Cruising

Yachts

• MINERVA, 45 ft steel-hulled cutter, arrived at Rarotonga on February 11 Prom Sydney, via NZ. On board were Dwner-captain, Commander John Lee of the Royal Canadian Navy, his wife.

Daphne, and Jeoffrey Payne and Billy ?ennard, both from Sydney. They ex perienced gales all the way —the Cook strait passage was "hairy", but the elf-steering vane acted very well, said Mrs Lee. The yacht was built in Australia.

Phe Lees did the interior work them elves. They hoped to call at Christmas sland and Hawaii on their voyage home o Victoria, 8.C., where Minerva i s egistered. • APHRODITE, 50 Cheoy Lee ketch, egistered in the Virgin Islands, has been t Vila since J nhe end of 1975 waiting or the end of the hurricane season. On card are owner Joan Eccleshare and aughter Kim, and Bob Meeburg (skip er). They arrived from Fiji, where they pent about a year cruising through the lands. • MANU OTE MITI, 47 ft ferro ?ment cutter, registered in Vancouver, xpects to resume cruising soon with ie hurricane season at an end. It has een at Vila for some months, after a par in New Zealand. Owner Heinz ienciala and wife Muriel, after a New ebrides cruise, will visit islands in the plomons. • GALADRIEL, 40 ft ferro cement oop, has been at Vila since the end of >75, after arriving from New Zealand, ji and New Caledonia. On board are vners Colin and Patricia Hall. • SNOOPY, 30 ft catamaran from ull, UK, arrived at Rarotonga from jpeete on February 20 with owner ptain Charles Dennis and Susan Dennis, teir next port of call was to be Auck nd. • KIALOA, 79 ft racing ketch, was a bruary arrival in Suva, on the way Seattle via Western Samoa and Hono lu. She had taken part in the 1975 dney-Hobart race in which she took ihrs 45 min off the previous best time r the distance between the two cities, rlier she had won the Admirals Cup Britain and in the trans-Atlantic race as first to finish, but was placed cond on corrected time. She then sailed rough the Mediterranean and the Suez nal for Australia. On board at Suva ire the skipper, Bruce Kendall and a ■ w of eight including (his wife, Patty, e owner is Mr Jim Kilroy, of Los igeles.

• FOREIGN AFFAIR, 40 ft Valiant 40 cutter-rigged yacht, arrived at Rarotonga on February 21 from Bora Bora with owner-captain William Black, his wife, Mary, and their son. Will. The yacht was built in Seattle, Washington, and the Blacks' cruise took them to San Francisco, the Marquesas and the Society Group. They plan to visit New Zealand. • WILD WAVE, yacht, carrying Jacques and Robin Sapir, and their children Ronni 4 and Michel 2, is at Vila They left Australia in April, 1975 for Ntew Zealand, carrying two crew. They visited Norfolk Island and New Caledonia on the way, • SEA FOAM, 36 ft Sea Witch angleman ketch with a 13J ft beam, left home

in Newport Beach in March 1973, carry ing the Payson family of Herb, Nancy and son Craig, now 13. They sailed down the Mexican coast to Central America and over to the Galapagos for one month, before resuming |heir trip to the Mar quesas, Tuamotus and Tahiti. After spend ing 11 months in French Polynesia in 1974 they left for Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand ' where they worked and stayed f ? r or ? e x Th e n , in j 1975 ™ ey left , Wew Zealand and c ™ised to the Australs, visiting Tubuai and Raivavae, , returned to Tahiti in December. They P lan , t 0 , stay ,n French Po 'V"esia until Apnl and 53,1 to Hawaii and California.

Sailing with them from New Zealand were Ed and Laurie McKeon of Los Angeles.