Deryn Glas Collision

Over the years there have been some fancy yacht race collisions in Sydney but last Saturday's in Middle Harbour was a beaut.

Without emphasis, let me give you the unvarnished facts, in their proper sequence.

Last Saturday week Bert Oakes' handsome 30ft sloop Stella Mia rolled during a wild spinnaker run near South Reef buoy in the eastern channel, filled and sank.

Unless the tide has carried her around the corner and out to sea this fine Dragon-type racing machine is still on the bottom in about 50' of water. Until yesterday divers, repeatedly searching the sea floor in the area, had not been able to locate her.

As she went down, nearby clubmates in other yachts abandoned their races and quickly rescued Oakes and his two-man crew.

First on the scene was Dr Keith Jones, in his former State champion Bluebird, Deryn Glas, which was leading her fleet. Jones had one of Stella Mia's men aboard within half a minute. Don Flanders in Jillitha, got the other two, one of whom couldn't swim. Hewen Greenwood, in Samantha and club', commodore, Dr Doug Sturrock, in Eudoria, also stood by to help.

Since all had been robbed of winning chances, the club decided to abandon the races for divisions 1 and 3 and Bluebirds in which they had been competing and to resail them last Saturday; unfortunately without Stella Mia.

Jones and his crew - Alan Ponton, Bev. Bashford, Vic. Halloran and Peter Polman - got to the start in Deryn Glas hoping for less drama this time. As they crossed the line close-hauled on a starboard tack with their wind clear and lee-bowing most of their opponents, John Bush, in his Bluebird, Kahala, came upon the scene.

He was travelling; full bore on a port stretch and, apparently blinded by the sun, failed to see the white hull of Deryn Glas right in front of him. Kahala's bow went straight through Deryn Glas' fibreglass topsides, splitting the boat for 18 inches from deck to waterline and shattering her own bows.

As the yachts were prised apart Deryn Glas' crew at first believed the hole in her port side would cause her to sink. But they found that most of Kahala's bow had broken off and had remained stuck in the hole. They packed towels around it to stop the leaks and sailed on in the race, pumping furiously.

They were third in the hot shot fleet at Manly mark, second at Neilsen Park and in the lead at the last mark. And they scrambled home the winners with Carlo II, sailed by Dr Julian Hreglich, breathing down their necks.

Unfortunately, Kahala, without her bow, was unable to compete but Bush got her ashore without wetting his feet.

Who says yacht racing is dull?

YACHT RACES CLOSE

Pittwater and Lake Macquarie crews, skilled in light breezes, dominated the first two heats of the State Bluebird class championships sailed from Middle Harbour Yacht Club yesterday.

In the first heat, sailed in the morning, the first three boats almost crossed the line together. Revel (Philip Martyn, Lake Macquarie) won from Impromptu (Bruce Jeffreys, Pittwater) and Deryn Glas (Keith Jones, Middle Harbour).

Allegro got away to win the second heat in the afternoon by a good margin from Revel with Impromptu third and Charade (Tony Mossiter, Middle Harbour) fourth.

A protest has been lodged by Revel against Impromptu alleging a port-and-starboard rule breach.

The Endeavour class State championship on the same course also produced close racing,

SAME PATTERN

Valderee (Alec Nicholson, Middle Harbour) won the first heat Opus One (Trevor Jones, Middle Harbour) was second and Beeswing (Tim Park, Middle Harbour) third. "

The afternoon race followed much the same pattern, with Endeavour II, skippered by the class builder Reg Gardner from Botany, getting away to win well from the current champion Laross (Bill Sherman, Pittwater) and Ronica (Bob Booth, Middle Harbour). 

By  Our Yachting Writer

Middle Harbour Bluebird class yacht Deryn Glas scored her 100th Win last Saturday--a difficult record to compile in today's highly competitive Sydney Harbour racing fleets.

The century, comprising handicap and scratch wins, was put together in five and a half years.

Owner - skipper Keith Jones, said Deryn Glas was launched about the same time -as Sydney-Hobart winners Freya and Cadence and that 1968 must have been a "vintage year" for good yachts.

But the real secret of her success is crew combination.

Jones and most of his crew, Vic Halloran, Bev Bashford, Alan Ponton and Alan Underwood, have been sailing together since the late 1940s.

They began in VJs, then 16-footers with Middle Harbour Skiff Club before joining the Middle Harbour Yacht Club's Bluebird fleet.

Deryn Glas has been State champion and with her record Jones could be excused ambitions of sailing in a faster type of yacht.

But he says he will stick with the 22ft Bluebirds which are easy to maintain and offer good family cruising as well as racing.

Footnote: Deryn Glas is Welsh for Bluebird. The name was suggested by Jones' father, who was born in Wales.

Bluebird State Championships 1969

STATE champion Bluebird - class skipper Gerry Garrett changes boats like some people change socks.

He pops up like a pantomime demon -in open skiffs, ocean racers and keelboats in Australian and international title races, at different times sailing as helmsman, navigator, tactician, for'ard hand or on the mainsheet.

CREWING

On Sunday, he won't be defending his 22ft Bluebird-class title, which he won in a borrowed boat last year, but will be crewing aboard Bruce Jeffery's Impromptu in the first two heats of the five-race series to be sailed on the Harbour.

Jeffery's will also have in his crew the hot-shot 16 and 18-footer star, Ken Beashel and, when his brother, Brian Jefferys, is not available, the king of the boat-tuners, sailmaker-yacht designer-helmsman  for'ard hand, Bob Miller.

But they'll get plenty of opposition from Dr Keith Jones and his seasoned team in former State champion, Deryn Glas, which has now scored almost 100 wins in Bluebird scratch races,

There'll be 33 starters in the Bluebird series, which will continue on Saturday and Sunday, February 8 and 9.

In conjunction with these events and sailing over the same 11 1/2 mile courses (but starting 15 minutes earlier) will be 26 Endeavour class 24 footers, racing for their State Championship.

There have been 96 of these lively fibreglass racing-cruisers built in the past few years and they are coming from as far as Lake Burrendong (near Wellington) to compete.