two-day stay, for Long Island and Madang. After Madang, the yawl will make an extensive power cruise up the Sepik River and then return to Madang and Rabaul.

Aboard were skipper Bryan Williams, wife Pauline, and their three children, Mark, 14, Suzanne, 13, and Jannise, 11 (PIM, Sept., p. 103). • TAURANGI, 35 ft New Zea land trimaran, with Messrs, F.

Melhop, P. Braithwaite, “Cully” Judd and Grey Easterbrook (formerly of Rabaul), reached the Seychelle Islands, Indian Ocean, in early Sep tember after a 20-day passage from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

In a note to PIM, Frank Melhop said for two years Taurangi had cruised South-East Asian waters.

“Taurangi left Rabaul for the Philip pines but unfortunately the advent of the north-west monsoon stretched this passage to Zamboanga, took 3,000 miles and 50 days sailing time,” he said.

“After various problems with officialdom, and a loss of some yachting gear, Manila was finally reached. Then a quiet passage was made to Hong Kong.

“A Chinese fishing junk gave the Taurangi crew some bad moments while en route to Saigon but daily visits by the US navy and airforce gave some sense of security to the vulnerable craft.

“Cambodia was the next port of call, before Thailand where Taurangi

spent a year, making charter trips to coral islands in the Gulf of Siam.

“May 1968 saw Taurangi's dep arture from Thailand, and after a stop at Singapore berthed at the Kartika Bahari Yacht Club, Djakarta.

The crew were made most welcome and enjoyed the hospitality of many of the clubmembers. Any yachts wishing to visit Djakarta are advised to write to Colonel Jasa Nataku sumah, Yacht Club Katika Bahari, TG Priok, Djakarta.”

Taurangi made many stops in Melanesia in 1966 and appeared in these columns several times. • MUNDEAMO, Californian ketch, with skipper Phil Dutcher and his wife Virginia, arrived in Suva from Vavau on October 2, with the intention of spending three weeks in Fiji waters, • SYLVIA, 47 ft American sloop skippered by Robert C. Welles, arrived in Suva on October 2 from Apia, with Mr. Welles’ wife and three sons. They planned to leave Fiji around October 13, for Auckland.

• Gabrielle 111, 55 Ft Van

couver sloop, owned by a Canadian millionaire and skippered by Mr. F.

Christensens, spent a week in Suva during early October, en route to Sydney, via New Caledonia, for the Sydney-Hobart race. The six crew members are George Blackwell, Tom Childs, Robbie Rea, John Hammond, Gernot Spalleck and John Simonett. • CETACEAN, ketch, with skip per R. Clark Barthol and Meta

The racintg yach

"Maris" - a Tasman Seabird - at Princes Wharf, Suva, in late

September, before

leaving Fiji for Sydney. On board when she sailed was the owner, marine artist Jack Earl, who once sailed "Maris" to third place in the Sydney - Hobart race.

Also travelling were Bill Hunter, an American, and Kevin Glacken, an Aus tralian.

irthol, Dennis Fontany and Patricia hlson, left Suva for Port Moresby i September 3. She had been in Fiji ice her arrival from Apia on July • WINDWAGON, 59 ft American ixiliary ketch, arrived in Suva on :tober 5 from Nukualofa, Owner ipper Dick Tretheway of Los igeles, his attractive wife Livi (short r Olivia) and his 15-year-old son ott left the US West Coast on ne 16 with two self-confessed land bbers, Virgil Schuerr and Tom >bb, as crew. The five have sailed dually “by the book”, with Mr. etheway having had only eight iling lessons before beginning the p and teaching himself navigation im a text-book on the subject as ; voyage progressed. Up until Fiji, was all smooth sailing.

Mr. Tretheway bought the 30-year -1 ketch in July, 1967, from Bob d Dede Connelly of San Francisco, to made many friends in the South cific during a two-year—from 64-66—circuit of the Islands.

The Tretheways planned to leave ii waters at the end of October r Russell and Auckland, where sy’ll spend a month, and then dney, where they’ll stay for two three months. They intend to urn to Los Angeles in September Kt year. • ZINAS 11, Mr. D. Fominas’ ft sloop, was to leave New Britain late October for Australia. The op was forced by storms to shelter Jacquinot Bay, on New Britain’s ath coast, in September. • NEXUS, Chuck Harris’ 30 ft op, was to leave Auckland on ptember 27 for Brisbane, via NZ •ts, Lord Howe and Norfolk ands, after a three-month stopover NZ. Crewmember is Barry Ross. • SNOOPY, 33 ft Hawaii cutter, .died Rarotonga from Aitutaki on (tember 23 with Norman Mailan, wife and their three children, xt stops are Tonga and NZ. • PERPETUA, 40 ft US trimaran, h Dustin and Carol Ogg and Alan 1 Charlene Walker, left Rarotonga September 30 for Tonga and NZ. :vious stops included French Poly ia. • ROULETTE, 35 ft trimaran with vson Burrows, Colin Campbell, i Aitcheson and Allan Meech, ched Rarotonga from the Societies September 23. Mr. Burrows in ded to sail to Aitutaki and his w were to return to NZ. • An alert has been circulated oughout the US Trust Territory a missing 28 feet sloop, nehune, which left Hong Kong on

April 19 for Australia, via the Trust Territory. Aboard were a former administration worker in Micronesia, Gerry McLaughlin, and Miss Mary Harbart. Both are US citizens. 9 RENEE TIGHE, Earl Koephe’s 30 ft ketch, was to leave Fiji at the end of October for NZ. She has undergone repairs and painting in Fiji. • TAMUM-SHUD, Stan Holder’s 30 ft sloop, in Tongan waters since August, recently made a five-week stopover at Vavau, Tonga’s most northerly group. During his stay there Stan reported that 12 overseas yachts called in.