56th Leander Trophy Attracts New Boat, New Sailors

by Sutter Schumacher on 23 Feb 2006 Organizers expect 15 boats on the starting line when the Leander Trophy heads to Christchurch March 9-12 at the Naval Point Club Lyttelton.

Tradition dictates that it's the Canterbury R Class Squadron's turn to host the regatta (the location rotates among Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury each year). This year, however, it seems even more appropriate that the 56th running of the Leander be in the class's home waters.

The R class, known for pushing the limits of yacht design and construction techniques, started in Canterbury in the 1930s when the Canterbury Yachting Association reorganized the T class as the R class. The new class invoked minimal design restrictions: a maximum length of 12'9’, minimum beam of 4'6’, sail area of 110 square feet, and a maximum spinnaker size of 100 square feet. Everything else – including crew placement, hull shape, and sail design – was left to the sailors' discretion.

The class really came into its own in the 1950s when the likes of Graham Mander, Peter Mander, and Brian Wall brought about new innovations to the developmental fleet. Some changes were quite controversial, while others seemed like a natural progression in technology. Early boats featured cold-moulded construction, adjustable jib leads, and trapezes – all quite sophisticated for their time.

In the 1960s, Gavin and Colin Cooke introduced the false floor and extremely low freeboard. Also in the 1960s, Brian Televen debuted twin trapezes in the class. One of the bigger recent additions came in 1985, with the addition of spinnaker prods.

The tradition of innovation will continue at this year's Leander when the newest R – with a hard chine, retractable wings, and all-carbon construction – makes its debut on the national scene.

The boat, the L3 Nuplex Davie Norris, is the brain child of Diamond Harbour naval architect Dan Leech (who also crews on the boat) and builder Sean Milner, who believe it to be the next step in the evolution of the R.

‘When you see the L3, the Woofs, the L1 and the L2 all lined up on their sides, it's amazing to see how the design of the boats has changed in the last 10 years,’ Milner says. ‘With each design, you learn what works and what doesn't. Dan designed the L1 based on how he thought the Woof design could be improved. The L2 incorporated improvements on the L1. The L3 was a radical departure from the concepts tried on Rs before, but it seems to be working.’

While there's excitement about the new design's potential, the class is still challenged by a decline in numbers. It's the same story facing racing fleets around the country: too many races, too little time, and more shore-side commitments. (A schedule conflict with the 18' skiffs racing in Sydney will prevent at least two Leander regulars from attending this year's regatta).

So it's also worth noting that at least three of the boats set to be on the starting line at the Leander are rookies: Michael Rhodes and Jamie White of Timaru in Crack R; Rhys Jones of Ashburton and a yet unnamed crew in Custard Square; and Josh and Daniel Hughes of Christchurch in Pork Sword.

‘We've been really encouraging some of the new guys in the fleet to race their boats,’ explains Paul Roe, Canterbury R Class Squadron racing secretary. ‘As people who have been mainstays in the fleet are giving up racing for various reasons, we realized that the best way to rebuild the fleet would be to introduce other sailors to the boats, and to be generous with our time and advice for those who bought boats years ago but don't know how to begin tuning and sailing them.’

Roe should know. His crew on Subwoofer is 16 year-old Jess Hix, who this year is sailing in her first Leander. She was introduced to the Rs last April when Roe and a few other R owners took several local high school-aged Starling sailors out to give them a taste of skiff sailing. Hix was hooked from that first sail, and has been Roe's regular crew all season.

In addition to the new blood, a number of R class veterans are set to race in this year's Leander, many of whom hail from Canterbury. Local racers will include Mitch Dean and Tony Park on Liquid; Dan Folter and Paul MacGibbon on Bully Hayes; Doug Gale and seven-time Leander champion Steve MacIntosh on International Rope Braid; Grant Nelson and Rick Chapman on MORE 92.1 FM; Dave Pairman and Tim Allen on Meridian Energy; and Walter Worthington with a yet-unnamed crew on Gryphon.

Since the 1980s, Auckland 12 foot skiffs have been allowed to line up against the Rs, provided they use a rig that measures in under the R rules. Two 12s from Auckland and two from Wellington are expected to be on the Leander starting line. Nine-time winner Paul MacIntosh and six-time winner Ken Fyfe will spearhead the Auckland challenge, while two-time champion Stephen Hogg and Neil Wood will lead the group from Wellington.

The three-day, nine-race Leander wraps up March 12 with the class's annual sprint series just off the Lyttelton shoreline. With short courses and potential for high speeds, the sprint series should make for quite a spectacle – and an appropriate ending to an adrenaline-packed regatta.