Yachts

Cruising

The Royal Papua Yacht Club, with Air Niugini sponsorship and assistance from the Cairns Cruising Yacht Squad ron, is organising the first official yacht race between Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Preparations are well in hand for the race from Cairns in northern Queensland to Port Moresby starting on April 29. There will be two divisions lOR and cruising.

All entries must be single hulled, self-righting vessels, having an lOR Mark 111 rating of not less than 21 feet, or a LWL of 22 feet. However, at the discretion of the sailing committee, yachts with a mini mum lOR rating of not less than 18 feet may be accepted.

Yachts entering the lOR div ision must have a copy of their current rating certificate.

Closing date for entries is March 30.

Among other PNG business houses supporting the event is the South Pacific Brewery.

The RPYC reports that vessels from Port Moresby which have entered include EVEN, line honours winner of the 1955 Sydney-Hobart event, two Clansmen 30s, two or more Formosan 645, the half-tonne MEKIM SAVE which won the production boat trophy in the 1977 world titles in Sydney, two Holland 25s and a quarter-tonne Laurie Davidson. Several yachts will be racing to Port Moresby after competing in the Dunk Island race on the Great Barrier Reef.

Entries for the Sydney- Noumea yacht race starting on June 16 were over subscribed by the turn of the year, 54 having been received.

The host club, Cercle Nau tique Caledonie, had put a limit of 50 on the event because of restricted mooring space in the Noumea marina. However, race director Peter Rysdyck of

the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, said he intended to consult with the CNC to see if it was possible to squeeze a few more vessels in.

Among early entries was the 72 m French four-masted

Club Mediterranee With

Alain Colas as skipper. How ever by February Mr Colas was presumed dead after disappearing while competing in the MANUREVA in the Route du Rhum (Rum Run) race from St Malo, France, to Guadeloupe in the French West Indies, which began in early November.

Mr Rysdyck is still hoping that the Club Mediterranee will compete and that it will tie up alongside the Opera House in Sydney harbour for public dis play for about 10 days before the race starts.

It is expected that the fastest vessels will cover the 1750 km course in about 6-7 days with other entries taking up to 15 days.

Mr Rysdyck reports that the French Extension event, from Noumea to Vila in the New Hebrides, to be run about 10 days after completion of the

Sydney-Noumea event, has already attracted 30 entries. • TAU, 27.4 m, owned by Colin Philp of Lami, Fiji, left Suva on November 30 for Hobart. Colin Philp, Hobart born and 72, was ac companied by three sons aged between seven and 14, and three crew. He plans to return to Fiji early this year. • TRITHEAM, a trimaran which disappeared from Fiji and later turned up, under the name of ANDATRIX in Solomon Islands, has been sailed back to Australia. The owner of the boat, Dr lan McDonald, of Toowoomba, Queensland, was reported critical of the Fiji Director of Public Prosecutions, Kulen Ratneser, for not attempting to have prosecuted the person alleged to have taken the Tritheam. The trimaran was up for sale when it was taken from Fiji. Mr Ratneser said that if the Tritheam’s owner had been a Fiji citizen his office would have been justified in taking measures despite high costs.

However, the matter did not concern Fiji.