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ePaper created 2014-06-11, 13:05:34 | version 1.30.01
48 Mick Cookson Kevin Shoebridge Jim Davern Jeremy Scantelbury Roy Dickson Mike Quilter Richard Endean Dean Phipps Don Lidgard Mark Christensen Chris Packer Peter Spencer Rick Royden Bryce Sommerville This obviously greatly upgraded the quality and the competition of the entire Stewart fleet. The championship series runs two racing divisions; the spinnaker division with a maximum of eight crew members, and non- spinnaker division with a maximum crew of five. The non-spinnaker division encourages newer or less experienced members as well as those desiring less strenuous physical activity to participate in championship racing. In recent years participation has been averaging approximately 14 boats in the spinnaker division and 10 in the non-spinnaker division. For those interested in more casual racing,The Stewart 34’s actively participate in the Ponsonby Cruising Club weekly Rum Race, a fun and competitive series that it open to anyone wishing to crew. See“All for Rum and Rum for All.” (Chapter 7 - Part Two)!! The Stewart Association fully understands that some owners are not interested in racing. The Stewart Secretaries have made tremendous efforts to keep the cruising owners involved. They have continually encouraged every owner to make themselves known to other owners and socialize. Additionally, every year since 2004, the current president of the Stewart Association, Kurt Boyle, has contacted all Stewart owners on record before the Christmas holiday to find out their cruising itinerary. By emailing this information to all the owners, it has resulted in many a social gatherings being enjoyed by the owners out at Great Barrier Island or other popular cruising destinations in the Hauraki Gulf. 10 - Speed As Patiki,the very first Stewart 34 sat on the hard waiting to be launched,a few of Auckland’s yachting cognoscenti came to have a peek at this“radical”new design. The general feeling was that“she won’t be any bloody good.” Once she was launched and started showing her stuff out on the race course, Patiki quickly demonstrated her superior speed, establishing her as a breakthrough design, a quantum leap faster than other yachts of a similar or larger size racing on Auckland waters. Sheoftenfinishedsofaraheadof otheryachtsinherowndivisionthatshewouldactuallyovertakelargeryachtsindivisions that had started before her. With her paint barely dry, in her first race Patiki blitzed the fleet by an unbelievable margin of nearly 15 minutes in one of the typical Squadron Harbour/Gulf Races. In a similar race two years later, the newly-launched Princess finished just 15 minutes behind Ranger,a yacht with nearly twice the waterline length and a reputation (for many years) as the boat to beat in Auckland. In March of 1963, Princess won the Duder Cup sailing against much larger yachts in spite of dragging an overboard crew member for well over a quarter of a mile. Shortly after, Princess won the Around the Islands Race, leaving secondplacetoTomClarkonhismuchlargeryachtSaracen. Laterthat year Princess finished second only to Fiery Cross, a Jim Young design that was 16 feet longer winning on handicap in the Royal Akarana Yacht Club’s annual 100 mile Balokovic Cup. In the December,1964 Richmond to Islington Race, Princess took line honours, followed in by the much larger Cotton Blossom. TheStewartshavealwaysbeenfastbutfindingcomparativetimesagainst boats sailing in other divisions has not always been easy.However,every now and again when some other division or commentator published something suggesting that the Stewarts were not quite so fast, the Stewart Secretary at the time very quickly responded with the facts to With a bone in her teeth,Pendragon surfs at nearly 23 knots in the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Race, 1997 Andrew Cochrane collection