Yacht Club

The V.U.C. Yacht Club has received a great boost from its second placing in the Easter Tournament. This result is especially pleasing as N. Walker, the skipper of the winning Canterbury crew, would have won the Cornwall Cup in Auckland if he had not had bad luck with broken gear.

Although officially this is the Yacht Club's second year, it is really our first active one. At the moment there are two main obstacles to be overcome before it can really be said that we have a strong club. The main problem is the lack of boats in a centralised position. It was originally intended that the members sail in their respective local clubs throughout the season and meet before Easter to select a crew for tournament. This sounds all right on paper but in actual fact a large percentage of our members come from centres outside Wellington with the result that there are no or very few boats to sail in down here. Yachting clubs, unlike rowing clubs, do not own any boats. If therefore we have to borrow boats they must be borrowed from individual club members"—a practice which has its natural restrictions. If there are no boats that can be freely borrowed it is difficult to encourage beginners to join a club thus lacking the facilities to teach them to sail.

Another major problem is the fact that the four main months of the season are taken up with the Christmas break when most of the members are away.

However, club members feel that these problems can be solved, and it is hoped that in the near future yachting will become a major sport at V.U.C."—especially as it caters for both sexes.

In loving memory of the twenty "— three other clubs.